Lionel Messi will pull on Argentina’s sky blue-and-white jersey for the last time on Tuesday and enjoy an emotional farewell in front of his adoring fans in a stadium with a name to match his legacy: the Monumental. Millions more will be following the action at South America’s largest stadium, Buenos Aires’ Estadio Monumental, on TV. Some 85,000 Argentina fans will be on hand to watch the 39-year-old idol perform his wizardry in a friendly against Benin that brings down the curtain on his 21-year international career.
“Until Leo’s game, we won’t give the number 10 to anyone,” said Scaloni. “After that, we’ll see.”
The most-capped player in Argentine history is hanging up his boots two-and-a-half months after losing the World Cup final to Spain. No effort has been spared for the send-off of a player considered one of the game’s greatest ever. After the game, the captain’s armband will pass to Romero.
Several of the teammates with whom he reached football’s pinnacle in Qatar, and who will lead the post-Messi team, will play in the game, including defender Cristian “Cuti” Romero, midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernandez, and forwards Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez. Coach Lionel Scaloni has vowed to try to fill the “void” left by his talismanic captain, and the signs from the next generation, some of whom weren’t even alive when Messi debuted for the team in 2005, are auspicious.
