Comment – Messi–Argentina, the last tango

BUENOS AIRES, 5 October /ATSH-DPA/ – The last arrival at the training camp, the last training session with the team, the last match in the Albiceleste shirt.

Argentina is preparing for Lionel Messi’s last tango.

His farewell after 21 years with the national team will take place on Tuesday in Buenos Aires, in a friendly against Benin.

And anyone who also remembers his tearful farewell from Barcelona in 2021 can imagine how emotional his farewell in Argentina may be.

“From the moment he steps onto the ‘Monumental’, it will be an unforgettable day for everyone,” said Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni.

Messi announced in August that he would retire from the national team this year.

“It was a decision that hurt me deep in my soul and still hurts, but I understand that the time has come,” the 39-year-old said at the time.

The defeat in the World Cup final – and with it, the shattered dream of successfully defending the title – followed by the death of his father, Jorge, at only 68, left the football star thinking deeply and pushed him to take this decisive step.

Unlike the time he first retired from international football in 2016, after another defeat in a major tournament final, this time it will be the end.

“There is a feeling of sadness that he will no longer be there. And not only from a footballing point of view,” said Scaloni, whose success story is so closely intertwined with Messi’s.

A special relationship between player and coach

Messi and Scaloni were in the same Argentina team as players in 2006.

The latter ended his playing career in 2015.

Since taking over the national team in 2018, Scaloni has managed to build a team around Messi that won the Copa América in 2021 and 2024, the World Cup title in 2022 and reached the World Cup final again in 2026.

“The Argentine national team will continue to exist. But we will miss him,” the coach said.

This team will feel Messi’s absence.

He was their leader and, nevertheless, one of them.

His teammates were his admirers and his protectors.

And the football nation that once adored Diego Maradona also fell in love with Messi.

After closing his chapter with the national team, Messi will still have a contract with Inter Miami until the end of 2028.

After that, he is expected to leave football.

Meanwhile, a new era is beginning for Argentine fans – who still do not know whether Scaloni will extend his contract, which expires at the end of the year – while Messi has long since begun the next phase of his life.

His portfolio includes a small empire, a hotel chain, real estate and two Spanish football clubs.