Mac Allister's dad played with Maradona, now Brighton man is Messi's teammate

Mac Allister's dad, Carlos, played with Argentina legend Diego Maradona at Boca Juniors. Now his son, Brighton playmaker Alexis, is following in his footsteps by starring alongside the country's best and has won the World Cup with Lionel Messi.

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Carlos and Maradona played alongside each other during the latter's second stint at the Primera Division side in the 1990s, less than a decade after he captained Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986.

And the football legend had a profound effect on Carlos' career, according to the Seagulls star.

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"Maradona was really important for my dad," he told talkSPORT in November.

"My dad is really grateful to him and how important he was for him in his career and off the pitch as well. So yeah, he's really grateful and it's nice I could play with Messi and him with Maradona."

Of course, Mac Allister is an impressive player in his own right, starting every one of Brighton's Premier League games this season and helping the Seagulls to seventh place in the table.

Not to mention he now has fourteen caps for his country at 23 years old.

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But playing with Messi has surely got to be a career highlight for the midfielder.

Given not many footballers get to say they've shared a dressing room with one of the greatest players to ever grace the sport, talkSPORT asked the Argentine to reveal what it's like to be in the same dressing room as the legendary star.

"It's amazing," the Seagulls playmaker added.

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"In the beginning it was a bit weird, I was nervous because I'm a really shy guy.

"But he's really nice. Really quiet, but I really enjoy sharing a dressing room with him and all the players in the national team."

The World Cup trophy is the only piece of silverware that had evaded 35-year-old Messi in his career, having coming unbearably close back in Rio in 2014, losing 1-0 to Germany in the final.

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And when asked if he and Messi could finally win the world title for their country for the first time since 1986, Mac Allister recognised his side were more than capable, but kept his feet on the ground.

"Of course, we believe we can do it," he explained.

"But at the same time we know it'll be hard as there's a lot of good national teams, really strong sides like Spain, England, Brazil, France, so it will be hard.

"We are not saying we are going to win it, but we will fight for it."

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Now, he's heading back to Brighton with a World Cup medal.