Before Messi, he was ‘Mecci’ — and Spain was calling. How Argentina secured a legend 22 years ago

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Factuality

Ownership

On June 29, 2004, it was marked forever in the history of Argentine football. On that day, a young Lionel Messi, barely 17 years old, played his first minutes with the shirt of the Argentina Sub 20 Team in a friendly in front of Paraguay. What was then the premiere of a promise ended up being the beginning of the career of the most important player in the history of the country. That night, played in the Diego Armando Maradona stadium of La Pate…