Alexis Mac Allister is fearless on the ball for Liverpool, but he wasn’t always so confident growing up.
The Argentine joined Liverpool from Brighton this summer for £35m, after winning the World Cup for his country in December.
Mac Allister has had a long journey to reach the top of the world and with a little convincing from his brother Kevin Mac Allister, he revealed that football stickers were part of his journey.
Speaking about being asked to play his first match with 11 men for Club JJ Batista against Independiente, the Liverpool midfielder explained it was “a bit of a funny situation”.
He told LFC TV:
“I’m still quite small for my age so playing on a big field isn’t really something I’m thinking about.
“But that time we were missing one or two players so they started giving me packs of soccer stickers so I could play.
”Mac Allister was initially hesitant to play a year later, but the stickers did the trick.
“They started with just one [package], but quickly increased it to 10 because I kept pushing them to buy more,” the 24-year-old said.
“When we counted 10 points, I finally accepted and that’s when I made my debut against Independiente.
”Mac Allister’s godfather recalled the events when speaking to the Liverpool Echo:
“We won the match and he [Alexis] scored two goals at an age [one year] older than him and he had never played at that age.
The packages gave him a little encouragement!
With the money Mac Allister is currently earning, he can afford to complete the 2022 World Cup sticker book and it will have his own face inside.
