Benin at Messi's farewell: "The whole team is malicious, they like to play dirty"

Messi bids farewell to the Argentina national team at the Monumental, this Tuesday night, against Benin. The players of the African national team admire the Argentine star and want to enjoy themselves, but they guarantee they did not go to Buenos Aires for a stroll and even talk about the opponent's less-than-correct style of play.

"We arrive at the match for a celebration and with the ambition that the world sees us. But we are not going to play simply like a friendly, we want to show that we can play football. Everyone is going to watch this match. I faced Balerdi and I was shown a red card because of him. He has his tricks, he is very malicious. The whole Argentina team is like that. It is a specialty of South American teams, they like to get into the opponent's head and play dirty. We saw that at the World Cup with Argentina, also with Paraguay in the game against France. That is their game. If you are not mentally strong, you can react and see a yellow or red. We have to watch out for that," said captain Steve Mounié.

Defender Mohamed Tijani, meanwhile, guaranteed that "there is no need to mark Messi." "We have to enjoy it and that's it. Messi, you are a God. For me, you are the best in the world. I really like Messi. Benin is a very good team to face, but we are going to make the most of the game and give our best so that the party is fantastic," he added.

"We didn't come here to go sightseeing"

Marcel Dandjinou, goalkeeper, also looked ahead to the match: "It's not like any other game. I think it's something that only happens once in our career, because it's Messi's last game. It's a special game. We are here for Argentina and for Messi, but we must not forget that we also represent our country. We are here to defend Benin. We are not here to go sightseeing in Argentina, we are here to play and compete. It will be a great day in our lives. For me, he is one of the kings of football. We grew up watching him play. He is one of our favourite players. To be able to play against him now, on the same pitch, is incredible. I never imagined this could happen, but on Tuesday it will happen. For me, Leo is a legend, a true legend."