Alejandro Garnacho follows in Lionel Messi’s footsteps with Argentina

Alejandro Garnacho made his debut for Argentina in Thursday’s 2-0 win over Australia in Beijing. The Manchester United winger was introduced in the second half in front of 70,000 spectators who watched Argentina win comfortably with goals from Lionel Messi and German Pezzella.

Garnacho witnessed Messi’s moment of magic after 80 seconds from the bench, where he waited patiently with the number 28 shirt on his back. In the 74th minute, Lionel Scaloni decided to bring on the United player in place of Nico Gonzalez.

Hours after his debut, Garnacho expressed how excited he was to make his debut for Argentina. He wrote on social media: “And if this is a dream, may they never wake me up”. The young forward accompanied this message with two images of his debut and a photo of himself as a child wearing the Albiceleste shirt.

Garnacho in good company

At 18, Garnacho became the ninth youngest player to make his debut for the Argentina senior national team. The youngest was Javier Saviola, the third youngest was Messi, and the fourth youngest was Sergio Agüero.

He had just over 20 minutes on the pitch and played on the left flank, his natural position. Another dream has come through for the former Atlético Madrid academy player.