The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Messi

  • Messi breaks Blues goal drought

    Messi breaks Blues goal drought

    Barcelona’s Lionel Messi dealt a huge blow to Chelsea’s Champions League hopes by scoring his first ever goal against the Blues in an absorbing 1-1 last-16, first-leg draw at Stamford Bridge.

    Antonio Conte’s side had taken a 62nd-minute lead through Willian’s 25-yard strike before Messi profited from an Andreas Christensen mistake to convert from Andres Iniesta’s pass, ending his wait for a goal against Chelsea at the ninth time of asking.

    The Blues now face a huge uphill task in the return game on 14 March to avoid a European exit which would only heighten speculation over Conte’s future as manager.

    Apprehension permeated the air at kick-off, perhaps in part a consequence of Conte’s cautious team selection, opting to leave Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud on the bench in favour of deploying Eden Hazard as a false nine.

    The Belgian flashed a fifth-minute shot off-target from the edge of the box as Chelsea held their own in the opening exchanges before Barcelona gradually asserted control.

  • I prefer Ronaldo to Messi – Disu

    I prefer Ronaldo to Messi – Disu

    Tunde Disu, a former Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says he prefers Cristiano Ronaldo to his Ballon d’Or rival, Lionel Messi.

    Disu made the disclosure in an interview on Friday in Lagos after Ronaldo emerged winner of the 2017 Ballon d’Or award.

    Ronaldo emerged winner of the prestigious award for the fifth time to draw level with Messi. The Portuguese was honoured at a gala night at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

    It was a back-to-back win for the 32-year-old, who helped his country to win the UEFA European Championship in 2016.

    The fast-paced striker also scored 12 UEFA Champions league goals and 25 goals in the Spanish La Liga.

    He had previously won the Ballon d’Or in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018 to make it the fifth time.

    “Watching both players on the field is something you will ever enjoy, especially their dedication and efforts at bringing success to their various clubs.

    “For me, I see Ronaldo as a more complete player and I will go for him anytime because he is dangerous on air and can use both legs effectively.

    “Ronaldo on the field will always show signs of eagerness; he wants victory and is ready to play. He has that exceptional drive needed in every player.

    “Dedicated players in the mould of Ronaldo and Messi are not common at all. Although we have someone like Neymar of Brazil but his time has not come.’’

    Read also: Lagos J-League proud of Ndidi’s success at Leicester – Disu

    Disu advised other players to take up the challenge from Ronaldo and Messi to help their clubs attain the height which both players had achieved.

    “I am not surprised at their dominance in football for 10 years now. They merit all the awards and they are undisputable. Who has come closer to what they have achieved individually?

    “For both players, they helped their clubs achieve a great deal. See their commitment on the field of play and their goals which have helped their clubs win laurels.

    “Both players are world-class which we may not be able to replace now, it is a challenge other players must rise up to. They need to be on their level.

    “I expect other players to be game changers just like Ronaldo and Messi, let them help their clubs win their local league and champions’ league.  Players like Hazard should also step up,’’ said Disu.

    NAN

  • Again! Lionel Messi’s Statue Vandalised in Argentina

    Again! Lionel Messi’s Statue Vandalised in Argentina

    Police has said the motive for vandalising a statue of Argentine football star Lionel Messi was unclear.

    It was reported on Monday that the bronze statue was chopped off just above the ankles, with the main “body” left lying on the pavement.

    It is the second time the statue, which was unveiled in June 2016, in Buenos Aires has been targeted by vandals.

    Messi recently saved Argentina’s 2018 World Cup place when he scored a hat-trick against Ecuador in October.

    Argentine media tweeted pictures of the vandalised statue.

    The statue was unveiled in June 2016 on Paseo de la Gloria, where casts of other famous Argentine sports stars such as tennis player Gabriela Sabatini and basketball player Manuel Ginobili are also on display.

    The space was created in preparation for the Olympic Youth Games which will be held in Buenos Aires in 2018.

