Benin head coach Gernot Rohr has spoken out about how his players were treated by Argentina after their friendly match. He said they could not take photos with Lionel Messi or swap shirts with the Argentine players.
Argentina beat Benin 3-0 at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. This match was Messi’s last game for the national team.
Messi celebrated his farewell by scoring a goal and providing two assists. He set up Nicolás Otamendi and Nico Paz before scoring a penalty to seal the victory.
The 39-year-old called the day the "saddest day" of his career as he ended his 21-year run with the Argentina national team.
Despite the match being a celebration of Messi’s career, Rohr said his players struggled to get close to the Argentine squad after the game.
Speaking on RMC radio’s Rothen s’enflamme on Wednesday, the former Nigeria coach said the Benin team tried to meet Messi and the other Argentine players but security stopped them.
"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," he said.
Rohr mentioned that some players from Argentina tried to exchange shirts with the Benin players, but security blocked their attempts.
"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 added.
The Benin team also wanted to give Messi a bouquet of flowers in their national colors. But Rohr said that plan did not work out as they hoped.
"We offered a bouquet of flowers in Benin’s colors, yellow, red and green, but that didn’t work," the German coach said.
Rohr did manage to get a 2018 Messi shirt signed by the Argentine captain. He got this through 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," he explained.
Messi’s farewell was emotional. After the match, he addressed the supporters at the Monumental Stadium.
"It was a huge source of pride for me to defend this jersey for more than 20 years.
"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 shared.
He also remembered his late father, Jorge Messi, and Argentina legend Diego Maradona in an Instagram post after the match.
"You don’t know how much we missed you last night..." Messi wrote about his father, who passed away in August at 68.
He also remembered Maradona, saying: "I don’t want to forget Diego, who put our country where it deserved to be."
Messi finished his Argentina career as the most-capped player and leading goalscorer, with 208 appearances and 126 goals.
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