Pablo Alvarado: The man who owes Messi 50 dollars almost two decades later

Throughout his career, Lionel Messi has touched the lives of people across the globe, and he has been the subject of an endless number of anecdotes from different figures along the way.

Now, a new story has emerged from when Messi was just starting out in the Argentina national team, which involves former teammate Pablo Alvarado.

Back in 2004, Messi had made his second appearance for his country's first-team, as Argentina took on Uruguay.

At the time, each player was paid 50 dollars for friendlies abroad, and Alvarado was instructed to give half of the 100 dollars he received to Messi. However, he never paid him, and still owes him the money.

The anecdote came to light in Ariel Senosiain's book 'Messi, the incomplete genius'.

Alvarado himself saw the story resurface on Twitter, before explaining the reason why he never paid Messi.

"I didn't have two 50 dollar bills and I was told to give one to [Messi] later... I never saw him again," said Alvaro.

"As soon as I see him I will give it back to him."