Benin coach Gernot Rohr to ask Messi for autograph after match
Ahead of Lionel Messi's farewell match for Argentina, Benin head coach Gernot Rohr shared his tactical goals and a personal request for the Argentine legend.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Author: Bryan Berlin
Benin national team head coach Gernot Rohr is preparing for a friendly match against Argentina with a dual objective. Beyond the tactical challenge of facing the reigning world champions, the manager has a personal task: he plans to ask Lionel Messi for an autograph on a shirt that the forward gifted him back in 2018 during the World Cup in Russia.
He gave me his shirt after that match, so it's great to see him again this time. I will ask for his signature because he did not sign it last time. Gernot Rohr
Rohr, who previously managed the Nigeria national team, remains an admirer of Messi's talent. He described the Argentine’s left foot as being like a hand, capable of performing any task with ease, and noted the player's uncanny ability to disappear and reappear on the pitch, comparing him to a ghost.
The coach emphasized that he strictly controlled his team's mental focus in recent weeks, forbidding players from discussing the upcoming friendly until they had secured results in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Following successful games against Burkina Faso and Mauritania, the "Cheetahs" are now fully focused on the Argentina fixture.
Rohr has set clear goals for his squad: to perform well against a top-tier opponent and gain invaluable experience for his young team. Regarding life after Messi, the coach remains confident that Argentina’s football system, which produced Diego Maradona and currently features talents like Lautaro Martinez, will inevitably produce the next global star.