🩵🤍 Lionel Messi statement. “Yesterday was my final match, and I already miss wearing the sky blue and white. I know I’m making the right decision. It’s been an incredible journey, full of joy and also some sadness, but I know that every step I took was worth it. "There were still so many things I wanted to say. It’s impossible for me to express everything I feel in just a few words or in one post. This journey would have been impossible without my family, who were always by my side and supported me, especially during the difficult moments when I needed them most. 🙏 "My friends were also essential, as were all the teammates and coaches I had, along with their coaching staffs. I don’t want to forget Diego, who put our country where it deserved to be and who, as I always say, I know helped us by being there with us, also from heaven, every step of the way. "Thank you to all the clubs I played for, for always respecting my feelings and allowing me to dedicate myself to my country whenever it was time to put on the National Team shirt. And, of course, thanks to God: without His guidance and His will, we wouldn’t even be dreaming of having made it this far. "I’m grateful. I love you all very much, I’m going to miss you, and I’ll always thank you for being by our side, by my side”.

🚨🇵🇹 Jorge Jesus today on Cristiano Ronaldo statement: “I read the statement and now, like I do every day, I'm going to the Federation headquarters to work, to think about the Portuguese national team”. “I have nothing more to say”.

🩵🤍✨ 932th career goal for Lionel Messi, 126 with Argentina! Scoring on his farewell game.

🚨🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo: “The coach had broken his word to me. At the end of the match I only wanted everything to finish with the victory and to be alone. I did not go to greet the fans. A failing that is solely my responsibility and that should not have happened. I apologise to the Portuguese who supported us intensely there, I apologise to the fans, and I apologise to those who, without being Portuguese, may have travelled there to see me and whom I may have disappointed. Forty-eight hours later we had a conversation — myself, the coach and Simão Coutinho — since he had been the one accompanying our conversations in August. It was a deep moment, very frank, without any kind of filter. We agreed that there was only one way to close this “case”: that the coach repeat what he had just told me in private, in the presence of Simão Coutinho, but in the press room. What was agreed was simple: the coach would begin the press conference with this subject, seeking to close the matter by telling the truth. He would say that I never asked to play any minutes, that it was the coach and no one else who proposed the plan for this camp to me, and that it was a mistake to put me on to warm up and then not bring me on, and that if it happened again he would not do it. We ended that meeting with the coach asking me for a hug, promising me that he would say at the conference what he had just said to me, and that the matter would be overcome. I would not play in Denmark and I would play the match at the Dragão. All of this in the presence of Simão Coutinho, always. At the coach’s request, a meeting then took place between himself, Simão Coutinho and Tiago Craveiro by videoconference, in which what we had discussed was summarised. A short document was produced which I myself validated and which, with my knowledge, was delivered to the coach, as he had requested. The conference was what is known: the posture had nothing to do with our meeting; I heard expressions and an aggressiveness that I do not believe I deserved, an attitude of “I want, I can and I command” that he never showed me, not even remotely, in private the day before. The notes I validated were the following: “I think it is important, also because it is the truth, to clarify a few things before talking about Denmark: 1. I myself, and no one else, proposed to Cristiano a plan for him this sporting season with the National Team. It was a long and very good conversation. 2. I know how much he lives and loves the national team and the weight he has in the world, and even more the weight and the positive influence he has had on the national team for 24 consecutive years. 3. The plan I proposed to Cristiano was accepted. 4. He never questioned my options. He was exemplary, loyal and professional. 5. The match in Norway was not part of the plan I drew up for him. However, I felt that he had managed to recover physically from the first match and I warned him that I might have to use him. Cristiano agreed. 6. I made a mistake by putting someone of the stature of Pelé or Maradona on to warm up and then not putting him in the game. If it were today I would not do it. 7. To close the subject: I want Cristiano in the National Team. In fact I do not want him a little, I want him a lot. Fortunately he also believes in me. He believed at Al Nassr and he does here as well. 8. About not greeting the fans. We have already spoken about that. Someone who has played more than 230 matches for the national team does not receive lessons from me on love for Portugal. It was a moment of frustration that erases nothing. He is the player who gives the most autographs, takes the most selfies, and shows the most affection to the fans. Let us not invent problems where they do not exist. When we are not happy we react. That was all. None of these notes, therefore, said that the coach should even apologise to me. It was the second time he had broken his word to me”.