When Lionel Messi steps onto the turf at the Estadio Monumental on Tuesday night for his final appearance in an Argentina shirt, the 85,000 in attendance are expecting a fairytale goodbye.
The icon, who delivered his nation from a 36-year drought to lift the World Cup in 2022, is bringing down the curtain on an extraordinary international career. But, beneath the fireworks, emotion, and commemorative kits, there is a cynical reality seemingly at play.
The Argentinian Football Association (AFA) are leaving nothing to chance, carefully manufacturing the circumstances surrounding this international window to guarantee their captain receives an uncomplicated, risk-free send-off that does not deviate from the script.
Argentina are not playing fair with Lionel Messi farewell
The choice of opposition, and the chaos leading up to the fixture, tells its own story.
French investigative journalist Romain Molina has exposed an organisational shambles surrounding Argentina’s scheduled friendly opponents during this international window.
Visiting teams Burkina Faso and Benin have had to overcome less-than-ideal administrative hurdles to fulfil the fixtures. In recent days, travel chaos forced a makeshift Burkina Faso squad filled with unproven youngsters, some lacking senior caps, to step into the line of fire at short notice.
The AFA have invited lower-ranked opposition burdened with travel fatigue and depleted squads, effectively neutralising any possibility of a banana skin-style embarrassment.
Argentine supporters are paying premium ticket prices for what is billed as a competitive international test, but are instead receiving a carefully choreographed exhibition designed to ensure Messi glides through his final 90 minutes without proper resistance.
The disparity between the World Cup finalists and their visitors is plain to see. While Benin goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou insisted in the buildup that his side are 'not tourists' in Argentina and vowed to try to save a Messi penalty if required, their preparations have been hampered, probably needlessly.
Benin have been booked onto commercial flights by the AFA, which has seen a number of players arrive late into South America after 25-hour journeys, to a hotel with no hot water on one floor, an out-of-service sauna and an under-equipped gym, according to Molina.
Burkina Faso were beaten 7-0 by Argentina over the weekend, but were without some senior players due to the budget flight offering, covered by the AFA, and lack of remuneration for participation in the fixture. A significant portion of the squad, which allegedly arrived in Buenos Aires just hours before kick-off, were uncapped.
The AFA’s objective appears simple: to eliminate every variable that could ruin the script. In handpicking accommodating conditions, Argentina’s governing body has built a protective bubble around their departing talisman.
This will not to diminish Messi’s peerless contributions to Argentine football, though, but there is an argument that he would be better honoured with a fairer contest to mark his farewell.
