The final whistle brought an era to a close for Argentina. Lionel Messi signed off from international football in the 3-0 victory over Benin on Tuesday night into Wednesday, scoring once and creating two more goals in his last appearance for the Albiceleste.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni paid an emotional tribute to the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner afterwards, describing Messi as a player football will not be able to reproduce. Scaloni said he had never seen another footballer produce the same presence, influence or feeling on a pitch.
“He is impossible to imitate,” Scaloni said. “There will not be another one like him in this game. I have never witnessed this from anyone in my life. What he brings out in people, I have not seen it with anybody else. We will find other solutions and other tools, but that feeling will no longer be there.”
Scaloni, who has led Argentina since 2018, said coaching Messi had been beyond anything he imagined when he began his own managerial journey. He thanked the forward for the way he represented the national shirt throughout their years together.
“I will always be grateful for everything he gave us, and for the way he defended this shirt,” the 48-year-old said. “For me, coaching him has been a dream. I told him in front of everyone, with the little energy I had left to say it: I never imagined that I would become the coach of the greatest footballer in history.”
The coach has himself expressed uncertainty over his future after Argentina’s most recent World Cup, but his attention has already turned to the challenge left by Messi’s departure. He acknowledged that the team will have to learn to live without the figure who shaped its defining recent years.
Scaloni said Messi had recognised that what Argentina experienced in recent seasons was exceptional rather than ordinary. The answer, he believes, will not be one replacement but a stronger collective, with every member of the squad contributing to the space left behind.
