Tag: Messi

Posted in Lionel Messi

Messi understands why he has been left out of the Olympic team

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Argentina national coach Gerardo Martino stated that Lionel Messi understands why he has been left out of the Olympic team.

He said that he had taken the decision to protect Messi from being burned out.


Indeed, Lionel Messi will have to participate in the Copa America first with the national team. Martino said that he felt that Messi will need a break after a long season in Europe and that it would have been insane to make him play in two major tournaments. For him, Argentina can manage without Messi in the Olympics but not in Copa America.

He said that things would have been different if there were no Copa America this year but with the current schedule it is preferable for Messi to avoid playing in the Olympics.

He compared the situation to Brazil where they have taken the decision to play Neymar only in the Olympics instead of the Copa America. Martino said that he will strengthen the Olympics team in defence where he felt that there is a need.

Martino believes that Argentina will have to make some compromises in both tournaments. Clubs will be unwilling for their players to participate in both competitions and it is important that he find a right balance for the teams. He believes that taking part in the Copa America will provide enough time for Messi to recover and to participate in his club’s pre-season training camp. Continue reading “Messi understands why he has been left out of the Olympic team”

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Celtic beats Hearts to go 7 points clear

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Celtic beats Hearts 3-1 on Saturday to open a 7 point lead at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership. The game did not start well for Celtics with the visitors opening the scoring in the 6th minute.

Indeed, Hearts managed to take the lead thanks to a Jamie Walker goal in the opening minutes of the goal. Walker collected the ball at the edge of the box and fired a shot beyond the reach of Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

Celtic regrouped amidst growing anxiety from the fans after the goal to equalize in the 15th minute of an absorbing encounter.  The Heart’s goalkeeper, Neil Alexander made a superb save from a Celtic’s free-kick, but the resulting corner was not dealt with properly by the Heart defense.

Roberts took the corner and met with the head of Juanma, who directed the ball in the path of Mackay-Steven. The Celtic player did not miss the target from almost 22 yards out to draw his team level.

After the equaliser, the game became a bit more levelled with both times creating chances one after the other. The Heart’s keeper made a fine save with his leg from Griffiths while Ozturk missed the target with a free-kick. Continue reading “Celtic beats Hearts to go 7 points clear”

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Luis Segura says that the criticism of Lionel Messi should end immediately

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Argentina Football Association (AFA) President Luis Segura says that the criticism of Lionel Messi should end immediately.

The Argentine superstar has received widespread criticism for failing to lead his team to success in the Copa America 2015. Messi was a major factor in the national team reaching the final of the competition. His performances may have been similar to that during the World Cup 2014. The similarity extends even into the goal records as well. Messi managed only one goal throughout the entire tournament and this stretched his poor run with the national team.

Despite being the best player in the world, Messi will feel an extremely sad man to end his career without having won any major international honour apart from the Olympics medal. He has won every major title at club level. The Internet media and several other platforms have been quick to jump on the Messi bandwagon just as the tournament has completed. This, however, does not please President Luis Segura who says that such criticism is unacceptable. The 28-year-old superstar watched his team suffer a 4-1 defeat on penalties to Chile, who hosted the tournament. The game went into penalties after both teams were involved in a 0-0 draw. Continue reading “Luis Segura says that the criticism of Lionel Messi should end immediately”

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Lionel Messi going through Brilliant Form

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Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has been in impeccable form since the famous fallout with Luis Enrique when the season resumed at the start of January. He continued his form after scoring the winner in the 3-2 victory against Villarreal, which helped keep Barcelona in touch with Real Madrid at the top of the table.

Messi has been playing as a central striker on the last few years and this has been one of the reasons towards his impressive goal return. Against Villarreal, though, Luis Enrique moved the 27-year-old back to the wings. Even though he scored only a goal, which is rather low by the huge standards that he has set, Enrique believes that Messi can continue playing on the wing. Continue reading “Lionel Messi going through Brilliant Form”