Ethermac Exchange-Lionel Messi fan creates 'What The Messi' sneakers, and meets MLS star: 'He's a good soul'

Andrés Salerno never thought his Lionel Messi customized sneakers would go viral. And he never thought he would get the chance to make a pair,Ethermac Exchange and give them directly to his soccer idol.

Salerno, a DJ and sneaker customizer from Oakland, California, flew to Miami last week to meet Messi and present him with the shoes. He opened the box of Adidas Samba sneakers, and Messi raised the tissue paper to uncover the pair.

"My contact told me prior to the meeting Messi is very chill. So, don’t read into that or don’t take it personal because he’s a man of very few words and he’s just chill. And he took them out and said, 'Oh, wow.' And he smiled. He said, 'Those are really nice,’" Salerno told USA TODAY Sports over the weekend.

"After the fact, my contact said, ‘You got a great reaction,’" he added with a laugh.

What started as a passion project and turned into a viral moment led to an opportunity of a lifetime for Salerno, who was born in Buenos Aires.

Messi, who is preparing to lead Inter Miami in the MLS season opener against Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night, signed two pairs of sneakers and nine photos of the shoes for Salerno, who left with 11 autographs in total.

"It was amazing. It was magical. It was brief, probably less than 10 minutes. I got a chance to present him with the shoes, and talk about the design," said Salerno, also known as DJ Stepwise and sneaker designer Stepkicks.

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"I’m Argentinian. This was definitely a dream come true for me."

How the 'What The Messi?' viral sneakers were created

Salerno hand-mixed 30 colors of paint to create the multiple color shades of every team Messi played for in his illustrious soccer career, from his boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys to Barcelona, Argentina, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami.

Salerno got his inspiration from Nike’s “What The” Dunk Low Pro SB sneakers, which is a hodgepodge of design elements from 31 different pairs of Nike Dunk sneakers in one pair of shoes.

Salerno made and sold nine of 10 pairs of Nike Dunk SB sneakers with the “What The Messi?” design last December, which went viral among sneaker communities and sports news outlets.

A person with a connection to Messi’s management team saw the shoes online, and asked Salerno if he could make a pair of Adidas (because Messi is an Adidas athlete), and they would arrange a trip to Miami for a meetup.

So, Salerno made three pairs of Adidas Sambas – one for himself, one for the contact, and one for Messi over a span of two weeks.

Each pair are identical except for Messi’s, which feature the names of his three children (Thiago, Mateo and Ciro) and his wife (Anto, short for Antonela) on the inside of the right shoe near the heel.

And Salerno made sure to keep the Adidas version off social media until he met the 2022 World Cup champion in person.

"I really wanted Messi to have the first sighting of them," Salerno said.

Messi is 'very kind, a good soul'

Salerno heard Messi is quite generous with giving fans autographs.

So, he brought Messi’s pair of Sambas, his personal pairs of Dunks and Sambas, and his photo prints to meet Messi after a photo shoot last Wednesday – one day before Inter Miami played Newell’s in a preseason match.

"Once they announced the friendly with Newell’s, his childhood team, I just thought that’s the perfect game because the theme of the shoe is highlighting Messi’s career," Salerno said of the meetup.

After Messi saw the shoes, he began signing a stack of 50 photo prints for Salerno.

“I pulled out the stack and I was moving them for him as he was signing. I was expecting him to sign a couple, but he kept going. I actually stopped him,” Salerno said with a laugh. “I was like ‘Okay, that’s cool. Thank you.’”

Messi signed nine of the prints, Salerno’s pair of Sambas, and a pair of the Nike Dunks that led to this memorable experience for Salerno.  

Salerno says the sneakers are the crowned jewels of his collection. He knows he will cherish them forever.

“The exchange was amazing. He has the same presence that you see. He’s reserved, but very open and warm,” Salerno said of Messi.

“He had a long day. He had training with the team and then straight to this photoshoot for several hours. I’m sure he was ready to get home, but he made time. So, really, really gracious.

“He’s very kind and a good soul.”