“From a waterlogged pitch, a hard-fought draw against Venezuela at the Estadio Monumental in Maturin, Messi and his Argentina teammates had to immediately board a plane, go through two flights and a stopover lasting several hours in Colombia, to reach Buenos Aires and head straight to the stadium to cheer on the U.20 team!”, said Diario Ole .
Messi and the Argentina national team’s trip to Venezuela was affected by many objective incidents. First, they had to choose a place to stay and practice at Inter Miami Club, and were scheduled to fly to Maturin City (Venezuela) about 1 day before the match. However, the travel schedule was delayed due to the impact of superstorm Milton making landfall in Florida (USA). The Albiceleste members only arrived at the venue a few hours before the match.
In addition, before the match, heavy rain caused the Estadio Monumental stadium to be soaked, causing the match to be delayed by nearly 30 minutes. On a pitch that was considered not to meet the playing conditions, Messi and his teammates encountered many difficulties, despite taking the lead through Otamendi in the 13th minute. But in the end, they had to share the points with a 1-1 draw (Salomon Rondon equalized for the Venezuelan team in the 65th minute).
After the match, a photo was revealed, showing Messi and Venezuelan player Yeferson Soteldo arguing and almost fighting. Luckily, the teammates of these two players were able to stop the unfortunate incident.
According to Messi: “The pitch did not meet the playing conditions, which made it impossible for us to do anything. We were not prepared for the match according to that situation. But we had to adapt, be ready to fight to win the ball from second situations and exploit the opponent’s mistakes. It was a very tight match and it was difficult to show anything as desired.”
However, the draw with Venezuela was not too disappointing for the Argentine team, as they still maintained their top position in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America with 19 points after 9 matches. The team that could equalize points with Albiceleste, Colombia, surprisingly lost 0-1 to Bolivia in the match at Estadio Municipal de El Alto in El Alto City (Bolivia) at an altitude of 4,100 meters above sea level, so they still ranked 2nd with 16 points.
Returning to Buenos Aires and preparing to play the next match against Bolivia at 7am on October 16, Messi will play his first match back with the Argentina national team at home after a very long absence since the end of 2023.
Messi said: “I really miss playing in Argentina again. However, it took this competition to get back. Now, we have a long trip back, a few days to rest and prepare well for the match.”
As soon as he returned to Argentina, Messi, along with coach Scaloni and members of the coaching staff, and the President of the Argentine Football Federation, Mr. Claudio Tapia, were present at the stadium to watch the U.20 Argentina team play a friendly match with the Uzbekistan team.
Messi and his teammates will rest until October 13, before returning to training and preparing for the match against Bolivia.
The Argentina team received bad news when young striker Valentin Carboni tore his anterior cruciate ligament and had to undergo surgery and was out for a long time. However, center back Romero returned after suspension, midfielder Mac Allister recovered from injury. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez continued to miss the second match serving a suspension from FIFA.
