Lionel Scaloni remembers the day Lionel Messi couldn’t stop crying from the shame of being sent off on his Argentina debut.
Now, almost 17 years later, the man who will coach the two-time world champions in Qatar, hopes his former team-mate will have a very different reason to burst into tears the week before Christmas. Scaloni was a seasoned full-back playing for Deportivo La Coruna when he won the fifth of seven Argentina caps in a 2-1 victory over Hungary in Budapest in August 2005.
But all eyes were on a little 18-year-old Barcelona genius that day, after Messi was given his debut as a 63rd-minute substitute - only to be sent off two minutes later by German referee Markus Merk for elbowing Hungarian defender Vilmus Vanczak.
It wouldn’t be the last time Messi was left inconsolable after playing for his country. And Scaloni, who became Argentina boss after Jorge Sampaoli paid the price for his failure to get past France in the round of 16 in Russia in 2018, recalls: “It was crazy.
“It was the first time I had played with Messi as a team-mate - and he was sent off on his international debut. Lionel wouldn’t stop crying in the dressing room afterwards - even though we won.
“He was only a young boy. But it showed how much playing for Argentina means to him. Now, of course, he has gained incredible experience since I first got to know him. You are not the same person at 20 years old that you are at 35.
“As you would expect, Messi is now the main voice in the dressing room. His words are worth more than any other player in the squad because he always delivers the right message. He transmits something very special.
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“But he also understands that there are times when it is better not to talk so that others can find their voices. Messi is in a good place at the moment. He knows the Argentina team is together as one.”
Messi could win his 171st cap if Argentina make it to the final in Doha on December 18. He has shed plenty of tears for his country since that debut-day disaster in the Ferenc Puskas Stadium.
Argentina were beaten in three Copa America finals and the 2014 World Cup final before Scaloni guided them to the South American crown 18 months ago by beating old rivals Brazil in the Maracana.
In 2016, after a second successive Copa America defeat to Chile in the United States, the seven-time Ballon d’or winner announced he was retiring from international football.
A weeping Messi had been discovered in a hotel cupboard in the middle of the night by a member of the coaching staff. Scaloni took to Twitter to post a photograph of him embracing Messi and the message ‘Leo, don’t go.’
Manager and captain have forged such a strong bond that Scaloni instructed Messi to deliver a final message to the team just minutes before the Copa America triumph over Brazil in Rio.
Argentina had been prevented from hosting the tournament due to the pandemic. And in his team-talk, Messi said: “We are going out to win and to take the trophy to our families, friends and the people who have always supported us.
“Forty-five days without our family, boys. We had a goal and we are one step away from achieving it. This tournament was supposed to be played in Argentina - but God brought it here so that we can raise the cup in the Maracana and make it even more beautiful for everyone.”
Messi described Argentina's victory that night as “the most beautiful thing that has happened in my career.” Argentina hopes that something even more spectacular awaits the heir to Diego Maradona.
