Neymar pays tribute to Lionel Messi: 'Thank you for making me love football even more'

Neymar Jr. has sent a public message of gratitude to his former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi, posting a heartfelt tribute on social media as the football world prepared to watch Messi pull on the Argentina shirt for the last time.

With Messi set to take to the pitch for the final game of a glittering international career — a friendly against Benin — tributes began flooding in for the player most consider the greatest to ever play the game. Neymar added his name to that list, unveiling a photo of the pair on his official Instagram account alongside a warm caption.

“Anyone who loves football has enjoyed you throughout all these years,” Neymar wrote. “Today is your final game wearing the shirt of your national team, your country, and I hope you enjoy every second of it and that all the tributes today make you happy.”

He continued: “It’s not only Argentina that thanks you, the whole world thanks you for everything you’ve done for football. Thank you for making me love football even more. It was an honor to have played against you, and even more so to have made history alongside you. THANK YOU, Leo Messi.”

Neymar and Messi shared a hugely successful spell together at Barcelona, forming one of the most feared attacking partnerships in the club's history before Neymar's world-record move to Paris Saint-Germain. The Brazilian later reunited with Messi at the international level as opponents, but the bond formed in Catalonia clearly endured.

Messi, an eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, brought down the curtain on his Argentina career in a 3-0 friendly win over Benin in Buenos Aires, retiring with over 200 appearances and 125 international goals to his name, along with a World Cup winners' medal and a pair of Copa América titles.

Neymar's tribute was among the first of what is expected to be a long line of farewell messages for the Argentine captain, who has been widely celebrated as the finest footballer of his generation.