• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
A 15-year-old Enzo Fernandez wrote Lionel Messi an emotional letter on Facebook in 2016

Home> Football

Updated 17:04 23 Dec 2022 GMTPublished 10:10 23 Dec 2022 GMT

A 15-year-old Enzo Fernandez wrote Lionel Messi an emotional letter on Facebook in 2016

He penned the letter when Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international football.

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

Argentina World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez penned an emotional letter to Lionel Messi after he announced his retirement from international football.

Back in 2016, Messi decided to retire from national team duties after Argentina suffered a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to Chile in the Copa America – their fourth major final loss in nine years.

Messi, whose only major international honour was Olympic gold at the 2008 Games, had also lost a Copa America final to Chile the previous year.

Advert

And his miss in the 2016 shootout appeared to be the final nail in the coffin.

"For me, the national team is over," Messi said. "I've done all I can. It hurts not to be a champion. It's been four finals, I tried. It was the thing I wanted the most, but I couldn't get it, so I think it's over.

"I think this is best for everyone. First of all for me, then for everyone. I think there's a lot of people who want this, who obviously are not satisfied, as we are not satisfied reaching a final and not winning it.

"It's very hard, but the decision is taken. Now I will not try more and there will be no going back."

Less than two months later and Messi reversed his decision to retire from the national side when he was named in Argentina's World Cup qualifiers squad.

The rest, as they say, is history. After so many years of hurt, the 35-year-old forward finally lifted football's biggest prize on Sunday afternoon when Argentina beat France in the World Cup final.

Advert

It was an emotional moment for Messi and his La Albiceleste teammates considering the amount of setbacks they'd had as a group.

And after the full-time whistle, a letter penned to Messi by teammate Enzo Fernandez from 2016 was discovered – and it likely sparked a few more tears in the Argentina camp.

Image credit: Alamy
Image credit: Alamy

Fernandez, who was only 16 at the time, wrote his hero a message on Facebook.

Advert

It read: "How are we going to convince you if we are disastrous? How are we going to convince you if in our lives we have never had 1% of the pressure that you have on your shoulders?

"That you get up in the morning and look in the mirror and know that a crowd of more than 40 million people not only want you to do things perfectly, but it's also been ridiculously imposed that they can demand them from you.

"How are we going to convince you if we could not understand that you are a human being, a person with unmatched talent, the best player on the planet but a person anyway.

"How are we going to convince you if we don't stop for a second to realize that you are not responsible for the anger that losing brings us, which often has more to do with our own frustrations that arise.

Advert

"Let's look in the mirror and ask ourselves, what if we demand of ourselves 1% of what we demand of this boy that we don't even really know?"

You can read the full statement from Fernandez' Facebook post on June 27, 2016 below. This is incredible.

Image credit: Enzo Fernandez/Facebook
Image credit: Enzo Fernandez/Facebook

Six years later and the highly-rated Fernandez went on to lift the Young Player of the Tournament award at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Advert

The Benfica midfielder is now wanted by a host of top European clubs, including Liverpool, who have had a €100 million offer rejected in recent days, according to Portuguese outlet Correio de Manhã.

Thoughts on the Fernandez letter? Let us know in the comments.

From 26-28th December, watch all 10 Premier League games live, including Aston Villa vs Liverpool, Arsenal vs West Ham, Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest and more. Watch for free with a 30-day free trial to Prime!

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/enzojfernandez - Alamy

Topics: Argentina, Lionel Messi, Enzo Fernandez, Football World Cup

Jack Kenmare
Jack Kenmare

Jack is a Senior Journalist who enjoys a long read. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of Football Manager wonderkids from 2005 to the present day, and has interviewed a handful of FM's finest, including Freddy Adu, Supat Rungratsamee and Mika Aaritalo.

X

@jackkenmare_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • Getty Images - CBS
    an hour ago

    Thierry Henry Delivers Must-Watch Analysis of Viktor Gyokeres Moment vs Bilbao

    The former Arsenal striker gave Gyokeres some useful tips.

    Football
  • Getty
    an hour ago

    Real Madrid Set New Champions League Record With Marseille Victory

    Real Madrid created Champions League history after beating Marseille.

    Football
  • Getty Images
    an hour ago

    Real Madrid Identify 'Most Promising Player in English Football' as Potential Vinicius Jr Replacement

    Vinicius was benched for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Marseille.

    Football
  • Getty
    2 hours ago

    Aston Villa Fans Deliver Instant Verdict on Jadon Sancho’s Club Debut

    Jadon Sancho made his first appearance for Aston Villa following his move from Manchester United.

    Football
  • Lionel Messi Sparks Retirement Talk After Emotional Family Message
  • Lionel Messi Snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo When Naming Greatest Striker He's Seen Live
  • Lionel Messi releases an emotional statement following the death of Pope Francis as games postponed
  • Lionel Messi reveals the one football match he lost that still 'tortures' him