Lionel Messi to bring end to love story with Argentina in farewell friendly

[p]The farewell against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/benin/tKuIoRxU/"]Benin[/a] at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/argentina-f9OppQjp/benin-tKuIoRxU/?mid=E5j2p2At"]Buenos Aires' Monumental Stadium[/a] ends an international career spanning more than ‌two decades, which began with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/argentina/f9OppQjp/"]Argentina[/a] scrambling to identify a teenage prodigy developing far from home.[/p][p][b]"He went through so many moments that ‌they're really very different eras. At first he suffered enormously with the national team. He truly endured ‌it,"[/b] Argentine journalist and author Sergio Levinsky, who wrote "[a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/messi-lionel/vgOOdZbd/"]Messi[/a] and Everything Else", told Reuters.[/p][p]Messi moved to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a] as a ‌teenager and, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a] tried to persuade him to represent them, his own country barely knew ‌he existed.[/p][embed guid="a39a788c-7638-43fd-97df-bcf3ac400def" url="https://x.com/TouchlineX/status/2106640466435580414" social-type="twitter" /][p]At the 2003 Under-17 World Cup in Finland, Spain beat Argentina 3-2 after extra time in the semi-finals.[/p][p]According to Levinsky, a young [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fabregas-cesc/YXIDwoe5/"]Cesc Fabregas[/a], who scored twice and was Messi's teammate at Barcelona's La Masia academy, told Argentine delegates afterwards: "You lost to us ‌because we've got your best player at Barcelona and he's a ⁠genius."[/p][p]Argentina youth coach Hugo Tocalli recalled a similar encounter. ‌He said at the Ole Summit last month that Spain's head chef told him Argentina needed "a kid who plays in ​Barcelona" to win the tournament.[/p][p]Finding the boy from Rosario proved difficult.[/p][p]Argentine Football Association (AFA) employee Omar Souto tracked down the Messi family in Spain through a Rosario telephone directory, only to ask for "Leonardo".[/p][p][b]"His ​name isn't Leonardo, it's Lionel,"[/b] Souto was told, according to the documentary[b] "Messi: The Forgotten Tape".[/b][/p][p]The confusion even extended to the paperwork.[/p][p]The AFA sent Barcelona a fax asking about a player called "Mecci," spelling the surname with a double "c" because ⁠officials believed he might be Italian, ​Levinsky said.[/p][image alt="Lionel Messi's career stats with Argentina" id="4acf63d2-9d52-4db7-ab81-1af41cd607dd" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="c15a9b3d-beb4-4296-b934-4dc975454f3c" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][h2]A love under construction[/h2][p]After those complications, Messi played two under-20 friendlies for Argentina in 2004, his first appearances in the blue and white stripes.[/p][p]Yet scepticism lingered.[/p][p]At the 2005 Under-20 World Cup in the Netherlands, Messi began on the bench as Argentina lost their opening game.[/p][p]"There was strong resistance to calling up a kid who didn't play ‌in the country," Levinsky said. "He had to fight against those early suspicions, against being considered a foreigner because he lived in Spain."[/p][p]He was later criticised for failing to reproduce his club form and labelled "pecho frio", lacking heart or fire, by some fans.[/p][p]A World Cup qualifier against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/colombia/G02s4PCS/"]Colombia[/a] in 2011 began to change that perception, as Messi helped Argentina rally from a goal down to win in difficult conditions.[/p][p][b]"He was exhausted, even vomiting, and he ended up winning,"[/b] Levinsky said. [b]"It was the first time fans saw him differently."[/b][/p][p]The bond strengthened when Messi briefly retired after Argentina's penalty shootout defeat by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chile/KUCG35cM/"]Chile[/a] in the 2016 Copa America final. Rather than blame him, Argentines pleaded publicly for him to return.[/p][p][b]"People realised he was not responsible for the defeats. He was the ‌one getting them to finals,"[/b] Levinsky added.[/p][p]Under [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scaloni-lionel/A1A2ibcF/"]Lionel Scaloni[/a], Messi became the undisputed leader of a new generation, ​guiding Argentina to two Copa America titles and the 2022 World Cup.[/p][p]His evolution into a more ‌outspoken captain drew comparisons with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/maradona-diego/2oVZGPyM/"]Diego Maradona[/a], but Levinsky said the usual debate between Argentina's two biggest icons missed the point.[/p][p][b]"It is Messi and Maradona,"[/b] he added. [b]"They were both geniuses in different eras."[/b][/p][p]For Levinsky, Argentina's affection for Messi was not as immediate as it was for Maradona. It developed around a player whose upbringing and career unfolded largely abroad but who grew closer to supporters over time.[/p][p][b]"Messi ⁠was like suddenly finding out you have an ⁠18-year-old son,"[/b] Levinsky said. [b]"You have to start loving ‌him without having known he existed. It was a love under construction."[/b][/p]