When Benin face Argentina in Lionel Messi's final international appearance, Benin coach Gernot Rohr says he will have one personal request for the forward - an autograph on the shirt Messi gave him when Rohr was Nigeria coach.
But the former Super Eagles coach, who described Messi's left foot like a hand, warned that needing that autograph will not prevent him from instructing his wards to go out and give it everything.
Rohr faced Argentina twice with Nigeria, once in a friendly game at Krasnodar, where Messi did not play, and the second at the 2018 World Cup also in Russia, and said the Argentina captain gave him his shirt after that encounter but without signing it.
"It's a big honour for us, and also for me, as a coach, to play this last game of Leo Messi for his national team," Rohr told ESPN.
"He gave me his jersey after that match, so it's wonderful to see him again this time now. I will ask him for his signature because he did not sign last time."
That first game in Krasnodar was in November of 2017 and ended in a 4-2 friendly victory for the Super Eagles, as they recovered from two goals down to win. The second came seven months later at the World Cup in Russia.
Messi scored the opening goal in the final Group D game before Victor Moses equalized from the penalty spot. Nigeria were heading into the round of 16 until Marcos Rojo popped up to score with just four minutes of regular time left, to give Argentina a 2-1 victory and eliminate the Super Eagles.
"His left foot is like a hand," Rohr said. "He could do everything with his left foot and just make it look so very easy. His quickness also. One moment he is here, the next moment he is not there. He is like a ghost. And also the efficiency in front of the goal. These were very special qualities of this big player."
These qualities, Rohr said, meant the prospect of playing Messi and Argentina came as exciting news to his players - excitement that proved enough for some within the Benin camp to worry that it could distract them from the qualifiers against Burkina Faso and Mauritania
"My players from Benin were very excited to hear that we will play this game," Rohr said "When I accepted, some of my people told me, 'Oh, it's dangerous because everybody will think of the last game of the FIFA window (against Argentina) and forget that we have two very important games to play in Burkina Faso and against Mauritania.'
"So I said, 'No, we'll speak about it only later.'"
Keeping that game out of the conversation while his team negotiated the opening two matches of their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign got the intended result, as Benin responded by taking four points from the two matches. Aiyegun Tosin converted a penalty as the Cheetahs drew 1-1 away to Burkina Faso before Rodolfo Aloko scored twice in a 2-1 victory over Mauritania.
Those results left Benin unbeaten after the opening two qualifiers and allowed Rohr and his players to turn their attentions fully to Argentina.
"For Benin, it is a big honour also to play against Argentina, and to be invited," Rohr said. "I think that they invited us also for our good reputation of fair play and trying to play good football."
Argentina have already played one friendly on the Messi retirement tour, handing a 7-0 drubbing to Burkina Faso, who turned up with a largely under-23 side. Rohr said his players watched that game as part of their preparation and expects it to provide a measure of the level required against the former world champions, insisting that the objective against Argentina is to keep Benin competitive while allowing his young players to experience the level required against one of international football's leading teams.
"The most important message for my boys is to do everything to be on the right level against this team, not to concede a big defeat and play good football," he said. "And to defend very well against these fantastic strikers they have.
"They will learn. I have a young team. They will have a look on everything, the preparation from the opponent. My young people will learn a lot. And I hope not to concede so many goals."
Irrespective of the score, when the final whistle sounds, that will signal the last time Messi puts on an Argentina shirt as a player. Rohr says although his departure will leave Argentina without the player who has defined its national team for more than two decades, he does not expect the wait for another elite talent to last indefinitely for a country that also gave the world Diego Maradona
"They have big players, like Lautaro Martinez, scoring a lot of goals," Rohr said. "They have other big players, young players now. In this big football country, one day they will have again a new star, I'm sure about it."