Neymar before Messi's Argentina farewell: Honoured to make history with you

Neymar before Messi's Argentina farewell: Honoured to make history with you For more than a hundred years, Brazil and Argentina have shared the greatest rivalry between national teams in world football. But over more than 10 years, Neymar and Messi have built a genuine friendship—on and off the pitch. Ahead of the Argentine star's farewell to the national team, the Santos forward took to X (formerly Twitter ) to pay tribute to his friend. " Everyone who loves football has enjoyed watching you over the years… today is your last game wearing the shirt of your national team, your country, and I hope you enjoy every second, that all the tributes today bring you happiness. It’s not just Argentina thanking you—the world thanks you for everything you’ve done for football. Thank you for making me love football even more. It was an honor to play against you, and an even greater honor to make history alongside you. Thank you, Leo Messi ". Neymar faced Messi six times, five with Brazil and once with Santos. The Argentine won four of those encounters, while Santos’s number 10 won two. Messi scored six goals in those matches, compared with one for the Brazilian, who also provided two assists. Playing together for Barcelona and PSG, Neymar and Messi appeared in 208 matches, recording 150 wins, 28 draws and just 30 defeats. The Argentine genius scored 166 goals and provided 86 assists with Neymar on the pitch, while the Brazilian found the net 110 times and contributed 70 assists. Messi ends his Argentina career with 207 appearances and 125 goals. With the national team, he won the 2022 World Cup, the 2021 and 2024 Copa América titles, and the 2022 Finalissima. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.