Benin players face a ban after Messi's farewell match!

Benin's head coach Gernot Rohr has claimed that the Argentine Football Association (AFA) blocked his players and staff from carrying out three specific things following Tuesday's friendly between the two nations.

The fixture served as Lionel Messi's farewell to the Argentina national team, coming after he announced his retirement from international football in the wake of the World Cup. The 39-year-old marked his final appearance in style, converting a penalty in a 3-0 victory.

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Ahead of kick-off, Benin's players had presented Messi with a statue, a letter penned by the squad and a rose. However, the way the post-match celebrations unfolded — featuring fireworks and an on-pitch speech from Messi — left the opposition unable to get as close to him or the rest of the Argentine squad as they had hoped.

Here is a complete rewrite in English, restructured as a narrative while keeping the statements in quotation marks:

Gernot Rohr explains what happened

Benin's German head coach, Gernot Rohr, has shed light on the events that followed the final whistle in Buenos Aires, telling French radio station RMC that security measures kept his players and staff out of Argentina's dressing room and even away from the tunnel area.

He further claimed that his players were denied the chance to take photos with Messi and never received his shirt. According to Rohr, the only memento he came away with was a 2018 Messi jersey, signed by the man himself at the request of Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni.

"The Argentinians gave our players nothing," he explained. "Not even a photo of Messi. We wanted to exchange jerseys, but we didn't get a single one.

"They wouldn't even let us into their tunnel. Security was turning everyone away. Some players were even bringing their jerseys to exchange with other players. We tried everything, but it was no use.

“I managed to give my 2018 Messi jersey to the coach. He had me sign it and then gave it back to me. I waited half an hour, but it's not a big deal.”

Hazem Mlhem |

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Hazem Mlhem est un rédacteur sportif expérimenté, animé par une passion pour le football africain.

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