The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Lionel Messi

  • Messi pictured with wife on the sea

    Lionel Messi has been pictured on the sea.

    The 31-year-old was pictured on the sea while on holiday with his wife Antonella Roccuzzo, their three children and Daniella Semaan, the partner of his former Barcelona team-mate Cesc Fabregas.

    The Barcelona superstar is putting his Argentinian World Cup disappointment behind him with a bit of paddle-boarding this summer.

    There was plenty of talk after the South Americans were sent packing by France in the round of 16 out in Russia that Messi would announce his retirement from La Albiceleste.

    But he is forgetting all about footie for now as he holidays with stunning wife Antonella Roccuzzo.

    The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was previously spotted enjoying some downtime in Formentera, the smallest Balearic Island which is reachable by boat from Ibiza.

    Messi is expected to link back up with the Barcelona squad by the end of the month, when he will be joined by Spain stars Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.

    Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde gave all four players permission to take a month off after the World Cup, though they have the option to return beforehand.

    Daniella Semaan joined up with Team Messi this summer as her man Cesc Fabregas got stuck in with pre-season

    When the Spanish domestic season resumes next month, Messi will be the unrivalled star of La Liga following Cristiano Ronaldo’s £100million move to Juventus.

    For the best part of a decade, Messi and Ronaldo’s rivalry defined football but the Portuguese has now left Real Madrid for the Serie A giants.

    Argentina supporters are hoping Russia 2018 was not the last time Messi plays in the blue-and-white shirt at a World Cup, but he will be 35 by the time Qatar 2022 starts.

  • Expect no less than before at Russia 2018 as quarter-finals get underway

    The 2018 FIFA World Cup enters the quarter-finals stage on Friday, with the France versus Uruguay fixture at Nizhny Novgorod kicking off a two-day line-up of four potentially-explosive matches.

    The quarter-finals have come with the usual expectations and surprise element of any tournament of this nature, yet they have not come without a trace of the unexpected.

    The first round/group phase did not do so much to shock us, other than see off title-holders Germany, world number 10 Poland and the five African sides.

    However, the Round of 16 has lived up to expectations, not just with the exit of 2010 champions Spain, two-times champions Argentina and Portugal, but the teams’ star players.

    Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Andres Iniesta, Isco, Diego Costa, Angel Di Maria,Gonzalo Higuain, Ricardo Quaresma, Sergio Ramos and Javier Mascherano are now watching the competition from their homes.

    They joined the likes of Tony Kroos, Thomas Muller, Mikel Obi, Victor Moses, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Manuel Neuer and Robert Lewandowski who had been on the sidelines pretty much earlier.

    Their situation, very much unfavoured, is what the likes of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, as well as Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe will now try to avoid.

    France with their array of megastars such as Pogba, Mbappe, Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and N’Golo Kante will be wary of what Suarez and Cavani can do upfront.

    But the Uruguayan defence line should worry them much more, with the Atletico Madrid defensive pair of Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez at the centre of affairs.

    Read Also: World Cup: Germany arrive home to angry supporters

    Later on Friday, Belgium who made an incredible comeback from two goals down to win 3-2 will face Brazil at Kazan and knowing that a confrontation with Brazil or Belgium awaits.

    Brazil should rather be wary of Belgium, with Eden Hazard and Romelo Lukaku, have gone 23 games unbeaten and have the best record at this tournament so far.

    They have won all their matches so far, scoring 12 and conceding four goals, but the grittiness which saw them through against Japan is something Brazil will need much of.

    Brazil have struggled to survive against Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia, in spite of Neymar, Willian, Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Casemiro, Gabriel Jesus and Marcelo not looking out of form.

    However, the fact that they have not conceded again since the only goal against Switzerland in their opening match is something Belgium will have to think a lot about.

    England have been thinking so much that they now have a good chance of another World Cup win since 1966, with the tournament draw being good to them.

    They do not to have to face the likes of France, Uruguay, Brazil or Belgium until July 15, and they feel Sweden may not be too much headache.

    But when they face off on Saturday in Samara, they will have to contend with a side which has shown so much resilience, even in the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

    They beat The Netherlands and Italy in qualifying for Russia, made life difficult for Germany and beat South Korea and Mexico in Russia, and eliminated Switzerland in the Round of 16.

    Usually a quiet side, Sweden can bring down England if they keep under check Harry Kane and Jesse Lingard, as well as likely substitutes Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy.

    The good thing for the Swedes is that, in spite of Kane’s leading goalscorer status, England do not have what they do not have, and this makes the game balanced.

