A FOOTBALLER went from Canvey’s Brockwell Stadium to Barcelona after landing a dream job playing soccer superstar Lionel Messi.

Canvey winger Hussein Isa was whisked away to Barcelona after being picked to be the Argentine’s body double in an Adidas football boot advert.

Isa, 22, said he felt honoured to have been impersonating the Barcelona forward’s fancy footwork for the ad.

He said: “It was such an honour because he’s the best player in the world and to even be considered close to him would be amazing.

“It was the dream job, really.”

Isa, who is more used to turning out at Canvey’s stadium in Park Lane, rather than stadia like the Catalan giants’ Nou Camp home, got the job after going to a London casting with football consultant Andy Ansah in January.

He had gone with his team-mate Tarkan Mustafa, who has worked as a Cristiano Ronaldo lookalike, and was filmed doing tricks.

Two weeks later, he received a phone call from Adidas, asking if he would play Messi in an upcoming TV commercial.

Isa, who is a PE teacher, said: “I was gobsmacked. He’s my favourite player and they said they were going to use my body and put his head on it.

“I think I was picked because of the way I was with the ball, my dribbling and my running.”

He was flown to Barcelona and put up in a five-star hotel.

At 5.30am the next morning he was fitted with an Argentina shirt, with Messi’s name on the back, and new boots, which had not yet gone on sale.

He said “Getting to wear them before anyone else was great.”

He spent three days being filmed single-handedly taking on the Spanish football team, made up of lookalikes.

He had to dribble past seven defenders and perform various tricks.

The advert was launched across the world a fortnight ago and Isa is finding it hard to comprehend millions of people are watching his skills, thinking they are Messi’s.

Unfortunately, the Argentina star was too busy training with Barcelona to make it to the studio when it was being filmed.

Isa signed for Canvey last summer and has now been given the nickname “Messi” among his team-mates.

He has previously played for Barnet, Staines Town and Tottenham Hotspur and juggles football with teaching sport at a primary school in Enfield.