Lionel Messi returned to action for Inter Miami on Wednesday following the death of his father, making his first appearance for the club since hinting he might retire.
The Argentina captain was introduced as a half-time substitute in his side’s 3-2 defeat against Leon in their final group game of the Leagues Cup.
His return came a day after an emotional statement was released, in which he admitted feeling uncertain about continuing his career after his father Jorge died last week.
“You were by my side from the beginning; there was so little left until the end. Why couldn’t you hold on just a little longer so we could finish it together?”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you,” he wrote in a social media post.
“I don’t know how to carry on. I used to just play football, and now I’m really not sure if I’ll carry on doing it for much longer.”
Messi had sat out his team’s 2-1 defeat to Monterrey on Saturday before attending a private funeral service at a cemetery in Perez, near his hometown of Rosario, on Sunday.
Jorge acted as Messi’s agent from the age of 14, watching him develop into one of the sport’s greatest ever players, and was present when he captained Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar in 2022.
Argentina reached the final of this summer’s tournament but suffered a 1-0 extra-time defeat against Spain. Messi wrote that his father urged him “to play in one last World Cup” despite his declining health.
Miami coach Guillermo Hoyos said following Wednesday’s fixture: “I’ve always said that this is a very painful thing and it takes sometimes a long time. When I lost my father, it was hard. He was my guide. I needed him in many cases and I felt alone.
“It’s a big blow in a man’s life, for an extraordinary man and an extraordinary family. So it’s a very painful thing.”
Opposition coach Javier Gandolfi said: “He is a player that as far as I can tell, is the best player in history. He’s the best player in history, inside the pitch, and also with some other actions I would see at a distance.
“Today he demonstrated once more what he’s made of. He is a human being that is different to the rest.”
