“Don't mark Messi”: a Benin defender's unusual "plan" to stop the No. 10

M ohamed Tijani left a bazaar in downtown Buenos Aires holding a mate in his hands and a smile on his face. The Benin defender had taken advantage of a few free hours to stroll around the city before the match against Argentina. What he did not expect was to end up talking about Lionel Messi and, much less, to reveal his particular ‘plan’ to try to stop him.

C5N's cameras found him during a walk alongside the African national team's doctor. Tijani, 29, showed the souvenir he had bought for his son: a mate in Albiceleste colors. “I'm taking a mate from Argentina for my son”, he said. Then came the inevitable question: What will he do when he has Messi in front of him?

There's no need to mark Messi

The response was surprising even for how natural it sounded. “There’s no need to mark Messi. We’re going to enjoy this match. There’s no special plan to defend against Messi. We just have to enjoy it, that’s all,” he replied with a laugh.

The defender was not talking about individual marking or a formula to try to reduce the influence of the number 10. Quite the opposite. At his side, Benin’s doctor defined Messi as “the God of football” and Tijani quickly joined in the admiration.

“I’m going to look at him and say to him: ‘Messi, you are God’”, he said. He also described him as “the best in the world” and recalled that he followed Argentina’s matches during the World Cup.

The scene had one final detail. Tijani not only wanted to take a mate from Buenos Aires for his son. He was also hoping to get a souvenir from Messi himself: his jersey. “I’d be happy if he gives me the jersey. I’m going to ask him,” he explained before making his request: “Messi, I love you very much. Can you give me your jersey?”.

The conversation left an image that was hard to separate from the one before the match. An international defender who, hours before facing the Argentine captain, was more concerned with getting his jersey than with explaining how to stop him.

A lineup with a Qatar flavor for Messi's farewell

While the players of Benin spend the run-up between strolls and souvenirs, Lionel Scaloni is putting the finishing touches on the team that will accompany Messi in his farewell with Argentina.

The coach's idea is to bring together a large number of the footballers who shared the Albiceleste's most successful years with the captain. Rodrigo De Paul and Nicolás Otamendi appear among the main new additions for a match that could also mark the center back's farewell to the national team.

The possible starting eleven would be Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez; Agustín Giay, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Nicolás Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister; Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez.

De Paul was called up exclusively for this match, while Otamendi will return to accompany Messi on a special night for the generation that won th e Qatar World Cup . Giay would be the only piece of the possible team that was not part of that championship-winning squad.

Benin is already saying goodbye

The match will begin this Tuesday, October 6 at 20:00 at the Monumental stadium and will be Messi's farewell from the Argentine national team before its home crowd. The AFA had announced the match as the captain's last game with the Albiceleste on Argentine soil.

For Benin, it will be a match of enormous exposure. For Tijani, moreover, it will have a personal component: he already has the mate he wanted to bring his son and a request prepared for Messi.

First, he will have to face him on the pitch. Although, if his own ‘plan’ works out, the Benin defender does not intend to make things too complicated for himself: “There’s no need to mark Messi. We’re going to enjoy this match.”