Iturralde González praises Messi’s fair play after his national-team farewell

“Messi could have turned 100,000 people against us every match”: the praise for the Argentine carries particular weight as he bids farewell to the national team. Iturralde González, a former referee now working with the SER network, praised Messi’s fair play on the programme El Larguero.

The comments came on the day Messi said goodbye to the national team in a friendly against Benin. He scored a goal and provided two assists in a 3-0 win. Iturralde González said the player stood out for his conduct as well as his footballing ability.

The former referee focused on Messi’s restraint when challenged. “He could have turned 100,000 people against us every match by going down or diving, and he never did,” he said, calling him “one of the noblest players on a football pitch”.

Iturralde added that Messi may have been the player who had been fouled the most in the world, yet did not try to influence decisions by diving. “Look at everything he’s been hit with… but he never tried to go down,” he said, urging new players, especially younger ones, to learn from him. In Iturralde’s view, a dive by Messi in an Argentina match could have “turned the match upside down”.