Benin coach Gernot Rohr has expressed frustration after his players were prevented from meeting Lionel Messi and other Argentina stars following Tuesday’s friendly in Buenos Aires.
Argentina defeated Benin 3-0 at the Monumental Stadium in Messi’s final international appearance for the country, with the captain scoring once and providing two assists.
Messi set up Nicolás Otamendi and Nico Paz before converting a penalty as Argentina marked the end of his 21-year international career with a comfortable victory.
However, Rohr said the Benin players were unable to enjoy a post-match interaction with their Argentine counterparts because security officials restricted access to the tunnel and dressing room areas.
Speaking on RMC radio’s Rothen s’enflamme, the former Nigeria coach said his players had hoped to take photographs with Messi and exchange shirts with the Argentine squad.
“Yes, it was extremely difficult. We tried.
“The only shame is that the Argentines gave us nothing. No photo with Messi, no shirt. They didn’t even let us into the tunnel, nor even the dressing room,” Rohr said.
He explained that some Argentina players attempted to exchange shirts with their Benin counterparts but were prevented from doing so by security.
“Security refused to let anyone in. Some players came to swap shirts, so we knew it would be difficult. We tried everything, but we got nothing,” he said.
Rohr also revealed that the Benin delegation had prepared a bouquet of flowers in the country’s yellow, red and green colours for Messi, but they could not present it to him directly.
“We offered a bouquet of flowers in Benin’s colours, yellow, red and green, but that didn’t work,” he added.
The coach eventually found a way to obtain a memento from the Argentina captain after handing a 2018 Messi shirt to Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni.
“However, I gave Messi’s 2018 shirt to coach Scaloni, who got him to sign it for me and then returned it to me, but that was all,” Rohr said.
For Messi, the night was an emotional conclusion to his Argentina career. The 39-year-old told supporters at the Monumental that representing the national team for more than two decades had been a source of immense pride.
“It was a huge source of pride for me to defend this jersey for more than 20 years,” he said.
“Not coming anymore is going to be deeply painful. I swear I’d like to play for the rest of my life, because playing for the Argentina national team is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you.”
Messi also remembered his late father, Jorge Messi, and Argentina great Diego Maradona in a social media tribute after the match.
“You don’t know how much we missed you last night…” he wrote of his father, who died in August aged 68.
Paying tribute to Maradona, Messi added: “I don’t want to forget Diego, who put our country where it deserved to be.”
Messi finishes his international career as Argentina’s most-capped player and record goalscorer, having made 208 appearances and scored 126 goals.
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