    It has attracted vandals and thieves before, such as in January of this year, when the Messi statue was cut in half at the waist.

    Messi, who left Argentina in 2000 to play for Barcelona, has in the past come under criticism for his performance in the national team.

    While he has won four European Cups, eight league titles, five Ballons d’Or and three Club World Cups, Messi has not won a World Cup.

    His only international honour has been an Olympic gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

    Argentine football fans were ruthless in their criticism when he missed in a penalty shootout against Chile in the Copa America final in June 2016.

    Messi responded by announcing his retirement from international football, only to reverse that decision two months later citing his “love of the country”.

  • Barca held by Celta, Messi ends goal drought

    La Liga leaders FC Barcelona were held to a 2-2 home draw by Celta Vigo on Saturday as their former assistant coach Juan Carlos Unzue dented their title hopes.

    The Catalans dropped points for the second game in a row for the first time this campaign.

    Celta striker Iago Aspas silenced the Nou Camp by putting the visitors ahead in the 20th minute.

    He knocked in on the rebound after splitting the home defence with a darting run through the middle.

    Lionel Messi quickly replied at the other end, finishing off a sweeping team move two minutes later to score.

    He was scoring for the first time in six games in all competitions and was netting his 13th league goal of the season.

    Suarez had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside before the break, the second time Barca have cursed their luck with referees in a week.

    Messi had been denied a clear goal in the 1-1 draw at Valencia when his shot had clearly gone over the goal-line.

    The Argentine helped set up what looked to be the winning goal for Luis Suarez in the 62nd minute as the striker thrashed home a Jordi Alba cutback.

    But Barca were denied victory by another Uruguayan striker in Maxi Gomez.

    He slotted in from close range after another searing run by Aspas, who capitalised on defender Samuel Umtiti injuring his hamstring as he tried to keep up with the Spanish forward.

    The France international is in danger of missing the “Clasico” against champions Real Madrid on Dec. 23 after Valverde said he believed the player had torn the muscle.

    “The injury cost us the goal, it was an accumulation of catastrophes, because of the draw and the injury,” the coach told a news conference.

    “Losing Samuel right now is a big loss, he was in excellent form.”

    Gerard Pique missed a gilt-edged chance to hit the winner but struck the near post from close range.

    Messi, who also hit the woodwork earlier in the game, sent a free kick deep in stoppage time just wide of the post.

    “We kept trying to win the game and had chances to do that. We have dropped two points but this is nothing that hasn’t happened before,” Valverde added.

    Barca still lead the standings with 36 points but second-placed Valencia can cut their deficit on the leaders down to two if they beat Getafe on Sunday.

    Later on Saturday Atletico Madrid, third on 27 points, host Real Sociedad while champions Real Madrid, also on 27, visit struggling Athletic Bilbao.(Reuters/NAN)

  • Lionel Messi Sobers Over Argentina’s Loss to Super Eagles

    Lionel Messi Sobers Over Argentina’s Loss to Super Eagles

    Argentina’s forward, Lionel Messi has been dropped silent after the Super Eagles of Nigeria’s sterling performance in the Tuesday international friendly in Krasnodar, Russia.
    Nigeria whipped ‘Messi-less’ Argentina 4-2 in the FIFA graded pre world cup match.
    The Barcelona talisman who was excused from the match on a personal ground has however been silent 24 hours after his star studded national teammates loss woefully to the coach Gernor Rohr’s led Super Eagles.Though analysts and players across the world have commented about the six goal thriller match but none has been recorded from Lionel Messi and his teammates.

    So sad that Sergio Aguero who scored the Argentine’s second goal, surprisingly fainted in the dressing room at half time, but there has been confirmation that the Manchester City ace has since recovered not after he was rushed to the hospital.

    Argentine’s National Team Head Coach, Jorge Sampaoli in his post match reaction, however refused suggestions that if Messi had played they would have won, insisting that the players he had on the pitch should have done better.

