Chinese superfan rejoices as Messi visits Beijing

BEIJING : For thirtysomething Zhang Jiao, after realising her dream of witnessing Argentina soccer great Lionel Messi lift the World Cup every match he plays from now on is "precious".

Zhang travelled from Shanghai to Beijing this week to join scores of other giddy Messi fans as the Argentina captain came to town to play a friendly against Australia.

"For Messi fans, you really have to cherish the remaining time," said Zhang, who was still trying to get a ticket for Thursday's game.

"It is just a friendly game, so there is not much competitive value in it. So why should I come to Beijing this time? But any opportunity to come here, to see him in a game, is valuable, precious, because you know there are not that many left."

Not initially a soccer fan, Zhang was hooked at first sight in her Shanghai university dorm when she watched Messi make his World Cup debut as a teenager in 2006.

During the course of Messi's glittering career she has watched hundreds of his matches on TV, often getting up in the middle of the night to see him play for Barcelona or Paris St Germain.

Zhang has travelled to Messi's hometown in Argentina and to the last three World Cups to see him play.

She visited a monastery in Tibet ahead of the last year's tournament to pray for her biggest wish to come true, for Argentina to win in Qatar.

And she watched all seven of his matches from the stands in Qatar, culminating in Argentina's victory over France in the final.

"The feeling was then I no longer had any regrets in my life," she said.

"It was definitely the highlight of my life after so many years, because not only I realised my dream, Messi also realized the dream. So I witnessed this double dream."

WELCOME DISTRACTION

As she sat on the touchline of an