Lionel Messi is sharper at playing truco than Diego Maradona ever was, according to former Argentina national team assistant coach Julián Camino, who shared insider details on the captain’s competitive nature during their time together at the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino training facility in Ezeiza.
Truco Matches on Team Flights and Training Camps
During the cycles under manager Alejandro Sabella from 2011 to 2014, Messi routinely sought out members of the coaching staff for card games. Camino, who also played alongside Diego Maradona ahead of the 1986 World Cup, highlighted Messi’s prowess in the traditional Rioplatense card game truco. “The truco games we played… For me those are the best memories. We were with him, the best in the world,” Camino recalled of the sessions that spanned team headquarters and international flights.
According to Camino, the player brought intensity to the card table. “He is a terrible liar, besides he rushes you,” Camino stated, describing how Messi dismissed attempts to play at a more measured pace. “We wanted to play him by the clock and he didn’t want to.”
Comparing Card Skills Across Generations
Having shared card tables with both Argentine icons, Camino made a direct assessment of their respective card-playing abilities. The former Estudiantes defender left no room for ambiguity regarding the forward. “But playing truco is better Messi, without any doubt, a great liar,” Camino affirmed.
These tactical card sessions regularly included coaching staff members such as Claudio Gugnali and the coach during air travel, integrating the technical staff into the squad’s daily culture. This camaraderie extended beyond the card table, as the squad maintained its affinity for the game years later; during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the team organized an internal truco tournament featuring a $3,600 prize pool where Messi competed alongside Rodrigo De Paul and Leandro Paredes.
Generous Gestons for AFA Staff in Ezeiza
Away from the tables and the pitch, Messi directed personal resources toward supporting the operational staff at the AFA training complex. Camino detailed how the forward routinely organized raffles and distributed financial rewards among staff. “Messi has helped much of the AFA compound staff. He did gifts, raffles, always very present, the same dividing the prizes,” Camino said.
The scale of these contributions included purchasing motorcycles for staff members. Camino explained that the captain would ask how many workers were on site—numbering around 40—and subsequently purchase 20 motorcycles for an initial raffle, before organizing additional gifts for those who did not win.
A Missing World Cup Relic from Brasil 2014
Among the personal items collected during the 2014 World Cup campaign, Camino secured a match-worn jersey directly from the tournament’s knockout stages. Following Argentina’s quarterfinal victory over Belgium in Brasília—which secured the nation’s semifinal appearance—Camino noticed the captain had left his jersey in the dressing room.
“I asked him for a shirt and he gave it to me. The shirt from when we went to the semifinals against Belgium. In the dressing room he left it lying around, I asked him and obviously he gave it to me. I took it without washing it and days later he signed it for me,” Camino recounted. The former assistant manager subsequently had the garment framed and displayed at a quinta, where it was later stolen.
