Marvellous way to progress: Messi
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Croatia captain Luka Modric says determination and self-belief were always more important than physical stature in football and that will be as true in Sunday's World Cup final as in any other match.
At 1.72 metres (5ft 8in) and 66kg (146 lbs), the Croatia playmaker can cut a diminutive figure on the pitch but he has few rivals when it comes to skill, game-management and stamina.
On Sunday, the winner of four Champions League titles with Real Madrid will play the biggest match of his life against France and size will be the last thing on his mind.
"I've always ignored such talk," he told reporters on the eve of his nation's first World Cup final.
"I have never doubted myself even if others did, I always believed I could get to where I am today and thank God this came true.
"You don't have to be a giant to play football, I'm happy with where I am. I am happy with where I am and I never cared what anyone else said, it only further motivated me."
France will be clear favourites to win a second World Cup at the Luzhniki Stadium and Croatia will be relying on the resilience that got them through three lots of extra time and two penalty shootouts in their knockout matches.
Many of this generation of Croatian players grew up during the war following the break-up of Yugoslavia, however, and that have given them a mental toughness.
"I’ve seen a great deal of hardship in my life," added Modric, who lived in refugee hostels for several years as a child.
"The most important thing is to never give up, never give in to circumstances, believe yourself and to soldier on no matter what's in your way.
"There are ups and downs but whatever happens, you have to trust and believe in yourself.
"Fight for your dreams and success. This is what has always guided me."
Despite all the talent in their ranks, Croatia's place at the World Cup was in jeopardy as late as last October when Zlatko Dalic took over and Modric paid tribute to the impact the coach has had on the team.
"We are in the World Cup final, that was the influence of the coach," the 32-year-old said.
"He came into the picture at a very difficult moment ... In the first game, he talked us up to give us self-belief and told us we were still good players despite this crisis.
"He brought us calmness, he perked us up and what we most like is his sincerity and his attitude towards each and every player. We like having him around, he's shown his influence, not just as a coach but more importantly as a human being."
Lionel Messi continued his rich vein of scoring in MLS, finding the target twice as league leaders Inter Miami came from behind for a 4-1 win at the New England Revolution on Saturday.
With his brace Messi, the top scorer in MLS, took his tally to nine goals from seven appearances this season.
A crowd over 65,612 turned up at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the stadium the Revolution share with the NFL's New England Patriots, to see the Argentine World Cup winner.
New England, who had been hit by a virus in the build-up to the game and bottom of the Eastern Conference, delighted the bumper home crowd after just 40 seconds through an Argentine of their own -- Tomas Chancalay.
Miami defender Nicolas Freire gave the ball away to Spanish midfielder Carles Gil who clipped a ball over the top to Chancalay, who spotted Drake Callender well off his line and chipped it over the stranded Miami keeper for the opening goal.
Messi got Miami back on level terms in the 32nd minute when he was found by Robert Taylor's through pass and the 36-year-old made no mistake, slotting home.
Cerrando la noche con broche de oro Golazo de Suárez tras asistencia de Messi pic.twitter.com/JxiRNAvP71
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) April 28, 2024
The eight-times Ballon d'Or winner struck again to put Miami ahead in the 68th minute when he collected a superb defence-splitting pass from his former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets and finished with his usual ease.
Miami added two more in the final stages -- both created by Messi.
Substitute Benjamin Cremaschi made it 3-1 in the 83rd minute, pouncing after a Messi shot was parried out. Luis Suarez completed the scoring, finding the top corner after a pass inside from Messi.
Miami have won three straight games since their exit from the CONCACAF Champions Cup at the hands of Mexican club Monterrey with Messi scoring five times in that run which includes wins at Kansas City and at home to Nashville.
Coach Gerardo Martino said the team were starting to come together as he had hoped.
"The Kansas City game was a key for us, because we had just been eliminated by Monterrey and the team showed their character. Now we have three wins in a row and it is getting more solid every time," he said.
Martino said the rest of his players had now got used to playing in front of the large crowds that Messi is drawing.
"We've handled it well. That was a learning curve last season and now we are dealing with it well," he added.
