Messi calls Argentina’s farewell ‘saddest day’

Lionel Messi has described his retirement from international football as the “saddest day of my career” after making his final appearance for Argentina in a 3-0 win over Benin on Tuesday.

Messi scored one goal and provided two assists in the victory at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires before addressing the fans and reflecting on his 21-year international career.

“It was a huge source of pride for me to defend this jersey for more than 20 years,” Messi told the crowd.

“Even in the worst moments we went through and that I had, I never stopped fighting, never stopped being here.

“Not coming anymore is going to be deeply painful. I swear I’d like to play for the rest of my life, because playing for the Argentina national team is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you.”

The 39-year-old forward said returning to the Monumental, where Argentina played their first match after winning the 2022 World Cup, made his farewell particularly emotional.

“Now I’m here on the saddest day of my career, which is the day I have to say goodbye to the national team, goodbye to all of you,” he said.

“But now I’ll be on that side, with the fans, supporting all the boys and everyone who comes in. Always united.”

Despite the emotion surrounding his departure, Messi said he had no regrets about the timing of his decision, pointing to the physical and emotional demands of Argentina’s campaign at this year’s World Cup.

Argentina reached the final before losing to Spain, while Messi said the tournament had taken a significant toll on the squad.

“Even though I want to be here all my life, I feel that this is the moment. The last World Cup was too much, everything I had to live through,” he said.

“We had the dream of fulfilling my dream and the dream of the whole country, of becoming world champions again.

“In the last World Cup we were very close. The reality is that nothing strange happened, as people say. The match against England took a huge toll on us physically, and emotionally it was very big.

“We arrived with just enough; we fought like we always did with this jersey, with all the teammates I got to be with and share things with, not only them but also those who were around at the time when we managed to win. We were very close.”

Messi’s international career with Argentina spanned more than two decades and included the 2022 World Cup triumph, as well as victories in the 2021 Copa América and 2024 Copa América.

AFP.