For the past four years, the Argentina national team has enjoyed one of the most successful stretches in its history. During this period, they have won two Copa America titles, a Finalissima, and a FIFA World Cup, with Lionel Messi as the undisputed star. However, none of these triumphs would have been possible if Leo had chosen to play for Spain—an eventuality that Jose Nestor Pekerman, the former coach of Argentina, recently discussed.
Pekerman played a pivotal role in ensuring that Messi represented Argentina, and he shared the backstory, which dates back to the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Finland. “We lost the semi-final to Spain. At the end of the game, the coaches greeted each other, and one of them said to Hugo Tocalli (the Argentine coach), ‘Hey, if the kid who plays for Barcelona had come, you would have been the champions,’” Jose explained in an interview with TyC Sports. “And that stuck in our minds.”
The story picks up months later. “I was visiting Leganes for some work. Barcelona was playing a local team, Alcorcon, and it was there that I first saw Messi in action. I saw him, I remembered all those things, and I had no doubts,” the coach recalled.
Pekerman was adamant about the young forward’s exceptional talent, especially after witnessing him live for the first time. “Everyone was watching. I realized what was being talked about that day I was on the field. They were saying, ‘How this kid plays; now for sure the Spanish national team is going to call him,’” Pekerman said. “Now they must be lamenting tremendously.”
Former Argentina coach Jose Nestor Pekerman.
Argentina’s strategy to secure Messi
Recognizing Messi’s potential, Pekerman was determined to ensure Argentina secured him before Spain could make a move. “We had to make the call because of the famous FIFA rule,” he noted, referring to the regulation that prevents players from representing multiple national teams.
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“If we don’t do this, he plays for Spain, and if he plays just one game for Spain, we lose him,” Jose reasoned at the time. In response, on June 29, 2004, Argentina hosted a U-20 friendly against Paraguay at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium of Argentinos Juniors, where Messi came off the bench and scored one of the goals in an 8-0 victory. Fewer than 500 people attended that historic match.
Messi’s other debut with Argentina
A little more than a year after that first appearance with the U-20 team, Lionel Messi made his debut with the senior Argentina national team on August 17, 2005, during a friendly against Hungary in Budapest. He entered the match in the second half, replacing Lisandro Lopez.
However, his debut took an unexpected turn. Just seconds after stepping onto the pitch, Messi received the ball and was immediately grabbed by the shirt by Hungarian defender Vilmos Vanczak. In an attempt to break free, Leo slapped the defender, and referee Markus Merk judged the action to be violent conduct, showing Messi a red card.
“It was dramatic. Those are the things you can’t forget,” reflected Pekerman, who was Argentina’s coach at the time. “When the referee called him and gave him the red card, we couldn’t believe it—he had been on the field for a minute, maybe less. He started crying, tears falling… To the referee, in Spanish, I said: ‘You are going to go down in history for sending off the best player in the world in the next decade.’” And as it turned out, Pekerman’s prediction was spot on.