Messi hopes to play in Tokyo friendly after Hong Kong letdown
A factbox on Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi
Chhetri had made his 150th appearance for India in March and scored on the occasion against Afghanistan in Guwahati. India, though, lost that game 1-2.
Sunil Chhetri said he would like to be remembered as 'the luckiest and most hardworking national team player'.
Spectators chanted "refund" after Messi stayed on the bench during the match.
Miami are set to take on Al-Hilal at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on January 29 before facing Al-Nassr at the same venue on February 1.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field on Friday
Messi clarified why he could not take part in the game after his name was attached to false narratives.
The Asian Football Confederation tweeted, "94 International Goals. Carried the hopes of a nation! Thank You Asian Football Icon, Sunil Chhetri."
Passed the milestone of 200 goals for Barcelona in November 2011 and is fast closing in on the Catalan club's record marksman Cesar Rodriguez, who scored 235.
Lionel Plasmans, who owns the farm, said it was an honour to be providing potatoes to the Olympics.
The Portuguese superstar now has scored the most first-division goals in football history, he has 527 career league goals with 61 goals alone in 2023.
Erling Haaland had the same points as Lionel Messi but lost out by having fewer first-place votes from national team captains.
In a disappointing turn of events for Cristiano Ronaldo during the Riyadh Season Cup final against Al-Hilal, the Portuguese superstar found himself at the centre of controversy.
Locals and Argentinian fans started fighting during the playing of the national anthems prompting the Brazilian police to charge the visiting contingent.
Some mainland fans travelled 12 hours from Xinjiang to Hong Kong to see Messi, the Global Times wrote, with the disappointment of the government and fans "entirely understandable. The impact of this incident has far exceeded the realm of sports."
Talented winger Lallianzuala Chhangte "would not mind" stepping up as the next number 9 of the Indian football team, after talismanic forward Sunil Chhetri's illustrious career comes to an end in Kolkata on June 6.
Erling Haaland helped Manchester City win three major trophies.
Messi played a key role in guiding Argentina to their first World Cup title in 36 years when they beat defending champions France in the final in December last year.
Chhetri has been the face of Indian soccer for nearly a decade-and-half and his 94 international goals make him the third-highest active international scorer after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Chinese sporting authorities have cancelled next month's friendly international between Argentina and Nigeria amid a growing backlash against Lionel Messi's failure to play in an Inter Miami match in Hong Kong last week.
Phil Foden struck twice as Manchester City stepped up their bid for a fourth Premier League crown in a row with a ruthless 4-0 victory at Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday.
Voting for the eighth annual awards opened on Thursday on FIFA.com and closes in mid-October. National team coaches, captains, journalists and fans make up the list of voters.
Argentina captain Lionel Messi is not thinking about his international future beyond next year's Copa America, where he will try to lead the country to a second successive continental title at the tournament in the United States.
Not only the senior team but the young Blue Colts also emerged victorious in the SAFF Men's U-19 champions after hammering Pakistan in the final and clinching a vigorous 3-0 victory.
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the award five times, did not receive a nomination for the first time in 20 years.
Lionel Messi was presented to fans during a glitzy event called 'The Unveil' at Miami's home stadium.
'I hope Lionel Messi gets a little percentage of the shirt sales because I've never seen so many Argentine number 10 shirts in my life!'
Sunil Chhetri stirred up emotions in his final international outing but the Indian football team just could not rise to the occasion as it settled for a goalless draw against Kuwait.
That Lionel Messi is worth his wait in gold was reaffirmed on Wednesday when a pure gold replica of the Argentina and Barcelona star's left foot was unveiled in Tokyo.
Science fiction buffs buckle up, catch all the space-themed action on OTT this week.
Under intense scrutiny, Iyer looked rusty at the start of the IPL and got out for a two-ball duck in their opener against SRH. He had some significant contributions later on but his efforts were all overshadowed by Narine and Salt's explosive batting.
A sea of blue-and-white had greeted the teams as they stepped out onto the pitch with an overwhelming majority of the 68,000 capacity crowd sporting Argentina jerseys.
Lionel Messi scored in his third consecutive match for Inter Miami in a 3-1 victory over Orlando City.
World Cup winner Lionel Messi will be the new captain of Inter Miami, the Major League Soccer (MLS) side's coach Tata Martino confirmed on Monday.
There was no dearth of praise for little magician Lionel Messi who struck his 500th goal for FC Barcelona on Sunday.
Lionel Messi is set to play his first game for Inter Miami on July 21 when the Major League Soccer side host Mexico's Cruz Azul in their Leagues Cup opener.
Now, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo venturing into smaller leagues as they near the end of their brilliant careers, 2024 may finally be the year for the next in line in football royalty.
The Argentinian becomes the first brand ambassador of the company in its 70-year history.
Lionel Messi surpassed the 100-goals mark for World Cup champions Argentina on Tuesday by scoring a hat-trick in their 7-0 friendly win over Curacao.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances