Mexico City /
The relationship between José Néstor Pékerman i Lionel Messi it has many chapters; however, the first contact between the two gave an unexpected turn for the ‘10’. And is that the Argentine strategist detailed how he detected a the Flea when he was part of the staff of the lower categories of the AVI to subsequently ‘steal’ the selective from Spain.
It must be remembered that it was Pekerman who debuted in Messi in one World Cup with the largest selection of Argentina, As it was in the fair of Germany 2006.
“We practically steal it in Spain. What we had seen from some videos, both Claudio Vivas who spoke with Toncalli, and we already had some reports of a little Rosario … I had left the selection at that time, in 2002, and I ‘ I went to Spain to work in Leganés. There we saw him play in Barça youth teams. There was a regulation in FIFA that has already changed, which said that a player who played in the youth teams could not play in the absolute of another country. We made the strategy for the South American to play, because the European was also coming and in Spain he did not go unnoticed and he was going to play with the Spanish national team “, he indicated in an interview with TNT Sports.
“His parents let him decide. And his words were: ‘I’m Argentine and I want to play in Argentina’. It was his decision, his feeling, his heart. As they also made the decision to go to Spain so small, quite a challenge. All the decisions were like that and now you have to do that, take the best to be happy. “
Why didn’t Pekerman use Messi against Germany in 2006?
Also, the strategist indicated that in that World Cup chose to leave Messi on the bench because he considered it not his World Cup.
I explained: ‘You’re going to be the best in the world, I glimpse that. But this World Cup is not going to be yours yet. You are playing every minute you can have depending on the match situations. But it will help you to listen, to learn … Come closer, Let go because your World Cup will be in South Africa. And you will play for the National Team for many years, “he concluded.