Messi Mourns Father, Voices Doubt Over Soccer Future

Lionel Messi shared a tribute to his late father, Jorge, on Instagram Wednesday, opening up about the emotional toll of leading Argentina to this summer's World Cup final and expressing serious doubts about his soccer future.

"I don't know what I'm going to do without you," Messi wrote in Spanish. "I don't know how to keep going. All I ever did was play soccer, and now I have serious doubts about whether I'll keep doing it for much longer."

Jorge Messi, who served as his son's agent and managed his business affairs throughout his career, died Saturday at age 68.

In the post, Messi recalled that his father had asked him repeatedly to play in the World Cup, even as his health declined just before the tournament began. "It was the first time you weren't going to be at the tournament," Messi wrote. "But mom kept telling me that you were going to get better and that you'd be well enough to travel. I kept telling you that we were going to make it to the final so you could travel."

Messi said he had wanted to win the tournament for his father but fell short. "I couldn't," he wrote. "My legs had nothing left. This time I tried to push beyond what my body could handle, but I couldn't. I never managed to feel right."

In Argentina's opening match against Algeria this summer, Messi was visibly emotional after scoring the first of his three goals, later saying he had wept for "a reason unrelated to sports." Argentina went on to finish as the tournament's runner-up.

Messages of support for the Messi family have poured in since Jorge Messi's death. Lionel Messi returned to Argentina and missed Inter Miami's recent Leagues Cup match against Monterrey. The MLS club was set to close out the tournament's group phase Wednesday night against León, with coach Guillermo Hoyos saying Tuesday there was no timetable for Messi's return.