Paul Pogba has responded to an Australian football fan whose parents went viral after posing for a photo with the Manchester United star, despite having no idea who he was.
Lewis and Roslyn Patrick were oblivious to the fact they had met the World Cup winner on a train from Manchester to London on Sunday until they sent a picture to their football-loving son Nathan, who retold the tale on Twitter.
MY DAD ASKED PAUL POGBA TO TAKE A PHOTO OF HIM AND MY MUM — Nate Patrick (@N8NathanPatrick) January 20, 2019
The husband and wife from Sydney said they were sat near a group of “excited” young men playing a card game on the train.
After some time, two of the men approached the couple to apologise for the noise and asked if they wanted a photo.
“Dad is like, oh, that’s nice, and gives one of the gentlemen his phone for this stranger to take a photo of Mum and Dad on this train from Manchester,” explained Nathan, an eSports commentator in Australia.
“The stranger looks weirdly at my Dad (and) says (with a French accent) ‘No, no no, I am asking if you would like a photo with me, sir?’
“My Dad looks at my Mum like who on earth does this guy think he is? But also my Dad is mega-polite, and obliges to be in the photo.”
Having read through all of these messages, my Dad sends through the photo, and asks "Nathan, you wouldn't happen to know who this is?". — Nate Patrick (@N8NathanPatrick) January 20, 2019 IT'S PAUL BLOODY POGBA pic.twitter.com/UhFm0qZBiN
— Nate Patrick (@N8NathanPatrick) January 20, 2019
It was only after Lewis Patrick sent the picture to his son that he realised the two men were United’s star midfielders Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic.
Uninterested in football, the couple swiftly “moved on”, said Nathan, by “sharing photos of a dog they saw after they got off the train”.
They are now sharing photos of a dog they saw after they got off the train, so I think it's safe to say they've moved on. Thank you for your time. Football, eh? ⚽️❤ — Nate Patrick (@N8NathanPatrick) January 20, 2019 Man I need to see the dog 🐶 Say hi to your lovely folks for me! — Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) January 23, 2019
Pogba commented on the Twitter thread: “Man I need to see the dog 🐶 Say hi to your lovely folks for me!”
The World Cup winner – the Premier League’s most expensive player – has been praised for responding to the Twitter thread, which has been shared tens of thousands of times since Sunday.
Brilliant. Well played @paulpogba. https://t.co/yC6mfWRi6i — Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) January 23, 2019 You’ve made it nate — Sydney FC Sam (@Samer96_) January 23, 2019
“Brilliant. Well played @paulpogba,” tweeted Gary Lineker.
Mrs Patrick told the Press Association: “My husband thought they were offering to take a photo of both of us, and they said, ‘no we’ll have a photo’, and we were saying, ‘oh no, it doesn’t matter’.
“It was just one of those (things) and Nathan just couldn’t believe it, he thought we were joking to start with, and Nathan lives and breathes football and just loves it all, which is quite funny.”
Nathan said of his parents: “They’re lovely people – just know nothing about football.”
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