Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from the Argentina team, saying he had given everything he had to the shirt and had reached the point where he had “nothing left to give”.
Messi announced the decision in a message on Instagram after spending time considering his future following the final. He said the decision had caused him pain but that he believed the time had come to end his spell with Argentina.
“After this time that has passed since the final, and after thinking about it a lot, I want to tell everyone that I am retiring from the national team,” Messi said.
“It was a decision that hurt and still hurts in my soul, but I understand that this is the moment.”
Messi says he gave everything for Argentina
Messi said his commitment to Argentina covered his full time with the team, rather than only the period in which trophies followed. “I swear that I always gave everything, not only in the last few years when we won everything, but before that as well,” he said.
Messi said he had always fought for the shirt and had given everything in an attempt to bring supporters joy and make them feel “proud to be Argentine through football”.
He said stages of his career were coming to an end and that leaving Argentina was one of the stages that caused him pain. “I love, I loved and I will always love being with the national team,” Messi said.
“I emptied myself. I have nothing left to give, and there are also players coming through who deserve to be there.”
Messi thanks Argentina supporters after 20 years
Messi thanked supporters for the backing he had received across 20 years with Argentina. “Thank you for all the affection over these 20 years,” he said.
He said he would miss hearing the supporters while being part of the team and added that he would now join them in following Argentina from outside. “Now I will be one of you, supporting and backing the team from outside,” he said, adding that he would continue doing so “in the good times and the bad, even more so”.
Messi thanks family, coaches, team-mates and officials
Messi also thanked his family for staying with him and accompanying him through what he described as a “beautiful but difficult journey”.
He thanked every coach, team-mate and official with whom he had shared his time with Argentina. Messi said he would leave with memories and moments from his years with the team. He also said he was leaving with peace of mind and pride after sharing moments with supporters alongside his team-mates.
“I leave with the peace of mind and pride of having given you, together with my team-mates, moments we dreamed of,” he said.
“It was crazy to have lived it with you. I love you.” Messi ended the main part of his message by thanking God for making him Argentine before writing: “Come on, Argentina!”
Messi wrote retirement message two days after the final
Messi revealed at the end of his post that he had written the retirement message on July 21, two days after the final. He said subsequent events involving his father had strengthened his decision.
“I wrote these words on 21 July, two days after the final,” Messi said. “Today, after what happened with my dad, I am more convinced than before.”
The reference came after the death of Messi’s father, Jorge Messi, weeks after the final. The announcement brings Messi’s time with Argentina to an end after more than two decades representing his country.
