Messi and Tata Martino’s emotional embrace moves fans as coach says: “It’s time for him to enjoy it”

Gerardo Martino did not greet Lionel Messi as a coach asking for another performance from his star player. After Atlanta United’s 2-2 draw with Inter Miami, he embraced him as someone who had shared a significant part of his journey.

“Over two months, many things happened to him, sporting things and, for me, the most important ones, family matters. I wanted to give him that embrace because of all those things,” Martino said after the match.

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Over two months, many things happened to him, sporting things and, for me, the most important ones, family matters. I wanted to give him that embrace because of all those things.

Martino has coached Messi at Barcelona, with Argentina’s national team and at Inter Miami. He said Messi’s decision to end his international career should not have surprised anyone, given where the player is in his career. “Beyond who the player is and the fact that he would no longer play for the Argentina national team, nobody could have been surprised that this happened. It was foreseeable that, at some point and in the short term, it would happen,” he said.

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Beyond who the player is and the fact that he would no longer play for the Argentina national team, nobody could have been surprised that this happened. It was foreseeable that, at some point and in the short term, it would happen.

But Martino framed the farewell less as a loss than as a moment to stop demanding more from Messi. “At some point we are selfish and want to keep demanding that Leo be there wearing the shirt. But, beyond the fact that he still has a path ahead of him here at Inter, I think it is time for him to enjoy it,” he said.

That message carried particular weight because Martino led Argentina from 2014 to 2016, including the team’s defeats in the 2015 Copa América final and the Copa América Centenario final. Messi first announced his international retirement after the latter defeat, although that decision proved temporary. He later returned and won the major titles that had eluded him, including the World Cup.

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At some point we are selfish and want to keep demanding that Leo be there wearing the shirt. But, beyond the fact that he still has a path ahead of him here at Inter, I think it is time for him to enjoy it.

Martino and Messi crossed paths again at Inter Miami before Martino returned to Atlanta United. This time, with the two on opposite sides, the coach offered a personal farewell instead of another request. “He has a beautiful family and I think it is fair that, beyond the sadness of not seeing him in the Argentina shirt anymore, we can tell him: ‘Go on, enjoy it. You deserve it,’” Martino said.

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He has a beautiful family and I think it is fair that, beyond the sadness of not seeing him in the Argentina shirt anymore, we can tell him: ‘Go on, enjoy it. You deserve it.’