What it was like for a New England Revolution youth team to train with Messi and Argentina
"It was kind of a surreal experience."
Prior to Argentina’s Copa America quarterfinal game at Gillette Stadium against Venezuela on June 18, Lionel Messi and his superstar teammates trained for three days with the U-23 youth team of the New England Revolution. While the three-day practice session served practical value for Argentina, it was an exciting experience for the Revs’ youth team players.
Christian Sady and Willis Griffith, who are both college soccer players but are affiliated with the Revs’ U-23 squad, offered their thoughts on practicing with an elite side, especially Messi.
Christian Sady
On the surprise announcement of training with Argentina:
The coaches tried to hide it from us as much as possible, but we knew something big was coming. We were really excited about that.
We were pretty stunned to be honest. I didn’t really kick in until we were on the field with them. You see those guys playing on TV pretty much everyday. And then the next day you’re 10 feet away from Messi. It was kind of a surreal experience.
On Messi:
Lionel Messi scored Argentina’s third goal in the quarterfinals at Gillette Stadium.
The third day we got to scrimmage them for 20 minutes or so. And I’m the left back, he (Messi) is obviously a right midfield/right forward, so I was defending him one on one on numerous occasions which was fun…to some extent. Once he started going, I realized how hard it was going to be to defend him.
What I learned watching him was his attention to detail. Every touch had a purpose. You really can’t dive in on him because he’ll spin right around you. It took a lot of mental strength to go up against him. It was just a great experience, because he’s obviously at the top of his game right now.
He was relatively nice. I don’t know how much English he spoke. When I went up to him to give him a high five, he’d give me one back.
Willis Griffith
On getting put into the team alongside Messi and Ezequiel Lavezzi:
The second day, one of their center backs and their left back got sick, so they stayed at the hotel. The Argentina coach came over and requested a couple of center backs. So, fortunately, myself and one of the other guys were put into their actual training session. It was the two of us put into small-sided teams with them. We went through a possession game and then against the goal. I believe I had Messi and Lavezzi both on my team with the second-string goalkeeper. It was a pretty crazy experience to share water bottles with Messi, have them talk to me a little bit when we were off the field and just be a part of what was going on was incredible.
I think I just kind of had a silly smirk on my face for the first few minutes. I just couldn’t internalize how great an opportunity it was and how unbelievable it is that I had a chance to play with those players. I was definitely nervous out on the field, but it was a great experience.
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