“To tell you the truth, I thought he had retired already.” Not quite – in spite of Emiliano Martínez’s clear confusion, his legendary Argentina captain will make one last triumphant tour before hanging up his Albiceleste shirt for good. And by the looks of things, those in charge are keen to take full of advantage of Lionel Messi’s farewell to the fans.
Messi’s last game in Argentina colours will come on October 6 at the Monumental, against Benin. Prior to that, though, the legendary number 10 has two more stops on his schedule. The retirement festivities kick off next Wednesday, when the Selección travel up to Córdoba to take on Bolivia at the Estadio Mario Kempes. The party then moves down to Buenos Aires, where on October 3, Burkina Faso (no giggling please, Argentine Spanish speakers, we’re all grown ups here) visit the Monumental, followed by their aforementioned fellow Africans three days later. Stellar opposition to complement the ace the trio are not, but considering that the friendly slate was decided barely a week ago this is as good as it gets.
What the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia lack in arranging competitive fixtures they make up for with their eye for a windfall. Tickets to see Messi maybe take the field for a few minutes in Córdoba start at 90,000 pesos (around US$60), while against Burkina Faso, another game in which the captain will likely receive a short cameo at best, and Benin the priciest seats are available at just shy of half a million pesos, or around US$330. With the Monumental currently providing room for more than 85,000 spectators, the revenue from these rather incidental friendlies promises to be astronomic – certainly much larger than if Messi were not slated to make an appearance.
Still, it promises to be a moment to cherish for those lucky (and wealthy) enough to get their hands on tickets. Messi bows out with his powers still intact, one of the greatest players ever to wear the shirt and having represented Argentina in three World Cup finals, a feat only matched by Brazil idol Cafú in the history of football. His masterful displays in Qatar and the United States will forever live in our memories and he provided one of the all-time redemption stories in the sport, finally lifting the biggest title after years of frustration and questioning. He deserves to go out with thousands chanting his name and we should be thankful to have this chance to say goodbye, after initially fearing he would fade out of the picture off the back of an Instagram post.
“Having the chance to retire here is a dream for him and we are going to try and make it a beautiful day for him,” Martínez continued to reporters on his arrival back in Argentina. It will doubtlessly be a week full of emotion, but also one of changing the guard. ‘El Dibu’ will stay on as one of the game’s premier goalkeepers but this week may well be goodbye for other stalwarts of the Lionel Scaloni era.
Scaloni himself remains unclear on his future, having hinted that he will leave his post at the end of the year. On the other hand, rising stars like Valentín Barco and Nico Paz – sparsely used during the World Cup – will relish the chance to showcase their talents and prove they can fill some of the gaps soon to be left.
It is the end of an era, and hopefully the beginning of a new generation of success, as Argentina celebrate a legend and begin to look to what we hope will be a bright future without the number 10 running the show.
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