Lionel Messi has said goodbye to his father, Jorge Messi, in an intensely personal message that reveals how his father's deteriorating health affected him during the FIFA World Cup and raises serious questions about whether the Argentine superstar wants to continue playing soccer. I don't know how to go on," Messi wrote in the emotional tribute. His health had deteriorated before this summer's World Cup, something the family had acknowledged during the tournament while asking for privacy. "Your health got worse before the World Cup, and I was worried about you," Messi wrote, according to reports carrying his statement. The farewell is particularly poignant because Jorge Messi was never simply a parent watching his son's career from the stands.