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Ryan Christie relishing chance to share world stage with ‘idol’ Lionel Messi
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- Ryan Christie relishing chance to share world stage with ‘idol’ Lionel Messi
Ryan Christie is delighted to be sharing the world stage with his idol Lionel Messi as he prepares for Scotland 's clash with Morocco on Friday night.
The 31-year-old Bournemouth player is a huge fan of the Argentina superstar and watched in admiration as Messi, 38, scored his first-ever World Cup hat-trick in their 3-0 opening win over Algeria in Kansas City.
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Messi moved on to 16 World Cup goals, tying with Germany 's Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading scorer in the tournament's history.
Christie, who came off the bench in Scotland's 1-0 win over Haiti at the Boston Stadium on Saturday night, is delighted to be sharing the spotlight with Messi as well as other top names such as France 's Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland of Norway .
Speaking before the Scots flew out of their Charlotte base to Boston on Wednesday afternoon, Christie said of the World Cup: "It's obviously amazing to be part of it.
"I'm getting to play in it and participate in it, but obviously you get the days when you kind of chill out a bit and you turn back into a spectator and you're chilling with the boys, watching the games.
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"Like last night, watching Messi do his thing like that is just incredible.
"Whether you're playing or not, to watch that kind of stuff happen is pretty immense and plays a massive part in why this tournament is so special, so pretty surreal to be honest.
"When I was younger I idolised Messi, so to think you're playing on the same kind of stage as him now, it's pretty cool and especially at the age he's at and watching him do his thing last night was unbelievable.
"I think everybody has that feeling now when you're playing on this stage that literally all eyes across the globe are watching you so you're just desperate to try and make a name for yourself."
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With Morocco and Brazil drawing 1-1 in their group opener in New Jersey, Scotland lead Group C by two points going into the game against the highly-rated Moroccans.
After getting a highly-coveted win against the Caribbean minnows – Scotland's first at a World Cup since 1990 – Christie wants Scotland to grasp the chance to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time.
The former Inverness and Celtic forward, looking to win his 70th cap, said: "I think obviously the excitement and stuff for the Haiti game has died down now. It was an incredible night and we were all buzzing with the result.
Lionel Messi scored a superb hat-trick for Argentina (Ed Zurga/AP)
"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves and knew how much that game meant to everyone and for us to move forward in the competition.
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"So we've done that, we've given ourselves that chance and we need to go and grasp it and the first chance to do that is Friday night against Morocco."
Scott McKenna sat out Scotland's last Charlotte training session before Friday's match.
The 29-year-old Dinamo Zagreb centre-back was absent for the win over Haiti with a calf injury but returned to Steve Clarke's group at the Atrium Health Performance Park, home to Major League Soccer's Charlotte FC , on Tuesday morning.
However, McKenna missed the final workout before the Scots fly to Boston on Wednesday afternoon.
