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Lionel Messi issues heartbreaking statement after dad Jorge dies aged 68 Lionel Messi has written an emotional letter to his father, Jorge, who died last week. Lionel Messi has penned an emotional letter to his late father, Jorge, who died last week at the age of 68. The businessman and father of the legendary footballer died in hospital in Rosario, Argentina, following a lengthy health battle. It emerged during the World Cup that Jorge's health was declining and the news of his death was confirmed on Saturday. Messi flew back to his hometown of Rosario over the weekend to grieve his father's death and attend the funeral. Now, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has issued a statement in the form of a letter, written as if he was speaking directly to Jorge. In it, he spoke about how difficult it was to play at the World Cup while his father's health deteriorated. Messi wrote: "Dad, I still can’t believe that you’ve gone. I don’t fall, or rather, I don’t want to fall. It’s very hard for me to imagine that I’m not going to see you anymore, that we’re not going to talk anymore. "I know you were suffering and that it’s for the best, but you left too soon. We still had a lot left to enjoy together. You asked me so much to play in the last World Cup, and it was in the days just before it started that you got the worst. "It was the first time you weren’t going to be at a tournament, but Mom told me that you were going to get better and that you’d be well enough to travel. I told you we were going to reach the final so you could travel. "Every time a match ended I waited for and missed your message. That’s when I realized the situation was really bad. Even so, I didn’t stop thinking about going as far as possible, to buy you time and so you could see a match. "We reached the final and you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it to bring it to you and show you a new one. I couldn’t; my legs wouldn’t give any more. This time I tried to go against my body, but I couldn’t. I never managed to feel good. "When I arrived you thought we had lost the final on penalties. We couldn’t talk about any of everything that happened. You couldn’t enjoy anything. "We weren’t champions, but you have no idea how much we enjoyed every single match. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play it." Messi added that he was considering the future of his football career in the wake of his father's death, having had his world turned upside down. He added: "I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, I don’t know how to go on. I only played football and now I have quite a few doubts about whether I’ll keep doing it for much longer. "You were by my side from the beginning; there was so little left until the end. Why couldn’t you hold on that little bit more so we could finish together? "I know your happiness was seeing your family well, your wife, your children, and above all, without the others finding out, watching me play… It was always like that since I was little. "You would take me to all the training sessions as soon as you got home from work. For many of them Mum took me because you were working. Obviously you never missed a single match. "How you suffered watching me and how you enjoyed it, even though you never gave me many compliments. You were dad, friend and representative. "You were always the person you needed to be in every moment and you never got anything wrong. Beyond a few reproaches or arguments, you were always right. In the end it always turned out the way you said." EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page.