Lionel Messi made his Argentina debut 19 years ago today.
Messi wore the Argentina national team shirt for the first time in a match at only 17 years of age. On June 29, 2004, the AFA set up a match between the Argentina U20 team and the Paraguayan U20 team to give Messi his first match.
It ended 8-0 for Argentina with a 17 year old Lionel Messi scoring. He would go on to play the U20 World Cup the next year and win it, scoring two goals in the final. He would make his debut and the rest, is history.
You can already see his exceptional dribbling skills.
His passing was something he had to improve and he did!
Looking at the U17 videos from Echeverri we can see similarities…