Lionel Messi was
offered the
chance to play
for the Spanish
national
football team,
but declined,
preferring to
wait for the
opportunity to
play for the
country of his
birth. In June
2004 he got his
chance, playing
in an under-20
friendly
match against
Paraguay.
In June 2005
Messi
starred for
the Argentina
U-20 team that
won the Football
World Youth
Championship in
The Netherlands,
picking up
the Golden Boot
as top scorer
with 6 goals,
and the Golden
Ball for the
best player of
the tournament.
Despite his
youth, Lionel
was already
being compared
to Diego
Maradona, one of
the greatest
football players
of all time.
On August 4,
José Pekerman
called him up to
the senior
Argentine
national team.
He made his
debut against
Hungary —
coincientally
the very same
side that
Maradona debuted
against for
Argentina.
However, he only
played for
three
minutes of
the game, being
shown a red
card and
making him leave
the field in his
first attempt on
goal.
