We have seen the images of a disillusioned Lionel Messi standing alone on a football pitch. His worst defeats appeared to consume him within his own solitude. What can one say to someone who, from a competitive standpoint, represents success in excess?

For Messi, that voice of reason, the shoulder to cry on, was his father, Jorge. On Saturday, Jorge passed away at the age of 68 in Rosario, Argentina.

Through both his son’s successes and difficult moments as a player, Jorge had been there, quietly controlling the multi-million dollar Messi brand. He was his boy’s agent and acted as a determined negotiator for one of the greatest athletes of all time. But beyond the headlines and business dealings stood a supportive father.

Jorge knew before anyone else on this planet that ‘Leo’ had a gift. He saw greatness when many others around him saw a weak child with growth issues.

When Jorge packed a suitcase and took his 13-year-old son across the Atlantic Ocean to join Barcelona in 2000, it would change football forever. It sounds like a Hollywood script, but few boys at that age — never mind one who only knew his surroundings in Rosario — would be equipped to move thousands of miles away, to leave their mother and siblings behind.

“My old man was always by my side. We went through a lot of ugly things together,” Messi told Radio Del Plata in 2007. “Sometimes, I would shut myself in my room to cry alone, or he’d do the same, without me seeing him. We’d pretend we were both OK, but we weren’t. My old man asked me, ‘What do you want to do? Do you want to keep going or should we go back home?’ I wanted to keep going, and he stayed with me.”

Lionel Messi with his family, including Jorge, centre, at their home in Rosario in 2003 (Marcelo Boeri/El Grafico/Getty Images)

The life of a footballer was foreign to Messi.

His father was an ardent Newell’s Old Boys supporter and worked at a local metal factory as a supervisor. Players for clubs such as Newell’s, Boca Juniors, River Plate and Argentina’s national team were god-like heroes. Jorge introduced the young Lionel to the folklore of Argentine football and encouraged him to play the sport. After all, that is what parents so often do.

“My old man would get up at four in the morning and get back home at nine at night for dinner, practically every day,” Messi told TyC Sports in 2019. “We saw little of each other, and when we did see each other, he enjoyed my company. He never scolded me. I enjoyed him so much, I would wait for him just to hug him and be with him. He spent all his time working, honestly.”

In Ariel Senosiain’s 2023 book Messi, El Genio Completo (Messi, The Complete Genius), Jorge, in a rare on-the-record interview, spoke about his celebrity son and the initial bond that defined their relationship. He debunked any notion that Messi did not enjoy football as a child — gossip that had gained traction in Argentina. “It’s not true,” Jorge said. “He always had a passion for the sport.”

In that interview, Jorge embraced the comparisons to fellow Argentina footballing icon Diego Maradona that have long followed his son. That discourse has centered on Maradona’s shadow, and the cult of personality that the late Argentina captain still holds around the world. But Jorge chose to remember it much differently, like a proud father.

“We would go to Newell’s matches together,” he told Senosiain. “It became normal for us to do so after he began to play at the club as a seven-year-old. When he was 10, he watched a Newell’s game pitchside. It was against Union (de Santa Fe) and he started juggling and playing with the ball at half-time. The fans began to chant, ‘Marado’, Marado’. (Which supporters years before had also sung in salute to Maradona.)

“I would always watch (his) games by myself, and I still do to this day,” Jorge continued. “I try to sit far away from everyone.

“When he was a youth player at Barcelona, there were times when he would disconnect from what was happening during a game. I would try to get him to look over at me. I’d give him a sign, I’d try to give him a boost and I’d tell him to move. He would throw an arm gesture at me and would respond that I should leave him alone. But he would reconnect, and he’d do something marvellous with the ball.”

Jorge was speaking publicly, and graciously, after Messi had led Argentina to the 2021 Copa America title. That win ended a 28-year drought where Argentina failed to lift a trophy. Messi, however, was collecting Ballons d’Or, claiming La Liga titles and winning two Champions Leagues with Barcelona.

It was a rare interview, and one that came after years of relentless scrutiny in Argentina for his son’s failure to secure a title with the national team.

