Argentina had a scare when Lionel Messi had to be substituted after incurring a back injury during a 1-0 win over rugged Honduras in a Copa America Centenario warm-up friendly on Friday. Messi walked off in pain in the 64th minute in San Juan after a clash with Honduras substitute Oliver Morazan 10 days before Argentina's opening Group D match against Chile. The team later dispelled fears of a serious injury, saying on their Twitter account that Messi had "suffered bruising on the left of his lower back and ribs." Gonzalo Higuain scored the only goal for Argentina. In other warm-up matches for the June 3-26 tournament in the United States, Edinson Cavani struck twice as Uruguay overcame Trinidad and Tobago 3-1 and title holders Chile were upset 2-1 by Jamaica.
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With immense pressure on him to match the late great Diego Maradona and send the trophy back to Buenos Aires, Lionel Messi has lit up the Qatar tournament while others in the superstar stratum - Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo - have underwhelmed and gone home.
Eight years is a long time in the life of an athlete. But just like Messi, Di Maria has preserved and persisted towards his childhood dream, points out Deepti Patwardhan.
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Carlos Tevez holds out no hope of being part of Argentina's World Cup squad and prefers not to watch their matches on television, the Juventus striker said on Friday.
Higuain had a disappointing Copa America tournament in July, scoring two goals during the competition and missing his spot kick as Argentina lost on penalties to Chile in the final.
Sepp Blatter in Russia on first foreign visit since crisis.
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A little under two weeks ago Neymar netted the goal that wrapped up Barcelona's UEFA Champions League triumph against Juventus but his needless sending off at the Copa America on Wednesday means the Brazil forward may have played his last game at the tournament.
Brazil fought back from a goal down to score three times in the second half and record a 3-1 win over Venezuela that maintained their 100 percent record in qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup.
Team India head coach Ravi Shastri intends to step down from his role after the T20 World Cup. He says he has achieved everything there was and does not want to overstay his welcome.
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The tournament brings together the six continental champions from across the world, with European Champions League winners Bayern Munich the first to have qualified.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
CONMEBOL also said in a statement that players must not blow mucus from their nose or swap shirts after the game, and they must use their own personal water bottles.
The International Olympic Committee does not plan any "drastic" decisions about the Tokyo 2020 Games, saying on Tuesday it remains fully committed to the event being staged in four months time despite the global spread of the coronavirus. The IOC said in a statement following discussions with international sports federations that changes would need to be made to the qualifiers due to the impact of the virus but it plans to go ahead with the July 24-Aug 9 Olympics.
Former World Cup winning captain Dunga is the favorite on a short list of candidates to coach Brazil's national soccer team, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Neymar and Lionel Messi grabbed a goal each in the first half as Barcelona rolled over Roma 3-0 in the traditional Gamper Trophy pre-season match on Wednesday.
A World Cup qualifier between Argentina and Brazil was suspended amid farcical scenes on Sunday after Brazilian health authorities accused a number of Premier League players of violating the country's COVID-19 quarantine rules.
Little more than a year has gone by since Tite took over as coach of a Brazil side still reeling from embarrassing exits in the World Cup and Copa America but in that short time he has transformed the team into favourites for Russia 2018.
Manchester United's on-loan striker Radamel Falcao hinted he could leave the club at the end of the season in search of more regular football.
In the week of his 31st birthday, Messi was again a largely anonymous figure as they lost 4-3 to France in a thrilling last-16 match in Kazan.
'There are many myths about the team and about this generation'
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Parma, joint bottom of Serie A alongside Cesena, have signed Uruguay midfielder Cristian Rodriguez and Portugal forward Silvestre Varela, both on loan, the club said on Tuesday.
The improvement since Tite took over as coach in June 2016 has been remarkable and Brazil are now joint favourites to win a record sixth World Cup.
Brazil beat Ecuador 1-0 in an international friendly in New Jersey on Tuesday with a first half goal from Willian enough to give coach Dunga his second successive victory.
Megan Rapinoe earlier won the women's Ballon d'Or after leading the United States to a record-extending fourth World Cup title in France this year as they retained the trophy.
Diego Simeone may not have the stomach to reinvent Atletico Madrid again after they suffered another morale-shattering loss to Real Madrid in Saturday's Champions League final.
Earlier in the day, Bolivia beat Venezuela 3-1 at home and Uruguay and Paraguay drew 0-0 in Montevideo.
Packed soccer schedule is a major problem as players will struggle to deliver their best
Pragmatic, difficult to beat, spearheaded by talismanic forwards and led by veteran, battle-hardened coaches -- few teams have as much in common with each other as Uruguay and Portugal who meet in a World Cup round of 16 tie on Saturday.
Paraguay's Lucas Barrios scored in the 90th minute to give his side a dramatic 2-2 draw against Argentina in the Copa America in Santiago, on Saturday.
'It has been good on pitch and off pitch,' Lampard said.
Lionel Messi said on Wednesday he was delighted to have signed for French club Paris St Germain and that he is ready to help the team clinch their first ever Champions League title.
While domestic leagues are hoping to resume when the threat from the virus has receded, concrete start dates have yet to be fixed. That leaves the issue of expiring player contracts, which are usually timed to finish at the end of a given season, as a potential headache.
The Euro 2020 soccer Championship, trumpeted as a continent-wide feast of football from Dublin to Baku to mark UEFA's 60th anniversary, was postponed for a year on Tuesday as the coronavirus pandemic claimed its biggest sporting casualty yet. Europe's flagship tournament, staged every four years and second only to FIFA's World Cup in terms of prestige in soccer, will now be staged from June 11 to July 12, 2021.
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