Lionel Messi on Thursday scored twice for Argentina in emotional scenes in Buenos Aires, while Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay joined the reigning champions at next year’s World Cup.
In his last home qualifier for his nation and with Argentina having already booked their place in North America, Messi struck in the 39th and 80th minutes to bag a 3-0 win over Venezuela.
Messi, who has won the Ballon d’Or eight times, sparkled in front of an adoring crowd of 80,000 at the Mas Monumental to underline his enduring quality.
Photo: AP
The Argentine legend is to turn 39 during next year’s World Cup, but despite his advanced years he looks set to play another pivotal role as Lionel Scaloni’s side defend their crown.
Scaloni will rest Messi in next week’s match against Ecuador.
“He made an enormous effort, and deserves a rest and to be with his family,” the head coach said. “He ended up very tired and physically exhausted. He should have come off, but he didn’t because of the emotional nature of the match.”
Messi had his three sons with him before kickoff and his father, Jorge, was also in attendance to mark the occasion.
Uruguay sealed their berth in the US, Canada and Mexico by beating Peru 3-0 at home, while Colombia saw off Bolivia by the same scoreline.
Paraguay also reached the finals after a 0-0 home draw against already-qualified Ecuador.
Brazil, who had also already qualified, swept Chile aside 3-0 at the Maracana with the English Premier League trio of Estevao, Lucas Paqueta and Bruno Guimaraes getting the goals.
It was 18-year-old Chelsea winger Estevao’s first goal for his country.
In front of 60,000 at a packed-out Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Rodrigo Aguirre put Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay on their way on 14 minutes.
The Club America forward leaped highest to place a thumping header into the top corner past Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.
Uruguay, winners of the World Cup in 1930 and 1950, had needed just a point to qualify and send their charismatic veteran head coach Bielsa to the tournament once again.
The 70-year-old has now taken a third team to World Cup qualification.
Bielsa’s appointment as Uruguay coach in 2023 was greeted with excitement, even euphoria, but an underwhelming qualification campaign has dampened that enthusiasm.
Qualification was always likely in a system that sees six of the 10 sides qualify automatically for the finals, with one more heading into an inter-continental playoff.
Venezuela are currently in seventh place with one more qualifier to go.
Giorgian de Arrascaeta doubled Uruguay’s lead just before the hour, lashing home from close range to ensure a party atmosphere in the Uruguayan capital.
Federico Vinas scored a third 10 minutes from time.
Colombia also sealed their place in next summer’s extravaganza thanks to a comfortable victory over Bolivia.
The 34-year-old former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich attacker James Rodriguez, the breakout star of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, pounced just after the half-hour mark.
Jhon Cordoba made sure there were no late scares with his goal in the 74th minute, before Juan Fernando Quintero made it three.
Like Uruguay, Paraguay needed only a draw to qualify when they hosted Ecuador.
They got the job done as they ground out a goalless stalemate and will be at their ninth World Cup — but their first since 2010.
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
A BREATHLESS BATTLE: France clinched the championship in a vicious back-and-forth match with England, denying Ireland the title by just a few points France won back-to-back Six Nations titles after beating England 48-46 on a last-second penalty-kick by Thomas Ramos in a thriller for the ages on Saturday. England scored their seventh try in the 77th minute and converted for 46-45. If the score held for a few more minutes, Ireland would have been crowned the champion. But France pressed yet again with 14 men, lost possession, regained it, and earned two simultaneous penalties after the fulltime siren. Captain Antoine Dupont debated with referee Nika Amashukeli where the penalty spots were. Ramos, who did not miss a goal-kick all night, finally lined up his seventh
Home runs are greeted with a celebratory shot of espresso and the donning of an Armani jacket. Victories are marked with bottles of red wine while the soaring voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli echoes through the locker room. Welcome to baseball, Italian-style. Written off as 80-1 underdogs before the World Baseball Classic started, Italy’s fairytale tournament has carried them all the way to today’s (Taipei time) semi-finals in Miami against Venezuela. On Saturday, Italy — who scored a stunning upset of a star-studded US lineup during the pool phase — kept their unbeaten campaign alive with a nail-biting 8-6
Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s second-youngest race winner with a composed drive to victory for Mercedes in an eventful Chinese Grand Prix yesterday. The 19-year-old Italian was the youngest pole position starter and briefly lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari at the start, but retook it soon after and was in control after that. “We did it! We did it!” Antonelli shouted to his team on the radio amid laughs and whoops. It was another 1-2 finish for Mercedes to start the season as Antonelli’s teammate George Russell came through a battle with both Ferraris to finish second. Lewis Hamilton was
RSS