Page 7 - Lionel Messi

Al-Nassr vs Inter Miami friendly: Ronaldo to miss reunion with Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo will miss the chance of a much anticipated reunion with Lionel Messi because of an injury, Al-Nassr coach Luis Castro said. Ronaldo is recovering from a reported calf injury and will not be fit in time to play in the exhibition match between Al-Nassr and Inter Miami in Riyadh on Thursday. "Cristiano is in the final stage of his recuperation before re-joining the team. We expect that in the next few days he will start working with the team. So, obviously, it will mean he is absent for the game (against Inter Miami)," Castro said at a news conference on Wednesday. Messi and Ronaldo were longtime rivals when they played in Spain for Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively and have combined to win 13 of the last 15 Ballon d'Or awards given to the world's best player. The latest installment of that rivalry was seen as the highlight of Miami's pre-season tour, which included two games in Saudi Arabia. But that was put in doubt when Ronaldo suffered an injury that ...

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in Saudi Arabia on their pre season tour

Inter Miami played six preseason matches last season. Most were behind closed doors with few people watching, all took place in Florida and the biggest news probably came when some fans prematurely set off fireworks and got ejected from the exhibition-season opener. It's wildly different this season. Such is life in Lionel Messi's world. The soccer icon and Inter Miami have a two-game tour of Saudi Arabia this week, the first match on Monday against Al-Hilal and the second match coming Thursday against Al Nassr one where Messi may share the pitch again with longtime rival and fellow great Cristiano Ronaldo, assuming the Portugal star has recovered enough from a calf injury to play. The club already has played two exhibitions this year one in El Salvador, one at Dallas' Cotton Bowl and has matches in Hong Kong and Japan still to come after the Saudi swing is complete. It's basically an around-the-world, big-crowd, big-money, bright-spotlight batch of preseason games for Inter Mia

Messi to make his Super Bowl debut, set to appear in Michelob Ultra ad

Lionel Messi has won global futbol's biggest prize. He'll now be part of American football's biggest day. The Inter Miami star, World Cup champion and global soccer icon will headline a Super Bowl ad for Michelob Ultra, the brand announced Thursday. A teaser to what will be a 60-second spot shows Messi ordering a beer as he walks up to a beachside bar, and his reaction when the tap stops pouring. It'll be Messi's first Super Bowl commercial and adds to his massive advertising reach in the U.S. and globally. The game is on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas. Having the GOAT himself, Lionel Messi, and the Super Bowl as a stage to kick it all off and start the year with a bang, that gets us incredibly fired up, Ricardo Marques, Ultra's vice president of marketing, said in an interview with The Associated Press. Messi needs no introduction. The power that he has, the impact that he had upon his arrival in Miami, in the world of soccer and beyond, he's clearly a cultural icon right now. Messi's ...

Messi edges Haaland in tiebreaker for FIFA's best men's player award

Lionel Messi landed another prestigious award in soccer barely. The Argentina star needed a tiebreaker with Erling Haaland to win FIFA's best men's player prize on Monday. He has national team captains to thank. The voting breakdown showed Messi and Haaland with 48 points each after voting by a global panel of national team coaches and captains, selected journalists, plus fans online. The tiebreaker was whoever had more first-place or 5-point scores from the votes of national team captains. That category was 107 to 64 for the Inter Miami forward. Neither player showed up at the awards ceremony at Hammersmith Apollo theater in west London. Kylian Mbapp, the third finalist, skipped it too. Messi had moved from Paris Saint-Germain to Inter Miami and led the David Beckham-owned team to a little-known Leagues Cup title all while single-handedly elevating soccer's relevance in the United States. The 36-year-old Argentina star also topped Haaland and Mbapp for his eighth Ballon d'Or a

