Lionel Messi Previews Last Argentina Match With Tear-Jerking Eight-Word Message

Argentina’s friendly with Benin is less an international fixture and more a thinly veiled testimonial for Lionel Messi.

There will be barbecues, cuddles and fights for his last jersey—and that’s just from the Benin players. A decade after he first called it quits for Argentina, Messi will definitively sign off on Tuesday night having finally scaled the peaks which had eluded him for so much of his international career.

As the end hurtled over the horizon, the World Cup winner and two-time Copa América champion didn’t fret about any missed titles or trinkets, it was the simplicity of training which saw him to comment: “Momentos especiales que sé que voy a extrañar...”, “Special moments that I know I’m going to miss...”