MAGNIFICENT MILE — Soccer fans hoping to see Lionel Messi or his Argentinian teammates during the Copa América games in Chicago just need to camp out near a luxury Michigan Avenue hotel.
Many already are.
Hardcore Messi fans are staking out the Park Hyatt, 800 N. Michigan Ave., this week as Argentina prepares to play Panama on Friday at Soldier Field during the international soccer tournament.
These Argentina fans are hoping to see Lionel Messi walk out of the Park Hyatt. Apparently the team is staying there pic.twitter.com/x0NXVdkq5x
— David Lee Matthews (@DavidLMatthews) June 9, 2016
Fans, many of them in blue-and-white striped Argentina jerseys, are camping with large signs hoping to grab the attention of the man generally regarded as the best soccer player in the world. But by Wednesday night, they were barricaded from the hotel entrance after a fan from Mexico reportedly grabbed Messi's arm as he hopped off the team's bus earlier that day.
"I didn't want to hurt him, although I scratched his arm when police intervened," the fan, Norma Briseño, told Hoy.
Copa América, the oldest continental soccer tournament in the world, is hosting games in Chicago and across the United States for the first time this summer as it celebrates its 100th anniversary. The tournament, traditionally between South American teams, includes North American teams as well this year.
Team USA blanked Costa Rica 4-0 on Tuesday at Soldier Field, and the Argentina-Panama match Friday is up next for Chicago. Soldier Field will also host a tournament semifinal June 22.
Messi, 28, has yet to play in the tournament as he nurses a back injury. Other top-tier teams in the tournament, such as Brazil, declined to send some of their best players to the Copa América, opting to save them for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
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