For the first time after the victory at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Lionel Messi and his teammates returned to their hometown to play a match. Before the warm welcome from fans in the stands of Monumental Stadium (Buenos Aires), Emiliano Martinez, Angel Di Maria, Nicolas Otamendi could not hold back tears.
Emiliano Martinez was the most emotional. He continued to cry as Argentina’s national anthem played in front of more than 80,000 home fans.
Martinez kept crying during the friendly match against Panama.
Not only the Argentine stars, some players on the Panama side also cried at the passionate atmosphere at the Monumental Stadium. The world ranked 61st team had the honor of meeting the reigning World Cup champion in the first match of the FIFA Days holiday series.
Before the opponent was not of the same level, coach Lionel Scaloni kept the squad of 11 starting players in the World Cup final in December 2022. In attack, Lionel Messi plays on the right wing, alongside him are the duo Julian Alvarez and Angel Di Maria.
During the two-week break of the national leagues, Argentina will have two friendlies, against Panama and Curacao respectively (March 28).
Tuan Nguyen | 08:25 March 24, 2023
