The day before the final FIFA World Cup game scheduled to be played in Atlanta saw soccer’s biggest star become the center of global press attention at a Metro Atlanta training facility.
Lionel Messi, who will lead the winning Argentina team against England for the right to take on Spain in the Finals tomorrow night at Atlanta Stadium (Mercedes-Benz Stadium), got ready for the event at Atlanta United’s Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground facility in Marietta this afternoon. He did so in front of a massive crowd of global media, preening to catch a glimpse of the superstar.
Atlanta’s media contingent found themselves vastly outnumbered by their out-of-state/country counterparts.
View this post on Instagram
WXIA 11 Alive sports reporters Maria Martin and Reggie Chatman Jr. were amazed at the vast turnout of the press to cover Messi and team Argentina’s practice runs. Chatman said the press had been at the facility as early as 8:30 this morning. Chatman and Martin panned their cameras around the stands and the field to show what looked like hundreds of reporters and photographers, many standing in a large gaggle on the sidelines, ready to cover and even talk with Messi.
Martin recounted on Instagram how she and Chatman waited an hour at Messi’s last game in Atlanta to talk to the soccer superstar, without success. They vowed to get lucky this time around and at least get sounds and video of Messi in action, which they did.
Crosstown WAGA TV Fox 5 sports reporter Kelly Price also attended the practices and witnessed scenes of huge crowds of press, including “hundreds” waiting in long lines to get into the facility. She said that there were four individual scrums of press trying to get interviews. “Like a Disney line but with no fast pass,” she remarked on Instagram. “I’ve been covering the World Cup in Atlanta this entire time, but this was just another level”, primarily because of this being the semifinals, and the presence of Messi and his team in the practices.
View this post on Instagram
This morning’s activity marks the final countdown to Atlanta’s final FIFA World Cup match tomorrow between Argentina and England. The winner of tomorrow’s game will face Spain, which beat France 2-0 in today’s game, on Sunday, July 19th, in East Rutherford, NJ, for the FIFA World Cup.
