Lionel Messi Retirement: Star footballer Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international football. With this, his glorious journey of more than two decades with the Argentinian national team ended. Argentina lost 1-0 against Spain in the World Cup final held in July. After this defeat, Messi’s dream of winning the World Cup for the second consecutive time was also shattered. However, now he has announced his retirement.
For 39 years, Messi played 207 international matches for Argentina and scored 125 goals. He is second in the list of players who have played the most matches in men’s international football. According to the report, Messi had decided to retire just two days after the defeat in the World Cup final. However, he postponed the official announcement of this decision for some time due to his father’s ill health.
Messi became emotional
Posting on Instagram, Messi wrote: “After the time that has passed since the final, and after a lot of thinking, I want to tell everyone that I am retiring from the national team, It was a decision that hurt, and still hurts—but I think the time has come. I swear I always gave it my all. Not just in these last few years when we won everything, but even before that. “I always fought and left everything on the field for this jersey, to bring you joy and through football make you feel proud to be Argentinian.”
Announced retirement after father’s death
Messi’s father George Messi died in August at the age of 68 after a long illness. After this, Messi informed about his retirement through social media. He told that the decision to step away from the national team was very painful for him, but after thinking for a long time, he felt that now is the right time to say goodbye to international football.
Played a big role in making Argentina world champion
Messi’s international career was full of many big achievements. He captained Argentina in the 2022 World Cup and made the team champion and won the best player award of the tournament. Earlier, he had also received the Golden Ball in the 2014 World Cup. Messi, who has won the Ballon d’Or eight times, is counted among the greatest players of world football. Despite his retirement from international cricket, he will continue to play in Major League Soccer for Inter Miami at the club level.