Benin head coach Gernot Rohr has criticised the treatment of his players following their international friendly against Argentina, revealing they were denied the opportunity to take photographs with Lionel Messi and exchange shirts with members of the world champions’ squad.
Argentina defeated Benin 3-0 at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires on Tuesday in what was widely described as Messi’s final appearance for the national team.
Speaking on RMC radio’s Rothen s’enflamme programme, Rohr said Benin’s players made several attempts to meet Messi and other Argentine stars after the match but were prevented from doing so by security personnel.
“Yes, it was extremely difficult. We tried,” Rohr said.
“The only shame is that the Argentines gave us nothing. No photo with Messi, no shirt. They didn’t even let us into the tunnel, nor even the dressing room.
“Security refused to let anyone in. Some players came to swap shirts, so we knew it would be difficult. We tried everything, but we got nothing.”
According to Rohr, the Benin delegation also attempted to present Messi with a bouquet of flowers in the national colours of Benin—yellow, red and green—but the gesture did not result in a meeting with the Argentine captain.
“We offered a bouquet of flowers in Benin’s colours, yellow, red and green, but that didn’t work,” the German tactician added.
Rohr, however, revealed that he managed to obtain Messi’s signature through Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni.
“I gave Messi’s 2018 shirt to coach Scaloni, who got him to sign it for me and then returned it to me, but that was all,” he said.
Messi marked his farewell appearance in style, scoring once and providing two assists as Argentina secured a comfortable 3-0 victory.
The 39-year-old brought the curtain down on a remarkable 21-year international career as Argentina’s all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, finishing with 208 appearances and 126 goals for the Albiceleste.
