In the past 48 hours, the captain of Argentina’s national soccer team, Lionel Messi, 39, left the New York New Jersey Stadium in tears after losing to Spain 1-0 in extra time at the World Cup on Sunday. Messi, who is widely considered the greatest soccer player of all time, including the greatest goal-scorer, thanked his fans on Instagram in a heartfelt message in Spanish: “The pain is immense and it will take time for this wound to heal. But I also cherish all the good…Today, it’s hard to truly appreciate what we accomplished, but this team made it to two consecutive World Cup finals. Once again, we came together as a country that stood united, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine.”

In the spirit of sportsmanship, he also congratulated Spain – a team of players he knows well, having played for Barcelona for decades – on their win. The same night Argentina lost, hundreds of thousands of Argentine fans took to the streets to celebrate their national hero and thank him for giving us hope and bringing us to the finals again.

Like them, I am especially proud to be Argentine during times like these. I watched the final match Sunday at a Buenos Aires public viewing for over 5,000 Argentine fans alongside my amiga. I witnessed families, with children as young as 2 years old, embracing the cold weather to celebrate Argentina and........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)