New England coach Caleb Porter said he was disappointed that his defenders had allowed Messi the space for his goals but said the Argentine had shown his class in making them pay.
'That's Messi'
"You have to look at both those moments because I thought they were able to find two goals when we felt pretty good about the way we were limiting their effectiveness in creating clear chances," he said.
"But you know, that's Messi, he finds two goals out of nowhere and it exposes the detail in those moments from us.
"I don't think he had a ton of touches and effectiveness early in the game but, you know, that's kind of him -- he lulls you....we can't allow a ball to be popped through the back four and find him twice," he added.
Elsewhere, Christian Benteke scored twice for D.C. United as they enjoyed a 2-1 win at home to the Seattle Sounders.
The Sounders led 1-0 through a Leo Chu goal but had goalkeeper Stefan Frei sent off in the 28th minute after he brought down Jared Stroud in the box,
Benteke put away the penalty and then won the game with a trademark header at the back post on the stroke of half-time.
Real Salt Lake take over at the top of the Western Conference after handing the Philadelphia Union their first loss of the season with a 2-1 win in Pennsylvania.
RSL move above the Los Angeles Galaxy who fell to a 2-0 defeat at Austin while defending MLS champions Columbus Crew were held to a goalless draw at home to Montreal.
Crew coach Wilfried Nancy rotated his line-up ahead of Wednesday's CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final second leg at Monterrey.
France managed to overcome mistakes and imperfections in their World Cup final victory over Croatia with sheer mental strength to lift the trophy for the second time, coach Didier Deschamps said on Sunday.
France overpowered Croatia 4-2 to lift the trophy and Deschamps became only the third man, after Brazil's Mario Zagallo and German Franz Beckenbauer to win it both as player and coach.
But they were made to sweat for about an hour and needed an own goal and a penalty to take the lead.
"My greatest source of pride is they had the right state of mind," Deschamps, who had captained France to the 1998 title, told reporters.
"Today there were imperfections, we did not do everything right but we had those mental and psychological qualities which were decisive for this World Cup."
France took the lead from a Mario Mandzukic own goal and they had to soak up a sustained Croatian offensive, including a 28th-minute equaliser, before going in front with a penalty.
They then struck twice midway through the second half to put the game beyond the Croats.
Deschamps said 14 of his players were World Cup newcomers but were ready to work towards a common goal and were mentally more mature than their age.
"Talent is not sufficient. You need the psychological and mental aspects. Any team is then able to climb mountains," Deschamps said.
"Sometimes I can be hard very hard with them but I do it for them and even though they are young they usually do listen."
Among the newcomers are Kylian Mbappe who was voted young player of the tournament and scored France's fourth goal.
"The collective is always important but there are individual players who have made the difference," he said, naming Mbappe and man-of-the-match Antoine Griezmann.
"Those 23 players will now be linked forever whatever happens. They will go different paths but will forever be linked together and from today nothing will be the same professionally because they are world champions.
"We will realise what has happened tomorrow," he said after his players stormed the news conference twice to douse him with champagne. "At the moment they do not know what it is to be world champions."
The 49-year-old coach, who also led France to the Euro 2016 final only to lose in Paris to Portugal, said that defeat may have been key to winning the World Cup.
"Maybe if we were Euro champions we would not have been world champions today. I learned a lot from that defeat," he said.
"The Euro final was different. We tried to stay relaxed this time and the players knew what they had to do and what was at stake."
Argentina midfielder Exequiel Palacios wants Lionel Messi to be an eternal part of the national team and cannot bear the thought of playing for his country without the inspirational forward.
Palacios, 25, who won the Copa America with his country in 2021 and the World Cup in 2022, admitted he found it hard to picture an Argentina side without the 36-year-old Messi, a record eight-times Ballon D'Or winner.
"For now, let's not talk about Messi not continuing. You can never imagine the national team without Messi. We all want him to be eternal and always play with us," he told Reuters.
Palacios also praised midfielder Angel Di Maria, who has said this year's Copa will be his last international tournament.
"We don't want Di Maria to retire," he said. "He is a unique, different and historic player for the country. If he retires, we have to make the most of every training session, every camp and every game because we're privileged to have his quality."
