Category: Football

ROSARIO: In the dead of night, two men fired shots at a closed supermarket belonging to the family of Lionel Messi’s wife, before leaving a threatening message on the ground aimed at the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.

“Messi, we’re waiting for you. Javkin is a narco, he won’t take care of you,” said the handwritten message left on the ground by the men who shot 14 bullets into the supermarket’s metallic facade in the early hours of Thursday.

Pablo Javkin is the mayor of Messi’s hometown, Rosario, where the supermarket is located, some 320 kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires.

Javkin confirmed the supermarket belonged to the family of Antonela Roccuzzo, who shares three children with the football superstar, and said the aim of the attack was to “to create chaos in the city.”

“Here, what’s sought is the repercussion, it’s perfidious,” he said. “What story goes more quickly viral in the world than an attack on Messi?”

A witness confirmed seeing the two men arrive on a motorbike just before 3:00. One of them got off, fired the shots, dropped the note and they both fled.

“This has been going on for some time,” said Javkin. “We have five security forces operating in Rosario yet they can do this because no one is chasing them.”

Provincial police assistant chief Ivan Gonzalez told Cadena 3 television station that the message was “not a threat” but rather an attempt to “attract attention.”

He said no one was hurt since there was no one on the premises at that hour.

The prosecutor in charge of the case, Federico Rebola, told reporters that there had been no previously known threats made against the Roccuzzo family.

“We’re concerned, this has a huge repercussion, we have the video images and we’re looking for more cameras,” he said.

Rosario is a port city on the Parana river that has gradually become a nerve center for drug trafficking and the most violent city in Argentina, with 287 murders in 2022.

The centrist mayor, left-wing governor of Santa Fe state, Omar Perotti, and center-left national government regularly pass on responsibility for counter-narcotics measures and the use of the city’s security forces to each other.

At a meeting this week between the municipal, provincial and national security forces, provincial minister Claudio Brilloni said he had “urged the federal forces to greater collaboration, engagement and participation” in the fight against violence and criminality in Rosario.

Among the right-wing opposition, two declared candidates for October’s presidential election called for help from the military police to fight drug-trafficking in Rosario.

“The situation is complicated in Rosario… the drug traffickers have won,” said Security Minister Anibal Fernandez.

READ: Raza, bowlers power Lahore Qalandars to thrash Quetta Gladiators

PARIS: Just Fontaine, legendary French footballer and the all-time top scorer in a single World Cup finals with 13 goals, has died aged 89, his family told AFP on Wednesday.

Fontaine achieved the record in the 1958 finals in Sweden where France reached the semi-finals for the first time in their history, losing to Pele’s Brazil.

Part of a wonderful attacking trident at that World Cup alongside Roger Piantoni and Raymond Kopa, Fontaine might never have gone to Sweden at all.

Only injuries to fellow forwards Thadee Cisowski and his Reims teammate Rene Bliard saw him make the squad and then the starting line-up.

Fontaine also won four French league titles, one with Nice and three with the great Reims side of the post-war era.

He played in the Reims team that lost to the Real Madrid of Alfredo di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Raymond Kopa in the 1959 European Cup final.

Fontaine was then forced to retire in 1962 at the age of just 28 after he suffered a double leg fracture.

He later moved into management, lasting just two matches in charge of France in 1967 before leading Paris Saint-Germain to promotion to the top division in 1974 and then coaching Morocco to third place at the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations.

READ: Ashwin cuts short Anderson’s stint as No.1 Test bowler

PARIS: David Alaba defended himself on Tuesday as Real Madrid fans turned on him after FIFA listed the Austrian as voting for Lionel Messi over Karim Benzema as player of the year.

Alaba, Benzema’s team-mate at Real, faced abuse from his club’s fans for putting former Barcelona star Messi first in the FIFA Best awards announced Monday.

“The Austrian national team vote for this award as a team, not me alone. Everyone in the team council is able to vote and that’s how it’s decided,” Austria captain Alaba tweeted.

Messi, who led Argentina to victory in the World Cup, romped away with the award on Monday, with Kylian Mbappe of France second and Benzema, a French player who missed the World Cup, a distant third.

FIFA released a list of the top three choices by each national team captain and coach.

Alaba was listed as putting Benzema second.

“Everyone knows, especially Karim, how much I admire him and his performances,” tweeted Alaba. “I have often said that for me he is the best striker in the world, and that is still the case. Without doubt.”

Another Real Madrid player, Luka Modric, the captain of Croatia, was listed as putting Benzema first and Messi second.

As Argentina captain, Messi was listed as voting for one Paris Saint-Germain team-mate, Neymar, first and another, Mbappe second.

Brazil, captained by former PSG player Thiago Silva, voted for Neymar first, followed by Messi.

France, captained by Tottenham,’s Hugo Lloris, voted for Mbappe followed by another compatriot Benzema, with Messi third.

READ: Bismah Maroof steps down from Pakistan Women captaincy

PARIS: Lionel Messi won The Best FIFA men’s player prize for 2022 on Monday on the back of his World Cup triumph with Argentina and Spain’s Alexia Putellas retained the women’s award at a ceremony in Paris.

Messi beat his Paris Saint-Germain teammate, and World Cup final rival, Kylian Mbappe to the men’s gong with Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema having been the other contender to claim the prize.

It is the second time that Messi has won the honour inaugurated by FIFA in 2016 after football’s world governing body split from Ballon d’Or organisers France Football.

The award, which is voted for by national team coaches and captains, journalists and also fans, recognises a year in which the former Barcelona star crowned his glorious career by leading Argentina to victory at the World Cup.

Messi scored twice in an epic final in Doha as Argentina beat France on penalties despite Mbappe netting a hat-trick for Les Bleus in a remarkable 3-3 draw.

He also claimed the Golden Ball for the best player at the tournament, although Mbappe was the top scorer with eight goals, one more than Messi.

“This year was just mad for me, to be able to achieve my dream that I had fought so hard for. In the end I got it and it was the most beautiful thing that has happened in my career,” Messi said of his World Cup win as he collected his award.

“It is a dream for every footballer but something that very few can make come true,” added Messi, who was sat in the Paris theatre in between Mbappe and his wife Antonella Roccuzzo.

He took the prize just 24 hours after combining with Mbappe to lead PSG to a 3-0 win against Marseille in Ligue 1.

Putellas pips Mead and Morgan

The 35-year-old, a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, succeeds Polish star Robert Lewandowski on the FIFA honours list, while Putellas retained the women’s prize despite spending the second half of last year out injured.

The 29-year-old beat England’s European Championship-winning striker Beth Mead and United States star Alex Morgan to add the FIFA crown to the Ballon d’Or, which she has also won two years running.

Putellas is currently recovering from a serious knee injury suffered last July which ruled her out of the Euro in England with Spain.

Prior to that she had scored 11 goals on Barcelona’s run to the Champions League final, which they lost to Lyon.

Putellas has previously said she hopes to return from injury in time to play again this season, but it remains to be seen whether she will feature for Spain at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in July and August.

Argentina’s World Cup win in Qatar was also recognised as Lionel Scaloni claimed the men’s coach’s honour and Emiliano Martinez was named the best male goalkeeper.

Meanwhile, England’s European Championship victory helped their Dutch manager Sarina Wiegman win the prize for best women’s coach, while Mary Earps was named the women’s goalkeeper of the year.

Polish amputee player Marcin Oleksy took the Puskas Award for best goal, named after Hungary great Ferenc Puskas.

READ: Pakistan earn automatic qualification for Women’s T20 World Cup 2024

ELCHE: Real Betis scripted an astounding comeback from being two goals to beating home side Elche 3-2 with Willian Jose scoring on a penalty in the stoppage time.

Last-placed Elche were off to a dream start to their home clash with Real Betis as the side attained a two-goal lead within the first 10 minutes into the game with Fidel Chaves and Lucas Boye scoring for the hosts.

Yet Pablo Machin’s team’s fortunes began to deteriorate in the second half. The visitors made several significant adjustments and soon benefited from having an extra man as the referee sent back Pape Cheikh Diop in the 57th minute.

The advantages soon resulted in Betis pulling back first through Borja Iglesias’s penalty in the 65th minute. Iglesias then fed Juan Miranda who struck three minutes later to equalize the hosts’ lead at 2-2.

Iglesias had another penalty opportunity two minutes before regulation time, but Elche’s goalkeeper Edgar Badia made a fine stop on his effort from 12 yards out to bar Betis from taking the lead.

Elche were then looking solid for holding Betis for a point but the hosts conceded another penalty in the stoppage time, which Jose made no mistake in converting and steered his side to victory.

Following the victory, Betis moved one point within the fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, while Elche remained at the bottom at 13 points from safety.

READ: PSL 8: Karachi Kings hold training session for second clash with Sultans

Manchester United edged out Barcelona to reach the Europa League last 16 on Thursday where they were joined by fellow heavyweights Juventus and Roma.

After the first leg of their play-off ended 2-2 in Spain, United got the better of Barcelona at Old Trafford to progress 4-3 on aggregate with Antony securing the winner.

Robert Lewandowski’s early penalty had given Barca the perfect start but La Liga leaders were again undone with the step up to the European stage as Fred levelled early in the second period.

Antony then delivered his biggest moment since arriving in Manchester from Ajax.

United are riding the crest of a wave in Erik ten Hag’s first season in charge as the Red Devils remain in the hunt for trophies on four fronts.

United could end a six-year wait for silverware when they face Newcastle in the League Cup final on Sunday.

But they left nothing in reserve to secure their biggest European scalp since dumping Paris Saint-Germain out of the Champions League last 16 in dramatic fashion in 2019.

United are now unbeaten at Old Trafford in 18 games dating back to September.

“Very good to hear my name from the fans but it was a good game we played today,” said Fred.

“We need to keep going. We have a final on Sunday and now we have to change our mind to go to the final.”

Former United star Angel di Maria scored a hat-trick as Juventus reached the next stage with a 3-0 second leg win over Nantes.

The result allowed the Italian giants to progress 4-1 on aggregate.

Argentine World Cup winner Di Maria opened the scoring after five minutes and then added a 20th-minute penalty.

Di Maria completed his hat-trick in the 78th minute, in a game where the French side had been reduced to 10 men after just a quarter of an hour when Nicolas Pallois was red-carded for handball.

“After we were knocked out of the Champions League, some people might have thought the Europa League would be a walk in the park for Juventus, but it is not that simple,” said Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri.

“This was an important match, but it was not perfect. We still have work to do. There were things I was not happy with this evening.”

Jose Mourinho’s Roma also made it to Friday’s last 16 draw as a 2-0 win overturned a one-goal deficit from the first leg against Salzburg.

Andrea Belotti and Paulo Dybala scored in a seven-minute first-half spell to secure the win.

Six-time champions Sevilla went down to a 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands but progressed 3-2 on aggregate.

Luuk de Jong and Fabio Silva hit late goals for the Dutch team who had Mauro Junior sent off in stoppage time.

Sporting Lisbon were also amongst the winners, a 4-0 victory at Midtjylland in Denmark sealing a 5-1 victory.

Union Berlin, who are riding high in the Bundesliga, defeated Ajax 3-1 after the first leg had ended goalless last week.

Robin Knoche, Josip Juranovic and Danilho Doekhi scored the goals which gave Union a first ever win in the Europa League knockout stages.

READ: Brook, Root centuries put England in charge of New Zealand Test

MADRID: Sergio Ramos retired from international duty with Spain on Thursday, saying new coach Luis de la Fuente told him he did not count on him.

The Paris Saint-Germain defender, who won the 2010 World Cup and 2008 and 2012 European Championship with La Roja, last played for Spain in March 2021.

Ramos, who turns 37 in March, published an open letter on social media in which he indicated the new coach forced his hand.

“The time has come, the time to say goodbye to the national team, our beloved and exciting Roja,” wrote Ramos.

“This morning I received a call from the current coach who told me that he does not and will not count on me, regardless of the level I can show or how I continue my career.

“With much sorrow, it is the end of a journey that I hoped would be longer and that would end with a better taste in my mouth, at the height of all the successes we have achieved with our Roja.”

Ramos played 180 times for Spain, making more appearances than any other player in the country’s history.

Despite recovering from injury and building form with PSG Luis Enrique did not call him up for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

De la Fuente replaced Luis Enrique in December after Spain crashed out of the World Cup against Morocco in the last 16.

Spain’s next matches are qualifiers for Euro 2024 in March against Norway and Scotland.