    Russia have not disappointed so far, and it is a good preview for them as they head to Fisht Stadium in Sochi to host Croatia on Saturday.

    It is a likely quiet and not-extraordinary game, with Russia being the lowest FIFA-ranked team at the tournament.

    While Russian hopes have risen since the penalty kicks shootout defeat of Spain, it may just serve the hosts well not to count their chickens b efore they are hatched.

    Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic have provided the needed midfield inspiration, while Mario Mandzukic and Ivan Perisic have spearheaded offensive runs which have produced not goals but team game stability.

    The Croats are aware of their capability and Modric, while speaking at their pre-match press conference on Wednesday, said team compatibility is a weapon they would use to great effect.

    “We know it is going to be tough against Russia, especially as they are the hosts, but we know ourselves and what we can do. We will do it as expected,’’ he said.

    However, will they be able to reenact the performance that led them to the 1998 semi-finals in France, having to play against a team and its expectant nation of 144 million?

    It is however Russia’s best World Cup run since the 1966 semi-finals appearance, and they will want to go further than this quarter-finals stage not just because they are the hosts.

    They have shown good strength of character with the way they overcame Spain, and swung their compatriots who never believed in them before behind them.

    While they can shock the Croats, and which can happen, it may just be one other shock in a tournament that is still capable of bringing up more shocks.

    NAN

  • 10 candidates for football’s 2018 best player award – FIFA

    The 2018 men’s world footballer of the year will be picked from a list of 10 players instead of from a list of 23 as in the past, global ruling body FIFA said on Wednesday.

    The players in question will be selected by a 13-strong panel that includes legends such as Brazil’s Ronaldo and Germany’s Lothar Matthaeus.

    National team captains and coaches, media and fans then elect the best player in a poll between July 23 and August 10. The winner will be crowned at The Best FIFA Football Awards on September 24 in London.

    Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have won the prestigious award – now called The Best FIFA Men’s Player and formerly known as FIFA World Player and Ballon d’Or – five times each over the past 10 years.

    Awards will also be given out for best women’s player, best men’s and women’s coach, best goalkeeper and best goal, and there is also a fair-play prize.

    Read Also:FIFA sanctions hosts Russia, three others, warns Egypt over Salah

    The Newsmen reports that in 2014, Argentina had three nominees in Angel Di Maria, Javier Mascherano and Lionel Messi, while their opponents in Sunday’s final, Germany, have four.

    Mats Hummels, Toni Kroos, Phillip Lahm and Thomas Muller are the players nominated from Joachim Low’s side.

    Colombia’s James Rodriguez, Brazil’s Neymar and Arjen Robben of Netherlands complete the 10-man shortlist.

    Fifa has also announced the nominees for the Golden Glove competition, awarded to the best goalkeeper at the World Cup.

    Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas, Germany’s Manuel Neuer and Argentina’s Sergio Romero will compete for the prize.

    Meanwhile, Netherlands’ Memphis Depay and Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane of France were nominated for the best young player at the tournament.

  • ‘We can limit outstanding Messi’, says France coach Deschamps

    France have a number of options to limit Lionel Messi’s influence in their round of 16 clash against Argentina coach Didier Deschamps said on Friday.

    However, the French coach also resigned that he could turn the match in an instant.

    Messi has yet to light up the World Cup in a stuttering Argentina side.

    But his clinical strike in the 2-1 win over Nigeria underlined the danger the Barcelona forward will present Deschamp’s side at the Kazan Arena on Saturday.

    “Messi is Messi, look at his statistics, 65 goals in 127 matches,” Deschamps told reporters at the stadium.

    “It’s straightforward, hopefully we would like to neutralise him, but we know very well he can make the difference with very little.

    “When you play Argentina and Messi on the pitch there are several solutions to limit his impact.”

    France will look to boss the midfield in a bid to limit supply to the lethal 31-year-old, who has struggled to impose himself in the tournament.

    He will also hope their defence can continue to hold firm after conceding only one goal in the group phase.

    Read Also: Super Eagles are unbeatable without Messi – Rojo

    Deschamps said full back Benjamin Mendy had been ruled out with a “small muscle injury”.

    The Manchester City defender returned as a second half substitute in the 0-0 draw against Denmark after missing the opening games against Australia and France.

    France may face more queries up forward, however, where their array of attacking talents have yet to dominate.

    Striker Antoine Griezmann is under pressure to perform after being off the pace in the dull Denmark draw, and he has only got on the scoresheet with a penalty in the opening 2-1 win over Australia.

    Captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris backed Griezmann to make his mark at the tournament.

    “It is normal that there are expectations around Antoine,” said Lloris.

    “He’s one of the top players, he’s done a major Euro competition and feels like being one of the great players of this World Cup.”

    Although sailing through the group phase, the scoreless draw against Denmark raised concerns about Les Bleus’ momentum heading into the Argentina blockbuster.

    Lloris said his team was only looking ahead, however.

    “As we said, this is a new tournament that begins, and I think we have to depend on our collective strength, on a defensive solidity and we know our attacking potential,” Lloris added.

    “We have a lot of young but talented players who can make a difference at any moment of the game.”

    NAN

  • We can limit ‘outstanding’ Messi – France coach

    France have a number of options to limit Lionel Messi’s influence in their round of 16 clash against Argentina coach Didier Deschamps said on Friday.

    However, the French coach also resigned that he could turn the match in an instant.

    Messi has yet to light up the World Cup in a stuttering Argentina side.

    But his clinical strike in the 2-1 win over Nigeria underlined the danger the Barcelona forward will present Deschamp’s side at the Kazan Arena on Saturday.

    “Messi is Messi, look at his statistics, 65 goals in 127 matches,” Deschamps told reporters at the stadium.

    “It’s straightforward, hopefully we would like to neutralise him, but we know very well he can make the difference with very little.

    “When you play Argentina and Messi on the pitch there are several solutions to limit his impact.”

    France will look to boss the midfield in a bid to limit supply to the lethal 31-year-old, who has struggled to impose himself in the tournament.

    He will also hope their defence can continue to hold firm after conceding only one goal in the group phase.

    Deschamps said full back Benjamin Mendy had been ruled out with a “small muscle injury”.

    The Manchester City defender returned as a second half substitute in the 0-0 draw against Denmark after missing the opening games against Australia and France.

    France may face more queries up forward, however, where their array of attacking talents have yet to dominate.

    Striker Antoine Griezmann is under pressure to perform after being off the pace in the dull Denmark draw, and he has only got on the scoresheet with a penalty in the opening 2-1 win over Australia.

    Captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris backed Griezmann to make his mark at the tournament.

    “It is normal that there are expectations around Antoine,” said Lloris.

    “He’s one of the top players, he’s done a major Euro competition and feels like being one of the great players of this World Cup.”

    Although sailing through the group phase, the scoreless draw against Denmark raised concerns about Les Bleus’ momentum heading into the Argentina blockbuster.

    Lloris said his team was only looking ahead, however.

    “As we said, this is a new tournament that begins, and I think we have to depend on our collective strength, on a defensive solidity and we know our attacking potential,” Lloris added.

    “We have a lot of young but talented players who can make a difference at any moment of the game.”

  • Nigeria match was a difficult game -Messi

    Lionel Messi, the Argentine ace player, who scored the opening goal against Nigeria in the last group D match of the FIFA World Cup in Russia has referred to the encounter as `a difficult one’.

    Speaking at post match conference shortly after his team beat Nigeria 2-1 at St. Petersburg Stadium on Tuesday, Messi who agreed that the match was balanced praised the Eagles for their gallant showing.

    ‘‘It was a very balanced game, we were able to control the first half, we had more possession, they tried to create chances around after the first goal.

    Read Also: Enyeama, Okocha hail Super Eagles, say better days ahead

    ‘ ‘We thought the second half would be similar but they scored a penalty and that made things more difficult, we got nervous, we had pressure as time goes faster,’’ he said.

    Messi, who became the third Argentine player to score in three World Cups, following Diego Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta accepted that his side had to battle hard against Nigeria.

    He, however, said that they were aware of the threat posed by France their next opponent, saying: ‘‘We know France is a good side and we will find solution to their antics,’’ he said

  • Messi skips birthday celebration for Eagles’ showdown

    Argentina’s best player and arguably world best, Lionel Messi yesterday clocked 31 but the Barcelona hero chose to train with his national team squad on his birthday as they prepare for the June 26th showdown against Super Eagles of Nigeria.

    The two countries will slug it out in the final group match that will make or mar their fate of progressing to the second round of the FIFA World Cup in Russia.

    Messi was full of live at the Argentina training on his birthday morning as he jettison going for party with probably knowing how crucial their encounter with Nigerian side is in the light of the country’s position in Group D.

    However, the intensive training which lasted for hours did not end without special congratulatory messages from Argentina manager, Jorge Sampaoli, Sergio Aguero and teammates.

