📹 Vintage Messi shines in emotional Argentina farewell

📹 Vintage Messi shines in emotional Argentina farewell At a packed Monumental de Núñez in Buenos Aires, Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini bid farewell to Argentina's national team with a 3–0 win over Benin in a friendly that brought the October international window to a close on Tuesday (6). The result really isn't what matters most. + Neymar pays tribute to Messi ahead of Argentina farewell: 'An honor to make history alongside you' Even if it does further boost Messi's numbers for the Albiceleste. After all, the star in the No. 10 shirt provided the assists for Otamendi and Nico Paz's goals, as well as scoring one himself. Goals, incidentally, that came in the second half and, in a way, encapsulated Messi's more than 20 years in an Argentina shirt. Otamendi's goal, for example—he too was bidding farewell to the Albiceleste—came from a Messi corner that the defender turned into the net. A classic, right? And the young Argentine gem's goal came in the genius's signature style: a placed left-footed shot from the edge of the box that gave the goalkeeper no chance. The famous "passing of the torch." How many times have we seen Messi score goals like that for Barcelona, PSG, Inter Miami and, of course, the three-time world champions? Finally, from the penalty spot, the genius in the No. 10 shirt sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and found the top corner, bringing his beautiful story in an Argentina shirt to a close with supreme class. With his final touch of the ball for Argentina, Messi took a free kick from the edge of the box, as he had so many times in his career, but this time sent it over the crossbar. And so Messi bids farewell to Argentina's national team with 126 goals (26 of them penalties) and 70 assists in 208 official matches. With the Albiceleste, the genius in the No. 10 shirt won the 2022 World Cup, the 2021 and 2024 Copa América titles, and the 2022 Finalissima. Across his professional career, Lionel Messi now has 932 goals and, at 39, is still going strong in pursuit of 1,000! 🥹 Emotions running high long before kickoff Buenos Aires, Rosario and all of Argentina came to a standstill to pay tribute to Lionel Messi. The genius in the No. 10 shirt tried his hardest to hold back tears during Argentina's national anthem. But there was no holding them back... Coach Lionel Scaloni, known as a "real softie," was deeply emotional during the Argentine anthem. Benin's national team, which had the honor of taking part in the farewell celebrations, presented Messi with a small statue and a letter. Ten minutes into the match, the friendly was stopped for more celebrations in Lionel Messi's honor. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.