Lionel Messi Joshua Kimmich Bayern Munich Kylian Mbappe Nasser Al-Attiyah Hugo Ekitike Qatar France Germany Spain Brazil Argentina Saudi Arabia Dakar soccer win cup as Lionel Messi Joshua Kimmich Bayern Munich Kylian Mbappe Nasser Al-Attiyah Hugo Ekitike Qatar France Germany Spain Brazil Argentina Saudi Arabia Dakar

Messi scores in first game after World Cup as PSG win

arabnews.com

PARIS: Lionel Messi scored in his first game since leading Argentina to the World Cup title as French league leaders Paris Saint-Germain beat Angers 2-0 on Wednesday.

Nearly four weeks after the final against France in Qatar, Messi needed only five minutes to make an impact. He turned neatly near the penalty area and threaded a pass to right back Nordi Mukiele, whose cross was turned in by 20-year-old forward Hugo Ekitike.

Messi then started the move that led to his 72nd-minute goal, with Ekitike and Mukiele combining quickly to put him through before he side-footed home.

His eighth league goal this season was initially disallowed for offside but then awarded following a video review. It was otherwise a poor performance overall from PSG against a team in last place, but the Parisian club moved six points clear at the top after second-place Lens drew 2-2 at 19th-place Strasbourg.

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The 35-year-old inspired his country to World Cup glory last month by scoring two goals and a penalty in the South Americans' shoot-out triumph over previous holders France following a thrilling 3-3 draw in Qatar. "The cup called out to me, it told me: come and grab me, now you can touch me," Messi told the Argentine Urbana Play radio station. "I saw it sparkling in that beautiful stadium and I didn't hesitate" to kiss it, he added, referring to the stunning Lusail Stadium in Doha, where the final was played. Messi finally lifted the trophy in his fifth and final World Cup tournament, having lost in the 2014 final to Germany. He also played in three losing Copa America finals before finally clinching that trophy in 2021. "After so much suffering and lost finals, God kept it for me," said Messi of the World Cup. He thus became the first Argentina captain since Diego Maradona in 1986 to lift the World Cup. "I would have liked Maradona to hand me the cup, so he could at least see Argentina champions." Maradona died of a heart attack two years ago. "From up above he gave me strength, as did so many people who love me." Many people expected Messi to retire, at least from international duty, after the Qatar triumph but he decided to continue so he could take to the field with his teammates as world champions.
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BERLIN: Former German international Rudi Voeller will take over as director for the men’s national team, the German Football Association said Thursday, following a disastrous World Cup campaign in Qatar. Voeller’s job would be to “lay the foundations for a successful home European Championship in 2024,” which will be hosted in Germany, he said in a statement. The four-time winners crashed out in the group stages of the World Cup for the second time in a row, leading team director Oliver Bierhoff to step aside in December.
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LOS CONDORES, Argentina : Lionel Messi has been immortalized in Argentina in tributes ranging from tattoos to murals after leading the national team to win the soccer World Cup. Now his face can be seen from the heavens too - on a specially designed corn field.

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