Kolkata: As soon as the news of Lionel Messi's retirement broke, fans from all around the globe were left heartbroken. While many took it as a joke at first, others refused to believe that they will no longer be seeing their favourite football star in Argentina's jersey.
After gradually absorbing the shocker, millions of Messi lovers reflected their pain on the microblogging website Twitter.
This decision by the 29-year-old forward came after he blasted his penalty kick off target during the shoot-out and Argentina lost their Copa America title to Chile.
Also read - Watch: The missed penalty that forced Messi to hang his boots
Messi could not hold back his tears after the heart-breaking loss and later told reporters he was done playing for the country.
Deeply hurt by the announcement, here's how Twitterati expressed their grief:
Messi's fan list certainly includes some big names from the sports fraternity as well, who were equally shocked and surprised over Argentina talisman quitting international football.
Some prominent sports personalities also conveyed their disbelief:
“Messi: you are a champion. You can't give up so easily. We can't see you retire so early. Hope you would take time to rethink,” former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia posted on the social networking site Twitter.
Indian cricketers Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina too wrote about the Barcelona forward after his decision to quit the game.
“Congratulations!! You have been an inspiration to an entire generation #Messi,” Dhawan said.
Raina wrote: “Sad day for football lovers We Will Miss You Messi #JersyNo10 #Messi #HeartOftheGame”
Indian football great P.K Banerjee told a channel,” It is a loss for world football. You could see he was in so much pain after the loss. May be it the reason why he decided to quit.”
