Web Desk
\nZAGAZIG (Egypt)
\nThey may not be meeting the real Lionel Messi, but Islam Battah\u2019s resemblance to the celebrated Barcelona footballer is so uncanny, that the children at an orphanage in the Egyptian city of Zagazig swarm around him in delight anyway.
\nSeeing the excitement his presence causes at such events, the 27-year-old Egyptian painter is happy to pose as the Argentine, wearing a Barcelona shirt and joining in a game of football.
\n\u201cWhen I started growing my beard, my friends told me that I look like Messi. When I grew my beard even more, the resemblance was clearer,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThe kids\u2019 happiness with the resemblance between me and Messi is indescribable. When you make someone happy, God rewards you. I wanted to share this happiness with them,\u201d he added.
\nOne of the children to play football with Battah was Ammar Ashry.
\n\u201cI was so happy and felt that Messi is coming to play with us,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, I really want to see Mohamed Salah,\u201d he added, referring to Liverpool\u2019s leading Egyptian forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Web Desk ZAGAZIG (Egypt) They may not be meeting the real Lionel Messi, but Islam Battah\u2019s resemblance to the celebrated Barcelona footballer is so uncanny, that the children at an orphanage in the Egyptian city of Zagazig swarm around him in delight anyway. Seeing the excitement his presence causes at such events, the 27-year-old Egyptian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182335,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-182316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n