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Argentina legend Juan Roman Riquelme has confirmed that former teammate Lionel Messi will be in attendance for his farewell game.
Riquelme retired from professional football in January 2015 but will have a testimonial game on June 25 at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The former midfielder has several illustrious teammates, having played for clubs like Barcelona, Boca Juniors and Villarreal.
He notably shared the field with Messi during the latter's early days with La Albiceleste and wore the No. 10 jersey before it was taken over by the latter. There were doubts over whether La Pulga would attend the game on June 25, but Riquelme has put those to rest.
He recently said that Lionel Messi will be at La Bombonera for his farewell game (as quoted by @AlbicelesteTalk on Twitter):
“Messi will be at my farewell game on June 25th.”
Riquelme added that the upcoming contest was initially scheduled four years ago, but Messi was unavailable due to club football commitments:
“A farewell game was supposed to take place in 2019, but Messi called me to tell me not to hold it because he was busy playing and not having enough time. Today I was fortunate enough to speak with him, and he told me that he will be here on the 25th of this month, and that it would be a pleasure to see him at the Bombonera.”
Lionel Messi and Juan Roman Riquelme shared the pitch 27 times for Argentina. Messi assisted Riquelme on three occasions, while the latter returned the favour four times.
La Albiceleste recorded 17 wins and five losses when the two talismanic forwards played together, winning the 2008 Olympic gold medal in Beijing. Riquelme featured 51 times for Argentina, recording 17 goals and 20 assists.
Lionel Messi will play two games for Argentina before attending Juan Roman Riquelme farewell match
Lionel Messi is with the Argentina squad in China for the ongoing international break.
The reigning FIFA World Cup winners take on Australia in a friendly at the Workers Stadium in Beijing on Thursday (June 15). Lionel Scaloni's men then travel to Jakarta to take on Indonesia in another friendly at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium four days later.
Messi is expected to feature in both games and will look to extend his record of 102 goals and 56 assists in 174 games for Argentina. He will then be seen at Juan Roman Riquelme's farewell game six days after the Indonesia match.
