Argentina boss Edgardo Bauza has been taken surprise by Lionel Messi because of “how much he knows about football – he knows everything.”
The South American giant’s new coach revealed how he felt after flying to meet up with Messi in Barcelona, in the wake of taking on his role with the national team – a period of time when the Number 10 had chosen to retire from representing Argentina.
Telling Spanish newspaper Sport about that meeting, Buaza said:
I didn’t go to convince Messi, I was convinced that in the chat a possibility would arise. He received me with Javier Mascherano at the Ciutat Esportiva, and after the chat there was nothing more to say other than: ‘Boys, you’re called up for the next game’.
What surprised me is how much he knows about football, because he knows everything, about his teammates, the technical team, about football. He’s aware of everything.
I always thought a player of his standing would have to be a player who knew a lot about football. But he surprised me even more than I thought. Leo knows everything about everything. Nothing escapes him. He has a very important understanding and this helps when one has to communicate their idea.
Messi reversed his decision to retire after the positive meeting, and returned to score the winning goal for Argentina in his very next call-up – a 1-0 win over Uruguay.
