Messi's final Argentina training, and Benin's promise not to gift him a goal

Argentina face Benin at the Estadio Monumental on Tuesday night, in the friendly that will end Lionel Messi's international career. Kick-off is 20:00 in Buenos Aires, 07:00 on Wednesday in Shanghai, and the ground is full. 1 Messi came through his last session with the squad on Monday, and unless something changes he is expected to play the full 90 minutes. 2

The squad trained from 17:30 at the Predio Lionel Andrés Messi in Ezeiza, the complex that carries his name, with the first 15 minutes open to accredited media. 3 Messi completed the session alongside his teammates, with Rodrigo De Paul, called up for this match alone, beside him throughout. 4

Ezequiel Lavezzi and Cristian "Kily" González, now Messi's coach at Inter Miami, watched from the touchline. 5

After training, and before dinner at the complex, Messi posted photographs from the session with a message in Spanish: "Momentos especiales que sé que voy a extrañar" — the special moments I know I will miss. One of the pictures gathers the whole squad, the coaching staff and the federation's own staff, including the AFA president, Claudio Tapia. 2

Scaloni is expected to keep the shape that produced the wins over Bolivia and Burkina Faso, with the players who have been beside Messi since 2018. The projected XI is Emiliano Martínez; Agustín Giay, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Nicolás Tagliafico or Facundo Medina; Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister; Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez. 46

Two places are unsettled. Tagliafico has not played in this window because of a knock, so Medina stands by at left-back. Right-back is makeshift: Nahuel Molina is suspended, Gonzalo Montiel was not called up, and Giay is the only specialist full-back Scaloni picked. 6 Scaloni has also weighed a back three of Romero, Otamendi and Lisandro Martínez, which would let him start one more of the 2022 champions. 5

Otamendi plays his last Argentina match too, and is expected to start, while De Paul returns after sitting out the first two games of the window. 47

Scaloni spoke about the farewell at his press conference on Monday. "Only nostalgia remains now that he won't be there," he said. "He is an incredible example. The first to arrive, the last to leave." Of what Argentina lose, he said: "We have to keep playing, but the feeling of having him on the pitch is unique. I have never seen anyone else convey what he does on a football field." Scaloni added that the team will stay at a high level, and ESPN reports he is in advanced talks over a new four-year contract. 7

The AFA is still finalising the running order and has held back the details of the tribute. 8

A Fan Fest opens at noon and runs to midnight at the UBA's Ciudad Universitaria sports ground, a short walk from the Monumental, with a big screen for the match, live music, food stalls and games, for the fans who could not get a ticket. 8 Inside the stadium, invited artists play before kick-off. After the final whistle Messi receives a commemorative plaque and a special shirt tracing his Argentina career, and a video goes up on the screens. 8

Earlier in the day, the University of Buenos Aires awards him an honorary doctorate, hours before kick-off. 9

Demand has outrun the stadium. The official allocation is gone, and resale listings on Monday asked as much as 1,390,000 pesos for a seat in the lower San Martín stand, with the cheapest popular tickets around 500,000 pesos. 10

Almost the whole 2022 World Cup squad will be there. Missing are Paulo Dybala and Nahuel Molina, whom Roma did not release, and Alejandro Gómez and Franco Armani, who have club commitments. 711

Benin arrived a week early and have treated the trip as a match rather than a ceremony. Their goalkeeper, Marcel Dandjinou, was asked whether he would stand aside for Messi. "No, no. I am a goalkeeper and I am there to make saves," he told Marca. "Even if it is the last minute and there is a penalty, if Messi takes it I will try to stop it. We are here to celebrate Messi, but nobody has told us we have to gift him a goal." 12

Dandjinou also denied the reports of trouble with the squad's hotel and training facilities that circulated earlier in the week. "We have not had any problems. We are fine here in Buenos Aires," he said. 12

The forward Steve Mounié, who spent years in France, put it differently. "You want Argentines in your team, not against you," he told Olé. Of Messi: "He destroyed us even without playing at 100%. You never enjoy playing against him." 13

Benin's squad is young, with an average age around 24, and most of it plays abroad — in France, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Denmark, Finland, the Czech Republic, Romania, the United States and Egypt. 14 The best-known name is Junior Olaitan, a 24-year-old midfielder at Beşiktaş; the centre-forward Aiyegun Tosin plays for Lorient, and the 19-year-old winger Rafael Aloko, at Charlotte in MLS, scored twice in Benin's 2-1 win over Mauritania on Sept. 29. 14 Their coach is Gernot Rohr, who was in charge of Nigeria when Messi's Argentina beat them 2-1 at the 2018 World Cup, a match Messi opened the scoring in. 15

Off the pitch, Benin have been sightseeing. They posed for photographs with the Rosario Central squad and Ángel Di María, and watched Instituto beat Independiente in Avellaneda. 16 Their defender Mohamed Tijani said Benin would simply enjoy the night: "You don't mark Messi, you enjoy the game, that's all." 17