World football star Lionel Messi, on his 36th birthday, caused an explosion in the Marcelo Bielsa Colossus of the Parque de la Independencia in Rosario as he entered the pitch to attend the farewell ceremony for his friend and former Argentina national team teammate, Maximiliano Rodríguez.

There was no sign of his presence until 7:02 pm when the hosts of the Newell’s Idol party announced a special surprise, following a presentation by several Argentine football figures, including Lionel Scaloni, Gerardo Martino and Gabriel Batistuta.

Lio entered the pitch wearing the event’s black and white tracksuit with the inscription “MR11”. More than 40,000 fans went wild at his presence and sang him a happy birthday.

Messi, a self-confessed Newell’s fan, played in the club’s lower leagues until he left for Barcelona as a youngster, where he made his first-class debut and became a legend of world football.

For the Argentina national team, Messi and Maxi Rodríguez have played 33 times together and were part of the squad at Germany 2006, South Africa 2010 and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.