Lionel Messi

That man in the picture above is not Lionel Messi. He is an imposter. We wouldn't blame you for thinking he's real, though. A lot of people thought he was real, so many that the police had to get involved.

Here are three very alarming sentences from the BBC:

So many people in the city of Hamaden wanted a picture with Reza Parastesh that police took him to the station and impounded his car to stop the chaos.

Lionel Messi has scored 51 goals in 49 games this season for Barcelona. So, it's no wonder that club executives are in a hurry to get negotiations over with and to get Messi's contract finalized.

It appears today that the club and Messi's agents may be close to a deal. Only a day after we reported that Messi's camp rejected Barcelona's initial offer, Barcelona VP Jordi Mestre said "it won't be long" before Lionel Messi signs a new contract with FC Barcelona.

According to Diario AS, Lionel Messi's camp has rejected Barcelona''s initial offer of a contract extention. Messi's contract runs through June 2018.

Despite the initial rebuff, no one expects Messi to play anywhere besides Barcelona. It's understood he'll sign an extension eventually, but certainly the powers that be at Barcelona will be much happier should that happen sooner rather than later.

The offer was reported to be in the neigborhood of 30-30 million Euros per year.

Lionel Messi's four-match ban for allegedly insulting a referee has been overturned by FIFA. Messi sat out one match, a 2-0 loss to Bolivia in La Paz, before the FIFA appeals committee made its ruling.

This is good news for Argentina, for whom qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia is still up in the air. La Albiceleste sitting fifth, in the play-off spot, one point behind Chile and Uruguay and two points ahead of Ecuador. They cannot afford any slip-ups, which are much more plentiful when Lionel Messi is not in the lineup.

Jersey swapping at the end of football matches is a ritual which goes back to the beginning of time (1931). It’s a sign of respect and admiration after having spent 90 minutes trying to kill each other, and it’s given us some truly historic moments after titanic clashes.

England’s group defeat to Brazil at the 1970 World Cup offered up one of the most iconic images in the sport: England captain Bobby Moore and Brazilian great Pele exchanging shirts after a fierce 1-0 match in Guadalajara.

A horrid back-pass allowed Barcelona's Lionel Messi to sprint through on Osasuna’s goal in the 12th minute of Wednesday's La Liga encounter. As for the goal, I don’t even know. Messi’s first touch is with his head, he then juggles the ball to keep it elevated and then pops it over Salvatore Sirigu with his third touch. 

It’s absurd.