    This is what he said after the match, “We (Argentina) have to move away from being a one man team. Maybe the scoreline would have been different with Messi on the pitch, but it’s hard to say because we had enough quality in the team to win any game.”

    “Nigeria were way better in the second half, they never stopped running and that made it hard for us to find any sort of rhythm going forward which they took advantage of to win. They did well to win,” Sampaoli said.

    Super Eagles came from 0-2 deficit to hand over a memorable 4-2 defeat to the Argentines.

    Super Eagles must remain humble, focused — Balogun

    Meanwhile, a renowned sport analyst, Tayo Balogun, on Wednesday described Nigeria’s victory over Argentina in the friendly match at Krasnodar, Russia, as a major boost for the team’s preparations for the World Cup.

    He said, “This will subsequently confer respectability on them. It follows that this will help the team if it does well in other games prior to the Wrlod Cup.

    But he added that the team should stay focused ahead of the June 14, 2018 kick-off of the FIFA flagship tournament.

    “Is our team complete? My answer is no.

    “In the goalkeeping department we need to decide on the three that would go to Russia.

    “Luckily, we have about 200 days to choose our best three.  Our coach will of course still have to package Mikel Obi to ensure he remains free from injury and stays fit.

    “This team needs all the experienced players it can have. In our attack we need one or two tall players with stride.

    “I think Osimen should be checked up. The self-belief must be sustained in the type of friendly matches we play.

    “My take is that we should be selective in matches we agree to play.

    “More importantly the handlers must ensure that the team stays humble, focused, motivated and committed.

    Balogun urged that the spirit of the nation must be infused in the team that played the friendly match against Argentina.

    “Most importantly, the team’s technical bench must be left alone to do what they can to get us as far as possible in Russia,” he said

  • Video: Lionel Messi Plays Champions League Tune on Piano

    Barcelona’s Leo Messi is a rare gem in the round leather game. But little do his fans across the world know about his other talents.

    The 2017/2018 Champions League Season is here and Messi can’t wait for it to start.

    This, the best player in the world (ARGUABLY) recently expressed through one of his other hidden talents away from the pitch soccer.

    Watch the video above and see Lionel Messi plunks out the Champions League anthem on a piano skillfully and interestingly.

  • Ronaldo: Being better than Messi is my motivation

    Ronaldo: Being better than Messi is my motivation

    Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo says he is driven to be the best player in the world by the fear of being surpassed by the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar.

    The 32-year-old Portugal international, who won the Ballon d’Or in January, is a firm favourite to be crowned the world’s finest footballer for the fifth time following Madrid’s triumphs in LaLiga and the Champions League in 2016-17.

    Ronaldo and long-time rival Messi have shared the Ballon d’Or and FIFA Ballon d’Or every year since 2008 and another triumph for the former Manchester United man would see him draw level with the Barcelona great on the all-time list.

    And Ronaldo admits that the “healthy” competition between the world’s finest forwards, among whom he includes Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Juventus’ Gonzalo Higuain, is what inspires him to strive for success.

    “To mention one [player] is hard, but the level that I am is like in other sports: Formula One, NBA…The best players always follow the best players,” he told ESPN.

    “They want to be in the top of the game because the other ones are there. You cannot rest, because the other ones will pass you.

    “Of course we fight with everyone, with Neymar, with Messi, Lewandowski, Higuain, with the best players in the world. This is not ‘fighting’ but it’s healthy. We fight to be the best.

    “It’s my motivation: to be better than them, year after year.”

    View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter

    ✔@Cristiano

    First stop. Seems a few people got here before me. ?

    Ronaldo has won 19 major trophies in a glittering career and was named by Forbes as the world’s highest-paid athlete in June this year, ahead of Messi and NBA star LeBron James.

    However, the Madeira-born forward says the welfare of his family remains the most important thing in his life.

