Lionel Messi Fan Live-Tweets, Periscopes Pitch Invasion During USA vs. Argentina

An Argentina supporter who ran onto the pitch to meet Lionel Messi during the team's 4-0 win over the United States outlined his plan on Twitter beforehand and got a friend to Periscope the event from his account.

Here is the moment in question from the Copa America semi-final on Tuesday at NRG Stadium in Houston, per the Catalan Giant:

"

Leo Messi with Pitch invader.pic.twitter.com/lw8p7uqO4k

— The Catalan Giant (@TheCataIanGiant) June 22, 2016"

As Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC reported, the pitch invader was Michael Soto, who asked the Barcelona star to sign a shirt for him, hugged him a couple of times and bowed at the great man's feet. Messi even had the courtesy to hand the pen back to the supporter before he was escorted off the pitch by security.

Soto posted the following bulletins ahead of the meeting with his idol:

And as we can see here courtesy of Corrigan, somebody captured the pitch invasion live through Soto's Periscope account:

The incident occurred just before the second half of the Copa America semi-final kicked off; Messi had scored a stunning free-kick to make the score 2-0 before the interval, a goal that took him ahead of Gabriel Batistuta to become the country's all-time top goalscorer.

OMAR TORRES/Getty Images

When asked whether he was concerned about a potential confrontation for his star, Argentina manager Tata Martino was as relaxed as the Barcelona man. "I was not scared about it," the coach said, per Corrigan. "I was impressed with how Leo took a minute, grabbed a marker and signed an autograph for the kid."

Argentina are looking to win their first Copa America since 1993 and will play either Chile or Colombia in Sunday's final. Messi has started only two games but has five goals to show for his efforts already.