'Like We Were Mobsters on Riot': Benin Coach Slams Argentina's Treatment After Messi Farewell Match
'Like We Were Mobsters on Riot': Benin Coach Slams Argentina's Treatment After Messi Farewell Match
Assistant coach Tunde Adelakun has accused Argentina's team and security of treating his players with hostility after Lionel Messi's farewell match on October 7, which Argentina won 3-0.
In a detailed statement published on the African Football Club community platform, Adelakun said handshakes after the game were "hurried and impersonal," and security operatives aggressively rebuffed any Benin player trying to approach Messi.
He described the moment his players lined up to applaud Messi during a lap of honor: "Right at the very last moment, Leo made a wild detour and, consciously avoiding the crowd of Benin players that had formed, walked toward the center of the pitch."
"The rate at which the security operatives dispatched the little huddle of players that had formed—you'd think my boys were mobsters on riot!" Adelakun said. "If it was England or Spain that had come to play that testimonial, would they have been treated the way?"
He noted a local Argentine journalist told him, "I am not proud of what I saw tonight."
The coach stressed that Benin had traveled over 13 hours to honor Messi, and while the experience was historic, the post-match events left a "bitter taste" and raised questions about respect and equality in football.
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