Letters may feel like a relic of another era, but one message posted online helped shape a turning point for Argentina and Lionel Messi. A teenager in River Plate’s youth system wrote directly to Messi after the captain briefly walked away from the national team, and years later the same player delivered a goal that gave him one more match.
The story began when Messi announced on 27 June 2016 that he was stepping away from the Argentina side after another painful final defeat. He had already lost the 2014 World Cup final, the 2015 Copa América final and the Copa Centenario final in 2016, and the announcement triggered a wave of support for the then Barcelona star.
A teenager’s message that hit Messi hard
Among those reactions was a Facebook post from Enzo Fernández, then 15 years old and still in River Plate’s academy. His message was raw and emotional, and it questioned why fans expected Messi to carry so much pressure on his own.
“How are we going to convince you, we who are dead people?” Fernández wrote in the post. He ended with the words “Gracias y perdón,” a closing line that summed up both gratitude and apology.
Fernández argued that no one else could understand the pressure Messi faced from a country of more than 40 million people that demanded perfection and kept comparing him with Diego Maradona. He also urged Messi to stay and enjoy himself, saying that when Messi enjoyed his football, everyone else enjoyed it too.
Messi changed his mind and kept going
According to www.lavanguardia.com, those messages helped move Messi, who reversed his decision and returned to the national team. He did not stop there, and he continued to lead Argentina through the years that followed.
Since that letter was posted, Messi has scored 70 of his 125 goals for Argentina. That tally includes 16 of his 21 goals in World Cup matches, underlining how central he remained to the team after the brief retirement scare.
| Key Moment | What Happened | Why It Mattered |
|---|---|---|
| 27 June 2016 | Messi announced he was leaving Argentina after another final loss. | It prompted a flood of support from fans and players. |
| Facebook post by Enzo Fernández | The River Plate youth player wrote an emotional open message to Messi. | The post urged Messi to stay and keep enjoying his football. |
| After Messi’s return | Messi added 70 goals for Argentina, including 16 in World Cups. | His comeback became one of the defining stretches of his international career. |
| 24 September 2022 | Fernández debuted for Argentina’s senior team and played 26 minutes alongside Messi. | The supporter and the idol finally shared the same pitch. |
The circle closes in Qatar
Fernández’s rise continued after his move to Benfica, and on 24 September 2022 he made his senior debut for Argentina. He spent 26 minutes on the pitch with the player he once defended in that online message.
Later came Qatar, where Fernández started on the bench before becoming a starter and a world champion. Messi, meanwhile, faced another tense knockout moment when Argentina trailed Egypt 0-2 in a match that could have been his last at a World Cup.
Messi later admitted, “With the 0-2 we saw it badly,” but he scored and assisted to pull the game level. Argentina still needed one more goal, and it came in the 92nd minute.
Fernández ran down the left to join Lautaro Martínez’s movement on the other side, giving the attack another option. When the cross came in, he rose above Yasser Ibrahim and headed the ball into the net, sending Argentina on to another match and giving Messi one more game.
It was a fitting ending to a story that had started with a teenager typing out admiration and frustration on a computer years earlier. The player who once asked Messi not to leave was the same one who, ten years and ten days later, helped keep his World Cup alive.