Juan Román Riquelme held his testimonial on Sunday with Lionel Messi and several players from Argentina’s 2006 World Cup team being invited.
Román Riquelme played his farewell match at Boca Juniors and it was his Boca team against Argentina. Present players such as Lionel Messi, Ángel Di María and Leandro Paredes were at the match while previous players and coaches such as Alfio “Coco” Basile, Carlos Bianchi José Pekerman were at La Bombonera in a 5-3 win for Boca Juniors.
World Cup winning coach Lionel Scaloni was also at the match as were the following players: Leandro Paredes, Ángel Di María, Juan Pablo Sorín, Esteban Cambiasso, Fernando Gago, Javier Saviola, Pablo Aimar, Diego Placente, Lucho González, Ezequiel Lavezzi for Argentina.
Carlos Fernando Navarro Montoya, Óscar Córdoba, Cata Díaz, Sebastián Battaglia, Nicolás Burdisso, Mauricio ‘Chicho’ Serna, Marcelo Delgado, Rodrigo Palacio, Blas Giunta, Walter Samuel, Hugo Ibarra and Jorge Bermúdez and more players were there for Boca Juniors.
Riquelme gave a speech and mentioned the following:
I don’t know who is better, Maradona (or Messi) but they are the two best players I have seen in my life and it’s great to have him here. I apologize to your family that you had vacations and stayed a couple more days, I’m very grateful that you always said yes to me and for all the bosteros I am lucky to have you here. I hope you had a great time. I love you very much.
Lionel Messi was one of the star invitees and he spoke about being at the testimonial. Here is what he had to say:
“It was very nice to be at his testimonial, with what he means to Argentine football, what he means to Boca, to once more be at La Bombonera.
“The truth is that it was a very special day to enjoy and that’s what we did.”
Riquelme to Messi: “I apologize to your family that you had vacations and stayed a couple more days, I’m very grateful that you always said yes to me and for all the bosteros I am lucky to have you here. I hope you had a great time. I love you very much.” pic.twitter.com/NDs3slsA9J
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) June 26, 2023
A standing ovation for Lionel Messi from the fans at La Bombonera.pic.twitter.com/Osz57jPuZw
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) June 26, 2023