The 25-year-old Palacios helped Bayer Leverkusen win the Bundesliga title this season, ending Bayern Munich's 11-year stranglehold on the German top flight.
"My head is in Leverkusen, doing well for the club and earning a place in the national team. I'm looking forward to the Copa America, but I have to earn my place," he said.
Palacios also has a chance of a place in Argentina's Under-23 squad for this year's Olympic Games in Paris.
"I haven't had the chance to talk to (coach) Javier (Mascherano). Obviously, I want to represent my country and be at the Olympics. I'm desperate to be in the national team in any competition," he said.
Palacios spoke of his joy at helping Leverkusen win their first Bundesliga title.
"I am very happy to go down in history and be the only Argentine to win something like this with this club," he said.
"It's something that will mark me for the rest of my life when I'm no longer at the club and see what we've achieved," said the Argentine, who signed for the German club in 2020 and has scored 13 goals and contributed 10 assists in 116 appearances.
He acknowledged that much of the success was down to Xavi Alonso's work as coach.
"I am grateful to Xabi. I'm a person who is open to advice, especially from someone who has played in my position and had a great career," Palacios said.
With the treble within reach ahead of the German Cup final against Kaiserslautern and Europa League semi-final against Roma, Palacios said his team were refusing to get carried away.
"We've won the league and we're going for the treble while it's still within our grasp," he said. "Xabi tells us that every game is a final and we are taking it one step at a time."
Inter Miami, without Lionel Messi, lost 2-1 at home to Mexico's Monterrey in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final on Wednesday with Argentine Jorge Rodriguez scoring a superb 89th-minute winner.
Miami had taken the lead through defender Tomas Aviles in the 19th minute but the game changed when Inter midfielder David Ruiz was sent off in the 65th minute.
Maximiliano Meza equalized four minutes later and then Jorge Rodriguez grabbed the late winner with a superb curling shot into the far corner.
Monterrey, level atop Mexico's Liga MX, will be strong favorites to advance to the last four of the regional tournament when they host the return game next Wednesday.
Miami will be hoping to have Messi fit for the second leg after he was again forced to sit out due to his hamstring injury.
Messi has missed Miami's past three MLS matches with the right hamstring injury but practiced on Tuesday morning, prompting suggestions he might be healthy for the first time since helping Inter reach the quarter-final by beating Nashville on March 13.
Against arguably the strongest opponents the Florida club have played, Inter coach Gerardo 'Tata' Martino set his team up in a defense-minded 4-5-1 formation with veteran Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez as the lone forward.
It proved to be a prudent approach with Miami's five-man midfield able to frustrate Monterrey and then look to break on the counter.
But the breakthrough came from a corner, whipped in low by Julian Gressel and met with a first time shot from Aviles which whistled home.
The Mexican struggled to break down Miami until Ruiz lashed out with his arm at the head of Meza right in front of the referee, who wasted no time in producing a second yellow card and the inevitable red.
Monterrey made the most of the numerical advantage and it took just four minutes for them to draw level when Sergio Busquets deflected a corner towards his own goal, 'keeper Drake Callender parried out but Meza was on hand to fire home the loose ball.
It was backs against the wall from then for Miami as they tried to hang onto the draw, but as they tired mistakes began to creep in and in the penultimate minute of regulation, Diego Gomez failed to control on the edge of the box, Meza fed Rodriguez and he curled a brilliant shot into the top corner past the diving Callender.
Martino said the dismissal would prove to be a learning moment for the 20-year-old Ruiz, who was handed a starting role due to a several injuries.
"It was a difficult situation for him. He did very well while he was on the field and obviously it is going to be a learning experience for him with the dismissal. For young players these are moments that serve you well as you grow in your career," he said.
Martino, who said Messi remained "game to game" in terms of a return, lamented the absence of several of his squad for such a big game.
"Monterrey was at full strength and we had important absences. The truth is that I liked the way we competed. We did very well," he said.
"We're practically at the beginning of a season, we have been competing for a month and a half... and it was hard for us to hold on physically when we were down a player.
"I can't have a negative view of what happened tonight because we competed well and we had seven players out of the team who give a lot of quality. But to start a season with a competition like this, you need the full squad to compete."
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