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The meeting with Messi was arranged unexpectedly.
Looking back, that connection was sown many years ago, when I worked in the tourism industry in Hue and often shared stories about the cultural exchange between people from different countries. After moving to the US and continuing as a contributor to Travellive, I maintained the habit of bringing my camera on every trip. Initially, the camera was just a tool to capture moments along the way, but one day, it brought me closer to one of the greatest icons of world football.
Standing for the first time amidst a sea of people clad in the blue and white jerseys of the Argentinian team at Kyle Field, I understood that Messi was not simply a football player. He was like an invisible thread connecting people from many different countries, cultures, and generations. In the stadium, you could hear Spanish, English, Indian, Japanese, and even languages I couldn't recognize, but they were all chanting one name: Messi, Messi, Messi.
Based on information from a friendly match between Argentina and Honduras, I'm preparing to embark on what I jokingly call a "Messi-Tina photo tour," because the absence of Messi leaves a huge void in the Argentina team. This is a rare occasion for the Argentine national team to appear in Texas, so even though it means traveling hundreds of kilometers and standing for hours under the early summer sun just to wait for Messi's appearance, nothing can dampen my excitement.
In photojournalism, it's often said that a great photograph is the result of many hours of waiting for a moment that lasts only a few seconds. With Messi, that's truer than ever. Throughout the match, I had five close encounters with Messi, trying to capture as many beautiful photos as possible.
That was the first time I stood in the working area right by the sidelines, the distance between me and Argentina's number 10 was so close that I could clearly see every expression on his face as he went out to warm up with his teammates on the pitch. And once there was a time, there was bound to be a second time, when he walked into the tunnel to the cheers of over 90,000 spectators chanting his name.
The third time was when he stepped back onto the pitch from the bench during match preparation. There was also a fourth time when he sat in the technical area, completely focused on the upcoming match, seemingly oblivious to the hundreds of cameras pointed at him.
Looking through the telephoto lens, I realized that Messi on the field was different from the glamorous image the media usually portrays. He was quieter, less expressive, and always gave the impression of being completely focused on his work. Perhaps it is this very calmness that makes fans love him even more.
Taking photos of Messi with his teammates almost filled up my memory, and I realized that the main character in my photo shoots wasn't always Messi. What fascinated me most was the stands, where tens of thousands of different stories were unfolding simultaneously.
I remember a boy, about eight years old, wearing an oversized number 10 jersey, sitting on his father's shoulders throughout the entire match just so he wouldn't miss a single moment of his idol. I remember a young Latino boy holding up a sign that read "Don't Messi with Texas," causing the entire stadium to erupt in laughter. I remember three-generation families wearing Argentina jerseys, from grandparents with gray hair to children not yet old enough to go to school. In their eyes, there was an emotion that only sports can create: a feeling of belonging to a community larger than themselves.
Interestingly, every time I raised my camera towards the stands, many fans immediately smiled or waved. They didn't know who I was, where I was from, or how those photos would be used. But everyone seemed happy to know that their moment was being captured. Some even proactively posed, held up Argentinian flags, or called friends to join in the photo. In that moment, the distance between a stranger from Vietnam and fans from halfway around the world seemed to disappear.
Another lovely encounter.
While working, I pointed my camera at a male fan standing close to the stadium fence. Next to him was a young woman wearing an Argentina shirt. I almost completely ignored the woman because the subject I wanted to photograph was this special man. After the match, I continued with my work and completely forgot about that brief moment.
The next day, when I opened Facebook, I was surprised to receive a message from a stranger.
“Hi, my name is Kay Aracena.”
Kay introduced herself as being from Mendoza, Argentina. What piqued my curiosity was how she managed to find the account of a Vietnamese person living in Texas among nearly a hundred thousand people at the stadium that day. The answer was even more surprising.
It turned out that after the match, Kay accidentally searched for "Argentina vs Honduras" on Facebook. Among the thousands of results, she saw the photos I had posted and realized I was the one who had pointed the camera at her during the match. Thinking she might have appeared in one of the photos, she decided to send a message to ask.
Kay Aracena - a new friend from Mendoza, Argentina
At first glance, it seems like a very ordinary story. But the more I think about it, the more I realize this is an almost unbelievable encounter. Amidst a sea of spectators in a stadium, amidst millions of posts related to Messi on social media, and among more than eight billion people worldwide, a girl from Argentina found a Vietnamese man because of a few seconds spent in the stands at a football match.
Messi was the reason I set out on this trip. But it was the people I met along the way that made it truly memorable.
From that conversation, I gained a new friend in Argentina, a country I previously only knew through football, tango, and stories about Diego Maradona. It was also then that I realized that what I brought back from my Messi photo-hunting journey was more than just beautiful pictures.
The author (right) working with a Vietnamese-American reporter at Kyle Field stadium.
Looking back at the tens of thousands of photos I've taken over the years, of course I still like the Messi photos the most. They are the result of patience, long journeys, and the joy of this hobby. But if I had to choose the moments that made me smile the longest, I would probably choose the faces in the stands: strangers happily posing for the camera, Argentinian fans singing the national anthem in a foreign land, or the girl named Kay from Mendoza who unintentionally turned a fleeting moment into a cross-border friendship.
Perhaps that's also the most appealing aspect of photo tours. Sometimes we set out to find a famous person, a landmark, or a special moment. But at the end of the journey, what remains in our memories are encounters that were completely unplanned.
And who knows, maybe on my next trip I'll get to meet Cristiano Ronaldo?
