Lionel Messi says he’s retiring from playing for Argentina

Li­onel Mes­si an­nounced his re­tire­ment from in­ter­na­tion­al soc­cer on Mon­day af­ter two decades rep­re­sent­ing Ar­genti­na.

“It was a de­ci­sion that hurt — and still hurts deeply — but I un­der­stand that the time has come,” the 39-year-old Mes­si said on his In­sta­gram ac­count.

“I swear to you that I al­ways gave it my all — not just in these last few years when we won every­thing, but be­fore that too; I al­ways fought and left every­thing on the field for this jer­sey, to bring you joy and make you feel proud to be Ar­gen­tine through foot­ball.”