🚨Enzo Fernández on Lionel Messi’s impact on Argentina:
🗣️ Enzo Fernández:
“People keep asking why Argentina players seem to play with so much confidence when they put on this shirt.
I can tell you why.
It’s Messi.
Not just because he is the best player we have. It’s because of what happens to everyone around him when he is on the pitch.
I remember one of my first games with Leo. We won the ball in midfield and I saw him standing between the lines.
I thought, ‘Okay, maybe I should play it safe.’
So I passed backwards.
Leo looked at me and said, ‘Enzo, why did you turn around?’
I said, ‘I didn’t see the pass.’
He said, ‘You saw it. You just didn’t trust yourself.’
Then he pointed forward and said, ‘Next time, play it.’
That stayed with me.
Because with Messi, you realise very quickly that he doesn’t want you to hide behind him.
He wants you to play.
And that’s the strange thing about having him in the team.
You can be nervous before a game, but once Leo gets the ball, everyone starts moving.
Lautaro makes the run.
Ángel runs into space.
I push forward.
The full-backs go higher.
You suddenly feel like something is going to happen.
Sometimes I look around and think, ‘Why is everyone running so much?’
Then I realise it’s because Messi has the ball.
You don’t want to be the player who stands still when Leo creates something.
I remember speaking to Julián after one match and he said, ‘When Messi gets the ball, you don’t even need to look at him. Just run.’
That’s what he does to you.
He changes your instincts.
And it isn’t only during matches.
In training, if you make a mistake, Leo doesn’t make you feel like you’ve embarrassed yourself.
He tells you to try again.
If you score, he tells you to do it again.
If you make the wrong decision, he’ll tell you exactly what he saw.
Not with a big speech.
Just one sentence.
But you remember it.
And then international break comes.
We go back to our clubs, different coaches, different systems, different teammates.
But when we come back to Argentina, something changes.
You see players demanding the ball.
You see midfielders taking risks.
You see forwards making runs they might normally hesitate to make.
Because everyone knows there is a player behind them who can see things nobody else sees.
That’s Messi’s impact.
He doesn’t just create chances.
He creates belief.
And maybe that’s why his influence will remain even when he eventually steps away.
Because after playing beside Messi, you don’t look at football the same way again.
You start seeing passes you didn’t see before.
Spaces you didn’t notice before.
Moments you would have been too afraid to take before.
Leo doesn’t just leave you memories.
He leaves something inside you.
And I think that’s what Argentina players will carry long after Messi stops wearing this shirt.
He taught us how to believe before we even knew we were capable of believing.”
🚨 🎙️ Messi On Enzo Fernandez during Messi’s Farewell Speech :
🗣️“After I announced my retirement from the national team in 2016, a kid in our group wrote a letter to me asking me to stay for a few more years. That he would be proud to share the pitch with me. The words struck me and I had to change my decision.
4 years later, I won Copa America and Word cup 🏆 with the kid.
The kid is Enzo Fernandez “
🚨 Rodrigo De Paul on Lionel Messi’s final match for Argentina:
“I told Leo before the game, ‘You realise you’ve created a serious problem for me?’
He looked at me.
‘What?’
‘I have to find a new job.’
He started laughing.
I said, ‘I’m serious. For years everybody has called me your bodyguard. Tomorrow I’m unemployed.’
He said, ‘Maybe now you can concentrate on playing football.’
‘I tried that before. I prefer this.’
That’s Leo.
Everybody around him is emotional and somehow he still makes everything feel normal.
But today wasn’t normal.
Normally when we arrive, I know where Leo is without looking.
There will be people around him. Photographs. Teammates. Staff.
Sometimes I joke, ‘Give him space. Some of us are employed to stand here.’
Today I couldn’t say it.
Because everybody wanted one more moment.
So did I.
Before we walked out I asked, ‘Are you going to cry?’
‘No.’
‘Okay. So you’re definitely going to cry.’
Then the anthem started.
I looked across.
His eyes were already going.
I thought, ‘Ten seconds, Leo. Incredible resistance.’
Mine weren’t much better.
Then the clock reached ten minutes and the game stopped.
Number ten.
The whole stadium stood.
Even the opposition came over.
Everybody applauded him.
I looked at Leo and realised there was nothing he could do.
Normally when sixty thousand people watch him, he has a football.
That is his protection.
Two defenders? Go between them.
No space? Find some.
But what do you do when an entire stadium is simply telling you they love you?
There is no dribble for that.
I went over.
‘This might be the first situation I’ve seen where you have no solution.’
‘Shut up.’
‘You look uncomfortable.’
‘I am.’
‘Do you want your bodyguard?’
That finally made him smile.
People see the World Cup and remember the beautiful ending.
