The 64 players who played just once alongside Lionel Messi: Boateng, Todibo…
Hundreds of footballers are privileged enough to say that they’ve played alongside the great Lionel Messi – but a fair few of them have only made a solitary appearance alongside the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets are among Messi’s most trusted team-mates, having featured alongside him countless times for Barcelona and Inter Miami, but among the superstar names, there’s a sizeable group who shared the pitch with him just once.
But the 37-year-old has invariably made a big impression on even those whom he barely played alongside.
“I went to the locker room, I said ‘good morning everyone’ and I looked to the right and he was sitting there. He has an aura, an energy that you’ve never seen before, it’s as if he is glowing” former Inter Miami back-up goalkeeper CJ dos Santos told Brazilian TV programme ‘O Gol’.
“He has a different energy, he is a humble man. He is gentle, kind, talks about everything. I ask him for advice. He is a very accessible guy, it is impossible for you not to like him.”
Not all of Messi’s old team-mates share the same view, though.
Kevin-Prince Boateng, who briefly spent time at Barcelona, was critical of Messi’s training methods and believed he wasn’t a good influence on the younger players coming through.
“So we come in the dressing room, he’s just sitting there on his phone [and] gets a massage sitting down,” Boateng said, speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.
“Two minutes before we go out, he just stands up, closes his boots, and goes out.
“The warm-up for the Champions League game against Liverpool, [we did the] crossbar challenge and then he goes back inside.
“[The] coach made the last adjustment, [Messi] is on the phone face-timing [and] 30 seconds before we go out he just comes and puts his jacket on and BOOM, goal, goal, goal.”
“That’s what the young players did in Barcelona: Malcom, Dembele, they looked at him and they didn’t train so then going to the game, they got injured. He’s the only one in the world who can do that.”
Some of these will be hoping for further appearances alongside Messi for Argentina and Inter Miami, but for the vast majority, the ship has sailed.
Here’s the full list of all 64 players who have made exactly one appearance alongside Lionel Messi
Emiliano Insua
Jordi Masip
Jeison Murillo
Juan Musso
CJ dos Santos
Rocco Rios Novo
Javier Ruiz
Colin Dagba
Felipe Sanchon
Gregore
Jean-Clair Todibo
Wilfrid Kaptoum
Valentin Carboni
Rodolfo Arruabarrena
Kevin-Prince Boateng
Leandro Desabato
Jose Luis Gomez
Tino Costa
Gonzalo Martinez
Nereo Champagne
Mateo Musacchio
Leandro Diaz
Walter Kannemann
Emiliano Rigoni
Domingo Blanco
Ruben Mino
Oriol Romeu
Sergi Gomez
Moises Pereiro
Leonel Vangioni
Marcos Senesi
Juan Miranda
Fernando Cavenaghi
Cesar Delgado
Sergio Rico
Abel Ruiz
Matias Abelairas
Fali
Fabian Rinaudo
Nico Paz
Juan Camara
Marc Cardona
Daniel Montenegro
Diego Perotti
Jose Manuel Rueda
Nicolas Stefanelli
Sekou Yansane
Jonathan Silva
Mario Santana
Ernesto Farias
Giuliano Simeone
Pablo Alvarado
Jose Sand
Juan Manuel Martínez
Jean Marie Dongou
Monchu
Arnaud Kalimuendo
Alex Collado
Jose Manuel Arnaiz
Taty Castellanos
Lucas Boye
Djeidi Gassama
Lisandro Lopez
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