Lionel Messi leaves his fans awestruck almost every time he steps on the pitch. The Argentine star has been mesmerizing fans with his out-of-the-world soccer skills for almost two decades now. However, such is the craze and talent of Messi that sometimes, even rival fans can’t help but applaud the little genius. Such an incident occurred a few days ago when Lionel Messi lit up the La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires.
Lionel Messi recently took part in his former teammate Juan Roman Riquelme’s testimonial match. The Argentine skipper was welcomed with a rousing reception at La Bombonera, as the 60,000-odd fans kept chanting his name. Moreover, Messi was even reduced to tears as the fans serenaded him in celebration of Argentina’s World Cup 2022 title.
Messi scores and for the first time Boca Juniors fans are celebrating the goal against Boca 👑
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) June 25, 2023
Riquelme’s testimonial match, which featured an Argentine XI against Boca Juniors, ultimately ended with Boca’s 5-3 victory. However, Messi unknowingly created history once again on the pitch when he scored against Boca. On a rare occasion, maybe for the first time in their history, Boca fans got up on their feet to celebrate Messi’s sublime goal.
The Boca fans celebrated Messi’s goal as if a Boca player had scored a goal in the Copa Libertadores. The goal was immediately met with fans chanting his name and bowing out of respect for the former FC Barcelona star. In addition to this, the Boca fans even started chanting for Lionel Messi to wear the iconic Boca Juniors jersey.
Boca fans apologize to Messi and refuse to call him the GOAT
While the Boca Juniors supporters duly paid homage to Lionel Messi, for them, Juan Roman Riquelme is the GOAT. During the testimonial match, fans were heard chanting, “Messi, Messi, Messi, Messi… me tenés que perdonar… En la Boca el más grande, el más grande es Román.” The chant translates to, “Messi, Messi, Messi, you have to forgive me, in La Boca the greatest, the greatest is Roman.“
“Messi, Messi, Messi, Messi…
me tenés que perdonar…
En la Boca el más grande,
el más grande es Román…” pic.twitter.com/nXKbvKIxZp— SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) June 25, 2023
The chant signifies the legacy of Juan Roman Riquelme at Boca Juniors. Riquelme is often considered to be one of the last “true number ten” players to ever play soccer. The Argentine star started his decorated career at Boca Juniors when joined the club in 1996. After spending 5 years at the club, he left for FC Barcelona and later went to play for Villareal.
Although Riquelme later returned to his boyhood club again in 2007 when he spent another 7 years at the club. He won multiple titles at Boca, including three Copa Libertadores, one Copa Argentina, one Intercontinental Cup, and one Recopa Sudamericana.
He also won the Argentine Primera Division on five occasions. Currently, Riquelme is the vice president of Boca Juniors (via Transfer Market).