Messi Says Goodbye: A Long Love Story With Argentina Comes to an End

Lionel Messi is set to play his final game for Argentina's national soccer team on Tuesday against Benin at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires. The match will mark the end of a career with Argentina that lasted more than 20 years. Messi's story with his home country is a surprising one — it started with Argentina barely even knowing who he was. Over time, that confusion grew into one of the greatest bonds between a player and his country in all of sports history.

When Messi was a teenager, he moved to Spain to play for the famous club FC Barcelona. Spain even tried to get Messi to play for their national team instead of Argentina's. Back home, most people in Argentina had no idea Messi existed, since he had grown up and trained far away from his home country.

At the 2003 Under-17 World Cup in Finland, Argentina lost to Spain in the semifinals, 3-2. After the game, a young Spanish player named Cesc Fabregas told Argentine coaches that Argentina lost because Spain had their best player on their side. That player, of course, was Messi — a genius, Fabregas said, who was playing for Spain's youth team instead of Argentina's.

Finding Messi to bring him back to Argentina was not easy. An Argentine Football Association worker named Omar Souto searched for the Messi family using an old phone directory from Rosario, Messi's hometown. When he finally reached the family, he asked for 'Leonardo' — getting the name completely wrong. He was quickly corrected: 'His name isn't Leonardo, it's Lionel.'

Messi finally played his first games for Argentina in 2004, appearing in two under-20 friendly matches. But many people in Argentina were still not sure about him. At the 2005 Under-20 World Cup in the Netherlands, he started on the bench as Argentina lost their opening game. Some fans and officials felt it was strange to call up a kid who didn't even play soccer in Argentina.

For years, some Argentine fans criticized Messi for not playing as well for the national team as he did for Barcelona. They even gave him a harsh nickname — 'pecho frio,' which means someone who lacks heart or fire. It was a painful label for a player who cared deeply about representing his country. But slowly, his relationship with fans began to change.

A turning point came during a World Cup qualifying match against Colombia in 2011. Messi helped Argentina come back from behind to win, even though he was exhausted and not feeling well. 'He was exhausted, even vomiting, and he ended up winning,' said Argentine journalist Sergio Levinsky. Fans saw a different side of Messi that night — a fighter who gave everything for Argentina.

The bond between Messi and Argentina grew even stronger after a tough loss in the 2016 Copa America final. Messi was so upset after Argentina lost to Chile in a penalty shootout that he briefly retired from the national team. Instead of blaming him, Argentine fans begged him to come back. 'People realised he was not responsible for the defeats. He was the one getting them to finals,' said Levinsky.

Messi returned, and under coach Lionel Scaloni, he became the clear leader of a new generation of Argentine players. He guided the team to two Copa America championships and the 2022 World Cup title. Many people compared him to Diego Maradona, the other great legend of Argentine soccer. But Levinsky said both were 'geniuses in different eras' and should not be put against each other.

Levinsky summed up the unusual story between Messi and Argentina in a powerful way. Argentina had to learn to love Messi without having watched him grow up in the country. 'Messi was like suddenly finding out you have an 18-year-old son,' Levinsky said. 'You have to start loving him without having known he existed. It was a love under construction.' Now, after more than two decades, that love story is complete.