The friendly between Benin and Argentina, held at the Monumental stadium, became an episode of frustration for the African delegation after the farewell of Lionel Messi. The Benin players tried to take some souvenirs from the night, but strict security measures prevented them from approaching the Argentines or even exchanging shirts or taking a photo with the idol.
Before the match, the Benin team had already planned a series of tributes to Messi. Captain Sessi D'Almeida gave the striker a statuette related to the Amazons of Dahomey, a rose and a letter. Coach Gernot Rohr recalled that his player Tijani, a great admirer of Messi, had put a red rose in the Argentine's hand before the match. “We did everything, but we didn't achieve what we wanted,” Rohr told the RMC commentator, stressing that security had been “especially strict” after the duel and that they were not even allowed to enter the tunnel.
The coach explained that, after the game, his players tried to approach the Argentines to exchange shirts and take photographs. "We wanted to exchange shirts, but we didn't get a single one. They didn't give us anything, not even a photo with Messi," Rohr lamented. The footballers had prepared their shirts with the intention of exchanging them, but the security barrier stopped them before they could do so. "They didn't even let us enter the tunnel. Security prevented everyone from entering," the coach added.
Despite the lack of physical contact with Messi, Rohr praised the attitude of Argentine captain Lionel Scaloni, who got the former Nigeria player to sign a shirt that Rohr had had since 2018, when Messi handed it over during the World Cup in Russia. “It was fantastic to say goodbye to a legend like Messi,” said Rohr. "The result was not the most important thing. For us, from a sporting point of view, it was about learning, about allowing our young players to have a very enriching international experience that no one could have imagined having one day."
The match ended in a victory for Argentina, but for Benin the experience was valuable in terms of international exposure and learning. With the day concluded, the coach assured that the delegation will return with the motivation to continue growing and take advantage of the opportunities that arise in future international meetings.