Brazil 3 Argentina 4: Hat-trick hero Messi steals the show in seven-goal thriller

Cool finish: Lionel Messi scores his first goal

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick as Argentina beat Brazil 4-3 in a lively friendly on Saturday, dealing a blow to the Brazilians as they wrapped up their preparations for the London Olympics. Brazil took the lead in the 23rd minute when a quickly taken free-kick found Romulo, who banged in the goal as Argentina's defenders appealed in vain for offside. Argentina equalised in the 31st minute after Gonzalo Higuain robbed Brazilian captain Sandro and fed Messi, who shot low into the corner of the goal. Within three minutes, the diminutive striker put Argentina 2-1 up, running on to a pass from Angel di Maria and rounding Brazilian goalkeeper

Rafael Cabral. Brazil got back in the end-to-end game in the second half when Oscar scored from close range after 56 minutes and then reclaimed the lead when Hulk took advantage of a fumble by Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero to score. But Argentina stormed back quickly as Federico Fernandez headed in from a corner in the 75th minute before Messi scored the best goal of the game with a trademark run and shot from outside the penalty area in the 84th minute. Brazil's Marcelo and Argentina's Ezequiel Lavezzi were sent off for an altercation in injury time. The game was played in front of a sell-out crowd of nearly 82,000 at Meadowlands Stadium, home of New York's two American football teams, the Giants and the Jets. 

Brave: Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero (left) stops a point-blank shot from Brazil forward Neymar

Argentina's coach paid tribute to Messi who in the past has been criticized for not repeating for the national side his brilliant form with Spanish giants Barcelona. 'Thankfully for us, he's Argentine and can enjoy having him in our team,' said Alejandro Sabella. 'He's an exceptional player who is going through an exceptional 

Delight: Brazil's Neymar celebrates Romulo's goal

phase.'  Brazilian coach Mano Menezes was left scratching his head about Messi, World Player of the Year f or the last three years, who made the difference in a game in which Brazil created a string of scoring opportunities. 'No one in the world has found a solution (to playing against him),' Menezes said. 'He had four chances and scored three goals...Against some players you cannot give any space and perhaps we gave

Super stars: Argentina's Lionel Messi (R) and Brazil's Neymar battle for the ball

him too much.' Brazil's Marcelo and Argentina's Ezequiel Lavezzi were sent off for an altercation in injury time. The game was played in front of a sell-out crowd of nearly 82,000 at Meadowlands Stadium, home of New York's two American football teams, the Giants and the Jets. The defeat  was Brazil's 

Action man: Oscar scores Brazil's third goal

second in less than a week after they lost 2-0 to Mexico last Sunday. But coach Menezes said he remained confident about the Olympics. 'We have a very good Olympics team and we will only make a few small changes before we start,' he said. Brazil, who have won the World Cup a record five times, have never won the Olympics where teams are required to field teams mostly made up of players under 23 years of age. Source: Travelfwd

Read More........ → June 10, 2012

Chelsea 'cleared to sign Lionel Messi'

Messi is 'unsettled' at Barcelona, reports suggest – and Chelsea are poised to swoop

BY Bill Mann: The Premier League's finest will be dismayed to hear that Barcelona have got their beady eye on Paul Pogba, but is that because Chelsea are poised to deprive the Spanish giants of Lionel Messi in the summer? Transfer Talk dishes the dirt on the latest tittle-tattle. • If Metro has its facts correct then Chelsea "have been cleared to sign Lionel Messi" at the end of the season. The paper claims that the Barcelona goal machine is weighing up his options after allegedly becoming unsettled at the Camp Nou, and then mentions the sum of ￡200m as the likely transfer fee for the Argentine ace. It's believed that Messi wants to take up the challenge of playing in the Premier League and Chelsea are prepared to pay the astronomical sum "all up front" in order to secure his signature. • Barcelona will have their sporting director Ariedo Braida in Germany tonight to watch Paul Pogba in action for Juventus against Borussia Dortmund. That comes as a blow to Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea, who were apparently all keen to sign the French star. The same three clubs have also been frustrated in their efforts to lure Mauro Icardi away from Inter Milan, theDaily Express reports. He will now remain in Italy. • Former Dutch international Ruud Gullit says compatriot Louis van Gaal is "crazy" about Mats Hummels and wants to sign the Borussia Dortmund defender in the summer. Reporting the revelation, the Manchester Evening News claims that the United manager missed out on landing the 26-year-old Hummels last summer but will "launch a new bid" in June. According to Gullit, van Gaal has made it his "priority" to sign a rock solid central defender for next season and he wants no one more than he wants Hummels. For further concise, balanced comment and analysis on the week's news, try The Week magazine. Subscribe today and get 6 issues completely free. Source: The Week UK