Luis Suarez training alongside Messi, Busquets and Alba with Inter Miami

There they all were, sitting next to each other on a couple of benches in their practice attire, all of them smiling. Lionel Messi was sipping on a drink at one end, Luis Surez next to him, then Sergio Busquets, then Jordi Alba on the other end. This wasn't Barcelona in 2014. This was Inter Miami on Saturday. It's official: Messi, Busquets, Alba and Surez are together again, this time in Major League Soccer. Preseason training for Inter Miami officially opened Saturday, with Surez being seen in his new colors for the first time after signing a one-year deal last month to join the trio of his former teammates who arrived last summer. To come help a team that has well-known players that everyone knows and (adjust) to the other players and what is a new club and do what the club wants which is to attempt to win an MLS Cup and do it with professionalism is what is wanted of me, Surez said. Surez and Messi spent six seasons together at Barcelona, winning four Spanish league titles a

Football Yearender 2023: Top 10 transfers from Ronaldo to Messi and Neymar

From Saudi clubs poaching Europe's biggest stars to English clubs running after freak strikers, here's how the football transfer market operated in 2023

Lionel Messi's Inter Miami to play Japan's Vissel Kobe in pre-season tour

The pre-season tour for Lionel Messi and Inter Miami keeps growing, with the team revealing Friday that a stop in Japan has now been added to the schedule. Inter Miami will face Japanese league champion Vissel Kobe at the Japan National Stadium on February 7. That will be the fourth match of a tour that includes games in Saudi Arabia including one pitting Messi against longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo on January 29 and February 1, and a game against a team of pro players from Hong Kong on February 4. Among those on the Vissel Kobe roster: Andrs Iniesta, who once teamed up with Messi and fellow Inter Miami players Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba at Barcelona. Iniesta also was teammates with Busquets when Spain won the 2010 World Cup. Inter Miami now has five preseason matches announced; there are four on the Saudi Arabia-Hong Kong-Japan trip and another in El Salvador on January 19. The team will begin preseason training in early January and the Major League Soccer regular season i

Set of 6 Messi World Cup shirts sells for $7.8 mn at auction in New York

Six jerseys worn by soccer superstar Lionel Messi during Argentina's winning run at last year's World Cup sold for USD 7.8 million, the auction house Sotheby's announced. The final price for the shirts, each worn during the first half of one of Argentina's games at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, is the highest price for an item of sports memorabilia this year, Sotheby's said. Argentina defeated France in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw in the World Cup final, winning its third World Cup. The victory, in which Messi scored two of Argentina's three goals, represented a crowning moment for one of the sport's greatest-ever players. These historic shirts are not only a tangible reminder of one of the most important moments in the history of sports, but are principally connected to the pinnacle moment in the career of the most decorated football player in history, Brahm Wachter, Sotheby's head of modern collectibles, said in a statement. The shirts were on display at Sotheby's Ne

Messi vs. Ronaldo on February 1 as Inter Miami play two matches in Saudi

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will meet in Saudi Arabia after all. Inter Miami confirmed Monday that it will take part in the Riyadh Season Cup something that was announced by Saudi officials on Nov. 21. Inter Miami said the reports at that time were inaccurate. Inter Miami will play Al-Hilal on Jan. 29 and Al Nassr Ronaldo's team on Feb. 1. Those two clubs lead the Saudi Pro League and Ronaldo is that league's leading scorer. These matches will offer important tests for our team, which will benefit us as we approach the new season," Inter Miami sporting director Chris Henderson said. We're excited for our group to get the chance to go up against teams with as much quality as Al-Hilal and Al Nassr. Messi and Ronaldo have faced off 35 times between matches for club and country, Inter Miami said, with Messi's teams winning 16, Ronaldo's teams winning 10 and the sides settling for a draw on the other nine occasions. Messi has 21 goals and 12 assists in those matches; Ronaldo h

