Soccer/Football Imagines

Lionel Messi (Part 1) [~] Rival's Sister

As long as you could remember, life had always revolved around your older brother, Cristiano. You weren't a big complainer or a big fan of the spotlight so you didn't mind it much. It only was annoying for you when people would try and get close to you just because of your older brother. You didn't blame him for it, if anything it made him more protective of you. The age difference was three years, and you two were close. You were a successful journalist in Spain for a magazine whose headquarters were in Madrid, making it easy to see your brother, and for occasionally babysitting your nephew.

One day, your boss called you into her office. "You wanted to see me," you said.

"Yes, your last story on Real Madrid was brilliant, and readers all over the country are asking for more. So, I'm sending you to interview the Barcelona football club. You'll take the 10:00 train tomorrow morning, and someone will pick you up and take you to the players' training arena. I expect the report on my desk by Friday," your boss ordered, dismissing you with a wave of her hand. You were excited, people enjoyed your article, but at the same time you were worried about what the next day held in store.

You walked to your apartment, deciding to start making dinner. Your brother and nephew were coming over for dinner tonight. After sweating in the kitchen for about an hour, the front door to your apartment opened. Your nephew ran through the door, attaching himself to your leg. "Tia!" your nephew giggled, as you picked him up, resting him on your hip. Your brother closed the door and walked into the kitchen.

"He's had a little sugar," your brother replied to how energetic Cristiano Jr. was being. You chuckled lightly and hugged your brother. Dinner was ready and you set it on the table. You and your brother talked about both your careers and you thought it was the best opportunity to tell your brother about your new assignment.

"My boss said that the readers really enjoyed the article I wrote about Real Madrid," you stated as you wiped dinner off Cristiano Jr.'s face.

"That's great, it was the cover story too, right?"

"Yeah, my boss was so impressed she gave me a new assignment."

"Do you get to travel? Foreign war correspondent?" Cristiano joked.

"No, actually she wants me to interview the Barcelona football team," you replied, picking at your food.

Cristiano was silent for a minute. "That sounds fun," he said.

"You sure, you sound like I popped your football again," you commented, remembering when you were four and Cristiano was seven. You had accidently popped his football with a needle from your sewing kit you had gotten for your birthday. Cristiano had throw a fit and refused to talk to you for three days until your mother forced him to forgive you.

"Just be careful. I'm sure they're all nice off the football field, but my encounters with them were hostile."

"No duh," you responded, thinking back to the last El Clasico where you had taken Junior out of view of the field for most of the game.

"How long are you going to be gone?"

"Only a day or two." After another hour, Cristiano Sr. and Jr. left, leaving you to pack a bag for your up coming interview. You slept soundly, and woke up the next morning, excitement filling your stomach. You quickly showered and dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast at the nearby café and took a taxi to the train station. Grabbing your ticket, you waited for ten minutes before the train arrived. Taking a seat next to the window, you sipped your coffee silently. The train ride was almost three hours. Instead of lounging around for three hours, you looked up information about the team you were about to interview. The train pulled into the Barcelona station and you hopped off.

Looking around, you spotted a man holding a sign that had your name on it. Making your way over to him quickly, he asked for you to show your press pass, which you did. You hopped in the back of the car for the uneventful drive. Barcelona looked like a beautiful city, you hoped to visit it again in the future. The driver stopped and led you into Camp Nou. You looked around the stadium, eyes focusing in on the footballers in the midst of a practice. Suddenly, you wished you had worn heals, looking at the height of some of the players. You were only about 5' 4", your brother had inherited all the height genes. Tucking a (Y/H/C) strand behind your ear, you walked over to whom you presumed was the manager.

He introduced himself, shaking your hand with a smile. "You must be (Y/N) Ronaldo, you're not a spy are you," he said in a joking tone.

"No, I'm just here to interview your players with questions from around the country," you replied. He nodded and called the boys over, leading the way to where the interview would be held. There was to be an interview with the team as a whole and then individual players. You sat in the interviewer chair, smoothing out your patterned skirt.

One by one, the players filed into the room, each taking a seat in front of you. "Hello, my name is (Y/N) Ronaldo, and I'll be interviewing you today," you stated, a smile gracing your lips. A few of the players faces showed surprise, and then hardened.

"Look if this is just some ploy by Real Madrid to try and throw off our focus-" Xavi started.

"-I'm not a spy. My brother is on Real Madrid, yes, but this interview is strictly for an article in El Español Publicar (The Spanish Post - made up). If you don't mind, I would like to move forward with the interview," you interrupted, the smile fading slightly on your lips. The players still seemed wary of you but answered the questions, which were sent in by fans anyways. After the interview, you called certain players. The first on the list was Lionel Messi, also know as the player everyone compared your brother to.

He sat in his chair, staring at you as if calculating in his mind whether or not you were trying to get information out of him for Real Madrid. "So, the first question is . . . Who is the better player, you or Cristiano Ronaldo?" you asked, placing the card down with a hard look on your face. It took a moment for Messi to respond.

"Cristiano Ronaldo is a tremendous player and a tough opponent. He has good foot skills and scoring ability. At the end of the day, however, I cannot determine which of us is the better player because we are both backed by team mates that give us the opportunities to score and win matches," Messi replied. A smile tugged the corner of your lips, maybe he wasn't as bad as you had feared. The rest of the interview went on without problems. Afterwards, you thanked Messi, shaking his hand and exchanged slight smiles with each other. As he walked out of the room, something told you this wouldn't be the last time you would see Lionel Messi.