The footballing mortality of Lionel Messi has never felt more fragile than it does right now.
On Tuesday, the GOAT played his final match for Argentina, bringing down the curtain on an international career that made him a World Cup winner and a multiple-times Copa America champion, not to mention a national icon.
It’s not clear how much longer Messi will keep playing club football following the death of his father Jorge in August.
“I don’t know how to carry on,” wrote the 39-year-old in a social media post in the days after his father’s passing. “I used to just play football, and now I’m really not sure if I’ll carry on doing it for much longer.”
One way or another, the end of Messi’s playing career is firmly in sight and there are an increasing number of indications that he is preparing for retirement.
Messi has started to collect clubs, completing the purchase of a Spanish second division team last week. The GOAT (🐐) owns another lower league Spanish team, not to mention a team in Uruguay.
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