Argentine kidnap victim believes Lionel Messi’s name saved his life

A quite incredible story of survival and a common language from Nigeria, via Argentina.

Argentinean newspaper Clarin has reported about a football fan that had an extremely close brush with death. Santiago Lopez Menendez was working on an agricultural project [Flour Mills] with farmers in north-west Nigeria when, last Wednesday, he was kidnapped by a gun-wielding gang. He was held captive for three days, denied food and was badly beaten. Menendez believed his captors were treating him so brutally because, in part, they thought him to be an American. The language and communication barrier was broken down by Menendez repeating 'Messi, Messi, Messi'. He claims, via the newspapers interview with his brother, Jorge, that his treatment immediately improved. Flour Mills paid his ransom at the weekend and he was safely released. 'Thank you Messi, mentioning your name saved my life,' declared Menendez [pictured below]. Close call. [caption id="attachment_30350" align="alignnone" width="617"] Screengrab from Argentine publication Clarin.[/caption]