An Iranian student, who has a striking similarity with his sporting hero Lionel Messi, almost landed in jail for disrupting public order last week.
Reza Parastesh, 25, was mobbed by people for selfies in the western city of Hamedan over the weekend. The police had to rush him into a station and seize his car to stop the chaos and clear traffic.
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It all started a few months ago when Parastesh's football-mad father made him pose in a No.10 Barcelona jersey and sent the pictures to a sports website.
"I sent them one night and by the morning they had called me and said I should come in quickly for an interview," he told a leading news agency.
Parastesh soon cut his hair like Messi and started wearing the Barca jersey when going out.
“Now, people really see me as the Iranian Messi and want me to mimic everything he does. When I show up somewhere, people are really shocked," he said.
The resemblance is so striking that Eurosport UK reportedly used his photo by accident on Twitter recently instead of Messi.
Iranians love football, and Parastesh finds himself constantly crowded by fans looking for a selfie.
"I'm really happy that seeing me makes them happy and this happiness gives me a lot of energy," he added.
His target now is to meet his hero in Barcelona, and maybe even land a job as his understudy. "Being the best player in footballing history, he definitely has more work than he can handle. I could be his representative when he is too busy," he added.
(With agency inputs)