Lionel Messi started his farewell from the Argentine men’s national football team in style. The Pulga scored two and set up one as the Albiceleste won 3-0 against Venezuela on Thursday.

It was bound to be a match filled with sentimental pull. Set to be Lionel Messi’s last official game on home soil, emotions were present even before the ball started to roll. As early as four hours before kickoff, fans began pouring into the stadium, showing giant flags, tattoos, and other homages to Messi. A packed stadium chanted his name during warmup, moving the usually impassive Messi to tears. 

There was another touching moment as Messi walked onto the pitch with his three sons, Thiago, Mateo and Ciro. As the Argentine anthem began to sound, the Qatar 2022 winner was once again overcome with emotion, and had to stop following the lyrics to hold back tears.

Argentina came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, pressing high up the pitch and creating a couple of........

© Buenos Aires Herald