When Argentina were defeated 1-0 in the 2014 World Cup final by Germany after extra time, Messi’s solitary stare inside the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro became a lasting image of that clash of titans. After they lost the following year’s Copa America final to Chile on penalties, his despair was evident, too. His vacant look captured a moment he could not understand. ‘Why him? Why now?’

A further year later, in the final of the Copa America Centenario, Argentina were beaten by Chile in another shootout. Messi sent his penalty over the crossbar. He cried on the pitch, then abruptly announced his retirement from international football while still at the stadium, surrendering to the hopelessness of the moment. And while the world wondered why, he retreated to the intimate circle of trust that only one’s family can provide.

One can imagine how, at that time, he must have leaned on his father through conversations over mate that would convince him to change his mind. Because in moments when Messi has seemed alone inside his own bubble, Dad was always there. A phone call away.

If that 2016 Copa America final was Messi’s most distressing moment as a professional, today, he is experiencing much greater pain. The solace, perhaps, after such a loss, is that Jorge witnessed his son’s most recent run towards eternal greatness.

Jorge Messi with his son’s Golden Ball award as best player of the tournament at the 2022 World Cup (Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

There was the tumultuous 2022 World Cup campaign that ended with victory over France in the final. An eighth Ballon d’Or followed in 2023. And then came the 2024 Copa America final defeat of Colombia.

And of course, Argentina’s labored run to the 2026 World Cup final last month, with Messi at its forefront, holds greater weight in light of what we now know he was facing off the field.

Having previously been accused of being crippled by the pressure of representing Argentina, Lionel and Jorge, together, celebrated all the symbolic triumphs.

Messi continued to play for his country, even as Jorge dealt with a health issue during this World Cup. He was overcome with emotion after scoring his first of three goals against Algeria in their opening group game on June 16. “It was something completely unrelated to football,” he told reporters after the match. “​I went through some difficult days.”

Words will do little to ease the hurt that Messi and his family are now feeling. The death of a loved one changes you.

But that is unlikely to be what Jorge would want for his son, who is now a father of three boys. In a video message he recorded for him in 2007, Jorge encouraged Messi to remember the life lessons that adversity can deliver.

“We always come out stronger,” he said.

“It helps you become who you are, because I believe that above being a good football player, you’re an excellent person. I’m not saying that because I’m your father, but because most people who know you know that’s true. And so I hope this continues for the rest of your life. That you keep being who you are, and that people love you for that.”

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CHICAGO — The ongoing Sophie Cunningham saga has another chapter.

The Indiana Fever guard took a hard shot to the face from Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington during the first quarter Saturday at the United Center that earned Carrington a Flagrant 2 foul and an ejection.

After an errant pass from the Sky’s Elizabeth Williams, the Fever’s Monique Billings collected the loose ball and threw ahead to a streaking Cunningham. On the shot attempt, Carrington’s left arm connected with Cunningham’s head and jaw, sending her to the floor.

The foul by DiJonai Carrington on Sophie Cunningham that resulted in a Flagrant 2 and ejection.

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/Z27J934irs https://t.co/GAMYI5V151

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 8, 2026

Cunningham immediately popped up and had to be separated from Carrington by teammate Makayla Timpson. After a review, officials upgraded the common foul to a Flagrant 2 and sent Carrington to the locker room. On her way through the tunnel, Carrington grinned and shook her head as Sky fans gave her an ovation.

Cunningham, an eighth-year veteran reserve, has been in the spotlight since ESPN quoted her in a July 21 story saying she wants to “protect young girls in a locker room” and that “they shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

The ensuing uproar has included demonstrations and counter-demonstrations outside of Fever games, a trend that continued Saturday near the United Center on Chicago’s West Side. In addition, Cunningham has been booed by crowds in Portland and Minneapolis, and Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wore a T-shirt declaring “Trans kids belong” during her team’s game against the Fever on Aug. 2.

On Friday, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association denounced “hate, abuse, and demonization” of the transgender community in a statement that did not reference Cunningham by name.

Against the Sky, Cunningham checked into the game at the 6:13 mark of the first quarter to a strong but mixed reaction of boos and cheers. After the dust-up with Carrington and the Sky guard’s ejection, the United Center scoreboard showed a fan with a T-shirt supporting transgender rights before quickly cutting away to a different attendee.