Tag: Lionel Messi

PARIS: Lionel Messi returned to training with Paris Saint-Germain on Monday six days after Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain was suspended for going on an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia.

“Leo Messi returns to training Monday morning,” tweeted the club along with a photo of the 35-year-old in action.

His return makes it likely he will feature in PSG’s home match with relegation-threatened Ajaccio next Saturday.

PSG hold the whip hand in defending their Ligue 1 title, a six point lead over Lens with four matches remaining.

He was suspended by the Qatar-owned club after failing to turn up for training last Monday.

Instead, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner travelled to Saudi Arabia without PSG’s permission to fulfil commitments as part of a contract with the country’s tourist office.

Messi subsequently apologised in a video posted on Instagram to his 458 million followers.

“I had organised this trip to Saudi Arabia having cancelled it previously. This time I couldn’t cancel it. I am sorry for what I did and I wait to see what the club decides to do.”

The affair has made it increasingly unlikely that Messi will remain at PSG beyond this season, when his two-year contract with the club expires.

READ: India call up Ishan Kishan to replace KL Rahul in WTC final squad

Lionel Messi’s future at PSG was plunged into doubt on Wednesday after he was suspended by Paris Saint-Germain after travelling to Saudi Arabia without the club’s permission.

A source with knowledge of the disciplinary procedure told AFP that Argentina’s 35-year-old World-Cup winning captain, who is out of contract at the end of the season, would be sidelined for “several days”, while various media in France reported that he would be suspended for two weeks.

“He cannot train, cannot play, and will not be paid while disciplinary measures are in place,” the source added.

Another source, also speaking on condition they were not identified, indicated that the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner would “probably” be sidelined for a fortnight, noting that “nobody is more important than the club”.

Messi played the whole game in PSG’s 3-1 home defeat by Lorient in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

He then travelled to Saudi Arabia to fulfil commercial commitments in his role as a tourism ambassador for the Gulf state.

The Saudi Tourism Authority said in a press release on Wednesday that Messi had “returned to Saudi for a second time, this time with his family” and had been treated to a demonstration of palm weaving and had fed Arabian gazelles.

As a result of the trip, Messi missed a training session scheduled for Monday following the weekend defeat.

The PSG squad were given a day off on Tuesday and Messi did not take part in training on Wednesday either.

– ‘Fed up with mercenaries’ –

PSG are due to return to league action away at struggling Troyes on Sunday, a game that Messi may now miss.

If he were to be sidelined for two weeks he would also sit out a home match against Ajaccio on May 13.

The disciplinary measures make the prospect of Messi staying in the French capital after his two-year deal expires at the end of this season even more remote.

Having at one point looked set to extend his stay for another year, a source close to the club told AFP last month that he was now “much more likely” to depart.

Messi arrived from Barcelona, the club where he had spent the majority of his career, in 2021 but has struggled to reproduce his best form at Qatar-backed Paris.

Despite that, he has scored 31 goals in 71 appearances in all competitions.

He was recently jeered by a section of the PSG support, who see him as a symbol of all the club have done wrong in focusing on superstar signings while failing to build a genuinely competitive team.

Messi has scored 20 goals in all competitions this season and is the leading assist provider in Ligue 1, with 15.

However, his form since leading Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar has declined along with that of most of the PSG team.

Their insipid performance against Lorient was a sixth defeat in 17 Ligue 1 matches in 2023.

They remain five points clear of Marseille at the top of the table with five games left, and are therefore still on course for a record 11th French title.

However, they were knocked out of the Champions League in the last 16 by Bayern Munich and also went out of the French Cup at the same stage to Marseille.

Meanwhile hundreds of fans gathered at the club to protest over PSG’s current form and the Messi saga.

“We’re fed up with mercenaries! We must sack Messi! We must sack Nasser Al-Khelaifi (the club’s Qatari president),” supporters chanted.

“We are sincerely worried about the future and the sustainability of our club,” the team’s ‘ultras’ supporters said in a statement, adding “is there still a pilot on the plane?”

Meanwhile, several videos posted on Twitter appeared to show a group of supporters, dressed in black gathered in front of the home of Neymar, shouting abuse at their injured Brazilian superstar.

