Dhaka, Oct. 7 -- Lionel Messi had spent much of the night fighting back tears. When the time came to say goodbye, he found it difficult to stop talking.

For nine minutes at the Monumental, the Argentina captain looked back on more than two decades with the national team -- the triumphs, the painful years, the teammates who shared them and the World Cup final defeat that brought his last tournament to an end.

He also spoke about the person who was foremost in his thoughts.

"It's difficult to say anything today. There are a lot of emotions and a lot of things going through my head," Messi said after Argentina's 3-0 win over Benin.

"The first thing I think about is my old man."

His father Jorge died on Aug 8, less than three weeks after...