Enzo Fernandez, a Chelsea midfielder, has spoken about the emotional open letter he wrote to Lionel Messi in 2016, when he was 15 and begged his idol not to stop playing for Argentina. The news came after Argentina’s 5-0 win over Zambia at La Bombonera on Tuesday night.
In the 2016 Copa America final, Argentina lost to Chile in a penalty shootout. This was their third straight final loss, after the 2014 World Cup and the 2015 Copa America. After that loss, Messi said he was done with international football, but he changed his mind about two months later. Fernandez, who was only a teenager at the time, wrote an open letter to the best player of his generation on Facebook on June 27, 2016. Speaking about it, the Chelsea midfielder said:
“I’d been watching Leo on TV since I was eight or nine. I saw how things weren’t going his way and it was really heartbreaking. I seized the moment to write that. Then I stopped to think that I won a World Cup with him, and it’s just crazy. We never talk about the letter, I don’t know if he saw it.”
“Leo is a role model both on and off the pitch. The way he conducts himself, the way he treats people, his teammates, and the way he pushes us in the dressing room. I feel privileged to be with him.”
The young Fernandez wrote a heartfelt Facebook post asking Messi to stay with the Albiceleste and rediscover his love for the game. He told the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner to keep playing for fun instead of giving in to the huge pressure that millions of Argentines had put on him.
This story is even more amazing because it has had a fairy-tale ending since then. Fernandez got his first cap for Argentina in September 2022. Just three months later, he won the World Cup with the same man he had begged not to leave the national team. The 25-year-old also won the Copa America trophy with Messi in 2024, making a childhood dream come true that few could have imagined.
Messi Shines In What Could Be His Last Home Game For Argentina
Messi, who is 38 years old, scored a goal and set up another in the 5-0 win over Zambia. This was probably his last home game for the national team. He set up Julian Alvarez in the fourth minute and then scored his 116th international goal, the 902nd of his amazing career, just before halftime to make the score 2–0.
Nicolas Otamendi scored a penalty kick, Dominic Chanda scored an own goal, and Valentin Barco finished the rout in stoppage time. Argentina will start their defence of the World Cup title against Algeria on June 16. They will then play group-stage games against Austria and Jordan.