On June 20, the Argentine team will debut against Canada in Group A of the Copa América . Lionel Scaloni’s team arrives as current champions at the tournament that will be played in the United States and has Lionel Messi as its main banner. In the run-up to the premiere, 10 took advantage of the last few weeks to offer different interviews, such as the one agreed with Marcelo Tinelli at the Meridien hotel , the world champions’ bunker in Fort Lauderdale.

n the note issued by América , Leo highlighted his competitive aspect beyond being 36 years old, stated that he does not hide his anger and recalled an anecdote from the last training sessions with the Albiceleste : “ I don’t draw it, I am what I am, and you realize account. Just yesterday, I lost a little game in training and I’m getting hot. I like to win, compete. At one point, I get cloudy, I get hot and, after a while, it goes away and I wonder why the hell I got hot that way. What a need. It happens to me with the games at Inter Miami .”

Later, he told which of his children he approaches to ask for football advice and who is the most similar to him: “In the games I don’t tell them anything. Afterwards, we talk, we comment. But it also depends on the moments and how you say it. All three are different in character. Thiago is much more sensitive and if you say something bad to him he assimilates it in a worse way. He is more susceptible, but he already realizes when he does something wrong or right and looks for me to talk . Not to Mateo. I can tell him anything and he sucks whatever I tell him, whether good or bad . He takes it the same way. Ciro is the most similar to me on a character level. We talked about it with Antonela, he has things of my character.”

Next, Tinelli asked him what things and Messi finished: “ And, I’m strange… I have my crazy things, my moments. Over there, they are all together with the kids playing and he doesn’t participate because he sucks an egg while they are playing or he is somewhere else. Or he gets crazy and you can’t talk to him because he can go anywhere . It is very similar”.

One of the most emotional moments of the interview was the world champion’s reaction after Marcelo Tinelli showed him the tattoo he had gotten as a promise after Argentina became world champion. The design on his left leg has the captain kissing the World Cup. “ Uhhh, nooo… This is freshly made. How crazy, impressive. On top of that, it’s big, ha. I saw a lot of people who did crazy things like this. It is spectacular, very well done, beautiful ,” the man from Rosario was surprised.

Although he did not endorse the look of the presenter’s hair, which had been dyed pink: “ I saw you the other day… Zafa, played… Pink is very popular. I was surprised, it’s played. Here, the same, nothing happens, ha… Here, with the heat it happens .” At the end, the Inter Miami player mocked him with a joke about both things: “ The hair has a solution, if the tattoo was bad, ha… ”.

The link with Lionel Messi dates back to 2004, during the Rosario’s first appearances in the elite of world football. The Under 20 World Champion Team the following year with him among their ranks visited the Showmatch program studio and there was even a penalty shootout with Leo as the protagonist. Marcelo Tinelli has told of his great relationship with Messi’s family, including his parents, and the connection remains valid in the present until the point that they went to Tinelli’s house in Nordelta in March 2023, months after being crowned with Argentina in the 2022 World Cup.

There was also room for a fun crossover with Tinelli’s cousin, Luciano Tirri. “ What did that become of the land on the Moon? “, Lionel Messi told him about the acquisition made a few years ago by Tirri, who told him that he wanted to sell the property while Leo had a smile of disbelief, unable to believe that the story was real. Faced with that, Marcelo made a suggestion regarding a possible investment of buying a property on the satellite. “ Yes, obviously ,” Leo replied.