Eat and sleep on the street just to… see idols

There are many ways to express your love for football, including crazy ones. Lucas Villarroel, 26, spent 45 days traveling from the town of Trelew, Chubut province, southern Argentina to Doha (Qatar) with a single purpose: to meet Lionel Messi. Of course, this is not an expensive trip for a rich fan.

On the D-ring road leading to Expy Avenue, the highway leading to Al Bayt Stadium, the Football reporter accidentally saw a young man in his 90s sleeping on the side of the road. To be exact, it was a recessed sidewalk hidden from view next to The Mall. A healthy young man, looking quite clean, always smiling.

This is the 45th day of this young man in Doha, and he still doesn’t know how many days are left. “It depends on Argentina’s results and until Argentina completes its mission, I will still have to find temporary accommodation like this,” Lucas began to tell about his journey.

Lucas is a Messi fanatic. Since August, he quit his job at a gas station in Buenos Aires to pursue his dream. With only 2,500 euros, Lucas packed his backpack, traveled through Peru, to Spain before arriving in Doha. Lucas even lived in the airport in Madrid for 5 days because he failed to get a cheap ticket to Doha 3 times.

Qatar is not a popular tourist destination. At the moment, Lucas has only more than 1,000 euros in his pocket, not enough to pay for a night's hotel. So Lucas wanders the streets, looking for public sleeping places that are rarely visited in Doha. On lucky days, Lucas will ask to stay overnight at a local's house. He showers in public toilets, drinks water from fountains and saves cash for food. During the day, Lucas goes to the shopping mall, "breathes in the air conditioning" and takes the opportunity to charge his phone. In the afternoon, Lucas goes back out on the streets and returns to his nomadic lifestyle. "Luckily, food is quite cheap," Lucas remains optimistic.

But Messi wasn’t the only reason Lucas traveled to the Middle East. This summer, Lucas broke up with his girlfriend because he was poor. At the same time, Arana, Lucas’s childhood friend, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. “Arana said he just wanted Messi’s signature on his shirt, and I was depressed because of a broken heart. So, I decided to sell the pickup truck I got from my grandfather and start my adventure,” Lucas said.

Lucas didn’t have a Hayya card when the World Cup started. His fear was that he would be deported by the police before he could meet Messi. “But it’s a gamble I want to take. I plan to go to the Argentina camp and ask for an autograph. I’m not asking for a hug or a handshake, I just want to meet Messi and get his autograph. Surely people don’t make things difficult for fellow countrymen?” Lucas said quickly, before asking permission to go to bed. Because tomorrow, it will be a new, long journey.