"I don't know what I'll do without you": Leo Messi's emotional farewell letter to his father
The Argentine footballer explains how he played the World Cup knowing that his father was very ill
BarcelonaLeo Messi has bid farewell to his father, Jorge, who died a few days ago due to a serious illness, with a very emotional letter in which he reviews the relationship they had since childhood, the role he played in his career, and the last moments shared. In the text, the ex-Barça player particularly recalls the World Cup, which his father could not attend due to the worsening of his health, and leaves doubts about whether he will continue playing much longer. He has just turned 39 and has a contract with Inter Miami.
"Dad, I still can't believe you're gone. I don't accept it, or rather, I don't want to accept it. It's very hard for me to imagine that I won't see you again, that we won't talk again," Messi writes at the beginning of the letter. The Rosario footballer explains that he was aware of his father's suffering and that his death has put an end to that suffering, but regrets that it came too soon: "We had many things left to enjoy together." One of the memories that moves him the most is that of the last World Cup. His father had insisted that he play in it and, precisely in the days leading up to the start of the tournament, his condition worsened. "It was the first time you hadn't accompanied me to a tournament, but Mom told me you would get better and be well enough to travel," he recalls.
Messi promised his father that they would reach the final so that his father could finally travel there, but after each match he waited to communicate with him and couldn't. "Every time a match ended I missed your message. That's when I realized that the situation was really serious," explains the forward in the letter he published on his Instagram account. "I wanted to win [the World Cup] and bring it to you, show it to you, but I couldn't, my legs couldn't take any more," admits Messi, who assures that during the championship he went "against" his body and that he "didn't feel well" at any time. Despite everything, he finished the tournament with eight goals.
In the farewell letter, Messi explains that his father thought Argentina had lost the final on penalties. "We couldn't talk about anything that had happened. You couldn't enjoy anything," laments the footballer, who raises a question about his professional future: "I don't know what I'll do without you, I don't know how to continue. I've only played football and now I have many doubts about whether I'll continue doing it for much longer," confesses Messi, who feels a void very difficult to erase: "Why couldn't you hold on a little longer so we could finish together?".