In front of more than 85 thousand fans, Lionel Messi puts an end to his 21-year soccer career

Buenos Aires.- One last goal, tributes on and off the pitch, and ovations that made the Monumental rumble accompanied Lionel Messi’s farewell to the Argentine national team this Tuesday, against Benin and in front of more than 85,000 people who turned the end of his more than two decades with the Albiceleste into a celebration filled with emotion.

The stadium had been full for more than two hours when Messi appeared on the pitch to warm up, and the crowd packing the stands rose to greet him with one of the greatest ovations of a night conceived, long before the start of the match, as a painful farewell.

Damas Gratis and other Argentine bands had taken the stage, playing ‘Muchachos’, ‘Vamos, vamos, selección’ and other anthems of the Albiceleste; and the stands had jumped again and again to the chant of “whoever doesn’t jump is English”.

Tears and tributes

In the field, messages of gratitude awaited him -“Thank you for making us happy”- and a giant jersey with the number 10 on the back and a single word in the place reserved for the name: “Thank you”.

Messi had already cried before stepping onto the pitch. He did so inside the bus that transported the team to the Monumental, while passing through the crowd of fans who were awaiting the national team’s arrival and chanting his name.

Traveling alongside him were Rodrigo de Paul, the Rosario native’s teammate at Inter Miami, and Nicolás Otamendi, the defender with whom he shared a large part of his journey on the national team.

In the stands were Messi’s wife and children, as well as his mother, along with Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero and several footballers who were world champions with the ‘celeste y blanca’ in 1978, 1986, and 2022, among them Ángel Di María, a historic partner of ‘La Pulga’ on the national team.

Messi entered the field accompanied by his children and, to sing the anthem, he was positioned between the young Agustín Giay, the only one of the eleven starters who was not part of the world champion squad in Qatar 2022, and the experienced goalkeeper Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martínez.

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The anthem was sung by Fabio Santana, an Argentine veteran of the 1982 Falklands War, who had by his side the controversial banner claiming sovereignty over the islands that was displayed by the Albiceleste players after their victory against England in the semifinals of the last World Cup.

Messi kept his gaze fixed forward for almost the entire performance, but as the final chords faded, he broke down again and wiped away his tears before greeting his rivals.

The captain of Benin then approached to hand him a statuette and a letter from the African squad.

Before the opening whistle, Messi sought out each of his teammates to share an embrace. One of the longest was with Cristian ‘Cuti’ Romero, heir to the captain’s armband that ‘Leo’ wore for more than 15 years.

The tributes continued even with the match already underway. Upon reaching the 10th minute, the referee stopped the game and the entire Monumental stood up to give an ovation to the man who made the number 10, previously immortalized by Diego Maradona, his own. There were fireworks and a single cry repeated from the stands: “Messi, Messi, Messi”.

The final goal shout

After a first half in which the honoree unsuccessfully sought a goal on four occasions -with long-range shots and even an attempt at an olympic goal-, the moment the entire stadium was waiting for arrived in the second. A foul on Giay inside the box ended with the ball on the penalty spot and Messi, Argentina’s all-time top scorer, took charge.

The captain scored his 126th goal for the national team and sparked another of the night’s great ovations. His teammates ran to embrace him while the crowd chanted his name once again. It was his 208th match for Argentina, a record figure for the player with the most appearances and goals in the history of the Albiceleste.

There was also time for one last connection between two legends of the ‘Scaloneta’: Otamendi, also in his farewell match, scored with a right-footed shot following a corner kick from Messi.

The defender left the field shortly after along with De Paul and, as the minutes went by, several of the young players who will have to take on the leading role in Argentina without Messi began to enter.

One of them was 22-year-old Nicolás Paz, pointed out as the possible heir to the idol’s spot on the pitch and even his number 10 jersey. The passing of the torch seemed almost literal for a moment: midway through the second half, Messi handed him the ball and the youngster scored with an exquisite left-footed strike from outside the box, one of those shots that for years bore the signature of the man from Rosario himself.

The match then entered its final stretch and, as the clock ticked on, eyes began to turn away from the ball to look for the number 10. Every run, every touch, and every gesture could be Messi’s last in the Argentine jersey.

And the last play was his. Messi took a free kick that went wide and, just after, the referee approached, asked for the ball and handed it to the captain before signaling the end of the match, which ended in a 3-0 Argentine victory.

This is how Messi received the ball with which he had just finished his more than two decades with the Argentine national team. The stands stood up once again and his name rained down once more from all four corners of the stadium.

The “Thank you” on the t-shirt displayed before the match ended up becoming the final message from more than 85,000 souls, and from an entire country, to their greatest modern idol.