Lionel Messi’s never-heard-before nickname revealed by World Cup qualifiers rival player
Being one of the biggest sports stars of the past two decades, it would be logical to assume everything about Lionel Messi is already known. He has been under the spotlight since he was a teenager playing his first games with Barcelona, yet there are still details that slowly come to light. Now, a rival of Leo’s in the World Cup qualifiers has revealed a never-before-heard nickname.
Hernan Galindez recently gave an interview to ESPN and recalled his early days playing in youth tournaments in Rosario, the same city where Messi was born. “We faced each other many times,” said the Argentine goalkeeper, who later became a naturalized Ecuadorian. “He played for Abanderado Grandoli, a club very close to my house and my grandparents’ house. That’s where we ran into each other.”
Even back then, as just a kid, Messi stood out for his unusual talent. “He was a beast. There are videos that show it, and that’s exactly how he was. It was striking that, at that age, someone could control the ball like that,” Galindez recalled. “The first memory I have as a goalkeeper, of a goal, he scored it on me. He dribbled past five teammates, including me.”
The young Lionel’s ability to make a difference on the field earned him a certain reputation, although at the time he was known by a nickname that has since disappeared. “People mentioned him,” the goalkeeper explained. “They always called him ‘The redhead who wears the No. 10.’ If you heard that, you were already starting the game down 3–0.”
Over the years, Messi has picked up countless nicknames — from Leo to Pulga (Flea), Enano (Midget), and El Diez (The No. 10) — but Hernan Galindez’s comments introduce a new one to that list. “Redhead” may not seem like a fitting label for the current Inter Miami superstar, yet that’s exactly what he was called back then.
Messi and Galindez crossed paths again decades later
After those early youth soccer tournaments, Hernan Galindez took a path very different from that of Lionel Messi. While the forward left Newell’s Old Boys to join Barcelona as a teenager, the goalkeeper joined the youth ranks of Rosario Central until eventually becoming a professional.
Galindez later played briefly for Quilmes in Argentina, before moving to Ecuador in 2013 to play for Universidad Catolica and Aucas. His excellent performances over more than a decade allowed him to become a naturalized Ecuadorian citizen and earn a call-up to the national team in 2020.
With Ecuador, Galindez faced Lionel Messi again at the 2021 Copa America. There, Leo scored a goal in Argentina’s 3–0 quarterfinal win. Over the years, they met three more times in World Cup qualifiers and friendlies. In their head-to-head record, Messi leads Galindez with three wins and one draw, having scored twice.
Galindez talks about facing Messi
In the same ESPN interview, Hernan Galindez discussed what it means for him to face Messi at the international level and recalled a particular story about one of their matches against Argentina.
“My son, who is 8 years old, told me: ‘I want Messi’s jersey.’ I explained to him that it was difficult,” the goalkeeper began. “I told Leo Campana (Messi’s teammate at Inter Miami at the time) to bring me a jersey. Later he wasn’t called up for the game, but he told me to talk to Messi after the match and that I could swap jerseys with him.” That brief story shows how, despite having known him since childhood and now being rivals, Galindez still holds enormous admiration and respect for Messi.