Argentina bids Messi farewell in final national team match, ending an era

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina is confronting a once-unimaginable reality: a national team without soccer great Lionel Messi.

On Tuesday, 39-year-old Messi bid farewell to international soccer after 21 years, 126 goals, two Copa América titles and a World Cup championship, scoring a penalty and setting up Argentina’s other two goals for a 3-0 victory over Benin. What was otherwise an unremarkable friendly against the West African nation became a moment that this soccer-crazed country had long dreaded.

“It feels like an era is ending, knowing he won’t play for the national team anymore,” said Valentino Ruso, 17, who was heading to a friend’s house in Buenos Aires to watch the game. “I’m sad. I think everyone is upset today. He will be missed.”

Argentines had an intense, often unforgiving relationship with the shy boy who left his hometown of Rosario at 13 for the youth academy of Spanish club Barcelona. As he grew into a global icon of near-mythical stature, his compatriots adored and abused him, sometimes questioning his commitment to his home country and accusing him of indifference to it.

But by the time he ended his dazzling international career, his devotion to Argentina was no longer in…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports