Category Archives: Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi: outcry in China and Hong Kong after star returns from injury in time for Japan match

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Hong Kong fans need answers over missed fixture, government says, amid online furore over Inter Miami tour

Chinese state media, Hong Kong politicians and fans have cried foul after Lionel Messi played in a match in Japan, just days after he stayed on the bench for a highly-anticipated match in Hong Kong.

Many in Hong Kong were dismayed on Sunday when the 36-year-old Argentinian player did not come on to the field during a much-hyped Inter Miami fixture to a sell-out crowd with fans demanding answers and a refund. Miami’s head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said Messi was deemed unfit to play in Sunday’s match in the Hong Kong friendly.

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‘Like paradise’: Argentina erupts in celebration of World Cup win

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Streets of central Buenos Aires are a cacophony of yelling and horns after shootout victory against France

If there’s one thing Argentina fans have learned in this World Cup, it’s that you can’t rest on your laurels when you’re 2-0 up. But after a dramatic penalty shootout, there was delight in Buenos Aires that Argentina will be bringing home football’s most coveted trophy.

In La Puerta Roja, a bar in the downtown San Telmo district, so many people packed in early to watch the final that there was a queue outside an hour and a half before kickoff. The air smelled of adrenaline and the commentators could barely be heard over the din of yelling, hands banging on tables, and the occasional glass smashing.

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‘You can’t begrudge Messi’: Parisians react as France lose World Cup final

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Patrons of French capital’s bars go through gamut of emotions as Argentina eventually win out on penalties

It was a rollercoaster. By the end they were standing on the tables outside, roars of “allez les Bleus” and “liberté, égalité, Mbappé” rising hoarsely into the freezing early evening air, hugging each other fiercely, cheering on their heroes.

It was standing room only in le Napoléon and le Mondial cafes, facing each other across the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis in Paris’s 10th arrondissement – both rammed to the rafters inside with flag-waving, face-painted, red-white-and-blue bewigged fans.

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Saudi Arabia declares public holiday to mark World Cup win over Argentina

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Region rejoices as Saudi team ‘writes history’ against South American powerhouse in group stage

Saudi Arabia has said Wednesday will be a national holiday as, on the Jeddah Corniche by the Red Sea, in the heart of the capital Riyadh and in towns and villages across the country, its seismic 2-1 World Cup win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina was celebrated as a coming of age.

The national football side’s remarkable victory was being seen as both a triumph on the pitch and a huge moment on the global sports stage, where the regional power has long sought a place in the spotlight.

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‘Perfect harmony’: Lionel Messi seals PSG move as he signs two-year contract

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  • Deal worth about €35m a year net and has option to extend
  • ‘I can’t wait to set foot on the Parc des Princes pitch’

Lionel Messi will be presented as a Paris Saint-Germain player on Wednesday after signing a two-year contract. The deal includes an option to extend by a year and gives the forward a net salary of about €35m (£29.6m) with bonuses factored in.

Related: The little devil who became a deity: Messi exit leaves a void like no other

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Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona after ‘obstacles’ thwart contract renewal

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  • Messi has spent whole career at Spanish club and is free agent
  • Barcelona say La Liga regulations made new deal impossible

Barcelona have announced that Lionel Messi is leaving the club after “financial and structural obstacles” made it impossible to renew his contract. The forward, who has spent his whole career there, had been expected to re-sign after his deal expired in June.

“Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish Liga regulations),” the club said.

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Lionel Messi confirms he will stay at Barcelona ‘to avoid legal dispute’

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  • Argentina forward reverses decision to leave Camp Nou
  • Messi far from happy: ‘I told the club I wanted to go’

Lionel Messi is staying at Barcelona. Ten days after he served official notice of his determination to walk out of the Camp Nou, he finally announced that he would not be going after all – not because he had changed his mind,but because he had been left with no choice.

Unwilling to go to court against the club who insisted he had missed the deadline allowing him to rescind his contract and threatened him with legal action if he departed unilaterally, he has been forced to continue.

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Lionel Messi tells Barcelona he wants to leave but faces legal battle over clause

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  • Argentina forward sent fax to Barça informing them of decision
  • Club insist free transfer clause in Messi’s contract has expired

Lionel Messi has told Barcelona that he wants to leave the club immediately – and on a free transfer. The Argentinian, who according to RAC1 radio had told the new manager, Ronald Koeman, that he felt “more out than in”, has sent a fax to Barcelona informing them of his desire to go.

Messi’s camp believes that a clause in his contract means he can walk away for no fee. Barcelona, by contrast, insist that he is still bound by a €700m (£629m) buy-out clause. The bombshell dropped on Tuesday evening with the news that Messi had told the club on Tuesday afternoon.

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Taylor Swift named world’s highest paid celebrity

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The singer has reportedly earned $185m in the last year in Forbes’ annual list of highest-paid stars, followed closely by Kylie Jenner and Kanye West

Singer Taylor Swift was named the world’s highest-paid entertainer on Wednesday but was closely followed by two members of the wider Kardashian clan – reality star turned cosmetics queen Kylie Jenner and rapper Kanye West.

The annual Forbes Celebrity 100 list also saw soccer stars Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar among the top 10, along with British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and 1970s soft rock band the Eagles, who embarked on a new tour in 2018.

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Pope Francis on Lionel Messi: ‘He’s great, but he is not God’ – video

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The five-times Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi has earned the nickname 'D10S', a combination of his shirt number and the Spanish word for God - Dios - but Pope Francis has said 'it is a sacrilege' to give the Barcelona captain that title.

In an interview with La Sexta, the leader of the Catholic Church, praised his Argentinian compatriot saying: 'He's great to watch - but he's not God.'

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