Departure of an exceptional footballer: Gracias, Messi!

It was an emotional evening in Buenos Aires. On Tuesday, Lionel Messi played his farewell game in the Argentine national team. “Emotions” was the most heard word that evening. “I grew up with Messi in the Albiceleste and now it should be over?” said one fan, expressing the feelings of many. The 39-year-old Messi played in the light blue and white jersey for 21 years. Joy and sadness, laughter and tears and always “Thank you, thank you, Messi” marked the farewell.

The game against the opponent from Benin is quickly told. The first half was entertaining but remained goalless. Three minutes after the restart, Nicolás Otamendi gave Argentina the lead after a Messi corner. In the 61st minute, Nico Paz made it 2-0 with a wonderful shot. Again Messi provided the assist. Quite a few saw this move as a kind of passing of the baton: Paz could wear number 10 in the future. But at least this time Messi was the final point. In the 71st minute he converted a penalty to make the final score 3-0.

The arrival of the bus convoy on the specially closed city highway was like a triumphal procession. People stood on both sides of the slope and were able to briefly cheer on the vehicles passing by. Anyone who was lucky enough to get one of the tickets that sold out online in less than 90 minutes may have already been to the 85,000-seater Monumental Stadium. Anyone who was still on the lookout on the black market, on the other hand, rubbed their eyes. Up to $1,500 was charged for a card.

Here's a bit of superlative statistics: In his 208 international matches, Messi scored 126 goals for the Argentine senior national team. Since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, he has taken part in a World Cup six times, been in a World Cup final three times and won the title in Qatar in 2022. He won his very first international title in 2005 at the U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands, where he was top scorer and best player. In 2008, he won the gold medal with the U23 at the Olympic Games in Beijing. And this is also part of it: On his debut on August 17, 2005, he came on as a substitute in the game against Hungary in the second half, but 40 seconds later he was shown a red card by the German referee Dr. Markus Merk and flew off the pitch.

In any case, there weren't just superlatives. In June 2016, Argentina lost the final of the Copa América, the South American championship. Messi shot over the crossbar in the decisive penalty shootout. It was also the third final in a row that he had lost with the Albiceleste. “The national team is over for me,” he announced. Two months later he promised to return.

Before Tuesday's game, Messi received an honorary doctorate from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). According to UBA, Messi stands for values ​​such as excellence, perseverance, humility and the responsible representation of Argentina. Nobody ever held it against him that Messi went to FC Barcelona at the age of 13 and then never played for an Argentine club. On the contrary, that is precisely why the whole of Argentina can identify with him.

The fact that Messi played his last game against Benin and not against a top-class opponent leaves a bad aftertaste. The previous international match took place without him last Saturday against Burkina Faso. The Internet portal Fasosportstv from Burkina Faso wrote: “Although the Argentine football association AFA covers the accommodation, costs and travel of the opposing team, it neither pays a signing bonus nor does it share the income generated by the match with the opponent.”

Of the seven friendly matches played this year, four were against African teams. Fasosportstv.com wrote: "That's why they choose African teams from the midfield or those with less financial resources; they accept the conditions because they can play against Argentina," commented an official of an association that was asked by the Albiceleste for a friendly match.

Since the 2022 World Cup, Argentina has played and won 18 friendly matches. With Australia, Ecuador and Venezuela, only three opponents were in the top 50 of the FIFA world rankings at the time of the respective encounter. The remaining opponents ranked below that. A rogue who thinks that the football association and its president Claudio Tapia are more concerned with prestige and less with cashing in.

At least half a dozen judicial investigations are now underway in Argentina and the USA against Tapia and various members of the AFA leadership. The allegations range from alleged money laundering and unjust enrichment to embezzlement and tax evasion. Although Tapia is firmly in the AFA saddle, Messi is his most important marketing factor in terms of game sales.