Ronaldo walks off to chants of ''Messi, Messi'', team loses Riyadh derby

Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the field with the gleeful chants of Messi, Messi, Messi! ringing in his ears from delighted Al-Hilal fans who had just watched their Saudi Pro League team beat the Portugal superstar's Al-Nassr 3-0 in the Riyadh Derby on Friday. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner may have finished on the losing team Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice after fellow Serbian Sergej Milinkovic-Savic opened Al-Hilal but Ronaldo still remains the focus of attention in Saudi Arabian soccer despite the taunts of opposition fans referencing his great rival of nearly two decades. As thousands of cars headed east out of downtown Riyadh to watch the top two league teams and bitter local rivals face off at the King Fahd International Stadium the last to be played at the arena for three years as it is to be renovated to host games at the 2027 Asian Cup and anticipated 2034 World Cup one Al-Nassr fan leaned out and shouted: Are you here to see Cristiano? When Ronaldo warmed up, there .

Messi's Argentina lose 1st match since World Cup, Colombia beat Brazil

Lionel Messi could not help Argentina extend its unbeaten streak since its World Cup title. Uruguay beat Argentina 2-0 at La Bombonera Stadium in Buenos Aires on Thursday in a World Cup qualifying match, its biggest victory so far under new coach Marcelo Bielsa. Argentina hadn't lost a competitive match since its group-stage opener against Saudi Arabia during last year's World Cup in Qatar. Brazil continued its so far poor campaign in qualifying with a 2-1 loss at Colombia, its second consecutive defeat in the round-robin competition. Striker Luiz Diaz scored twice on headers to lead an impressive turnaround at the Metropolitano Stadium in Barranquilla, with his father celebrating in the stands only days after being released by kidnappers. Argentina still leads the 10-team South American qualifying group with 12 points from five matches. Uruguay is second with 10 points. Colombia has nine and Venezuela eight. Brazil will host the World Cup champions at the Maracana Stadium in Rio d

Messi's trip to China for a pair of Inter Miami exhibition games called off

Lionel Messi evidently won't be playing in China this month after all. Inter Miami announced Wednesday that its planned trip to China for a pair of exhibition matches has been called off. The team announced the trip last month, with a pair of games originally scheduled for Nov. 5 and Nov. 8. It would have been at least the eighth time that Messi the World Cup champion for Argentina and now an eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, after receiving the annual award yet again earlier this week played in China, and the total attendance for the two planned matches could have exceeded 100,000. Inter Miami said the reason was unforeseen circumstances. The tour promoter, NSN, said the decision to cancel was out of respect to Chinese officials following the death last week of the country's former second-ranking leader, Li Keqiang. He was China's top economic official for a decade. TyC Sports, a network in Argentina, reported Monday that the trip was called off. The team did not confirm that decis

Football legend Lionel Messi wins Ballon d'Or award for record eighth time

Aitana Bonmati, the Spanish footballer representing Barcelona and the winner of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup got the Women's Ballon d'Or award, which was presented by Serbian tennis legend Djokovic

Curbing one's competitive streak can be rewarding

Instead of perpetually competing for a higher status in the social hierarchy, taking decisions that align with personal values and life situations can be more beneficial

Lionel Messi earns $20.4 million under contract with MLS' Inter Miami

Lionel Messi's annualized compensation from his Major League Soccer contract with Inter Miami is just over $20.4 million, the MLS Players Association said. Messi earns more than the entire payroll of all but three other MLS teams and twice as much as every player combined on Orlando City. The 36-year-old star has a $12 million base salary and total guaranteed compensation of $20,446,667, the players association said in its 2023 salary update. Those figures cover what Messi receives from his MLS deal, which runs through the 2025 season, including any marketing bonus and agent's fees. They do not account for any additional agreements with the team or its affiliates, or for any performance bonuses. He has the highest total compensation in MLS, followed by Toronto's Lorenzo Insigne at $15.4 million, Chicago's Xherdan Shaqiri at $8,153,000, the LA Galaxy's Javier Hernndez at $7,443,750, Toronto's Federico Bernardeschi at $6,295,381 and Austin's Sebastin Driussi at $6,022,500. Miami top