    Though Messi has not scored a goal in this tournament, but there are high hopes that he will spring surprise with his magical moves to lead the wounded Argentine team to victory against Nigeria.

    Nigeria is however, a strong opposition with renew confidence ahead of the Tuesday’s showdown as the three-time African champion team is poised to qualify for the knockout stage with a total victory against the South Americans.

    If Argentina fails to win the World Cup this year, Messi will have to wait until 2022 to have another crack – where he will be 35.

  • Messi is better than Maradona, says Ramos

    Spain captain, Sergio Ramos has responded to a putdown from Argentina great Diego Maradona by making an unlikely declaration of admiration for Lionel Messi.

    Messi is his usual enemy as the talisman of Real Madrid’s arch-rivals Barcelona.

    Maradona, his country’s 1986 World Cup-winning captain, remarked this week that “Ramos is no superstar, the real superstar defender is Diego Godin” when comparing Spain’s serial-winner Ramos with the Uruguay captain.

    Read Also: Russia 2018: Nigerians react to Super Eagles lost against Croatia

    Ramos was asked what he made of Maradona’s comments after Spain’s 1-0 World Cup Group B win over Iran, and chose to praise Messi, who has led Barcelona to numerous wins over Real Madrid.

    “I respect Maradona because he is an all-time great; I think he was a star.

    “But I’ll also tell you that Argentine football knows Maradona is light years behind their number one player, which is Messi,” Ramos said.

    Messi, who lost the last World Cup final to Germany as captain of Argentina, missed a penalty in his side’s 1-1 draw with Iceland.

    He is under pressure to propel his side to victory over Group D leaders Croatia on Thursday.

     

     

  • Ronaldo fans fuel Messi rivalry over penalty miss

     

    Lionel Messi has been in the spotlight Saturday following his penalty miss   for Argentina against Iceland in their opening World Cup 2018 group game.

    Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has scored his first goal at a World Cup as Argentina took the lead before Alfred Finnbogason equalised from close-range.

    However, after Cristiano Ronaldo’s heroics last night against Spain from dead-ball situations, Messi was handed the chance to restore Argentina’s lead with a 64th-minute penalty.

    But, the Argentine superstar proved that even the best could miss and his effort was saved low down to the left by Iceland’s goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson.

    Given Messi’s almost superhuman abilities his penalty record in his career is quite surprising.

    He has taken 103 and scored 79 and missed 24 which gives Argentine a 23.33% miss rate, which also equates to a miss once every four penalties.

    Messi’s record going into the tournament been suspect recently too, as reported by the Metro, it was his fourth miss from his last seven attempts for club and country which is only a success rate of 57%.

    Messi has missed four of the last seven penalties that he has taken for Barcelona & Argentina combined (57%).

    Furthermore, the first penalty scored in the World Cup 2018 was by Ronaldo, and the first penalty missed was by Messi.

    And Ronaldo fans couldn’t help but highlight this on social media to put more fuel in the long-standing Messi vs Ronaldo debate.

  • Russia 2018: Messi misses penalty as Iceland hold Argentina

    Lionel Messi’s bid to win the FIFA World Cup got off to a nightmare start as he missed a penalty and his Argentina side was surprisingly held by debutants Iceland.

    Messi was looking to match the impact his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo has made on the tournament – a sensational hat-trick against Spain on Friday night.

    But instead of being the hero, Messi was the villain as his second-half spot-kick was easily saved by Hannes Halldorsson with the score at 1-1.

    The draw was no less than Iceland, who are the smallest nation ever to play in a World Cup finals, deserved.

    Their disciplined, defensive tactics frustrated an Argentina side who enjoyed the majority of possession and they also carried a threat going forward from the start, with Birkir Bjarnason scuffing a glorious early chance.

    Read Also: Russia 2018: Fans urge Eagles to redeem Africa’s image

    After surviving that scare, the thousands of Argentina fans who packed out the Spartak Stadium were dancing in the Moscow sunshine when Sergio Aguero put them ahead with a superb strike after 19 minutes.

    But Jorge Sampaoli’s side have a soft centre and their lead lasted only four minutes and 15 seconds, as Alfred Finnbogason equalised with his country’s first goal at a World Cup finals.

    Finnbogason had made a hash of a header seconds earlier but Argentina failed to clear and Willy Caballero could only palm Hordur Magnusson’s shot into the path of the striker, who gleefully turned it home.

    Messi’s missed penalty was Argentina’s only clear-cut chance in the second half, although Cristian Pavon’s bouncing cross drew a fine late save from Halldorsson.