"I'll frame it because of who he is. Obviously, if it was with Cristiano Ronaldo I would do the same. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to face him, but I think he and Messi would be the only players I would do this for. So much so that, to ask Messi for his shirt, I lost all the shame I had and even did something I never thought I would have the courage to do," the 36-year-old Lisbon forward stressed to the Lusa agency.

In the hours following the match played in Fort Lauderdale, in the state of Florida, a video shared on social networks attested to that moment with the world champion for Argentina and winner of eight Ballon d'Or awards already in the tunnel leading to the locker rooms.

"In all these years of my career, I only asked one player for a photo. It was Andrea Pirlo and it was even by chance, because I caught him in the corridor leaving the stadium, a teammate of mine asked him to take a photo and I took the opportunity. It's a situation in which I don't feel good, but I had to lose my shame with Messi, because these are unique moments and I don't know if I would have another opportunity to play with him and take a photo or have his shirt," he admitted.

Pedro Santos had started by approaching the Inter Miami captain at half-time, who agreed to offer his pink '10' shirt at the end of the game, when he also posed for the cameras alongside the DC United winger.

"I've played against other great players, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kaká, Pirlo and so on, but I never had the courage to ask them for their shirt, nor was I thinking of doing it now. My children had asked me if I was going to swap with Messi, but at the time I had even said no. Then, before going to that game, I was with my roommate and I told him that I was going to ask after all, also because I was going to start and would be close to him," he noted.

In the few seconds of interaction at Chase Stadium, Pedro Santos kept the portrait of "a very reserved person and player", who had just helped the Eastern Conference leader to win at home against the Washington team, on the 15th matchday, thanks to a goal from the recently entered Ecuadorian Leonardo Campana, in the 90+4th minute.

"Messi manages to take the game to another dimension and what he moves off the field is incredible, given the number of people he brings just to watch him. Obviously, he moves everything, but during the game I didn't feel any difference. It was a pleasure and a pride to share the pitch with him, but we did everything to win and it would have been magnificent to add three points against a team with Messi, Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. There were opportunities to score, but we couldn't and they ended up being happier," lamented the former winger of Sporting de Braga, Rio Ave and Vitória de Setúbal.

In his eighth season in the United States, and second with DC United, ninth in the Eastern Conference, with 17 points, 14 behind Inter Miami, who have played one more game, Pedro Santos highlights the impact felt since the arrival of the phenomenon Messi in July 2023, after leaving the three-time French champion Paris Saint-Germain at the end of his contract.

"People are already used to him being here. In the beginning, it was something new and there was much more support and excitement for Messi's name, but today it's a bit calmer. Now, when the game days arrive, people go and go crazy just to be able to watch him up close. The house is guaranteed to be full and there's a madness to get tickets. He came to add more attention to the championship," concluded the forward, who has already played for Columbus Crew, from 2017 to 2022, becoming American champion in 2020.