Argentina is grieving, and so is Lionel Messi.
The passing of Omar Souto, the long-time AFA national team manager and a towering figure in Argentine football, has sent a wave of sorrow through the country.
But for Messi, this loss is deeply personal. Souto wasn’t just an administrator; he was the man who ensured Messi wore the Albiceleste for the very first time.
Messi, now with Inter Miami, posted a heartfelt farewell that laid bare the depth of their relationship.
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“You were always by my side and became the man who paved the way for the AFA to take notice of me… Your legacy will live on forever. We will never forget you, Omar. Rest in peace,” he wrote on Instagram.
Souto’s Relationship With Messi
Souto’s influence on Messi stretched far beyond logistics and paperwork. In the early 2000s, when Spain aggressively pushed to secure Messi for La Roja, it was Souto who tracked him down, very literally.
In a 2017 interview with La Nación, Souto recalled the lengths he went to just to reach the Messi family.
He called from a payphone, flipping through a Barcelona directory until he found them.
“Spain were desperate for him, and he always said no,” Souto said. “When we got back to Buenos Aires, I called his grandmother, then his uncle, and finally Jorge. ‘He’s Lionel,’ Jorge told me, ‘and he’s been waiting for Argentina to call.’”
That phone call changed football history.
Souto served the AFA for nearly 30 years, and the federation paid its own emotional tribute.
#ProfundoDolor Con enorme pesar y tristeza, la Asociación del Fútbol Argentino informa el fallecimiento de Omar Souto, histórico Gerente de Selecciones Nacionales de @Argentina.
Simplemente gracias, Omar. Gracias por tu solidaridad, tu compromiso inigualable con la albiceleste… pic.twitter.com/4TE4buUx9R
— AFA (@afa) November 23, 2025
“Simply thank you, Omar… for your solidarity, your unparalleled commitment to the Albiceleste, and for being a true role model,” the AFA wrote on X.
Just months ago, Souto received an emotional tribute at the AFA’s Ordinary Assembly.
Today, Argentina bid farewell to the man who helped safeguard its greatest ever player.
