Lionel Messi | Pakistan

Argentina football icon Lionel Messi bid farewell on Sunday to his father, the global star’s emotional anchor and agent since childhood, who passed away following a battle with cancer aged 68. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner touched down on a private flight from Miami late on Saturday with his wife Antonela Roccuzzo and their children and has remained surrounded by his close family since. A private ceremony with a few teammates from the Argentine national squad is scheduled to take place at a cemetery in the town of Perez, adjacent to Rosario, later Sunday. The gates of the town’s El Prado cemetery displayed handwritten messages from fans — “Stay strong, Leo, we love you” and “Stay strong, Messi family” — alongside a large floral wreath. Messi’s teammates rallied around their captain following the announcement that Jorge Messi had passed away late on Friday at a clinic in Rosario. “It will surely do him good for us to be there,” Boca Juniors midfielder Leandro Paredes told journalists after his team’s match...