France send Messi and Co packing

Croatia set up a dream final with France as they came from a goal down to beat England 2-1 in a nail-biting semifinal at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow yesterday.

Mario Mandzukic struck the winner in the 109th minute after the game headed into extra time following a 1-1 stalemate in regulation 90 minutes. England defender Kieran Trippier gave the Three Lions a fifth-minute lead with a spectacular free-kick before Ivan Perisic levelled the margin in the 68th minute with a first-time flick into the left-hand corner of the net.

And the moment Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir blew the final whistle after four minutes of added time, the Croatian players burst into wild celebration for having made it into the final for the first time in their history, leaving England to eat the humble pie 28 years after that gut-wrenching defeat against Germany in Italia '90. 

Despite the defeat, this young England team showed they can play entertaining, fearless and not conventional football. Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli, Jasse Lingard, John Stones and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, whose brilliance under the bar ended the Three Lions' shootout jinx in the round or 16 against Colombia, were really pushing a seasoned Croatian side into tight corners.

And England needed only five minutes to take the lead through a magnificent free-kick from Trippier, who whipped the ball over the wall and into the top right-hand corner that Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic could only watch. England got the free-kick just outside the box when Luka Modric pulled Alli, who looked ominously poised after being nicely fed by Lingard. It was the Tottenham Hotspur winger's first goal on England shirt.

The early goal fuelled more energy into the England attack, with Sterling making those sprints down the right flank. They won a corner in the 14th minute and it was time for another defender to bury it for a team that had proved to be the most successful side from dead-ball situations in this World Cup. But Harry Maguire headed the ball wide off the mark.

The pace of England attack created all sorts of problems for Croatia's defence and a terrible mispass from Domagoj Vida, who was jeered by his the fans whenever he touched the ball, almost allowed Sterling to score another. But the Manchester City forward killed that opportunity by trying to feed it to Harry Kane, who was offside.

Kane, the Tottenham Hotspur forward and the leading scorer in the World Cup with six goals, had his share of chances in the 30th minute. But his shots were amazingly saved by Subasic. After being nicely set up by Lingard, Kane drove a low sided-footed shot that Subasic partially parried and Kane's second attempt off the rebound from a tight angle hit the post before the ball somehow bounced away after hitting the goalkeeper.

Having survived the early onslaught, Modric finally showed up in the final third as he sent through an overlapping Rebic, who sent a rising shot towards the top left post. But that only allowed Pickford to warm his hands for the first time in the evening.

But the post-lemon session offered a completely different picture, with the Croats coming firing in all cylinders. And it turned into anybody's game after Perisic restored parity in the 68th minute.

It was a reward for constant pressure. Vrsaljko curled in the ball towards the far post that Perisic buried with a first-time flick. Four minutes later, Perisic almost got his second goal but his low shot past Pickford came off the far post. Rebic's shot on the rebound came straight at the young England goalkeeper.

England got a golden opportunity to take the decisive lead in the ninth minute of extra time, but Stone's goal bound header was cleared off the line by Vrsalijko. Few minutes later Pickford made an equally brilliant save at the other end off a Mandzukic shot on a Perisic cross from the right.

But the experienced Juventus striker made no mistake to pounce on a loose ball three minutes into the second half of extra-time. After England failed to clear a high ball down the left, Perisic beat Trippier to a header to the left of the box. Mandzukic was first to get the dropping ball and fired an unstoppable left-footer into the bottom right. And that meant dreamland for Croatia.

In a recent interview in his home country of Argentina pertaining to his availability for the 2026 World Cup, soccer superstar Lionel Messi called Major League Soccer -- his current home -- "a minor league."

The comment to Star+ came in the context of laying out his priorities, which continue to be trying to support his national team to the fullest. That includes competing in next summer's Copa America for Argentina.

"I said it several times and it is a reality -- I will always try to compete to the maximum and I am the first to know when I can be there and when I can't," Messi said. "I am also aware that I went to a minor league, but a lot happens because of the way one faces it and competes."

Messi, who joined Inter Miami during the 2023 season and immediately sparked the club to a Leagues Cup championship while scoring 11 goals in 14 games, was an energizing factor for the team as well as the league, drawing huge crowds wherever he suited up.

Because of a poor start to the season, Inter Miami missed the MLS playoffs at 9-7-18.

Inter Miami saluted Argentine star Lionel Messi's eighth Ballon d'Or on Friday, but their friendly match to mark the achievement ended in a 2-1 loss to MLS rivals New York City FC.

The defeat, in a match between two teams long out of the MLS championship running, was just a footnote on a celebratory night that began with Messi offering his thanks to fans for the welcome he'd received in Florida.

Fans, many of them shouting "Messi! Messi!" in unison, nearly filled the DRV PNK stadium -- despite the fact that the club's MLS season ended last month.

