Then Barcelona youngster Messi was set to play for Spain at the U20 World Cup in 2005 before Peckerman acted.
He recalled to Ole: "Since the paperwork for his participation in the Under-20 World Cup with Spain was already ready, we had to hurry."
On June 29, 2004, Pékerman organized a friendly match to protect Messi and prevent him from playing for Spain. All he had to do was play a friendly, sign the form, and send it to FIFA.
He also said: "In Spain, we had information about Leo Messi from an Under-17 tournament in Finland, where he had played for Spain. The Spanish coaching staff told us that if we had that boy, we would win.
"I told Tocalli I was amazed, that he was the player of the future. I couldn't be wrong; he was the new face of Argentine football, a blessing.
"Tocalli told me he had the team ready for the South American Under-20 Championship, which would start in a month. 'How can you tell me there's a kid who needs to be added now?' I replied that I didn't want him to play if he wasn't necessary, but that he just had to play a friendly, sign the list and send it to FIFA . And that was it, never Spain again. I spoke to the president, I told him, I told him I wanted to come, we had to send the invitation to Barcelona."
Pékerman added: "I told Don Julio (Grondona) to look for any opponent, that Tocalli was aware of it, but on one condition: that the match be played at the Argentinos Juniors stadium. Since Diego had played there..."
The friendly was played, Messi wore the Argentine shirt and Argentina defeated Paraguay 8-0.