World Cup Qualifiers: Messi doubtful starter; Vinicius back with Brazil

Lionel Messi is again a doubtful starter for Argentina in the next World Cup qualifying match against Paraguay. The Argentina captain scored in the opening 1-0 win over Ecuador but skipped the 3-0 win at Bolivia last month because of muscular pains that have also sidelined him from several matches for Inter Miami in the MLS. The World Cup champions are due to host Paraguay on Thursday at Buenos Aires. Vinicius Jr missed Brazil's first two games in South American qualifying but is back in the starting lineup after recovering from an injury. The Selecao will take on Venezuela in Cuiaba. Argentina and Brazil are 2-0 in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup after victories last month. The continental archrivals are due to meet in November. Colombia is in third spot in the 10-team standings with four points. Uruguay and Venezuela each have three points, followed by Paraguay, Peru and Chile with one point each. Ecuador hasn't registered a competition point despite its 2-1 win over Uruguay

Messi-less Argentina beat Bolivia 3-0 in FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier

Argentina expected a struggle in the altitude of La Paz. The World Cup champion's climb appeared even steeper with Lionel Messi out of the lineup. Argentina still beat Bolivia 3-0 on Tuesday in its second match of the qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup. It's now two for two in qualifiers for coach Lionel Scaloni's team, which was led by veteran ngel Di Mara and a strong midfield. Uruguay had the chance to join Argentina atop the standings table, but lost 2-1 at Ecuador. The Ecuadorians now have moved back to zero; they started the tournament at -3 after having three points deducted by FIFA for the falsification of birth information of defender Byron Castillo, who is of Colombian origin. Brazil, which also won its opening game, was playing Peru later Tuesday. The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada is expanding to a 48-team format. The top six teams in South America will secure a direct spot. The seventh-place team will contest an intercontinental playoff

'If you like me, you don't have to hate Messi': Cristiano Ronaldo

A look at what's happening in UEFA European Championship qualifying on Friday: GROUP J Cristiano Ronaldo has been in reflective mood as he brings up 20 years in Portugal's national team, saying he and great rival Lionel Messi changed the history of soccer and that he still wants to raise the bar at the age of 38. Ronaldo's debut for Portugal was in August 2003 and two decades later the most prolific scorer in men's internationals with 123 goals in a record 200 games will be playing for the team in a European Championship qualifier at Slovakia. I am proud of the numbers I reached. But, I want more, Ronaldo said. When I play, the bar has to be up here, I want to think big. On his rivalry with Messi, Ronaldo added: If you like Cristiano Ronaldo, you don't have to hate Messi. We are both very good. We changed the history of soccer. We are respected all over the world. That is the most important thing. He has marked his path, I have marked mine. Portugal has won all four of its grou

Messi to Bonmati: Check the full list of Ballon d'Or nominees this year

Interestingly, Cristinao Ronaldo and Neymar Jr. could not make it to the list. In women, two-time winner Alexia Putella is a notable exclusion

Scoreless for first time in Lionel Messi era, Inter Miami ties Nashville

Inter Miami failed to score for the first time since Lionel Messi joined the team, playing a scoreless draw with Nashville. Messi failed to convert two free kick attempts in his first Major League Soccer match at home, and it was the first time during his Inter Miami tenure that he was kept off the score sheet. Inter Miami still earned a point in the standings as it looks to make a late-season playoff push. Miami entered the game 11 points shy of the MLS playoff line and needing to move up from 14th to ninth place to make the playoffs with 11 regular-season matches left. Miami had won its previous nine matches as Messi's addition gave the team an immediate boost. He has scored 11 goals, including three multi-goal performances. Inter Miami coach Tata Martino said despite its success, the team is still gelling after undergoing so many changes over the past two months. Miami hired Martino in June, weeks after firing Phil Neville. Miami had the worst record of the 15 Eastern Conferenc