“Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone”: This is how the letter Lionel Messi wrote to Jorge, his father, begins, following his death on Saturday, August 8, at the age of 68 in Rosario.
This is no ordinary farewell: it is that of a son who lost the man who was his first coach, his representative, and his number one fan since he was a child.
Messi said he knew his father was suffering, that his passing was almost a relief from the pain, but that it came too soon. Jorge had asked him for one last thing: that he play in the 2026 World Cup.
And his health failed just before it began. When the final ended, Lionel flew to Rosario to see him. They did not get to talk about what had happened on the field.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, I don’t know how to go on”, he wrote with the same doubts as any son left without his dad. He ended by asking him to rest in peace and watch over him from above. “I love you, Dad”.