What was supposed to be a dream debut for the FC Barcelona prodigy in the shirt of the senior Argentine team it ended up being the worst nightmare: On August 17, but in 2005, Lionel Messi came on from the bench in the second half, replacing Lisandro López in the 64th minute and moments then he was expelled.
At 18 minutes into the second half, DT José Pekerman admitted the boy from Rosario, but it barely lasted 40 seconds on the court: in the first one he played, he wanted to face as he knew how and full-back Vilmos Vanczák took him by the shirt. Aged 18 at the time, Messi tried to shake him off with a swipe that barely brushed the Hungarian, who exaggerated too much and prompted referee Markus Merk to show the red card.
Lionel Scallonicurrent coach of the Albiceleste and the great person responsible for having straightened the course of this squad that won the Copa América 2021 and the Finalissima, and that will seek to be crowned in Qatar 2022, played that match and was the one who led the claim to try to get the referee to see reason and remove Messi’s red card. She already defended him from that moment.
“I thought ‘I came in and they kicked me out, they will never call me again’. It was terrible”, expressed Messi about that episode, years later. Fortunately for everyone, that did not happen and today La Pulga is the player with the most appearances in the Argentine National Team, the one who converted the most goals and probably one of the three most symbolic players in the history of the national team.
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