READ: PHF appoints Oltmans as team consultant for Junior Asia Cup 2023

Paris Saint-Germain has suspended Lionel Messi for two weeks after the Argentinian star travelled to Saudi Arabia without the club’s permission, reported BBC on Wednesday.

According to the details, Messi missed the club’s training session on Monday to attend promotional events in the Kingdom.

He asked permission from PSG before his trip to the Gulf state but the club refused owing to a change in their training schedule.

Messi believes he did originally have permission to travel to Saudi, but that was then withdrawn due to a change in the club’s training schedule, said BBC.

Messi’s contract with PSG expires in June this year, and his reported trip to Saudi Arabia comes amid multiple reports that the 35-year-old is not interested in renewing his contract with the French club.

World Cup winner Messi departed for Saudi Arabia after PSG’s home defeat by Lorient on Sunday, in which Messi played the full 90 minutes.

He is set to miss matches against Troyes and Ajaccio as PSG top the Ligue 1 standings and look to win their ninth title in 11 seasons.

READ: Arsenal back on top of Premier League after beating Chelsea

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski would love Lionel Messi to return to the Catalan club from Paris Saint-Germain this summer, he said on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old Argentine World Cup winner left Barca in 2021 when the club could not afford to renew his contract and his PSG deal expires in June.

Amid whistles from PSG supporters who see Messi as a symbol of the club’s mistakes in chasing star signings instead of building a competitive team, Barcelona are openly courting the forward.

“Messi belongs to Barca and if he returns it would be something incredible,” said Lewandowski.

“We know that his place is here, in Barcelona. I don’t know what will happen, but I hope that next season we can play together.”

Messi is the club’s all-time top goalscorer and many consider him the best player in the history of football.

The playmaker scored a record 672 goals in 778 matches for Barcelona, winning 35 trophies, after joining the club at 13-years-old and developing at their feted La Masia youth academy.

Barcelona fans have chanted Messi’s name in the 10th minute — representing his former Barca shirt number — in their last two matches, including a 0-0 draw against Girona on Monday in La Liga.

“Leo generates excitement, they have chanted his name in two games now, we’ll see what happens,” said Barca coach Xavi Hernandez after the derby clash.

Lewandowski, top scorer in Spain, could not find the net for the league leaders against Girona and, speaking at a charity event, said he had been carrying an injury.

“I took a blow from (Real Madrid defender Eder) Militao in the game against Madrid and I could not walk,” added Lewandowski, referring to Barcelona’s 4-0 thrashing by Los Blancos in the Copa del Rey last week.

“On the pitch I have to play better but that knock from Militao left my body in a bad way.”

BARCELONA: Several thousand Barcelona fans at Camp Nou chanted Lionel Messi’s name in the 10th minute of the Copa del Rey semi-final Clasico on Wednesday.

The Barcelona club legend and all-time top goalscorer, currently at Paris Saint-Germain, is likely to leave the French side at the end of his contract in June, a club source told AFP on Tuesday.

Some fans sung Messi’s name outside the stadium before the clash with Real Madrid and many joined in after 10 minutes of the match, representing the Argentine’s shirt number at Barca.

“Messi is living history at Barcelona, he’s the best player in the history of football,” said sporting director Mateu Alemany before the Clasico on Wednesday.

“He’s at PSG fighting for titles and we are fighting for ours. In the future we’ll see what happens.”

World Cup winner Messi, who will turn 36 in June, joined PSG in 2021 on a two-year deal which expires at the end of this campaign.

The forward has been whistled in recent weeks by some of PSG’s own fans in Paris, frustrated at the club’s Champions League elimination by Bayern Munich.

His form has dipped since he led Argentina to glory at the World Cup in Qatar at the end of last year, with some seeing him as a symbol of PSG’s mistakes in signing star names at the expense of building a competitive team.

Barcelona have been openly courting Messi, hoping to persuade the forward to return to the Camp Nou two years after he left the club where he won four Champions League titles.

Messi left Barcelona when the club could not afford to renew his contract.

“I would love it if he returned,” Barca vice-president Rafael Yuste said last week as he admitted there had been “contact” with Messi.

READ: IPL injury likely to rule Williamson out of ODI World Cup

PARIS: Lionel Messi is “much more likely” to leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season than sign a new deal, a source close to the club told AFP on Tuesday.

“The dynamics have completely changed with PSG less pushing to renew (his contract),” the source said, adding that there was “no deal, no exit yet. But exit is much more likely.”

World Cup winner Messi, who will turn 36 in June, joined in 2021 on a two-year deal which expires at the end of this campaign.

On Sunday, the Argentine’s name was jeered by some PSG fans as the teams were announced prior to the 1-0 home defeat against Lyon in Ligue 1.

Supporters of the Qatar-owned club are unhappy at the malaise around the team since they were eliminated from the Champions League in the last 16 by Bayern Munich last month.

PSG have lost eight times in 18 games in 2023, a run which has seen them go out of the French Cup prematurely although they remain six points clear at the top of the French table.

“The fans have changed things completely,” the source said of the chances of Messi’s deal being renewed and the supporters’ reaction at the weekend.

Messi has scored 29 goals and set up 32 more in 67 appearances for PSG in all competitions.

Yet his form has dipped since he led Argentina to glory at the World Cup in Qatar at the end of last year.

Some fans see him as a symbol of all the club have done wrong in focusing on superstar signings while failing to build a genuinely competitive team.

Messi is currently costing PSG around 40 million euros ($43.6 million) a year in wages at a time when the club have to keep in line with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules, although there have been suggestions they could offer him a new deal on a reduced salary.

Barcelona have been openly courting Messi, hoping to persuade the Argentine to return to the Camp Nou two years after he left the club where he won four Champions League titles. He left Barcelona when the club could not afford to renew his contract.

“I would love it if he returned,” Barca vice-president Rafael Yuste said last week as he admitted there had been “contact” with Messi.

He has also been linked with a possible move to Major League Soccer where Inter Miami are said to be interested in signing him.

If Messi departs, PSG would likely be doubly determined to keep hold of Kylian Mbappe for at least one more season, a year after persuading the France striker to sign a new deal and turn down overtures from Real Madrid.

As well as the uncertainty over Messi’s future, there are doubts about coach Christophe Galtier, who was only appointed last July but has come under intense pressure following recent results.

READ: Senior players return as PCB unveils squads for New Zealand home series

SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO: Argentina captain Lionel Messi on Tuesday scored his 100th international goal for the reigning world champions as they romped to a 7-0 friendly win over outclassed Curacao.

Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi opened the scoring against the Caribbean island minnows on 20 minutes in Santiago del Estero.

It came 17 years after he opened his Argentina account in a 3-2 defeat to Croatia in March 2006.

The 35-year-old soon added another just after the half-hour mark to make it 3-0, and then completed his hat-trick on 37 minutes with the fifth as Argentina toyed with their overmatched opponents.

It was his seventh hat-trick for the national team.

“You cannot describe Messi in words,” said fellow goalscorer Nicolas Gonzalez.

“He’s the best in the world and he shows it match after match, day after day. Every time he touches the ball, he makes you smile.”

Messi came into the game not just as his country’s all-time record goalscorer, but with more goals than the next two top marksmen — Gabriel Batistuta on 56 and Sergio Aguero with 41 — put together.

This was Argentina’s second match since winning the World Cup in dramatic style against France in Qatar in December — triumphing 4-2 on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw — and it was always going to be about Messi reaching 100 goals.

Now with 102, he remains third in the all-time list, behind great rival Cristiano Ronaldo (122) of Portugal and Iran’s Ali Daei (109).

‘Straight to the museum’

Messi had come up short on Thursday last week when he notched his 99th goal for the Albiceleste as Argentina toiled in their homecoming celebration match against Panama.

The Central Americans had held out until the 78th minute before 21-year-old MLS sensation Thiago Almada broke their resistence.

Messi then scored direct from a free-kick a minute from time — his 800th goal in professional football — in front of 83,000 delirious fans in Buenos Aires.

