Lionel Messi Adds the Perfect Touch to a Super Fan’s Tattoo

Igor Magalhães is more than just a fan of Lionel Messi, the Argentine footballer who may very well be the greatest to ever play the game (come at me, Ronaldo stans!). Igor is a super fan, a fact that is confirmed by the massive back piece he has depicting Messi shortly after scoring his 500th goal against arch rivals Real Madrid. This is the Messi tattoo.

It really was quite a moment.

Normally, Inked’s official stance towards sports tattoos is that you need to be goddamn sure you’re not going to feel embarrassed about them years down the road. For example, we loved when this Blue Jays fan went all-out and got a tattoo of Joey Bats’ epic bat flip. But that one didn’t really stand the test of time as the Jays were eliminated in the ALCS, and who wants to remember a first-round playoff home run unless it led the way to a title?

But with Messi, well, he’s got the goods. There’s no way Magalhães is going to regret getting that back piece. And now that the man himself has seen—and added to—the tattoo, it’s become one of the world’s most famous tattoos!

Magalhães was seen by media members watching Argentina’s warm-ups last week prior to the Copa America. Broadcasts TyC Sports posted a photo of the tattoo and Messi ended up responding to it online saying, “Terrible tattoo! I love it. I would love to see and sign it.”

And when Messi wants to do something, well, those things have a way of working themselves out. This past weekend Magalhães was able to meet with Messi as Argentina left their team hotel, and the legendary player added his signature to the piece.

In his post, Magalhães says, “Já posso morrer em paz (Ahora puedo morir en paz),” which translates to mean “Now I can die in peace.”

Naturally, Magalhães went directly form having his back signed by his favorite footballer to the tattoo shop to make sure the signature doesn’t go anywhere.

We love everything about this story. Hopefully the good bit of karma that Messi will be carrying for making that fan’s day will help Argentina win their first Copa America since 1993. Messi has made the finals three times but has yet to emerge victorious, he’ll need all the karma he can get.