The question of who fronts the Albiceleste once Lionel Messi walks away has hung over the September window. Lautaro Martinez answered it on Thursday from the sidelines at El Cilindro in Avellaneda, where he had returned to watch the reserve derby between Racing Club and Independiente in the Torneo Proyección. Racing president Diego Milito, the former striker Lautaro replaced on his senior debut in November 2015, welcomed him back.
The subject turned quickly to Messi.
“He hasn’t left yet, we still have one game left, and after that we’ll see,” Lautaro told reporters at the ground.
That last game is on 6 October at the Estadio Monumental, when Argentina host Benin in a friendly the Argentine Football Association has built around Messi’s goodbye. Messi, 39, announced his retirement from international duty in August and is set to make his 208th and final appearance for the national team; he is Argentina’s record scorer with 125 goals.
Read also: Lawson's "so dangerous" complaint sends Hamilton before Baku stewards
Tapia’s invitation to the captain
AFA president Claudio Tapia said the federation reached the decision after speaking with head coach Lionel Scaloni.
“We decided to invite the best player in the world, our icon, our captain Lionel Messi, so that he can have the farewell he deserves on October 6,” Tapia said when announcing the fixture.
Scaloni, whose contract runs to December, is using the wider window to test the pool around him. Messi, Rodrigo De Paul and Giovani Lo Celso only join the 28-man squad for the Benin fixture; the earlier friendlies against Bolivia and Burkina Faso are for the rest of the group.
‘Two World Cups under our belts’
Lautaro placed himself and his 2022 team-mates in the middle of that transition, alongside veterans Nicolas Otamendi and Angel Di Maria.
Read also: ‘There is no other candidate’: Bayern chief makes huge Harry Kane call
“There are important, exciting young players, and there are lads who already have two World Cups under our belts. In the end, that’s what matters: carrying forward the legacy left by Leo, by Otamendi, and the one Angel left as well.”
“What remains is the legacy he left behind, along with all of us lads who have been joining up alongside the newcomers. We have to start from scratch, as with every new cycle.”
Argentina were runners-up at this year’s World Cup, losing the final 1-0 to Spain on 19 July. Messi’s retirement, made public a few weeks after that defeat, closed a 21-year international career that also delivered the 2022 title and Copa America wins in 2021 and 2024.
Back at Avellaneda
Lautaro left Avellaneda for Inter in July 2018 and has been Inter’s captain in Milan. On Thursday he was back on the touchline at the ground where his career began.
Read also: ‘I wanted to shoot Infantino’: Napoli chief makes stunning admission
Argentina open the window against Bolivia on 30 September in Cordoba, then return to Buenos Aires to face Burkina Faso on 3 October and Benin three days later.
Read also: ‘Like a child’ – Van Dijk slammed after Germany clash
