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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the opening minutes of a scrimmage last week, 20-year-old Burlingame Dragons striker Daniel Musovski received the ball, looked up, and assessed his options. The junior at UNLV had only arrived at Burlingame three days prior, and was eager to make an impression at the semi-pro, San Jose Earthquakes affiliate&amp;nbsp;PDL club where he\u2019d play during the summer after scoring 14 goals as an All-America sophomore in college.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt was the very first time I got the ball in the game, and I just looked up and played it to somebody,\u201D he recalls. \u201CThen a second later I realized the player I passed to was Sergio Ag\u00FCero.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes, &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;Sergio Ag\u00FCero.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI just started smiling in the middle of the game,\u201D Musovski said. &amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;International and big-name club teams often use PDL squads as training partners. The teams, made up of a mix of regional college players looking for a pro-like summer experience, youth players from nearby MLS clubs, and under-the-radar pros, are often happy to oblige. The experience not only keeps the traveling team in game shape, but serves as an unforgettable experience for the players on the other side of the ball.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Along with 21-year-old midfielder (and fellow UNLV Rebel) Irvin Somera, Musovski was one of two players who got that experience, but with one crucial difference: Instead of playing against Argentina with their Burlingame teammates, the two were slotted into the Argentina team, playing alongside some of the best in the world.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n\r\n\t&lt;strong&gt;WATCH: Amazing Argentine broadcast call of Messi's&amp;nbsp;hat trick&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The invitation started with a text message, sent by Dragons coach Eric Bucchere to his players on the evening of June 6. Would the team like to play in a 40-minute scrimmage against the Argentina national team after its eventual win over Chile in its Copa America Centenario opener at Santa Clara's Levi's Stadium?&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The answer, obviously, was yes. The next morning, the team gathered at the training complex and the Dragons team that would face Argentina took shape.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI think they were just anxious to get in,\u201D Somera said of his teammates. The just-graduated midfielder had participated in some training exercises with Argentina earlier in the team\u2019s stay, so he figured he\u2019d let some others get in the game. \u201CThey were raising their hands for spots, and I just kind of laid back a little bit.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Argentina fielded a side that only featured players who hadn\u2019t started the previous evening\u2019s game against Chile, bringing its squad of 23 players down to 12 available for the scrimmage. Subtract a goalkeeper from that (because you can play only one), and it becomes 11. Subtract the injured Lionel Messi (More on him later), and it becomes 10. With an additional absence on top of all that, Argentina was down to nine available players for an 11-on-11 game.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So Argentina elected to add from the four Burlingame players that weren\u2019t already set to face them. Somera and Musovski got the call.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThen they gave us a warm-up top, and the warm-up top was really nice!\u201D said Somera. &amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n\r\n\t&lt;strong&gt;LIONEL MESSI: His story in his words&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Somera played a box-to-box role in a three man midfield, with Atl\u00E9tico Madrid\u2019s Mat\u00EDas Kranevitter playing as a defensive mid, and PSG\u2019s Javier Pastore in his customary attacking role. Musovski, usually a center forward, played on the left wing thanks to the presence of Ag\u00FCero, who played in his normal position as striker. Tottenham&amp;nbsp; midfielder Erik Lamela played on the right.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But while their positions may have been different, the players\u2019 findings were largely the same. Both marveled at their teammates\u2019 touch on the ball, and their work rate off of it. &amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CBefore the game started I was thinking 'Man, I really need to play good,' but then when I got the ball I had like three [passing] options, every single time I picked my head up,\u201D Mursowski said. &amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt's easier for you to pass the ball, to open up for the ball, because everybody does the right movements,\u201D Somera added. \u201CTheir touch is so quality that it's easier for you on the pitch.\u201D\r\n\r\n\r\n\t&lt;strong&gt;COPA AMERICA: Full schedule, group standings, live gamecasts&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Both players also noted that, though it was a meaningless scrimmage the day after an intense game, all the Argentina players played with intensity and focus. They barked orders at their new teammates, instructing them on where to be and when.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThis is just a training they had after a game,\u201D Musovski said. \u201CYou'd think the players would just be going through the motions. But they weren't at all.\"&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;From there, Musovski and Somera each swung back and forth between two different states of mind, riding a sine wave of emotion. On one end, there was awe at being teammates with players they had seen on TV, watching defenders whip in inch-perfect passes to feet while Ag\u00FCero\u2019s deft touches toyed with defenders.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI never thought I'd actually be playing with them,\u201D Somera said. \u201CIt was something so indescribable. I was in shock.\u201D&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But these periods of wonder always fell away into an easy realization: Everyone, from Somera and Musovski to Lamela and Pastore, is playing the same game.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThen I absorbed it in and I realized, really, it's just a scrimmage,\u201D Somera said. \u201CThey're all human. They're world-class players, but at the end of the day it's just soccer. Everybody comes together and just plays.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That feeling, then, gets interrupted by another moment of awe. At some point during the scrimmage, both Somera and Musovski described instances of a break in play, a look around, and a realization that there was one more body among those on the sideline. Messi, who up until that point had been doing fitness work on his own, was watching the scrimmage unfold.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThat definitely took me off guard a little,\u201D said Musovski.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI never thought he would ever watch me play,\u201D said Somera.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CLike, \u2018Lionel Messi is watching ME play a soccer game right now,\u2019 said Musovski. \u201CIt's crazy!\u201D&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That the Argentina team lost 1-0 to Burlingame in that scrimmage, on a goal by Jamael Cox, meant comparatively little after such a singular (and weirdly parallel) experience. Both UNLV players noticed similar things, Each took photos with several of the Argentinian players, Messi included, afterwards. Both received thanks from those same players for making up their numbers, and both thanked them for the opportunity to do so. Both immediately relayed their experiences to their fathers, major influences in each of their respective introductions to the sport.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CHe's stoked too,\u201D Somera said of his father. \u201CHe doesn't have words for it either.\u201D\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/06/14/argentina-burlingame-pdl-copa-america-messi-aguero>