Alright, Barcelona officials aren’t really upset about Lionel Messi being the pan-European cover boy for PES 2009 from Konami, but they’ve definitely been giving him a hard time for his outside activites. In fact, Lionel Messi is capitalizing on a lot of fame lately, even though his own countrymen are telling him to grow the hell up. Obviously, Diego Maradona is ticked because he never had a world-recognized gaming product shell out the big bucks to have his ugly mug on their covers. But we’re sure he snorted a few lines off of them. They’re really durable.

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced that Argentinean forward Lionel Messi is to be the face of its forthcoming PES 2009 title for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC-DVD, PlayStation®2, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), Wii and mobile phones across Europe…

“Most modern players are aware of the realism and skill of the PES series,” commented Messi on the deal. “It is a game that truly mirrors the pace and control of real football, and as a die-hard fan of the series, I am delighted to be working with Konami on the latest version.”

Lionel Messi is replacing Michael Owen and Cristiano Ronaldo, which means he’s soon to acquire 4-5 new women and maybe suffer an ankle injury. PES 2009 will hit stores in the Fall except for the Wii. That version comes out Spring 2009.

PES 2009 gets Messi [Kotaku]
Image [Gaming]