‘How lucky I was’: Enzo Fernandez bids farewell to Lionel Messi after Argentina decision

Enzo Fernandez has paid an emotional tribute to Lionel Messi after the Inter Miami forward announced his retirement from international football.

The Chelsea and Argentina midfielder said he had once calculated the age gap between himself and Messi while wondering whether he would ever have the chance to play alongside his idol.

“Leo… when you previously said that you were going to retire from the national team, I felt deeply sad,” Fernandez wrote on Instagram.

“I was a young boy, calculating the difference between your age and mine to see whether I might one day be able to play alongside you. It may sound silly, but I really did it; I thought about how many years you might have left and how many years separated me from reaching the first team.

“I dreamed that we would wear the Argentina shirt together, even if only once… and fortunately, you came back.”

Fernandez said his experience with Messi had gone far beyond what he could have imagined.

“Life turned out to be much more beautiful than that young boy could have imagined,” he added. “I did not just play with you; we shared training camps, a dressing room, conversations, hugs, difficult moments and wonderful moments, and in the end we became world champions together.”

Messi announced his decision in an official statement posted on his Instagram account.

“After all this time since the final match, and after thinking about it for a long time, I want to announce to everyone that I have decided to retire from playing for the national team,” Messi wrote.

“It was a painful decision and it still hurts me deeply, but I understand that the time has come. I swear to you that I always gave everything I had, not only during the last few years when we achieved everything, but before that as well.

“I always fought and gave everything I had for this shirt, to make you happy and make you feel proud to be Argentine through football.”

Fernandez also described the personal impact Messi had on him from the moment he joined the Argentina set-up.

“Above all, I will always be grateful to you for the way you treated me from the moment I arrived,” he said. “I came carrying the dream of sharing the pitch with my idol, but I found someone who made me feel like one of everybody from the very first moment.

“You always had a kind word, advice, a hug, or simply a way of making me feel calm when I needed it. I will never forget that.”

The 25-year-old said it would be difficult to imagine Argentina’s next training camp without Messi, particularly without seeing him in the number 10 shirt.

“It is difficult for me today to imagine the next camp without you,” Fernandez wrote. “To go out on to the pitch and not see you in front of me, wearing the number 10 shirt.

“We have been used to seeing you there for so many years that it seems impossible to imagine things any other way.”

Fernandez concluded by reflecting on the fortune of the young player who had once wondered whether his dream would ever come true.

“How lucky I was, Leo, and how lucky that young boy was, the one who counted the years without knowing whether he would ever arrive in time,” he said.

“Thank you for treating me the way you did, for everything you taught me and for allowing me to share part of your story… We will miss you greatly, captain.”