Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed, Lionel Messi share quick exchange after Argentina friendly in Kyle Field

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - More than 90,000 soccer fans filled Kyle Field Saturday hoping to get an up-close look at international superstar Lionel Messi as his Argentina national team faced Honduras in a World Cup tune-up.

Only one person wearing a No. 10 Argentina jersey got a chance at a handshake and a brief conversation with one of soccer’s most famous athletes.

Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed orchestrated a jersey swap of sorts with his fellow No. 10 approximately an hour after the conclusion of the game, handing Messi a signed maroon Aggie jersey with his name and number on the back.

After what seemed like an eternity waiting outside Argentina’s locker room in Kyle Field — the visiting locker room for A&M game days — Messi emerged and was directed toward the Aggie quarterback. Reed shook his hand and posed for a photo with Messi before handing the forward his Aggie jersey. Messi received the gift and gave Reed another handshake before making his way out of the stadium.

The jersey was signed by Reed in the No. 10, with a message that said, “To Leo, Gig ‘Em!”

Looking on from the side was a group of Aggie football players who included running back Reuben Owens II.

Messi, who is recovering from a hamstring injury suffered in his last Inter Miami game before the World Cup break, did not see any minutes in Saturday’s 2-0 Argentina victory over Honduras. However, those Aggie football players and the other 90,000 fans were treated to plenty of action on the pitch.

“The game itself, I think, was positive,” Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni said after the game. “We came through it against a good opponent and with all the difficulty that comes with going out on the pitch knowing that they’re playing for a place at the World Cup and with all the news going around about injuries on other teams — you see that. You feel it.”

Honduras, which did not qualify for the World Cup, only saw 28.4% of possession in the game, but was able to frustrate the offense of the defending world champions throughout long spells of play. They defended with five on the back line and played a compact formation in the middle of the field, crowding the penalty box.

It took Argentina 37 minutes to find the back of the net and that was by way of the penalty spot. Honduras’ Gristopher Melendez fouled Argentina’s Nicolas Tagliafico in the box and was judged by VAR to have committed a penalty. Argentina’s Lautaro Martinez slotted a shot from the spot into the bottom left corner of the net for the opening tally of the game.

Before the goal, Argentina winger Giovani Lo Celso ripped a shot from distance that beat Honduras goalkeeper Edrick Menjivar to the back corner of the net, but the ball clanked off the crossbar and remained in play.

Minutes after the goal, Martinez attempted a bicycle kick from the right side of the box, but it sailed just over the crossbar, landing on the top of the net.

Argentina wouldn’t strike again until the 54th minute, when Martinez craftily back-heeled a pass to Guilano Simeone at the top of the six-yard box. Menjivar had no chance at the close-range shot placed to his left side.

Throughout the game, Messi sat on Argentina’s bench, arms crossed while watching the action in front of him. At times, he leaned over and joked with fellow teammates. Every time his face was projected on Kyle Field’s big screens, the pro-Argentina crowd roared with excitement.

Messi was one of many players recovering from injury on Argentina’s squad, which gave the team’s younger players a chance at more minutes Saturday. Defender Leonardo Balerdi was ruled out of the World Cup before Saturday’s game due to a right calf injury, according to Scaloni.

“All of the kids who came on, all of them fill us with enormous excitement,” Scaloni said.

After two days in College Station, Argentina will make its way to Auburn, Ala., to face Iceland in its final World Cup warmup. They begin their quest to repeat as World Cup champions June 16 against Algeria in Kansas City. Should they accomplish the feat, they would be the first team since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 to claim back-to-back titles.

“We’re not thinking about repeating,” Scaloni said. “That’s not in our heads. When we went to Qatar, we weren’t thinking only about being world champions. Here, we’re thinking about competing, about going out to play every match the same way and that leads you to be competitive and to be seen in a certain way by everyone. But never to set that as the sole objective, because if you set that objective, maybe you won’t play the way you have to play.”

Though no players spoke to media after the win, the smiles on their faces as they left Kyle Field and boarded the team bus told most of the story.

The grin on Reed’s face after shaking hands with soccer royalty mirrored, if not surpassed, those of the players who won Saturday’s match.