Messi retires from international football: ‘Eternal’ star praised by peers

The football world has paid homage to Argentina’s “eternal” superstar Lionel Messi following his decision to retire from the national team aged 39.Argentina’s record appearance maker and scorer, with 125 goals in 207 games, said on Monday the decision to end his international career “still hurts deep down” but that “the time has come.”Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3FIFA president Infantino ‘must go’, says former UEFA boss Platinilist 2 of 3Venus Williams bows out of US Open with straight-sets defeat to Sofia Keninlist 3 of 3Arsenal edge past troubled Aston Villa 1-0 as Saka scores only goalend of listAfter the death of his father, Jorge, last month, Messi had said he had “serious doubts” about continuing to play football of any sort for “much longer”.Angel Di Maria, who played alongside Messi in their FIFA 2022 World Cup triumph in Qatar, said it was “so hard” to know fans will not be able to see the talismanic forward in the sky blue and white colours of Argentina any more.“I only know that I was born in the right century to be able to see you, enjoy you, and on top of that, to share all these years with you on the national team,” added Di Maria.Rodrigo De Paul, Mes...