Lionel Messi inspired Argentina to an emphatic 4-0 win over Ecuador in a FIFA World Cup qualifier at the Monumental on Saturday.
Messi scored one of the goals and had a hand in the others as he and strikers Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain virtually sealed victory with little more than half an hour gone. Angel Di Maria added the fourth 15 minutes from time.
The victory took Argentina to the top of the South American group, with 10 points from five matches, one point ahead of Chile and two in front of Uruguay and Venezuela.
Photo: AFP
Argentina took 20 minutes to break Ecuador down before Aguero opened the floodgates.
Messi lay on the second for Higuain after a superb run in which he shook off three defenders and then scored his 23rd for Argentina following another run from halfway and a one-two with Higuain in a high-tempo 11 minutes that left Ecuador reeling.
“We’re always looking for the connection with our fans and today was impressive. We have to carry on like this, united to the end,” Messi told reporters after the crowd chanted his name.
Argentina have a bye in next weekend’s round of matches and instead will play archrivals Brazil in a friendly in the US.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
In-form teenager Mirra Andreeva on Thursday crashed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, after going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16. World No. 7 Andreeva, who already has two titles under her belt this season, lost 6-3, 6-2 against the 22nd-ranked Alexandrova in just over an hour. The 17-year-old Andreeva had defeated her elder sister Erika in the previous round on Wednesday, but Alexandrova quickly took control as she claimed her fourth win over a top-10 player this season. The 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in February became the youngest winner of a WTA
RSS