Many young lads dream of becoming a professional footballer.The chance to play the beautiful game in front of thousands and earn a ridiculous amount of money; what could be better?Of course, there are millions around the world with the exact same dream and only a small percentage go on to make it in the big leagues.But becoming a professional wasn’t enough for one ambitious player from Mexico.In 2018, the curious case of Dionicio Farid Rodriguez emerged - and it’s quite a story.Dionicio has played for Lobos BUAP and Pumas de la UNAM in Mexico. Yet he managed to convince thousands that he actually played for Italian giants Juventus.The 20-year-old invented the life of a Juventus player through edited photos and various interviews.

Dionicio's fake life as a Juve player

He amassed more than 16,000 followers on Instagram.

Per Sport Bible, Dionicio gave an interview with Mexican newspaper The World in which he claimed to have scored 10 goals in a single season for Juventus’ Under-20 squad - while playing as a centre-back.

He managed to fool thousands by editing a photo of Joao Serrao, who really does play for Juve’s youth team.

No corners were cut where Dionicio was concerned. Check out an interview he gave to one newspaper, where he is seen posing with young fans.

He would give talks and interviews about his experiences playing in Turin - when actually, he had no experiences to speak of.

Dionicio managed to build quite the following before he was caught out when it was discovered that there was no Mexican player registered in any category at Juventus, nor a centre-back who has scored 10 goals in a campaign.

His Instagram page has now been deleted.

Fabricating the life of a rising star is a pretty weird move but Dionicio probably reached a point where he had gone too far, and there was no way back.

Plus, having the adoration of thousands of ‘fans’ must have been a pretty nice ego-boost.