Colin Sheridan on Lionel Messi's Barcelona exit: All the best love affairs end in tears

SAD GOODBYE: Lionel Messi cries at the start of a press conference at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on Sunday. The six-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi had been expected to sign a new five-year deal with Barcelona on August 5 but instead, after 788 games, the club announced he is leaving at the age of 34. Pic: Getty

One couldn’t help thinking of Lionel Messi on Sunday morning, as images of the jubilant scenes from Portland Row in Dublin’s inner city circulated following Kellie Harrington’s gold medal victory in Tokyo.

Harrington, who works on the cleaning staff at St Vincent’s psychiatric hospital in the city, will no doubt receive a hero’s welcome when she flies home next week. Tears of joy will be shed. Murals painted. Girls will watch from their daddy’s shoulders and dream of it being them someday.