Alexis Mac Allister: Messi told my team-mates to stop calling me ginger

Publish date: 2024-05-12

Alexis Mac Allister was in such awe of Lionel Messi that he turned red when he first met him on international duty with Argentina.

There won’t be a reunion yet, despite a recall to his country’s senior squad after representing the under-23s at the Tokyo Olympics last summer. With Argentina’s qualification for the finals in Qatar this winter already assured, Messi has been rested for World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia in agreement with coach Lionel Scaloni.

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The incentive is nevertheless transparent for Mac Allister, a Messi lookalike whose form for Brighton is a cause for celebration. He has headed off to the South American World Cup qualifiers boosted by his longest run as a regular in Graham Potter’s side.

The head coach has used the 23-year-old in a variety of roles in the centre or off the left during a sequence of six starts in succession. They have yielded wins at home to Brentford and away to Everton, together with 1-1 draws against Chelsea (twice), Crystal Palace and Leicester.

Mac Allister scored twice and provided an assist with the corner for Dan Burn’s header in the 3-2 victory at Everton. Another pinpoint corner by the set-piece specialist set up Adam Webster’s equalising header in last week’s 1-1 home draw with Chelsea.

Those are the types of contributions that have been commonplace for Messi throughout his career with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina, albeit on a smaller scale and less glamorous stage.

Alexis Mac Allister of Brighton and Hove Albion battles with James Maddison of Leicester City during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Brighton and Hove Albion at the King Power Stadium, Leicester on Sunday 23rd January 2022. (Photo by Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Mac Allister has impressed in recent weeks for Brighton (Photo: Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Mac Allister, recalling his first get-together with the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, tells The Athletic: “I was red, completely red. I didn’t want even to say hello. I was really nervous even to meet one of the best players in the world, but it was fantastic, of course.

“It’s something I’m not going to forget. It was magic when my dad played with Maradona and I could train with Lionel Messi. We are very proud of it.”

His father, Carlos, played with Maradona for Argentina and Boca Juniors. He was a left-back with ginger hair, stemming from the family’s Irish ancestry.

There is a hint of ginger about Mac Allister too, which prompted Messi to spring to his defence over his nickname in the Argentinian camp. “I trained with him when I was in the Argentinian squad twice, but I didn’t play with him,” Mac Allister says. “It was fantastic, the same as in the matches he trains. It’s something you cannot believe.

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“I remember everyone called me ‘Colo’, which is ginger in Argentina. I don’t like it much and he told the team-mates that. He said, ‘He doesn’t like to be called Colo, so don’t call him that!’.”

Mac Allister wears the No 10 shirt at Brighton, the number Messi adorned with such distinction at Barcelona and for Argentina before switching to No 30 with PSG.

Mac Allister inherited the No 10 at Brighton by accident more than design. He merely took over the number vacated by the departure of Romanian striker Florin Andone. “The number 10 is important in Argentina and the world, so it’s nice to wear it,” Mac Allister says. “When I play, I don’t see my number, so it doesn’t bother me.”

There is no disguising Mac Allister’s respect for Messi as he tries to forge a reputation of his own in the Premier League and with the national team, stepping out from the shadow of a global superstar.

He says: “We know what Messi represents but I’m trying to make my career, to do my best to be in the Argentina squad to meet him again. Messi is something special in Argentina. It’s good that he is Argentinian. We are proud of it.”

#SelecciónMayor Lista de convocados por @lioscaloni para los encuentros ante #Chile 🇨🇱 y #Colombia 🇨🇴. pic.twitter.com/E9LUYzTUv8

— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) January 19, 2022

Mac Allister was left in no doubt about the level he was coming into in England during a debate at Boca Juniors involving Carlos Tevez, the former Manchester United, West Ham and Argentina forward, and Mauro Zarate, who played in Italy for Lazio, Inter Milan and Fiorentina.

Mac Allister had a spell on loan at Boca in the first half of the 2019-20 season after Brighton signed him from Argentinos Juniors for around £8 million in January 2019.

“Tevez said the Premier League is the best in the world and Zarate said the Italian league, Serie A, is the best,” Mac Allister explains. “Carlos was in love with the English people, with the league, with everything here. He showed it here and he enjoyed it. I supported Carlos, so I think we won the argument! The Premier League is fantastic. It’s nice when you play. I want to play and I need to play. It’s fantastic to be here and to be at this club is special.”

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Adapting to English football was a gradual process for Mac Allister. The beginning of his career at Brighton coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, which hampered his preparation for the physical demands of the Premier League.

“Physically, that’s the most important thing I had to improve, gym and training,” says Mac Allister, who is slightly taller and heavier than Messi at 5ft 8in and just over 11 stone. “That’s why the pandemic was hard, because I couldn’t train with my team-mates, to be every day at the training ground.

“I ‘lost’ maybe two or three months. That wasn’t good for me to settle in. When I go to the gym now, the strength and conditioning trainer says I’m much stronger than when I arrived.”

Steven Alzate has started the last two league matches with Mac Allister in midfield after ankle surgery sidelined the London-born Colombia international for three months from the end of September to the end of December.

Alzate, also 23, was outstanding in last week’s 1-1 home draw against Chelsea and could face Mac Allister in World Cup qualifiers. Alzate went off in the second half of Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Leicester with an ankle injury unrelated to the operation. The ankle is swollen but he is with the Colombia squad following his recall to the senior ranks.

If he doesn’t make the game against Peru on Friday, he should be ready for a possible clash against Mac Allister four days later.

Brighton’s interest in the South American World Cup qualifiers doesn’t end there. Moises Caicedo is involved for Ecuador against Brazil and Peru. The 20-year-old midfielder has been on the bench for the last two Premier League games following his early recall from a season-long loan with Beerschot in Belgium.

Meanwhile, Brighton continue to work on a deal to sign 18-year-old Libertad midfielder Julio Enciso, who is in Paraguay’s squad facing Uruguay on Thursday and Brazil on February 1.

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The workloads and travelling considerations will play a part in the involvement or otherwise of Mac Allister, Alzate and Caicedo in Brighton’s next fixture at Tottenham in the fourth round of the FA Cup on February 5.

Potter’s assistant, Billy Reid, says: “It’s a big honour for these guys to be involved for their South American countries and it’s a big honour for the club, the calibre of players that we have.

“When they go away, you don’t know how many games they’re going to play, so that will be a factor in terms of when they come back, do they need a bit of recovery time or can they play?”

Mac Allister is now demonstrating regularly that he can mix it with the Premier League heavyweights.

(Top photo: Asano Ikko/AFP via Getty Images)

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