"Quite a bit of doubt"

Heartbreaking farewell letter: Is Messi retiring?

Lionel Messi shared emotional words in memory of his late father.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/instagram.com/leomessi, AFP)

With emotional words and deep insights into his feelings, soccer superstar Lionel Messi has publicly bid farewell to his late father, Jorge, for the first time. “Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone. I can’t wrap my head around it—or rather, I don’t want to accept it,” the 39-year-old Argentine wrote on social media. Jorge Messi died on Saturday at the age of 68.

  “It’s very hard for me to imagine that I’ll never see you again, that we’ll never speak to each other again. I know you were suffering and that this is for the best, but you left us far too soon.” Details about the health issues that led to his death were not disclosed. The family had already announced in June, during the World Cup, that Jorge Messi was ill. Following his death, the family initially did not comment. His son and his family had traveled from the U.S. to Argentina for the funeral.

  The 2022 World Cup champion also described how deeply his father’s serious illness weighed on him during this summer’s World Cup. “Every time a game ended, I waited for your message and missed it. That’s when I realized how serious the situation really was,” wrote the multiple-time World Player of the Year. “Still, I kept thinking about getting as far as possible to buy you some time so you could watch a game.”

Will his father’s death affect the end of Messi’s career?
Messi and his team reached the final but lost to Spain. “I couldn’t do it—my legs just wouldn’t hold up anymore. This time, I tried to fight against my physical condition, but I couldn’t. I never really felt comfortable,” he explained. Jorge Messi was unable to attend the final.

  According to Messi, the loss of his father could also lead to an earlier retirement. “I don’t know what to do without you; I don’t know how to move forward. All I’ve ever done is play soccer, and now I have serious doubts about whether I’ll keep doing this for much longer.”

“I love you, Dad.”
The 39-year-old paid tribute to his father with touching words. “I’ll miss you so much, but you’ll always be with me—especially as I raise my children, because I’ll teach them and raise them just as you did with me,” Messi wrote. “I love you, Dad.”

Jorge Messi served as his son’s advisor from the very beginning of his career. He brought him to FC Barcelona as a teenager, where Lionel Messi (39) played from 2000 to 2021. He is currently under contract with Inter Miami in the U.S. Messi has participated in six World Cups with the Argentine national team.