As Argentine football legend Lionel Messi gets ever closer to his farewell from the national team, a generation of fans will have to come to terms with the loss of a man who was ubiquitous for nearly 20 years. 

For the older fans, however, the sensation is bound to feel all too similar. Less than 25 years ago, Diego Maradona, the man who made the Argentine No. 10 his own before Messi, bid farewell not just to the national team, but football as a whole.

With the Rosario-born star’s bow out set to be one of the biggest events of the year, we decided to take a look back at the last time Argentina football bid farewell to its greatest star, as well as other historic sendoffs.

Messi’s farewell will come as most things did in his career: clean, sharp and orderly. The Rosario-born star made a habit of perfection. Maradona’s was anything but that.

At 41, El Diez wasn’t that much older than Messi will be when he dons the Albiceste for the final time on Tuesday. However, the chaotic years of Maradona’s career made sure that his farewell wasn’t a smooth sail into the horizon. 

After a suspension for his doping case at the 1994 World Cup, Maradona returned to Boca Juniors in 1995, to middling performance and an ongoing feud with club president........

© Buenos Aires Herald