    He explained: “I was with Peter Lim, the owner of Valencia, and he said to me: ‘Cristiano, we have money, fame, everything. I have millions and billions. But the most important thing is family. Keep your family healthy, good. Take care of them’.

    “You have your private life, your girlfriend, your cars, your houses, your fame, but in the beginning, your family is always with you, in good moments or bad moments.”

  • Messi throws ‘wedding of the century’

    Messi throws ‘wedding of the century’

    ARGENTINE football star Lionel Messi has married his childhood sweetheart in his hometown in what has been called the “wedding of the century”.

    A civil ceremony for Messi, 30, and Antonela Roccuzzo, 29, was held at a luxury hotel in the city of Rosario. Football stars and celebrities were among the 260 guests, with hundreds of police deployed for the event.

    Messi, the Argentina and Barcelona forward, met Roccuzzo as a child before he moved to Spain aged just 13.

    Argentina’s Clarín newspaper has variously called the wedding “the wedding of the year” and “the wedding of the century”. About 150 journalists received accreditation to enter a special press area, but were not given full access to the venue, organisers said.

    Messi and Roccuzzo confiscated guests, phones but it appears one WAG may have taken a few sneaky snaps. Messi met Roccuzzo when he was just five years old. She is the cousin of his best friend, Lucas Scaglia, who also became a professional football player.

    Among the guests at Friday’s wedding were Messi’s Barcelona teammates Luis Suárez, Neymar, Gerard Piqué and his wife, Colombia’s pop star Shakira, Samuel Eto’o and wife, Xavi and wife, Puyol and wife and Fabregas and wife. A number of guests flew into Rosario on private jets.

  • Puyol, Pique, Eto’o, Football Heroics Land in Argentina for Messi’s Wedding

    Puyol, Pique, Eto’o, Football Heroics Land in Argentina for Messi’s Wedding

    Lionel Messi’s Barcelona teammates landed in private jets in his Argentine hometown on Thursday on the eve of the star striker’s celebrity wedding.

    Curious locals watched stars such as Luis Suarez and Carles Puyol as well as ex-Barca and current Chelsea player Cesc Fabregas disembark at the small airport in the northern city of Rosario.

    A host of footballing stars including Barcelona striker Neymar and ex-Barca star Xavi Hernandez were expected among the 260 guests at Friday’s wedding at the Hotel City Center Casino.

    “Is that Neymar or Xavi? Ah, whatever, take a photo all the same,” said one local woman to her grandchildren as they watched from the terminal.

    The players arrived dressed in caps, hoods and dark sunglasses, with suitcases in hand.

    Local reporters broadcasting from the scene on radio and television told their audiences it was “the wedding of the century” for Rosario.

    Authorities said 300 police officers were deployed at key points in the gritty port city — the birthplace of the bloody drug gang Los Monos — to ensure that guests traveled safely to the venue.

    With a homicide rate twice the national rate, Rosario is considered one of Argentina’s most dangerous cities.

    But Messi, 30, and his childhood sweetheart Roccuzzo, 29, return every year to visit their families.

    Also expected among the wedding guests — and sure to draw the attention of starstruck fans at the airport — are Messi’s teammate Gerard Pique and his wife, Colombian pop star Shakira.

  • Barcelona sack director after Messi comments

    Barcelona sack director after Messi comments

     
    Barcelona have sacked director Pere Gratacos following comments he made about Lionel Messi.
    Gratacos, the director of training and education at Camp Nou and a key figure in the running of the famous La Masia youth system, suggested on Friday that Messi would not be the same player without his stellar team-mates’ support.
    “Barcelona are not here only because of Messi,” he said at the draw for the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
    “He’s very important but it was the team who won [against Athletic Bilbao in the last 16]. Without Neymar, Luis Suarez, [Andres] Iniesta, [Gerard] Pique and the others, he wouldn’t be such a good player.”
    Barca have taken swift action following those remarks, which they stress “do not coincide with those of the club”.