Maradona’s birthday greetings for Messi

An Argentine soccer fan was in a coma and two men arrested for attempted murder after a scuffle among supporters in the derby between Belgrano and Talleres in Cordoba, local media reported on Sunday.

The fan, identified by Belgrano as Emanuel Balbo, was beaten by fellow supporters in the crowd of 57,000 and forced down the terraces where he tried to avoid more violence by vaulting a barrier, his father told Cordoba's Cadena 3 radio station.

Video footage showed Balbo falling over one tier of the stand and then lying prostrate on a concrete staircase below.

Local media reported he was in a serious condition.

Another fan named Diego Frydman was also hurt, home club Belgrano said.

"Here at Belgrano we are praying that Emanuel Balbo and Diego Frydman recover," the club said in a statement.

Saturday's violence is the latest in a long string of incidents at Argentine grounds.

In recent years away fans have been banned from some matches and games postponed but the measures have failed to curb the violence.

The game finished 1-1 to leave Belgrano second bottom of the 30-team Primera Division.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi revealed that he had worn a symbol of good luck around his ankle after the winning match against Nigeria.

Argentine television host Rama Pantorotto passed on to Messi a red thread, given to him by his mother, after Argentina's 1-1 stalemate with Iceland in their opening match of the World Cup.

The reporter asked the Argentine ace after 2-1 win over Nigeria: "After the first game [against Iceland] I gave you a good luck charm that my mother gave me, I don’t know if you threw it away or something?"

Messi smiled and pulled down his left boot which showed that the charm was wrapped around his ankle.

The red string is believed to be an instrument of protection that negates evil in various cultures and Messi showed Pantorotto that he had indeed kept the red thread and had worn it for Argentina's must-win match with Nigeria.

Messi suffered more at this World Cup as he had been going through a difficult few days with his teammates.

Veteran Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano insists relations between the players and coach Jorge Sampaoli are not strained after reports of unrest within the team camp.

Sampaoli was roundly criticised for his game plan following a 3-0 loss to Croatia in Argentina's second group game at the World Cup, sparking rumours the 58-year-old would be sacked during the tournament.

"The relationship with the coach is completely normal," Mascherano said ahead of the must-win match against Nigeria in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday.

"Obviously, when we feel uncomfortable about something we speak with him because if we didn't we would be hypocrites."

Argentina were on the brink of elimination after the Croatia mauling but victory against Nigeria would send them through as runners-up in Group D if leaders Croatia avoid defeat against Iceland.

"We know the situation is tricky," Mascherano said. "We have to be united, to express our opinions, and do everything possible so the team goes into the game in the best position."

Argentine Football Association (AFA) president Claudio Tapia has given his backing to Sampaoli after holding a meeting with the embattled coach on Friday, a team source revealed.

Franco Armani is tipped to replace Willy Caballero for the Nigeria clash after the Chelsea goalkeeper's blunder against Croatia, with Sampaoli also expected to ditch his three-match defence and return to a traditional back four.

France midfielder Paul Pogba said the finals in Russia might be his last World Cup but he hopes he will be fit for more.

"It might be my last World Cup," the Manchester United player, 25, told a news conference ahead of Tuesday's Group C final game against Denmark.

France have already qualified for the last 16 and will secure top spot if they avoid defeat.

"I'm realistic, we don't know if I'll be called up, maybe other players will be better than me," added Pogba.

"I hope I'll play more. I've already had the chance to play two, some can only dream to play one."

England coach Gareth Southgate was keeping his feet firmly on the ground after England's 6-1 World Cup group-stage rout of Panama, declaring "I didn't particularly like the performance".

With a grin Southgate explained to the BBC: "I'm being hyper-critical, but I didn't like the start, I didn't like the goal at the end. The bits in the middle were pretty good though!"

Southgate was speaking after a hat-trick from Harry Kane, a double from John Stones and another from Jesse Lingard saw off Panama and qualified England into the knockout stages.

As it stands England are level on goal difference with also-qualified Belgium but top the group by virtue of yellow cards -- two compared to the Belgians' three.

The countries meet in Kaliningrad on Thursday.

Asked about possible changes to his XI to face Belgium, Southgate commented: "I want to keep the momentum, we have to think about the team we want to put out, it's an opportunity for players who need a match who haven't played for a while but on the other hand we want to keep winning.

"It's a nice decision to have!"

Reflecting on a record World Cup win for England -- their previous best result was 3-0 -- he added: "I was a bit anxious at the start, they (Panama) had six at the back and three in middle, but once we worked that out I thought we played some really good stuff for 35 minutes.

Southgate's main gripe was his defence allowing Felipe Baloy to score Panama's first ever World Cup goal in the 78th minute.

"At half-time we talked about one more goal to be top of the group, that's why the goal at the end was disappointing," he said.

"We'd rather be in control of the group than not, and confidence wise it's important to score goals.

"It was a big moment for Lingard and great for the captain (Kane) to score a hat-trick, that way he didn't have the hump when I took him off!"