The Inter Miami star will be in attendance at Super Bowl LIX, reversing the roles on the Chiefs quarterback.

This Sunday, Patrick Mahomes can stake a real claim to be the greatest of all time when his Kansas City Chiefs go in search of a third consecutive Super Bowl triumph. It would be a remarkable achievement, one that is without equal in the Super Bowl era.

However Mahomes’ attentions turned to another star with GOAT credentials on Tuesday as he spoke to reporters in New Orleans. Mahomes was asked about the news that Lionel Messi will be in attendance this weekend and he spoke in glowing terms about the Inter Miami forward.

Mahomes described Messi as someone “that I can look up to and try to get up on his level someday.” He went on to recount a 2023 meeting between the two, shortly before Messi tore Mahomes’ Sporting Kansas City apart.

“He’s the GOAT of his profession and to have someone like that at the game, it will be awesome because I’ll get to showcase who I am and what talent I have,” Mahomes said of Messi.

“I got to watch him when he played in Kansas City, I think it was last year or maybe a couple of years ago, and he had a couple of goals in that game. You see the greatness that he displays every single day.”

Messi actually only scored once that day but it was one to remember, an astonishing long-range strike that fired Miami into the lead. He also assisted the Miami opener for Diego Gomez with an incisive pass through the heart of the KC backline.

Ahead of that game Messi and Mahomes briefly met as the team headed out to warm up on the field and there was a moment of mutual appreciation between two elite athletes. Mahomes has gone on to speak about that encounter on the ImPaulsive podcast and revealed that he was “nervous” about meeting the World Cup winner.

“I just met Messi the other day, I was so nervous… I was hoping it would happen naturally,” Mahomes explained.

“So I was walking down the hall and they’re walking in a tight hallway. He’s going to warm up, what am I supposed to say? ‘Have fun out there’ and he had a goal and an assist so I feel like he had a great time, he had fun, it was all on me.”

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