An extraordinary era in Argentine football has come to an end. Lionel Messi has officially bid farewell to the Argentina national team after more than two decades wearing the iconic blue-and-white jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his final appearance for the national team, Argentina secured a 3\u20130 victory over Benin, with Messi ending his international journey in style by scoring one goal and providing two assists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the final whistle at the El Monumental, Messi took the microphone and delivered an emotional speech to the fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is nothing left for me to do but be grateful. It was a great honor to wear this jersey for more than 20 years. I never stopped fighting and giving everything I had,\u201d Messi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Argentine superstar said that the time had come to bring his journey with the national team to an end, stressing that representing Argentina had been one of the most beautiful experiences of his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Messi also thanked his teammates and the fans, saying that he would miss the years he spent with the national team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToday I say goodbye to all of you. I will miss defending the colors of the national team, but I will always support these boys and everyone who comes after them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the end, the Argentine legend concluded his emotional speech with a heartfelt message:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am grateful to God that I am Argentine, proud to be Argentine. Thank you all. I love you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Messi\u2019s departure from the national team marks the end of a historic chapter for Argentina and for world football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An extraordinary era in Argentine football has come to an end. Lionel Messi has officially bid farewell to the Argentina national team after more than two decades wearing the iconic blue-and-white jersey. In his final appearance for the national team, Argentina secured a 3\u20130 victory over Benin, with Messi ending his international journey in style […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-letersi"},"yoast_head":"\n