The gates of El Prado, a private cemetery in Pérez, near Rosario, were shut on Sunday afternoon. Inside, Lionel Messi and a small circle of family and friends said goodbye to Jorge Messi, the man who moved to another continent with him to keep a 13-year-old’s football career alive.

Jorge died in the early hours of Saturday after a long illness, aged 68. Local media in Argentina reported cancer as the cause, though the family did not confirm it publicly, the Buenos Aires Times noted.

Messi flew in from Miami on Saturday night on a private jet with his wife Antonela Roccuzzo and their three children. His mother Celia Cuccittini and siblings Matías, Rodrigo and María Sol were also at El Prado. Security around the ceremony was heavy, and the park was closed to visitors from Sunday afternoon so the burial could take place away from the cameras.

A few teammates from the national squad

Alongside the family were “a few teammates from the Argentine national squad”, reportedly including Rodrigo de Paul, with Leandro Paredes among those planning to travel, the Buenos Aires Times reported. Paredes had made clear before travelling why he wanted to be there.

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“It will surely do him good for us to be there,” he said, in comments carried by The Journal.

Fans who could not get inside gathered at the cemetery gates, where handwritten messages had been left. One read: “Stay strong, Leo, we love you.” A couple from Tres Arroyos travelled more than 700 kilometres to leave flowers.

The man who took him to Barcelona

Jorge was Lionel’s first coach at neighbourhood club Grandoli in Rosario. In 2000 he left his job and the rest of his family behind to travel to Spain with his 13-year-old son, and he negotiated every major contract that followed, from Camp Nou to Paris Saint-Germain to Inter Miami.

The move was brutal at the time.

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“When we arrived in Barcelona, I used to lock myself in my room to cry alone, and my father did the same,” Lionel once said of those first months in Spain.

Barcelona thank Jorge for his trust

Barcelona’s president and board issued a statement thanking Jorge personally.

“Barcelona thank Jorge Messi for his commitment to our club, and for his trust in us at the beginnings of the footballing career of his son Leo,” the club said, in a message that ended: “Rest in peace.”

Real Madrid and tennis player Rafael Nadal were among those who followed with tributes, Gulf News reported, alongside Newell’s Old Boys, CONMEBOL and UNICEF Argentina. The Argentine Football Association ordered a minute’s silence and black armbands across all professional and youth matches for the week.

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Inter Miami wait for their captain

Inter Miami played their Leagues Cup match against CF Monterrey on Saturday without Messi, losing 2-1 after a minute’s silence before kick-off, local radio reported. Only one group-stage match remains on their schedule and the club has not said when its captain will return.

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