"The saddest day in career": Messi played his final match for Argentina
Kyiv • UNN
Lionel Messi played his final match for Argentina, scoring a goal and providing two assists in a 3–0 victory over Benin. He said goodbye to the national team after a 21-year career.
Argentine footballer Lionel Messi called leaving international football "the saddest day of my career." He said this on Tuesday, October 6, after his final match for Argentina, which ended in a 3–0 victory over Benin, UNN writes, citing AFP.
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Messi, who scored a goal and provided two assists in the victorious match at the Monumental Stadium, took to the field after the win to thank the fans and his teammates, reflecting on his 21-year career with the Argentina national team.
"It was an enormous source of pride for me to wear this shirt for more than 20 years," Messi told the stadium.
"Even in the worst moments that we and I experienced, I never stopped fighting, I never stopped being here," he added.
"Not coming here anymore will be very painful. I swear, I would like to play my whole life, because playing for the Argentina national team is the most wonderful thing that can happen to you," he said.
Messi said that returning to the Monumental, where Argentina played its first match after winning the 2022 World Cup, was bittersweet.
"Now I am here on the saddest day of my career, the day when I have to say goodbye to the national team, say goodbye to all of you. But now I will be on the other side (with the fans), supporting all the boys, everyone who comes along. Always united," he said.
Messi, however, said that despite the sadness, he has no regrets about the time he is leaving the national team, referring to the difficulties of Argentina’s campaign at this year’s World Cup, where the South Americans reached the final but lost to Spain.
Messi said that the emotional roller coaster of that tournament, which included a 2–1 defeat to fierce rivals England in the semifinal, had taken its toll.
"Although I want to be here my whole life, I feel that this is the right moment. The last World Cup was too difficult, everything I had to go through," Messi said.
"We had a dream of fulfilling my dream and the dream of the whole country—to become world champions again. At the last World Cup, we came very close, and the reality is that nothing extraordinary happened, as people say. The match against England affected us greatly physically, and emotionally—very much. We arrived with enough strength, we fought, as always, for this shirt, with all the teammates I had to be with and with whom I could share moments, not only with them but also with those who were around at the time when we managed to win. We came very close," he said.
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