Shortly after his last appearance for the national team, in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Benin, Lionel Messi took the microphone and addressed the crowd, moving everyone to tears.
“It’s hard to say anything—there are so many emotions. What I’m thinking about is everything we’ve been through, how important it was for me to wear this jersey. We went through some tough times, and I don’t want to remember them, but we always gave it our all. The best thing that ever happened to me was playing for the Argentine national team. At the last World Cup, we had a dream; we gave it our all, and the game against England gave us indescribable emotions. “We fought, as we always have, alongside my teammates for this jersey. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to become world champions again, but I had no doubt that we all gave it our all,” the 39-year-old star said at the outset, with many of his teammates watching him with tears in their eyes.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
“All this time, everyone who was with me gave me the chance to live my dream. I’m immensely proud to have been with all these guys. This is a very difficult moment for me; I’m proud that the whole country stood by me, and I’m grateful for that and for everything I’ve been able to experience with my national team. I’m grateful to the fans who followed us through all the tournaments. Everything we experienced with my family was extraordinary, and for that I thank you all. The saddest moment was when I temporarily retired from the national team, but all of you made me come back, and we proved that, united, we could overcome any difficulty. Right now, we’re more united than ever. We’ve built a very strong group, a very strong national team. If we weren’t like this, we wouldn’t have been able to handle the challenges and achieve what we’ve achieved. “I’m proud to be Argentine; thank you for being here; I love you all,” he concluded, and was then engulfed in the embraces of his teammates.
*photo source: AP
