Jorge Messi died on Friday night at a medical clinic in Rosario, Argentina, aged 68, after a long illness, the footballer's family confirmed to Reuters. [1] He had spent his final months alternating between the clinic and his home, accompanied by his wife Celia and his children Rodrigo, Matias, and Maria Sol. [1] Saturday is the confirmation, the condolences, and a match that remains on the board.
Lionel Messi is expected to arrive in Rosario around 8 p.m. local time Saturday on a private flight from Miami to bid farewell at a private wake, according to a source close to the family. [1] Inter Miami, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, is scheduled to play Monterrey in the Leagues Cup group stage later Saturday. [1] USA Today, updating at 12:51 p.m. ET, said Miami had yet to issue an official statement as of 12:30 p.m. ET and that the club may miss the captain as he grieves. [2] May is not a postponement. The kickoff still sits on the schedule.
Jorge was not only a father. He was, for years, the agent. He accompanied Lionel from the early years at Barcelona and served as his representative. [1] "I always needed my dad's approval, ever since I was a kid. After every match, I'd ask him what he thought of how I played," the 39-year-old had said previously. [1] That sentence is the career, not the tribute reel. The man who negotiated the rooms also sat in the stands as the first critic.
When Lionel, then 13, needed treatment for growth hormone deficiency that clubs in Argentina declined to pay, Jorge sought a club that would cover the treatments and take the boy. [2] After a game of tennis, two agents he was working with scrawled a deal on a napkin that Barcelona sporting director Carles Rexach signed. [2] Ten La Liga titles and four Champions League crowns followed. [2] Football X will stop at the napkin. The napkin was a medical invoice first. A father who could not get Argentine clubs to pay for a child's hormone treatment took the child to Catalonia. That is not mythology. It is a household decision that became a transfer.
Barcelona thanked Jorge "for his commitment to our club, for entrusting us with the beginning and the most glorious years of his son Leo's football career." [1][2] Newell's Old Boys, where Lionel played as a boy from 1995 to 2000, called Jorge "the pillar and the person who supported with vision, rigor, and affection the career of the greatest player of all time alongside his wife, Celia Cuccittini." [2] "His constant companionship and behind-the-scenes leadership were essential in backing every step of Lionel, from his beginnings at Malvinas to the pinnacle of world football glory." [2] Abanderado Grandoli, the Rosario neighborhood club where Jorge coached Lionel at four, wrote that Jorge "was part of our history and also a coach at our club." [2] Real Madrid sent condolences. [1] The Argentine Football Association said a minute's silence would be observed across all divisions and that players, coaches, and referees would wear black armbands. [1] "From here, we stand in solidarity with the entire family during this difficult time and send the most heartfelt, warm, and affectionate embrace. Strength to you all." [1]
The World Cup already opened the privacy file. After scoring a hat-trick in the opening match against Algeria, Lionel broke down in tears celebrating his first goal. [1] At a press conference he said the tears were due to "something unrelated to football" after "a few difficult, complicated days." [1] Days later the family issued a statement on Jorge's "health situation," saying he was undergoing medical treatment. [1] USA Today records that Lionel slammed inaccurate reports during the tournament about his father's health and asked that the family's privacy be respected. [2] The June 18 family statement said Jorge was "under medical care, recovering and evolving favorably giving the condition he is experiencing." [2] Saturday's wires, including Reuters, call the death a long illness. [1] They do not print a diagnosis. The paper will not import an unverified cancer claim from a desk that the assigned record does not carry.
Jorge's remains are to be transferred Sunday to El Prado private cemetery in Perez, a town near Rosario, according to local media reports cited by Reuters. [1] A private wake, a private cemetery, a public minute's silence: the family kept the illness out of the press conference, and the associations will still put armbands on referees. [1] Grief in this sport is both a locked room and a broadcast.
Lionel spent time with his father after the World Cup in North America before rejoining Inter Miami, for whom he returned to action a week ago. [1] USA Today notes he scored twice in a Leagues Cup win over Atlético San Luis and that Argentina FA president Claudio "Chiqui" Tapia said Friday the 39-year-old's international future is entirely up to him. [2] Those are adjacent Saturday facts, not a retirement. The paper will not convert a father's death into a career decision the player has not announced.
Tribute desks will sell the GOAT's father. The completed Saturday record is a long illness, an agent who signed a napkin so a child could be treated, a World Cup week in which the son asked for privacy and did not get it, and a club in Florida that still has Monterrey on the sheet. [1][2] Football X can have the tears. The family already told the public, in June, that the health situation was not theirs to narrate. Saturday is the day the narration ended, and the match did not.
-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos