PARIS - Lionel Messi was named FIFA player of the year 2022 on Monday as Argentina scooped all major men's awards after winning a vintage World Cup final last December.
The 35-year-old forward scored two goals in the final against France, with the South Americans emerging triumphant on penalties following a 3-3 draw after extra time in Qatar.
Like the rest of America, I've been selfishly hoping that Lionel Messi decides against renewing his contract with Paris Saint-Germain and instead opts for Inter Miami, giving me one glorious day out at Allianz Field of Wil Trapp man-marking the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner.
France captain Wendie Renard said on Friday that she will not play at this year's Women's World Cup to preserve her mental health, with fellow internationals Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani following suit.
Renard, who is widely considered to be one of the best defenders in women's football, played for France in international games against Norway, Denmark and Uruguay earlier this month.
She has 142 caps for France and plays for French side Olympique Lyonnais.
I've been actively losing sleep due to feeling bad for Rennes defender Jeanuël Belocian. A freak Belocian own goal vs. Shakhtar Donetsk in the 119th minute of Thursday’s Europa League playoff match tied the aggregate score at 3-3 and sent the two teams to penalties.
Shakhtar would win the penalty shootout 5-4.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar sustained ankle ligament damage in Sunday's 4-3 Ligue 1 win over Lille, the French club said late on Tuesday.
Brazilian forward Neymar, who scored PSG's second goal in the 17th minute, was stretchered off the field in tears early in the second half after colliding with Lille's Benjamin Andre and rolling his right ankle.
He's been wearing them on the pitch for over a week now, but the new Lionel Messi cleats 2023 have finally dropped with adidas giving the World Cup winner his latest signatures — the X Speedportal Messi.1 "L10NEL M35SI" boots.
Who says you can't embrace the age of 35, when 40 is suddenly on the horizon and there's no turning back? Not Messi. He's giving us a bit of playfulness in "Solar Orange/Silver Metallic/Core Black." Adidas is probably supposed to be marketing at teens and 20-somethings, but they said screw it, let's do something for everyone in their mid-30s.
PSG's wildly inconsistent form since club football restarted was perfectly encapsulated by Sunday's riotous 4-3 win over Lille at the Parc des Princes.
The PSG Ultras ran the gamut of demanding a statue for Kylian Mbappé, calling for the heads of all these overpaid pretenders and finally celebrating deliriously as chants of "Messi, Messi, Messi" reverberated around Paris. Just another day for les Parisiens.
The home side looked set for a stroll after Mbappé and Neymar scored inside 17 minutes.
Paris Saint-Germain's injury crisis worsened after the club confirmed on Friday that Lionel Messi will miss this weekend's Ligue 1 clash against AS Monaco due to a hamstring injury.
Messi played the full 90 minutes of PSG's 2-1 defeat by Olympique Marseille in the French Cup on Wednesday and the 35-year-old is in a race against time to be fit for their Champions League last-16 clash with Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
BERLIN - A future European Super League could include as many as 80 teams, Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22 Sports Management, a company formed to sponsor and assist in the creation of a breakaway soccer league, said on Thursday.
In a statement outlining the preliminary results of talks that A22 had with what it said was 50 European clubs and stakeholders of football, the company said change was necessary.
MARSEILLE — Paris Saint-Germain's miserable start to the year continued when they were knocked out of the French Cup last 16 by bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille on Wednesday.
Marseille, who had only beaten PSG twice since the capital side were taken over by Qatar Sport Investment (QSI) in 2011, reached the quarter-finals thanks to an Alexis Sanchez penalty and a Ruslan Malinovskyi thunderbolt after Sergio Ramos's first-half equalizer.