Blue Springs boy recounts walking with Lionel Messi onto field at World Cup
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- Eight-year-old Enoch McCleery walked onto the Arrowhead field with Lionel Messi before.
- Twenty-two Kansas City children from Ryogoku Soccer Academy took the field as player.
- Messi recorded his first-ever World Cup hat trick that night against Algeria at Arrowhead.
Dillon Duenaz said a prayer the night before Argentina opened defense of its World Cup title with a match against Algeria at Kansas City Stadium (aka Arrowhead).
It had nothing to do with the result of game, but rather what would happen before the whistle.
Please let my brother get Messi.
That prayer was answered as kid brother, Enoch McCleery, was the one paired with Argentina star Lionel Messi as part of the player escort program. Brad Leonard, director of the Ryogoku Soccer Academy, said his organization was chosen to pick who would take part, and 22 KC kids took the field with a player that night.
Each wanted Messi, but only one got the honor. Enoch’s reaction when he realized he’d be walking on the Arrowhead Stadium field with the best soccer player of all-time?
“I started giggling,” said Enoch, who is 8 and lives in Blue Springs.
Soon after, the other children chosen to walk on the field selflessly offered to make a change with Enoch.
“All the kids wanted you to trade spots once they realized you were going first,” said Ruth McCleery said to her son. “They were like, ‘Enoch, come on, trade us.’ He said, ‘No, not happening.’”
Heck no. That’s like giving up a lottery ticket. So after the pregame ceremony, those children, who are all between the ages of 8 and 11, did the next best thing.
“They just wanted to shake hands with me so they could touch Messi’s hand,” Enoch said, explaining a little-known transitive property of meeting your sports hero.
Enoch had no plans to wash that left hand ever again. But just a few days after the game, he caught a frog, so he had no choice. Besides, a lifelong pledge never to wash a hand isn’t plausible anyway, especially when you’re 8 years old.
Being that young probably was a good thing in a way, because it could be overwhelming to consider the scope of the moment. In addition to 70,000 fans at Arrowhead, millions more watched Enoch on television in Argentina and the United States, and around the globe.
Enoch’s low-key response: (It’s) pretty cool.”
But was he scared?
“Nervous,” he said with a nod.
Enoch noted that Messi looked just like he does in the PlayStation game. But one thing did surprise Enoch about Messi.
“He smelled like Vasoline a lot.,” Enoch said
Ruth McCleery was glued to the TV, but didn’t know what to expect when the players took the pitch. However, she knew it would be easy to spot Enoch because he had a distinctive and colorful hairstyle thanks to his uncle, Gerry Flores.
“When we saw him on the TV, we were in shock, like we couldn’t believe it,” she said. “So surreal. Brother even started tearing up, like, ‘Oh my god, he did it.’ We just really couldn’t believe it.”
And how about this for a coincidence? Older brother Dillon once had his photo taken with Messi on the pitch at Arrowhead. It came two years ago when Inter Miami played against Sporting KC. Dillon sprinted on the field during the match and Messi actually stopped for the selfie.
It was an unorthodox approach, but Dillon got the picture and then was escorted off the field. Ruth now has photos of both of her boys with Messi in entirely different circumstances.
Messi could be back next week if Argentina advances to the quarterfinals as their path would take them back to Arrowhead.
Leonard said different kids from the Ryogoku Soccer Academy will be on the pitch for that as player escorts, but perhaps Messi will want to enlist Enoch. After all, Messi had his first-ever World Cup hat trick that night against Algeria.
“About the hat trick,” mom noted, “Enoch said, ‘You know he only did that hat trick because I was his good-luck charm.’”
Hey, facts are facts, right?
This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 8:57 AM.