Read More........ → February 26, 2015

FIFA World Cup: Sublime Lionel Messi lights up Maracana

Lionel Messi finally made his mark on the World Cup and lit up the Maracana with his first goal in the finals for eight years but Argentina had to battle hard for a 2-1 win over debutants Bosnia in their opening Group F match on Sunday.

Messi, four-times world player of the year and Argentina’s best footballer since Diego Maradona graced the 1986 tournament, put his side 2-0 ahead on a night when the stadium was turned into little Buenos Aires by tens of thousands of his countrymen. “It was important to start with a win and to get three points but we need to improve,” man-of-the-match Messi told reporters. Although they took the lead in the third minute when Sead Kolasinac netted the fastest own goal in World Cup history, Argentina looked unconvincing until Messi struck with a dazzling run and sweet left-foot shot that went in off the post in the 65th minute after a one-two with substitute Gonzalo Higuain. It was Messi’s first goal in the finals since scoring in Argentina’s 6-0 win over Serbia & Montenegro almost eight years ago to the day. Even then they could not afford to relax as Bosnia substitute Vedad Ibisevic scored in the 85th minute to set up a tense finale. “They were two different halves,” Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella told a news conference. “In the first one I think we controlled the Bosnians well, but beyond that, we didn’t create the kind of depth that we managed in the second half. Obviously we need to improve.” The match was the first game in the tournament to be played at the Maracana, which on Monday celebrates the 64th anniversary of its official opening at the start of the 1950 World Cup. It was ironic that it was Argentina celebrating in party-style as they just about lived up their billing as odds-on favourites to qualify from a group which also includes Iran and Nigeria and keep alive their hopes of a third world title. UNWANTED RECORD: The match began dramatically when Kolasinac put through his own net after two minutes eight seconds, beating the previous unwanted record set by Paraguay’s Carlos Gamarra against England in 2006 by 38 seconds. He was in the wrong place when a Messi free kick, headed on by Marcos Rojo, hit him and went in. Bosnia, naturally shaken after making such a bad start to their first ever match in the finals, did not dwell on their misfortune for long. After surviving a nervy spell, they began to look the better side against a subdued Argentina team who were in danger of losing their record of winning their opening match in their last five World Cups. Messi, whose tepid displays in the last World Cup in South Africa when he failed to score were exhaustively documented, made little impression until his goal and Bosnia had their chances with both Senad Lulic and Edin Dzeko going close in the first half. Substitute Ibisevic earned a place in Bosnian soccer folklore by scoring their first World Cup goal when he placed his angled shot through Sergio Romero’s legs, but it was too little too late. Bosnia were far from outplayed, however, and capitalised on a cautious safety-first approach from Sabella in the first half. Playing with five at the back against lone striker Dzeko and with Sergio Aguero and Messi getting limited service in attack, Bosnia dealt with their more illustrious opponents with relative ease. Muhamed Besic did a good policing job on Messi who was largely anonymous in the first half. Sabella changed his formation at halftime, introducing Fernando Gago in midfield and Higuain in attack but in the end it was Messi’s magic, as so often is the case, that made the difference. “The objective was to play as well as we can against Argentina, who are the favourites to win the World Cup, and I think we played a good match,” Bosnia coach Safet Susic said. “We played well in both halves and it was only because of the psychological pressure that we looked as if we had run out of steam a little bit in the closing stages.” Source: The Indian Express

Read More........ → June 16, 2014