Argentina need to sort things out

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."

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi congratulated the Argentina Under-23 team for their win 1-0 win over rivals Brazil to book a spot in this year's Paris Olympics.

Messi, who won an Olympic gold with the Argentina team in 2008, took to social media to laud the youngsters.

Last month, reports came out that Messi and Angel Di Maria were interested in participating in the Olympics.

Even though Under-23 teams participate in Olympic football, each team can take three over-age players.

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Argentina knock Olympic champions Brazil out of Paris Games

Argentina's U23 team coach and former national team and Barcelona teammate of Messi Javier Mascherano had expressed his interest in having both of them in the team for the Olympic Games, which will run from June 20 to July 14.

"Leo and Angel earned the right to choose; if they want to play in the Olympic Games they can do so. I understand that Angel said that their closing is with the Copa America, although it would also be a nice closing in the Games."

Bia Zaneratto scored twice as Brazil thrashed Argentina 5-1 on Saturday to move into the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup while Olympic champions Canada scraped past Costa Rica with a 1-0 win after extra-time.

The Brazilians had simply too much firepower for Argentina as they set-up a semi-final clash with the winner of Sunday's game between Mexico and Paraguay.

Argentina had the first opening when Brazil keeper Luciana was caught off her line but Dalila Ippoli's attempted chip from distance fell harmlessly wide.

The Brazilians got ahead in the 19th minute when Yaya rose to angle in a superb header from a Zaneratto cross from the left.

Yasmim Ribiero then doubled the lead in the 36th minute when a clearance fell to her on the edge of the box and her low drive took a slight deflection as it whistled into the corner.

There was no change to the flow of the game after the break -- the Argentine defence was at sea and Brazil took full advantage with Zaneratto poking home from the center of the box.

A header from Gabi Nunes on a Gabi Portilho cross from the right made it 4-0 and put the outcome beyond any doubt.

Argentina pulled a goal back in the 82nd when a ball over the top found Celeste Dos Santos who chipped the advancing Luciana.

But there was still time for Brazil to add one more when the outstanding Zaneratto fired home a left foot diagonal shot to complete the rout.

Brazil captain Rafaella praised the way the team approached the game.

"I think we started the game on the right foot and then we just went on from there," she said. "It's always hard to play against Argentina. We have a lot of history but I think in all of these games, we have been winning and we have been proving that we're the best team in South America."

The free-scoring Brazilians have had nine different players find the target so far in the competition, which Rafaella said was a sign of their strength in depth.

"I think everybody's pushing hard and it doesn't matter who is playing at the top," she said. "Everybody understands and we really embrace the way we're going to play and we're lucky we have a lot of good players."

Canada will face the winner of Sunday's quarter-final match between the United States and Colombia after fighting their way past stubborn Costa Rica.

Costa Rica finished third in their group and won a draw of lots to make it into the last eight, but they proved to be a tough opponent for Bev Priestman's team.

The deciding goal came from substitute Evelyne Vienes, who glanced home a header from a Jesse Fleming free kick.

Canada, which created numerous chances but lacked the clinical touch in front of goal, had goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan to thank for an excellent save deep into stoppage time in regulation.

Sheridan's outstretched right foot denied Alexa Herrera's firmly struck effort from close range.

Fans who snapped up tickets to watch Lionel Messi in Hong Kong, only for him to sit out the friendly, will get a 50-percent refund -- as long as they don't launch legal action.

A sell-out crowd paid from 880 Hong Kong dollars ($110) to see the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner in action on February 4 in an Inter Miami tour match against a Hong Kong select XI.

But the 36-year-old Argentine remained glued to the bench with an injury, drawing boos from the crowd -- and then a furore in China, which saw his absence as a political snub.

Organiser Tatler Asia on Monday offered a 50-percent refund for "those who purchased tickets through official channels for the match".

Those who want some of their money back will have to agree to terms and conditions that include not pursuing "proceedings before any court of law, tribunal (or) regulatory authority".

Under fire for its handling of the fiasco, Tatler withdrew its application for a HK$16 million government grant to fund the event the day after the match.

Inter Miami's next stop after Hong Kong was Japan -- where Messi played 30 minutes of a friendly match against Vissel Kobe in Tokyo, much to the anger of Chinese fans.

A Kansas City soccer record 72,610 fans saw Inter Miami defeat Sporting Kansas City 3-2 Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium, with the main attraction playing a pivotal role in the win.

Lionel Messi, the main reason the match was moved from Sporting's normal home stadium of Children's Mercy Park to Arrowhead -- home of the NFL's Chiefs -- had a goal and an assist for Miami.

The crowd was more than 20,000 larger than the 52,424 that saw the then-Kansas City Wizards defeat Manchester United 2-1 at Arrowhead in an exhibition match in July 2010.

Messi put Miami (4-2-3, 15 points) up 2-1 in the 51st minute with a rocket from well beyond the 18-yard box. He collected the ball around 25 yards out and found the upper-right corner of the SKC net.

70' I Gómez recupera el balón gracias a la presión alta y se la sirve a Suárez que no perdona#SKCvMIA 2-3 pic.twitter.com/EjjS9tqNr3

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) April 14, 2024

The lead didn't last very long, however, as Erik Thommy got his second goal of the night in the 58th minute. Sporting (2-2-4, 10 points) had a corner kick that was deflected by a Miami defender. It floated out to Thommy, who kissed it off the right post and into the net.

Miami scored the decisive goal on a mistake by Sporting KC in the 71st minute. Jake Davis was displaced by Diego Gomez, who dribbled into the box and found an open Luis Suarez.

Sporting got on the board in the sixth minute to open the scoring. Tim Leibold picked off a pass on the Miami side of midfield and raced forward. He had several options for his first pass and chose Thommy to the right just outside the 18-yard box. Thommy waited momentarily for an opening in the Miami defense and then fired a shot to the far-left side of the net past Miami keeper Drake Callender.

Miami responded in the 18th minute. Messi fed a streaking Gomez, who left SKC keeper Tim Melia with no chance and forged a 1-1 tie.

Messi nearly put Miami up in the 41st minute when he drilled a free kick just to the right of the SKC net. Sporting nearly returned the favor moments later as Willy Agada used a spin move to work himself open, but his shot was right at Callender, who stopped it easily.