Messi: You paved the way for AFA to notice me | OneFootball

Omar Souto was one of the main people responsible for getting the AFA to set its sights on Lionel Messi, so that the star could wear the Argentine National Team jersey from a very young age. And as it could not be otherwise, after the passing of this historic Manager of National Teams for the Argentine Football Association, number ten dedicated an emotional post to him.

Through his Instagram account and after another magical night with Inter Miami, the world champion wrote heartfelt words remembering Souto. “You were always there and you were the person who opened the door for the AFA to notice me,” Leo’s post began.

And to this tribute, number ten added other phrases that also reflected his affection for Souto: “A great human being, impossible to forget for all of us who had the privilege of being part of the National Team. Your mark will remain forever. We will never forget you, Omar. Rest in peace.”

Souto and the call to ‘Leonardo’ Messi

After Hugo Tocalli warned Grondona that in Spain “there’s a phenomenon” and that they needed to “pay for his ticket and bring him to play,” the then-president of the AFA gave the green light: together with the U-20 coach, he arranged a series of friendly matches so that Messi would be locked in for Argentina. That same day, the National Team had beaten Ecuador in a World Cup Qualifier match with a goal from Hernán Jorge Crespo. And who had to reach out to Leo? Of course: Omar Souto. And he did it.

This was recounted in the book “Messi, the Complete Genius” by Ariel Senosiain. In Souto’s words: “I left the Ezeiza complex and went to a phone booth in Monte Grande. I asked for a phone book from Rosario, all we knew was that he was from Rosario. I tore out the page with the Messis’ numbers, made a random call to my house to justify that I had gone in, and went back to the complex to track him down. The first close contact I found was his grandmother. Lionel’s grandmother gave me his uncle’s contact. The uncle gave me his father’s. I called the father, introduced myself, and told him we wanted his son, with the detail that I got the name wrong: I had always heard that Leo was short for Leonardo”.

An iconic gesture that marked the life of Argentine football. That was Omar Souto, the man who was honored in October by the AFA in recognition of his remarkable career and effort. The one who is mourned on the fields and in the National Team.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.