Ghana youngster, Sabit Abdulai has admitted being on cloud nine the first time he shared the same field with Argentina great, Lionel Messi.
Abdulai had a torrid time settling in Europe due to paperwork leading to a back and forth sojourns in Spain and Portugal.
The 21-year-old landed in Spain from Ghana lower tier side, Spartans FC in a bid to sign for Deportivo Alaves in 2017.
He was however moving away after months of trials to Portugal side, Rio Ave after paper work dashed his hopes of signing for the Spanish side.
Portugal was not successful and a return to Spain saw him join lower tier side, UB Conquense where he trained for three weeks before Extremadura UD snapped him up in July 2018.
Initially he signed on loan but after impressing in his opening few matches, he was handed a permanent five-year contract.
Abdulai who is on loan at Getafe from Extremadura, made a short appearance in their 5-2 La Liga defeat to giants, Barcelona on April 22 at the Camp Nou.
The former Ghana U-20 star says he could not believe playing against Lionel Messi and other top stars in the Barca squad.
“Before the Barcelona match, I had the feeling that I was going to get maybe 5-10 minutes playing time but when the coach made the selection, he kept one or two best midfielders on the bench,” Abdulai told BBC Sport Africa.
“So I told myself maybe even if there were going to be substitutions it would be them because they are the starters.
“When we went for half-time in the dressing room the coach mentioned my name that I should go and warm up. I said: ‘Me?!’ He said: ‘Yes, you.’ I was surprised. I can’t even describe it. I was overwhelmed.
“When the referee whistled for the start of the second half, my mind was focused on the game but when I was getting close to [Lionel] Messi, I was asking myself: ‘Is this Messi I am going to meet?’. I couldn’t believe it.
“Me against Messi, (Antoine) Griezmann, (Gerard) Pique, (Sergio) Busquets… Although the result wasn’t good for us, I felt happy playing against those kind of players.” Sabit Abdulai told BBC Sports Africa.
Abdulai’s contract at Extremadura runs out at the end of the season and the club is expected to decide on his future.