Retiring From Argentina Is The Saddest Day Of My Career’ — Messi

Lionel Messi described his retirement from international football as the “saddest day of my career” after inspiring Argentina to a 3-0 victory over Benin in his final appearance for the national team.

The 39-year-old scored once and provided two assists at the Monumental Stadium on Tuesday before addressing more than 80,000 emotional supporters as he brought the curtain down on a remarkable 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.”

Messi, who led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title, said returning to the Monumental for his farewell was a bittersweet experience.

“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, everyone who comes in. Always united.”

Despite the emotion surrounding his departure, Messi insisted he had no regrets about the timing of his decision.

He pointed to the physical and emotional demands of Argentina’s campaign at the most recent World Cup, where the defending champions reached the final before losing to Spain.

Messi recalled Argentina’s dramatic 2-1 semi-final victory over England and the toll the tournament took 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.”

Messi also revealed that the death of his father and agent, Jorge, in August added to the emotional burden of the past year.

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni paid an emotional tribute to the departing captain, insisting that no player could match Messi’s extraordinary ability.

“He is unique,” said Scaloni, who played alongside Messi for a year during his own international career.

“I have never seen such a set of skills in any other player in all my life.”

Scaloni, who was visibly emotional during the national anthem, said coaching Messi had surpassed anything he could have imagined.

“I owe him a debt of eternal gratitude, for everything he gave to us,” he said.

“I told him in front of everybody, with the little energy that I still had: never in my life did I imagine I would coach the best footballer in history.”

Scaloni acknowledged that Argentina must now prepare for life without their talisman, but said Messi’s influence would continue to shape the national team.

“He leaves an unbelievable legacy,” Scaloni said.

“The only way to make up for his leaving is to have a great team, which means everyone brings something to contribute to the building of it.”