The golden alliance between Messi and Scaloni boiled in tears in Budapest
Despite the fact that it was only a match in the old Puskás Stadium, the Hungary-Argentina match played on August 17, 2005 had historical significance. Not because the Hungarian team led by Lothar Matthäus suffered a 2-1 defeat, and not because Sándor Torghelle took the Argentine goal. Because one of the best of all time, Lionel Messi, made his first appearance for the South American national team that day. And even more so because his substitution in the 64th minute was already suspended in the 65th minute.
Vanczák would not have punished Messi’s actions
According to many, the sentence against the then 18-year-old rising star of Barcelona was excessive. The newly introduced Messi was about to swing the ball towards the Hungarian goal, when Vilmos Vanczák held him back by pulling his shirt, and the Argentine struck the defender’s head with his hand. The world’s best-known German dentist at the time, referee Markus Merk, showed the red card. Messi was not suspended until the summer of 2019, and 14 years later he received the second red card of his career in the Copa América bronze medal game against Chile.
“The red card was too harsh a sentence.” He tried to free himself from my grip, while slapping me back with his hand, but there was almost no force in the blow, and I didn’t feel the intention in it, he revealed later in an interview given to our newspaper the offended Vilmos Vanczák. – The referee could have been more lenient in a match.
Scaloni: Messi just cried in the dressing room
There was another defender in that match in Budapest who will remember Messi’s first exhibition for the rest of his life. And he is none other than Lionel Scaloni, the current captain of the Argentine national team. Scaloni was not a big player by Argentinian standards, in 2005 he was the right-back of Deportivo La Coruna in Spain, and against Hungary he made his fifth appearance for the national team (out of a total of seven appearances).
“It was the first time I played as Messi’s teammate,” recalled Budapest’s Scaloni about the match Mirror in his article. – The introduction to the national team was issued. Even though we won the game in the end, Lionel couldn’t stop crying, he just sobbed in the dressing room.
“He was just a boy, young and inexperienced,” Scaloni continued. – His reaction already showed how much playing for Argentina means to him. Today, of course, he has an amazing amount of experience, no one is the same person at 20 as at 35. As expected, Messi became the voice of the dressing room, Messi’s words are worth more than anyone else in the squad, because he always knows what to say.
He is a savior from an unroutine, temporary coach
It’s not an exaggeration, the alliance between Scaloni and Messi boiled in tears in Budapest. They played as teammates for the first time then, and now their pair is winning gold(s) for Argentina. After his retirement, Scaloni started working as an assistant to Jorge Sampaoli in the coaching staff of Sevilla, which is how he got to the Argentine national team when Sampaoli was appointed as its head in 2017. However, Argentina was eliminated with him in the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup – precisely against the French.