A 1-0 defeat is nothing to celebrate for a Manchester United player.
Nor is meeting Luis Suarez.
But for young Uruguayan talent Facundo Pellistri, you can understand where he was coming from when he described playing against Suarez as a ‘dream’ at the weekend.
Pellistri’s message read: “Sad for the result, but confident that together we can reverse this situation. A dream to have shared the pitch with you,@ LuisSuarez9! A pleasure to meet@ JoseMaGimenez13, @ LTorreira34and to you. Cracks all three. Congratulations on the 500!”
Pellistri would have been just eight years old when he was cheering countryman Suarez on at the 2010 World Cup.
At the weekend he got to play against him as his loan side Deportivo Alaves took on Atletico Madrid.
Suarez scored the winner, his 500th professional goal, and embraced Pellistri after the win.
The Atletico striker messages Pellistri on Instagram, telling him to keep playing like he is and showing promise, The Mirror reported.
Pellistri’s own performance won rave reviews, with social media abuzz with praise for his display.
The United youngster was picked out by Marca as one of the positives for Alaves in a decent performance, ending in a narrow 1-0 loss.
United sent Pellistri out to Spain to get involved in first team football, and playing against senior Urugayan internationals like Suarez, Lucas Torreira and Jose Gimenez was great experience for him.
Whether he ever gets to share the pitch with United teammate Edinson Cavani is a question for another day.
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