Argentine star Lionel Messi stunned the football world on Monday, when the Inter Miami star announced his retirement from international football with the Argentina national team.
Messi wrote in an official statement posted on his Instagram account: “After all this time since the final match, and after much thought, I want to announce to everyone that I have decided to retire from playing with the national team.”
According to “sign“, Messi’s legendary number 10 shirt is now waiting for someone who can carry the weight of this historic number. It is an almost impossible task. Nico Paz, McAllister, Enzo, Almada?
Many voices in Argentina, as they did with Diego Maradona, are now calling for the number 10 to be retired.
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They want to honor the legend and ensure Argentina never play with the number 10 again. Fulfilling the desire of many is not easy.
Returning to 2024, Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association, told the newspaper “Sport”: “He will retire wearing the number 10 shirt for the national team when Messi ends his international career.” The Argentine Federation’s intention seems clear enough.
Marca confirmed that the matter is not that simple. FIFA regulations strictly prohibit removing the shirt number from its tournaments, although friendly matches are another matter.
FIFA requires that the numbers in the World Cup, for example, be from 1 to 26 without deleting any number. Therefore, Argentina’s request is in direct contravention of the rules.
This dream, which is shared by most Argentines, has a precedent: the dream of Diego Maradona.
On 25 September 2001, the Argentine Football Association, on the initiative of its then president Julio Grondona, voted unanimously to stop wearing the number 10 shirt in honor of Diego.
The plan was to do this before the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and it seemed so stable that the Ouellet newspaper ran a front-page headline: “It’s God’s Will.” And so it was. The No. 10 shirt will be retired.
But no. Banned by FIFA, Ariel “El Burrito” Ortega wore the number 10 in the 2002 World Cup, the player who wore it the most between the eras of Diego and Messi.
We’ll see what happens. One thing seems clear. In friendly matches, where the rules allow it, no one will wear this number in the matches that Argentina will play in September and October, which has not yet been confirmed. This would be the right moment to honor Leo, the number 10.
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