International début
On August 4, José Pekerman called him up to the senior Argentine national team. He made his début against Hungary, being put in during the 63rd minute, but was sent off after just 40 seconds, because the referee Markus Merk found he had elbowed the defender Vilmos Vanczák who was tugging Messi's shirt, and left the pitch in tears. The decision was heavily contested as Maradona even claimed the decision was pre-meditated.[8][9] Messi then had his first real international debut on September 3 in Argentina's 0-1 World Cup qualifier away loss against Paraguay playing the last eight minutes of the match.[10] Ahead of the match he had said "This is a re-début. The first one was a bit short"[11]