Benin look set to celebrate with Lionel Messi on Tuesday night, with defender Tijani Mohamed admitting the African side will “give everything so that this celebration goes well”.
Messi will bring down the curtain on his career with the Argentina national team in Buenos Aires with a special farewell match in front of fans at Monumental Stadium.
And the adulation also seems to extend to the visitors’ dressing room.
Muhammad said Argentine television station C5N“We don’t need to mark Messi. We will enjoy this match. There is no special plan to defend against Messi, we just have to enjoy this match, and that’s all. I will look at it this way: ‘Messi, you are God.'”
“For me, he is the best in the world.”
Benin wants to enjoy the celebrations with hero Messi
Messi will be making his 208th and final appearance for his country and looks like a good bet to increase his goal tally which currently stands at 125 if Mohamed’s approach is to be followed.
The midfielder, who is currently without a club after his contract with Swiss second-tier club Yverdon Sport expired last month, says he is fully committed to ensuring his hero gets the send-off he deserves.
He added: “Benin is a very good team to play with, but I can’t talk about Benin now because we have to enjoy this match, and we will give everything we can so that this celebration goes well.”
Messi is irreplaceable – Argentina coach Scaloni
It is shaping up to be an emotional night with Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni admitting his side will struggle to replace the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, considered by many pundits to be the greatest player of all time.
“Leo is irreplaceable,” Scaloni said at the press conference on Monday. “We will strive to continue playing with the same identity, with the idea of uniting and playing as one team. It is clear that without Messi everything changes, but the national team has an identity and the challenge is to continue playing in this way, and for the people who come to join this cause.”
