Stopping Lionel Messi is the primary concern of South American teams facing Argentina in the World Cup qualifiers. This week it is Uruguay’s turn.
Argentina defend their lead in the South American group at home to Uruguay in Mendoza tomorrow. After seven matches they have 14 points, one more than Colombia and Ecuador, and two ahead of Uruguay and Chile.
They will be looking to make amends for a poor performance in their last match, a 1-1 draw with Peru in Lima where Messi, who had scored 10 goals in his previous six internationals, had one of his quietest games for his country.
Photo: Reuters
South American champions Uruguay want a second successive upset over their neighbors after their Copa America quarter-final victory on penalties last year.
Uruguay’s coach Oscar Washington Tabarez does not believe in man-marking Messi, but rather in preventing Argentina from functioning in support of the Barcelona ace.
“Messi is a great player, among the best seen in the history of football … so I’m not going to say too much about that because it would be redundant,” Tabarez said in Montevideo on Tuesday. “But Messi has a team around him trying to ensure be shows all his potential. So we have to work on and counter everything Argentina does for the ball to get to Messi, and after Messi takes it, try to mark him.”
The Uruguayans, World Cup semi-finalists in 2010, need to recover from a poor month last month when they lost 4-0 away to Colombia and only managed a 1-1 draw at home to Ecuador.
Captain Diego Lugano believes this double away fixture will be the hardest trip for Uruguay, who play Bolivia at high altitude in La Paz next week, in the 16-match qualifying series.
“These are key [qualifying] points, much more so after the last double-header when we didn’t do well,” Lugano said.
Uruguay have to manage without left-wing back Alvaro Pereyra, who is suspended, and injured midfielders Diego Perez and Gaston Ramirez.
Argentina, who beat Paraguay 3-1 at home then drew 1-1 away to Peru last month, welcome back Sergio Aguero, but have lost fellow striker Ezequiel Lavezzi to injury.
Chile, whose coach Claudio Borghi is serving a four-match suspension for dissent, first travel to play Ecuador in the rarefied air of Quito nearly 3,000m above sea level tomorrow.
Colombia, with striker Falcao in red-hot scoring form, are at home to bottom team Paraguay in their favorite Caribbean cauldron in Barranquilla and Bolivia, at home in both fixtures, host Peru in La Paz.
Venezuela, in sixth place with 11 points having already played eight matches, have a bye at the halfway stage in the competition.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping