{"id":260578,"date":"2026-09-01T07:17:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T07:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/01\/i-saw-you-keep-going-when-things-didnt-work-out-antonela-roccuzzo-pens-emotional-retirement-message-for-lionel-messi\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T07:17:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T07:17:57","slug":"i-saw-you-keep-going-when-things-didnt-work-out-antonela-roccuzzo-pens-emotional-retirement-message-for-lionel-messi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/01\/i-saw-you-keep-going-when-things-didnt-work-out-antonela-roccuzzo-pens-emotional-retirement-message-for-lionel-messi\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI saw you keep going when things didn\u2019t work out\u201d &#8211; Antonela Roccuzzo pens emotional retirement message for Lionel Messi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5211877\" data-slug-id=\"2830484\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Lionel Messi&#8217;s wife Antonela Roccuzzo has penned an emotional message for her husband after his retirement from international football. The eight-time Ballon d&#8217;Or winner broke the hearts of millions of fans across the globe with his international retirement on Monday, August 31.<\/p>\n<p>The Inter Miami attacker shared his decision on Instagram with an image of a handwritten notebook entry in Spanish. He led Argentina to the 2026 FIFA World Cup final but the Albiceleste lost 1-0 in extra time against Spain.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/lionel-messi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Lionel Messi<\/a> has enjoyed a sensational career for Argentina, representing his country for 21 years. He steps away from international football as his country&#8217;s all-time leading goalscorer and most-capped player with a staggering 125 goals in 207 appearances.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>His wife Antonela Roccuzzo has shared an emotional tribute following his retirement on Instagram. She hailed the former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/barcelona\/news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Barcelona<\/a> superstar&#8217;s perseverance to keep going over the years. She wrote, as quoted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goal.com\/en-gb\/lists\/antonela-roccuzzo-pays-tribute-lionel-messi-retires-argentina\/blt82cee61398bbacef?utm_id=fa3iys5y8hyz9ezk&amp;utm_source_platform=newsnow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">GOAL<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I saw you keep going when things didn&#8217;t work out and always try again. And after so many years, I was also lucky enough to see you fulfill your dreams and live some of the happiest days of our lives. You deserved this story and so much more. We love you infinitely.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Lionel Messi is the most decorated footballer of all time, but he endured many heartbreaks across his international career. The eight-time Ballon d&#8217;Or winner previously announced his international retirement in 2016 after suffering consecutive final defeats as the Argentina captain.<\/p>\n<p>However, he soon reversed his decision and went on to win the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/go\/fifa-world-cup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">FIFA World Cup<\/a> in 2022. He also ended Argentina&#8217;s 28-year trophy drought by winning the 2021 Copa America, before lifting the prestigious trophy once again in 2024.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Lionel Messi&#8217;s former teammate Angel Di Maria reacts to his international retirement, thanks him for choosing Argentina<\/h2>\n<p>Former Argentina international Angel Di Maria <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/football\/news-di-maria-thanks-lionel-messi-choosing-argentina-picked-another-country-heartfelt-retirement-message\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">reacted<\/a> to Lionel Messi&#8217;s decision to retire from international football. He penned an emotional tribute for his former teammate and also thanked him for choosing to represent Argentina.<\/p>\n<p>Lionel Messi announced his decision to retire from Argentina duty weeks after their defeat in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final against Spain. He also admitted that his father&#8217;s tragic passing played a big role in his decision. Angel Di Maria reacted to the news, writing on Instagram:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;We will remain grateful to you for our entire lives because you are Argentine, and because you raised the name of Argentina to the top of the world. And because you chose to be Argentine at a time when you could have easily chosen another country. Thank you, Captain. Thank you for everything. The best in history.&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Lionel Messi chose to represent Argentina despite being eligible to play for Spain, Brazil and Italy. He won one FIFA World Cup, two Copa America titles and one Finalissima with the Albiceleste. Messi and Di Maria shared the pitch on 142 occasions as teammates for club and country and had 16 joint goal participations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Snehanjan Banerjee<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/football\/news-i-saw-keep-going-things-didn-t-work-out-antonela-roccuzzo-pens-emotional-retirement-message-lionel-messi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lionel Messi&#8217;s wife Antonela Roccuzzo has penned an emotional message for her husband after his retirement from international football. The eight-time Ballon d&#8217;Or winner broke the hearts of millions of fans across the globe with his international retirement on Monday, August 31. The Inter Miami attacker shared his decision on Instagram with an image of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":260579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-260578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}