After his country’s heartbreak, Messi offered his praise to Spain in an emotional letter published on social media. “The pain is immense,” Messi began. “It will take time for this wound to heal.
“But I also choose to hold on to all the good things, all matches we turned around by giving everything and moments that will remain in our memories forever.
“I will always remember the support of an entire country that, together with the work and effort of this group, brought us back once again among the best teams in the world.
“Today, it is difficult to appreciate what we achieved… but this group has really reached two consecutive World Cup finals. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and every message.
“Once again, we managed to come together as a country and stand united, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine. I also want to congratulate Spain on winning World Cup.”
The atmosphere following the World Cup final was soured by unsavoury scenes as both Nahuel Molina and Leandro Paredes turned on their opponents.
Wayne Rooney was swift to condemn their behaviour, remarking: “Does it surprise you? It doesn’t surprise me. We’ve seen this with Argentina before.
“It’s just not the reaction you want. We’ve seen some of the reaction after knocking England out in the last round. That’s just sad. If you lose a game of football, be graceful and get out of there. It’s really poor from them.”