Argentina coach Edgardo Bauza is in love with Messi, says he 'knows everything'
Lionel Messi's biggest fan might just be his new Argentina coach. When Edgardo Bauza took over from Tata Martino as manager of La Albiceleste this summer, his first task was to convince Messi to reconsider his retirement. When Bauza flew to meet Messi in Barcelona, he was so blown away by the legendary attacker's knowledge of the game, he still can't get over it to this day.
“First we asked him if he would receive us,” Bauza told Sport. “When he accepted, I knew that there would be no problem with him because it was going to be a chat about football. I didn’t go to convince Messi, I was convinced that in the chat a possibility would arise. He received me with Javier Mascherano at the Ciutat Esportiva, and after the chat there was nothing more to say other than: ‘Boys, you’re called up for the next game.’"
"What surprised me is how much he knows about football, because he knows everything, about his teammates, the technical team, about football," Bauza continued. "He’s aware of everything. I always thought a player of his standing would have to be a player who knew a lot about football. But he surprised me even more than I thought. Leo knows everything about everything. Nothing escapes him."
At this point, I'm not sure if these quotes are from Bauza or dedicated user "BIG_LEO_MESI_FAN_SINCE_01" on the Barcelona message boards. But really, who can blame him? Messi is probably one of the closest things we have to a sporting deity at this point, and it seems Bauza's just as caught up in his legend as the rest of the world.
As legendary as Messi is though, injury can make a mortal out of even the greatest of our heroes, and he won't be taking part in Tuesday’s home game against Paraguay due to a persistent groin problem. The most disappointed person to hear that might just be his coach/biggest fan Edgardo Bauza.
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