Messi didn’t wish to play in his farewell, suspects AFA is utilizing his final recreation to earn thousands and thousands in his identify: Reports
Lionel Messi is about to play the ultimate Argentina match of his profession, however the farewell was reportedly not one thing he instantly welcomed. The event was at all times going to hold huge significance after greater than twenty years with the nationwide staff, but there was one other situation behind the scenes, with Messi mentioned to have questioned whether or not the match was actually about saying goodbye or just about making a living from his identify.
Messi reportedly had doubts over the farewell match
Messi will play his 208th and last senior transnational for Argentina towards Benin on the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, October 6, with the match starting at 4:30 AM IST on Wednesday for viewers in India.The 39-year-old determined to finish his Argentina profession after the staff’s 2026 World Cup last defeat by Spain in New Jersey, the place Messi left the pitch in tears after failing to make the affect he had hoped for within the match.His resolution got here throughout an already tough interval following his father’s sickness and subsequent loss of life, with Messi acknowledging that ending his transnational profession was a painful alternative after the whole lot he had given to Argentina.“I swear to you that I at all times gave it my all – not simply in these previous few years after we received the whole lot, however earlier than that too; I at all times fought and left the whole lot on the sphere for this jersey, to carry you pleasure and make you’re feeling proud to be Argentine by way of soccer,” Messi mentioned when saying his retirement.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi (10) cries on the finish of the World Cup last soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., close to New York, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, nonetheless, Messi was initially reluctant to just accept the thought of a farewell pleasant towards Benin as a result of he believed the Argentine Football Association might be utilizing the event to generate substantial income from his legacy.“Messi himself was not eager on the thought of this tribute match, as he seen it as a last money-making enterprise by the AFA, utilizing his identify to safe thousands and thousands in income,” Gazzetta reportedThe report additionally famous that Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni had voiced some scepticism in regards to the farewell, suggesting that he too had doubts over how the event was being put collectively.Messi in the end agreed to play, though the match has continued to draw controversy round the way in which the fixture got here collectively.
The AFA reportedly appeared for opponents who wouldn’t demand a payment
Argentina’s prolonged transnational break included three deliberate residence friendlies towards Bolivia, Burkina Faso and Benin, with the latter agreeing to change into Messi’s farewell opponent.“Benin has agreed to take part without spending a dime in Messi’s farewell, content material with merely showing in a historic {photograph}.”The outlet additionally claimed that Benin’s normal asking value would have been important, whereas the AFA had tasked a Colombian company with discovering pleasant opponents who wouldn’t demand a payment.The circumstances have added an uncommon corporate affairs factor to what ought to in any other case be one of the crucial emotional nights in Argentine soccer, notably with round 85,000 spectators anticipated on the Monumental.Members of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup-winning squad and their households will attend the farewell, becoming a member of Messi alongside members of the nation’s rising technology because the nationwide staff begins life past its longest-serving trendy captain.Lionel Scaloni, who constructed the Argentina aspect round Messi and helped ship the nation’s largest successes, may even oversee a farewell for 38-year-old vice-captain Nicolás Otamendi.Rodrigo De Paul and Giovani Lo Celso had been additionally referred to as up particularly for the Benin match, elevating the likelihood that the sport might change into their last Argentina appearances as properly.
Messi leaves Argentina with numbers and trophies few can match
Messi’s departure will shut an transnational profession that already locations him among the many most embellished gamers in Argentina’s historical past, with a World Cup, two Copa America titles and the Finalissima amongst his main honours.He at present holds Argentina’s data for appearances, objectives and assists, having entered the farewell with 207 senior caps, 125 objectives and 68 assists.His 125 objectives depart him 69 forward of Gabriel Batistuta, Argentina’s second-highest goalscorer, whereas his 207 appearances depart him 61 forward of Javier Mascherano.Messi may even depart Argentina as one among solely 4 gamers to have made greater than 200 senior transnational appearances, though Luka Modrić is predicted to overhaul him on the all-time checklist.Unlike Modrić and Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi leaves with a World Cup title alongside two Copa America victories, whereas Ronaldo’s Portugal have received one European Championship throughout his transnational profession.Messi stays underneath contract with Inter Miami till 2028, though he has acknowledged that his taking part in profession might finish prior to anticipated following his father’s loss of life two months in the past.Whatever occurs after Tuesday evening, Argentina’s last match with Messi as captain will carry collectively the gamers who helped him lastly win the whole lot with the nationwide staff and the subsequent technology making ready to take his place. For all of the emotion surrounding the farewell, the reported hesitation from Messi exhibits that even his last evening within the well-known blue and white shirt was not fairly so simple as it first appeared.
