Lionel Messi pays emotional tribute to father Jorge after his death

Lionel Messi has paid tribute to his father, Jorge Messi, describing him as his “father, friend and agent” after his death at the age of 68.

Jorge Messi died in a medical clinic in Rosario, Argentina, after a long illness, according to Argentine newspaper Infobae. The report said he died on Tuesday evening, a day before the tribute was published.

Messi, captain of Argentina, said he was struggling to accept that his father was gone and questioned how he would continue without the man who had supported him throughout his career.

“Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone. I can’t believe I’ll never see you again and that we’ll never speak again. I know you were suffering and that leaving was better for you, but you left far too soon. We still had so much to enjoy together,” Messi wrote.

He recalled how Jorge had urged him to play at the most recent World Cup. Messi said his father’s health deteriorated in the days before the tournament, and that his mother had reassured him Jorge would recover sufficiently to travel.

“I told you we would reach the final and that you would be able to watch one of the matches,” Messi said.

Messi added that he had visited his father because he had been unable to discuss everything that had happened. Although Argentina did not become champions, he said Jorge had not known how much they had enjoyed every match.

“Once again, you were right: you should have been there and played,” Messi wrote.

The former Barcelona forward said he and his father had spoken every day and met whenever his football commitments allowed.

“I don’t know what I’ll do without you, and I don’t know how I’ll continue my life,” Messi said. “All I have ever done is play football, and now I have so many doubts about whether I will continue doing it for long.”

Jorge was involved in his son’s football journey from the beginning and continued to support him until shortly before his death.

“Since I was little, you always took me to every training session as soon as you returned from work,” Messi wrote. “You never missed a match. How much you suffered watching me, and how much you enjoyed it, even though you did not give me much praise.”

Jorge managed Messi’s career and handled his affairs away from the pitch from his early years. He also played a key role in arranging the treatment Lionel needed as a youth player at Newell’s Old Boys.

He later accompanied Messi to Barcelona during the move to Spain, while Messi’s mother remained in Rosario to manage matters involving the rest of the family.

Messi described his father as the person who had always known what to do and said that, apart from occasional criticism or disagreements, Jorge had ultimately been right.

“I will miss you greatly, but you will always be present, especially in the way I raise my children, because I teach and bring them up as you taught me,” Messi wrote.

“Rest in peace, and look after us from above as you did here. Thank you for everything. I love you, Dad.”

Jorge Messi is survived by his wife, Celia Cuccittini, his children Lionel, Rodrigo, Matias and Maria Sol, as well as his grandchildren and wider family.

Although he was an important figure in Messi’s career, Jorge generally stayed away from the media and rarely gave interviews, preferring to focus on his family and support his son’s progress away from the spotlight.