River Plate weren't about to let the moment pass. The storied Argentine club honoured Lionel Messi in his final match with the Albiceleste on Wednesday morning against Benin, a game he capped by scoring a penalty in a 3-0 win.
According to the Argentine website Infobae, the club presented Messi with a commemorative plaque, a shirt and an honorary membership card.
Club president Stefano Di Carlo handed over the tribute in the changing room of the Monumental stadium, minutes before Messi's final match with the Argentina national team.
River Plate posted on their official X account: "Thank you, captain".
The membership card, printed on Sunday 4 October, carried a unique touch. In place of the usual membership number, it read "ARG1812022", the date of the World Cup final in Qatar, where Argentina beat France on penalties to win their third star.
Messi also received River Plate's number 10 shirt bearing his name.
He could have ended up at River Plate himself. Messi left Newell's Old Boys because they couldn't afford the cost of his treatment for growth hormone deficiency. He trialled and shone, but in the end he moved to Barcelona, where he wrote the most important chapters of his legend.