They forget everything before it.
The defeats. The pressure. The years when Leo had to prove he loved Argentina every time he touched a football.
Then came the Copa America.
Then the World Cup.
After we became world champions, I hugged him.
‘Finished.’
‘What is finished?’
‘Everything. Nobody can ask you for anything anymore.’
He smiled.
‘They will find something.’
‘Then they can speak to your bodyguard.’
We laughed.
But eventually football always asks for one last thing.
One last match.
One last anthem.
One last time wearing the shirt.
Tonight I looked at him and remembered the first time we played together.
Then I realised this was the last.
Football does that quickly.
One day you’re saying, ‘Leo, wait for me.’
Then suddenly there is somewhere he is going and none of us can follow him.
After the game I told him, ‘I’ve changed my mind. You’re not allowed to retire.’
He laughed.
‘I’ll speak to Scaloni.’
‘Rodri.’
‘I’ll speak to Chiqui.’
‘Rodri.’
‘We can probably change some regulations.’
He just looked at me.
‘Okay. At least give me the captain’s armband. I need compensation for losing my client.’
He laughed and hugged me.
And that was when it became difficult.
For years people joked that wherever Messi went, De Paul followed.
Training. Tunnels. Celebrations. Arguments.
Someone pushes him, somehow I’m there.
I never minded.
There are worse jobs in football than looking after Lionel Messi.
But tonight I finally found somewhere I can’t follow him.
When Leo walks away from Argentina, the rest of us have to stay behind.
Tomorrow we’ll discuss who plays where, who becomes captain, who wears number ten.
Football always continues.
But tonight?
Let Argentina stop for a moment.
It already stopped once in the tenth minute.
After everything Leo gave us, we can afford to stop a little longer.”
From that gold medal in Beijing in 2008 to an unforgettable career, making history every step of the way with La Albiceleste. 🥇🇦🇷
Congratulations, Leo, for continuing to make Argentina’s jersey even more iconic! 🐐👏
🎙️🇫🇷 Thierry Henry sobre a despedida de Lionel Messi:
"Você simplesmente não consegue roteirizar isso de forma melhor. Seu jogo final pela Argentina, eles vencem por 3-0, Messi marca um e dá duas assistências. Ele está diretamente envolvido em todos os três gols. E então você se lembra, este também é o jogo final de Otamendi pela Argentina, e Messi é quem dá a assistência para o gol dele. É quase como se tudo tivesse sido escrito para ele.
Mas, honestamente, não foi só o futebol que me tocou. Eu assisti à cerimônia, o jeito como os jogadores, os torcedores e o país inteiro celebraram Messi, eu me senti emocionado. Dá para ver o quanto de amor existe entre ele e a Argentina.
Hoje noite foi lindo. É difícil de descrever. Depois de tudo o que ele deu pra Argentina, ele merece cada homenagem do mundo."
🚨Nico Paz on what Lionel Messi told him after scoring from his assist against Benin:
🗣️ Nico Paz: “When Leo got the ball, I started making the run. Honestly, I thought maybe he was going to find Lautaro, because that’s the kind of position where you expect him to look for the striker.
But then I saw him look up and the ball came straight to me.
In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about anything except one thing: make it count.
I took the ball and put it in the net.
When I saw it go in, I immediately turned around and ran towards Leo. I just wanted to hug him because the feeling of scoring from a pass like that is difficult to explain.
But when I reached him, he said something that I’ll probably remember for the rest of my career.
He looked at me and said, ‘Nico, one day this is going to be you.’
I asked, ‘What do you mean?’
He said, ‘One day you’ll be the one giving these assists to another kid. When that moment comes, don’t be afraid of the responsibility. Take it. Fight for Argentina and help the next generation.’
I told him, ‘Leo, but I can never do what you do.’
He looked at me and said, ‘You don’t need to do what I do.’
Then he said, ‘You just need to do what you can do. That’s all Argentina wants from you.’
That really stayed with me.
Because when someone like Messi tells you that, you listen.
He wasn’t telling me to become the next Lionel Messi. He was telling me to become the best Nico Paz I can be.
And maybe that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from him.
You don’t honour someone like Leo by trying to copy him.
You honour him by taking the opportunity he gives you, accepting the responsibility and then creating your own story.
Today, he gave me an assist.
One day, I hope I can give an assist to another young player and tell him exactly what Leo told me.”
🚨🇪🇸 Sergio Ramos on Lionel Messi’s farewell with Argentina:
“If it were up to me, I’d declare a holiday all over the world. We’re not just witnessing a player saying goodbye; we’re witnessing the greatest of all time leaving football.
After everything Leo has done for this sport, he deserves the greatest farewell ever. I’ll be there, because this is a moment nobody should miss.”