Grieving Argentine icon Messi unsure about playing on ‘much longer’

BUENOS AIRES: Lionel Messi said he has “serious doubts” about continuing to play football for “much longer” after the death of his father Jorge, in an emotional tribute posted on social media Wednesday.
“I don’t know what I’ll do without you, I don’t know how to go on. I just played football, and now I have serious doubts about continuing to do so for much longer,” the Argentinian, 39, wrote.
Messi’s father, who was also his agent, died last week aged 68.
Messi, whose contract with Major League Soccer club Inter Miami runs until the end of the 2028 season, reflected on the final months of his father’s life, which coincided with the 2026 World Cup.
Jorge Messi’s absence from the World Cup in June had already attracted attention.
“You kept asking me to play in one last World Cup, yet just days before it started, your condition took a turn for the worse.

It was the first time you wouldn’t be there for a tournament,” wrote Messi, who returned to the United States on Tuesday night following his father’s funeral on Sunday.
“I kept telling you we would reach the final so you could make the trip.
“Every time a match ended I waited for and missed your message. That’s when I realized the situation was really bad.
“We made it to the final, but you couldn’t be there.

I wanted to win it to bring it to you and show you a new one. I couldn’t, my legs just gave out.”
“This time I tried to push past my physical limits, but I couldn’t.