“I humbly believe that this career deserved to end because of a personal decision or because my performance was not up to what our national team deserves, but not because of my age or other reasons that, without having heard them, I have felt,” continued Ramos.

The defender highlighted other veteran players still thriving, including PSG team-mate Lionel Messi, who won the World Cup last year with Argentina at 35.

“Because being young or less young is not a virtue or a defect, it is just a temporary characteristic that is not necessarily related to performance or ability,” added Ramos.

He referred to Messi and two former Real Madrid team-mates, Croatia’s Luka Modric, who is 37, and Portugal’s Pepe, 39, who all played at the World Cup.

“I look with admiration and envy at Modric, Messi, Pepe… the essence, tradition, values, meritocracy and justice in football.

“Unfortunately it will not be like that for me, because football is not always fair and football is never just football.”

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday urged the need to incentivize the football players and promote football in the country by adopting international best practices in the field of football.

In his meeting with the members of Pakistan’s national Men’s and Women’s football teams, at Aiwa-e-Sadr, President Alvi called for developing linkages with international partners and promoting public-private partnerships, besides providing better training facilities and coaching to the football players.

The Chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalization Committee (FNC) for the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), Haroon Ahmed Malik was also present during the meeting along with other members.

Dr Alvi asked the FNC to speed up its efforts to streamline the issues related to football affairs in the country.

Welcoming the athletes, the president said that the sport of football was quite popular in Pakistan and there were millions of football fans in the country and the game should be promoted at the district and club levels, reported Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

He advised the athletes to make their country proud through their performance and work for improving the country’s image as they were Pakistan’s ambassadors in the field of sports.

The president remarked that he had high hopes from the players to lead Pakistan in regional and international competitions.

He regretted that the internal politics within the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) had affected its performance and expressed the hope that with the help of the FIFA-appointed Normalization Committee, there would be a visible improvement in the performance of PFF.

Haroon Ahmed Malik briefed the president that over 7 million people in Pakistan played football, and that FNC was making efforts to improve the functioning and administration of PFF through the FNC.

He informed that Women’s National Team played their first international game in eight years and Men’s National Team played their first international game in four years.

He stated that so far almost 4600 clubs from 163 districts of the country had been registered and the documentation and physical scrutiny process would be completed within the given timelines.

It was told that Men’s National Team would participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and Women’s National Team would play in the Olympics Qualifiers for Paris 2024 this year.

READ: Lukaku fires Inter past Porto to boost Champions League hopes

MILAN: Romelu Lukaku boosted Inter Milan’s chances of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in over a decade after scoring the only goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Porto.

Belgium forward Lukaku struck with four minutes remaining of the first leg at the San Siro on the rebound from his own header to decide an absorbing encounter at the San Siro.

Simone Inzaghi’s side travel to Portugal next month to decide who will go through to the last eight with a slight advantage thanks to Lukaku’s second goal in as many games in all competitions.

The 29-year-old, who has struggled with injury all season, struck his first league goal since August at the weekend and came off the bench in the second half to ensure Inter will have a lead to protect in the second leg as they seek a first quarter-final tie since 2011.

“Winning is the most important thing… I’m focusing on trying to do what’s best for Inter,” said Lukaku to Amazon Prime.

“I’m pleased for the win, let’s hope we can keep it going.”

Lukaku stuck as Sergio Conceicao’s Porto were playing with 10 men after key midfielder Otavio, in his first appearance since the start of February, was sent off in the 78th minute for two bookable offences.

The Portuguese champions have been a bogey side to Italian teams in recent seasons but will have to turn the aggregate score around if they are to add to the series of Serie A scalps which include Juventus and Roma.

“It’s a slight advantage that we’ll try to make count against a good, physical team which is used to playing in the last 16 and quarter-finals… It’s a great win,” said Inzaghi.

“It was deserved for what we did on the pitch, but we know it’s not finished here and the second leg will be difficult.”

Inter should have been ahead in the 13th minute when Federico Dimarco found Lautaro Martinez with a deep cross, but the Argentina striker sent his header way of the bar.

Lukaku Strikes

Five minutes later Hakan Calhanoglu forced a fantastic save from Diogo Costa, the Turkey international playing a one-two from his own corner and whipping a beautifully struck effort shot which nearly went in at the near post.

However, it was Porto who wasted the best chance of a niggly half in the 37th minute after a lovely team move, their first decent attack of the match.

