Lionel Messi ready for ‘Last Tango’ with Argentina as Cristiano Ronaldo poutes on Portugal sidelines
Expect tears in Buenos Aires on Tuesday night as Lionel Messi bids what is sure to be an emotional farewell to the Argentina national team.
The 39-year-old will earn his 208th and final cap for the Albiceleste when they take on Benin in a friendly at the Stade Monumental, ending a career which saw him score 125 goals and provide 68 assists for his country.
From 2021 to 2024, Messi led the team to back-to-back Copa America triumphs, World Cup glory in Qatar and revival of the Finalissima, ending his international trophy drought in spectacular fashion.
All 85,018 tickets for the match against Benin – nicknamed “The Last Tango” – are said to have sold out within two hours, with fans desperate to pay tribute to their hero, Argentina’s all-time top scorer and most capped player.
The team will wear a unique bespoke kit for the occasion while the entire 2022 World Cup winning squad – and their families – have been invited to join Messi for the celebrations.
“I imagine Tuesday’s match will be very emotional for everyone, including Leo,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said after Saturday’s 7-0 friendly demolition of Burkina Faso, in which Messi was not present.
“It will be an unforgettable day. It will be his day, and that of his teammates, who also gave him his greatest footballing joy… I imagine that if there were five Monumental Stadiums, they would be full.”
Messi missed out on successive World Cup victories this summer after Argentina lost in the final to Spain. This was quickly followed by the death of his father, Jorge, 68, following a long illness.
He announced his international retirement shortly after. “I swear I always gave everything, not only in the last years when we won everything, but before that too,” Messi said in a message on Instagram. “I love, I loved and I will always love to be part of the national team. I gave everything I had and I have nothing more to give.”
Not everything has been easy for Messi in the colors of his country. He was sent off on his Argentina debut just 47 seconds after leaving the bench in a friendly against Hungary for elbowing an opponent in the face.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner also retired from international football once before after losing the 2016 Copa America final to Chile, where he missed a penalty in the penalty shootout. It was Argentina’s third final defeat in as many years.
But he was back in the fold in time for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and, three years later, Argentina’s 28-year drought ended when Messi’s side beat Brazil in the Copa America final.
With a post-Messi Argentina era about to begin, Scaloni has made it clear what his absence will mean. “The feeling of having him on the field is unique,” he said. “That’s what I would like people to understand: what he transmits on a football field.
“To everyone, to the opponent, to the teammate, to the rival fan, to his own. I haven’t seen that in anyone else. That’s what we will miss the most. The Argentine national team will continue to exist, but logically it will no longer be the same.”
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As Messi heads towards the international exit, his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo is currently in the middle of an outrageous row with his national team manager.
The arrival of Jorge Jesus, his Saudi Pro League-winning manager at Al Nassr, as Portugal coach appears to be the perfect appointment as Ronaldo targets his 1,000th career goal and third UEFA Nations League crown with Portugal.
But cracks between captain and coach formed almost immediately when Ronaldo left the team’s training camp ahead of last week’s match against Denmark.
Reports of a rift with Jesus came after Ronaldo remained an unused substitute in Portugal’s 2-1 win in Norway. “In time, I will tell the truth to all Portuguese people about the reasons that motivated me to leave,” the 41-year-old wrote on Instagram.
Although Ronaldo’s prickly and substantial ego is widely known, Jesus is no shy violet on that front. “I’m in charge. People must obey my decisions, even if it makes them nauseous. I can buy them tablets for that,” Jesus said during his reign at Portuguese club Sporting.
In response to Ronaldo’s apparent displeasure at not coming off the bench against Norway, Jesus made his message clear. “It won’t be Cristiano, nor any other player, who will change my ideas as a coach. Never. Neither him nor anyone else. Not even a president. Never. Zero,” he said.
After Sunday’s win over Norway in the Nations League second leg at the Estadio do Dragao, Jesus said the door was still open for Ronaldo’s return. “If he wants to be part of the national team and plays, why not? There is no resentment, because it was a misunderstanding,” he said. “I think it’s easy to solve.”
The president of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), Pedro Proenca, described the incident as a “misunderstanding” which will be “resolved internally”. “We are talking about the greatest player of all time, a player who has dedicated more than two decades to Portuguese football,” Proença said. “He will always be part of this team if he is technically fit to play. Cristiano knows that.”
As it turned out, Portugal won all three games without Ronaldo. The player chosen ahead of him, Goncalo Ramos, scored in all of them.
It will now be a question of whether Ronaldo – who has scored 146 goals in 234 games for Portugal (both world records) – and Jesus can repair their relationship ahead of the next round of Nations League matches in November.
And while Messi basks in his country’s adulation on Tuesday, discussions continue in Portugal over whether it is time for their own talisman to pass the baton to the country’s next generation of attacking talent.
Gn sports