Curacao, ranked 86th by world governing body FIFA, could only hold out for 20 minutes before Messi took a pass from Giovanni Lo Ceslo, cut inside his marker onto his weaker right foot and fired a low shot into the bottom corner.

The referee was then seen on live television throwing the ball to someone on the side of the pitch as DirecTV commentators speculated that it was heading “straight to the museum.”

Three minutes later Gonzalez outjumped goalkeeper Eloy Room to head home from four yards.

Gonzalez turned provider as Messi scored the first of three goals in four minutes, this time with his left foot.

He then laid off the ball for Enzo Fernandez to make it four with a shot from distance before Lo Celso released Messi behind the defense to notch his treble.

Argentina took their foot off the gas in the second half, with only a generously-awarded Angel Di Maria penalty and close-range finish from Gonzalo Montiel adding to the score.

But the 42,000 fans present remained in party mood throughout, waiting for their heroes to lift the World Cup trophy in front of them.

READ: Christchurch washout hits Sri Lanka World Cup hopes

BUENOS AIRES: Lionel Messi capped a night of unbridled joy with the 800th goal of his career as world champions Argentina celebrated their homecoming with a 2-0 friendly victory over stubborn Panama in Buenos Aires on Thursday.

The 35-year-old seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s stunning free-kick in the dying minutes came after 21-year-old MLS sensation Thiago Almada gave a glimpse of what the future holds with his first goal for the national team in only his third appearance.

It was an emotional night as fireworks crackled overhead before kick-off at the impressive Monumental stadium where the 83,000 lucky fans that managed to get tickets among the more than 1.5 million people who tried, created an electric atmosphere.

Messi, coach Lionel Scaloni and numerous players came onto the pitch with their children and several seemed on the brink of tears as fans in unison sung “Muchachos”, the anthem of Argentina’s victorious World Cup campaign in Qatar.

After the match the party continued, with every member of the World Cup winning squad given a replica trophy to lift, surrounded by their families.

“I always dreamt of this moment, being able to celebrate with you (the fans), being able to come to my country to lift a Copa America, a World Cup. It’s the best thing there is,” said Messi, who was presented with several awards after the game.

“I am eternally grateful to this group of players. Football is theirs, it belongs to all those that wear this jersey,” said Scaloni, who finally cracked and let the tears flow.

“They leave every last drop of sweat and sometimes the result doesn’t follow. This time it did and it’s amazing.”

Persistence pays for Messi

It was clear that this was more a celebration than a football match but Panama clearly had not read the script.

Despite fielding a weakened side, they were organized and disciplined and managed to frustrate the new world champions for 78 minutes before their defenses were finally breached.

Argentina, who started the game playing champagne football, created relatively little given their 73 percent possession in the first period.

Messi struck the woodwork with a freekick while Enzo Fernandez brought a diving one-handed save out of goalkeeper Jose Carlos Guerra with a shot from distance.

Scaloni had picked the same starting XI that faced France in the World Cup final in December — when Argentina triumphed 4-2 on penalties after a sensational 3-3 draw — but after a goalless first half he made three changes.

In the second period, Argentina knuckled down to trying to win a football match but Guerra was twice equal to Messi free-kicks and also saved a low curling effort from veteran Angel Di Maria.

As the minutes ticked by, the tension rose with Argentina acutely aware that their party risked falling flat if they did not win.

But, eventually their main man came to the fore and ensured Panama would not be party poopers.

Messi had a hand in the opening goal, crashing another free-kick off the woodwork, with Almada, a second half substitute, following up to slot home.

The stadium erupted and the tension drained from Argentina’s players, by now mostly substitutes.

With a minute to go, Messi was given yet another free-kick within shooting range — his fifth of the match — and this time he curled it into the top corner to seal the dream scenario for his delirious fans.

Then the party continued with singing and dancing and a video recap of Argentina’s glorious run to their third world title on the stadium’s giant screens.

No one left as the players, accompanied by partners and children, embarked on a lap of honor, each clutching their own replica trophy.

READ: Ihsanullah, Saim, Tayyab and Zaman to debut in first Afghanistan T20I 

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: 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