In a long-awaited and highly anticipated meeting, two global icons who share the same first name, football legend Lionel Messi and music icon Lionel Richie, finally crossed paths. The meeting, which has been rumoured and speculated about for years, delighted fans of both stars and sparked a frenzy on social media. Celia Cuccittini, Lionel Messi's mother, was a big fan of the singer Richie and named her son after him in his honour. The pair, who had amazingly never met before, finally connected for the first time on Friday night. Messi meets with Richie Richie posted several photos to social media showing him shaking hands with Messi at an event. Richie was very happy to see Messi and they greeted each other warmly. He later posted online about how happy he was to have met up with the other person. According to the Sun, he said, “When Lionel meets Lionel! His mother named him after me… and now here we are. Great meeting you after all these years.” In a previous statement, Richie had revealed that he was the namesake of the renowned soccer player Lionel Messi. In 2014, the singer said, “(Us meeting) is gonna happen, because I’m quite honoured. They named him after me, how about that? I love it.”