From Otavio’s pass Mehdi Taremi played the perfect layoff to Marko Grujic, who should have done better in front of Andre Onana before Wenderson Galeno headed wide with the goal gaping.

Costa then made sure that the teams would go into the break level with another superb stop, this time reacting brilliantly to keep out Alessandro Bastoni’s flicked header from Dimarco’s inswinging free-kick.

Barella flicked just wide before Porto missed two more great chances to take the lead.

In the 54th minute, Taremi shot weakly at Onana at the end of a lightning break led by his striker partner Pepe, and then three minutes later Onana twice save Inter’s bacon in the space of seconds.

Milan Skriniar did well to block Zaidu’s low shot before former Cameroon goalkeeper Onana grasped at the Porto left-back’s second effort and then recovered in time to stop what looked like a certain Taremi goal.

“We had plenty of opportunities to score. We created situations in second half where we should have been more aggressive, because we were lacking in the finish,” Conceicao later told reporters.

“Inter played well, but if we look at the chances at the end of the match, I think we should have got a different result.”

Lukaku almost immediately replaced the disappointing Edin Dzeko and in the 72nd minute the Belgium striker almost laid on the opener for Martinez, who just couldn’t quite meet an inviting low cross as he slid into the six-yard box.

Just as the match looked destined for a goalless draw despite Otavio’s dismissal, Lukaku headed Nicolo Barella’s cross against the post before slotting in the winner on the rebound.

READ: Maxwell, Marsh return from injury as Australia name squad for India ODIs

LEIPZIG: RB Leipzig centre-back Josko Gvardiol scored a second-half header, cancelling out Riyad Mahrez’s strike to earn a 1-1 with Manchester City in their Champions League last 16 clash on Wednesday.

One of the breakout stars of the Qatar World Cup as the cornerstone of Croatia’s miserly defence, Gvardiol showed his attacking flair, launching himself above the City defence to head in the equaliser in the 70th minute.

City took the lead after 27 minutes through Mahrez and looked on course for a comfortable away win but their fluency deserted them after the interval in the first leg tie.

The home side, who have only lost once in their past 20 games, found their zip in the second half and looked the team most likely to head to the Etihad for the return leg with a victory under their belt.

City’s star striker Erling Haaland suffered for a lack of service, with the Norwegian clearly missing ill midfielder Kevin de Bruyne.

City dominated possession in trademark fashion for the first quarter of the match, but failed to carve out any opportunities against a well-drilled and structured home side.

“At the end, we were a little nervous, the coach told us to calm down, there are 90 minutes left to play,” said Mahrez.

Leipzig coach Marco Rose added: “Two very, very different halves. We just didn’t happen in the first half, just chased the ball, were very bad when we had it. The second was quite different, we were better with the ball, won it back better and played how we had envisioned to play.”

The breakthrough came in the 27th minute, when City midfielder Jack Grealish took advantage of a sloppy pass from Xaver Schlager, pouncing with threading a vertical ball goalwards.

City captain Ilkay Gundogan attracted the attention of the Leipzig defence but let the ball run through his legs into the path of Mahrez, who cut a shot past the fingertips of ‘keeper Janis Blaswich and into the net.

Rodri went close to doubling City’s lead just three minutes later but put his header just wide.

Former Chelsea striker Timo Werner had half a chance in first-half injury time, but waited too long to unleash a shot and his deflected effort was easily claimed by Ederson.

Leipzig swapped out wing backs Lukas Klostermann and Benjamin Henrichs at halftime looking for additional penetration.

The new man went close to scoring an equaliser twice in the space of two minutes early in the second half, first through a looping header and second when he shanked a close-range attempt when one-on-one with Ederson.

The introduction of Christopher Nkunku in the 66th minute came during the home side’s best period of the game and gave them an immediate boost, striker Andre Silva forcing a rushed save from Ederson a minute later.

Gvardiol snuffed out an Haaland counter attack and got the home side on the scoreboard soon after, climbing a metre higher than the City defence to head in the equaliser from a Marcel Halstenberg corner.

Man City held on as Leipzig searched for a winner, meaning both teams head to Manchester on an equal footing ahead of the return fixture on March 14.

READ: Returning Bangladesh coach says senior cricketers safe