"Thank you for being here, for this beautiful tribute," Messi said after raising the trophy he'd collected in Paris last month. "I have been here for a short time, but it seems like a lot of time.

"I want to thank all the people of Miami, not only those who are here, but in the city in general, for the treatment I and my family have received during this time.

"They showed me a lot of affection, they made me feel at home."

The 36-year-old superstar received a rapturous welcome when he arrived at Inter Miami in July and powered the struggling franchise to the Leagues Cup title in a tournament with MLS and Mexican league clubs in August.

He played his first MLS regular season match for Miami on August 26 as a second-half substitute, scoring a goal in Inter's 2-0 win at New York Red Bulls to snap an 11-match winless streak.

But nagged by a late-season leg injury, Messi was unable to lift Miami from the league cellar into the MLS Cup playoffs.

Even so, he has electrified the US league, his appeal underscored by a spike in jersey sales and a rise in sales of MLS season pass viewing subscriptions as well as ticket sales wherever Miami played.

Fans were chanting for him again late in Friday's match, but he was unable to produce an equalizer in a contest won by NYCFC with goals from Talles Magno and Julian Fernandez.

Messi's latest Ballon d'Or rewarded exploits achieved well before his move to MLS, namely his inspirational performances at last year's World Cup in Qatar where he scored seven goals and was named the tournament's best player as he carried Argentina to victory.

But Messi said he was aiming to build on Miami's Leagues Cup crown next season -- when his club will defend that title and compete in the US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup in addition to their MLS campaign.

"I had no doubt that we were going to have a good time, that we were going to enjoy ourselves and today I have even less doubts that next year is going to be much better," he said.

Lionel Messi scored his second goal in the second half of extra-time to give Argentina the lead against France in the final of the FIFA World Cup 2022 at the Lusail Stadium In Qatar.

Messi turned in a rebound off France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in the 108th minute to give Argentina the upper hand after it ended 2-2 at full-time. 

A month ago, if someone had predicted that France and Croatia would play the World Cup final in Russia, most of us would have dumped it as an impossible option. But here we are with that spectacularly different reality -- the Les Bleus and the Blazers lining up for today's final at the Luzhniki Stadium.

France are no rank outsiders -- they are a proven force and won the World Cup in 1998. But Croatia have certainly lived up their nickname -- blazing their way to their first-ever World Cup final. And if Croatia win, they will be the ninth nation to lift the coveted trophy.

Do they deserve it? Let's have the facts -- they played three knockout games on the trot for 120 minutes and more importantly they did it the hard way. Croatia won their semifinal against England in style – coming from a goal down to win it 2-1 in extra time, with Mario Mandzukic slamming the winner on 109 minutes. Not only that, they won their three group stage games which included a thumping 3-0 win against two-time world champions Argentina.

This Croatia team have so far not only demonstrated that they have got the qualities, if not pedigree, to go all the way to win the title. They will be up against a team they lost thrice against two draws in the last five meetings, but Croatia's inspirational coach Zlatko Dalic said past statistics would not win his opponents today's final.

“Statics, tradition and head to head -- I don't buy those. Tradition is there to be demolished. We do not mind who is on the other side of the pitch. We have come here to enjoy the moment and give our best. We deserved to play in the final; we want the world to watch Croatia play; we want most of the world to root for us. This is important. We will give our all, we will enjoy our football and whoever is the better team may they win,” Dalic said ahead of the final.

After that semifinal heart-break against France in their maiden World Cup appearance in 1998, Croatia lurched from bad to worse in the following three editions of the World Cup. They made it to Russia at the last moment but since then it has been a spectacular journey for them with Luca Modric playing the key role in a very experienced side.

They might have played more minutes and got less rest compared to France and they have so far proved that they love to grind their way out of a hole. This tough mentality might prove handy for them against an extremely talented yet raw French side, who had only one tough game against Belgium in the semifinal. France were successful in defending a 54th-minute Umtiti lead against Belgium. But the ploy of sitting back against a vastly experienced Croatia side might prove costly for them.

France will bank on the brilliance of Kylian Mbappe to create something on the break. But the key player for the Les Bleus would once again be again Antoine Grizemann and it will be interesting to see who controls the midfield.

France captain Hugo Lloris is well aware that this Croatia team is not only very experienced but have the quality too. He also reminded that they would have to be at their best if they want France to lift the World Cup for a second time and put behind the home disappointment of the Euro 2016 final against Portugal.

Twenty years ago, France joined the exclusive group of World Cup winners, defeating Brazil in the final. Croatia made their first appearance in that year and bowed out, suffering an agonising 2-1 semifinal defeat against France. They will get a second chance at redemption. And if they can do that, it will be gift to the dreamers. Croatia is a county of only four million people, but Dalic promised that the seismic wave back in Croatia would be even bigger than Brazil and Argentina if they win the final.