METRO NAIJA

Saturday, 5 September 2015

MESSI WILL BREAK BATISTUTA'S ARGENTINA RECORD - MARTINO

Argentina head coach Gerardo Martinopraised captain Lionel Messi after his 25-minute double against Bolivia moved him closer to his nation’s all-time goalscoring record.

Gabriel Batistuta currently holds the accolade with 56 strikes for his country, but the Barcelona attacker is fast approaching the retired striker after his latest two strikes took his overall total to 48.

Despite starting Friday’s friendly in Texas from the substitutes’ bench, Messi got in on the act as Argentina thrashed Bolivia 7-0, with Sergio Aguero and Ezequiel Lavezzi also netting doubles, while Angel Correa rounded off the scoring late on.

The morale-boosting win was a contrast to the mood over the summer following Argentina’s defeat to Chile in the final of the Copa America - a tournament fallout which saw Messi criticised as even Martino indulged in speculation over his skipper’s international future while defending his performances.

"I am sure Leo will catch Batistuta as the team's leading scorer, he is getting closer,” Martino told reporters after the match before going on to explain why the 28-year-old did not play from the start.

"It is logical that the people who pay for tickets and the organisers of the games want to see Messi playing.

"But we had to think carefully about him because he has played a lot of games. Luckily, in a short time, he made it worth the price of admission."

Martino was understandably thrilled with his side’s performance but was quick to look ahead to Wednesday’s friendly against Mexico, which will be their last preparation before the start of South America’s World Cup qualification campaign.

"I am happy with the intensity with which we played, both from the players who started and those who came off the bench," he added.

"It is a good result and helps me form ideas, but nobody will be ruled in or out of my team based on a single game.

"We will see how the team changes. The idea is to play everyone over both games but I have not decided yet.”

Martino said he would wait to get fitness updates on the likes of Lucas Biglia, Angel Di Maria, Ezequiel Garay, Gonzalo Higuain, Javier Pastore and Pablo Zabaleta before naming his starting XI for the Mexico clash.

Former Brazil international Zico has released a manifesto for his Fifa presidential campaign, focusing on "democratisation, transparency, governance and the permanent evolution of world football".

Zico received the backing of the Brazilian Football Confederation in July and has taken the next step in his bid to replace Sepp Blatter as Fifa president by launching a website, zicofifa.com, and releasing his "10 Foundations for Change".

The 62-year-old coach of FC Goa in the Indian Super League wants to rebuild Fifa around four "pillars", with the first point of his manifesto labelling them democracy, transparency, governance and evolution.

Zico is keen to reassess Fifas "governance processes", the criteria for election onto the Executive Committee and how projects are awarded Fifa funding.

If the ex-Brazil international is elected, it appears technological assistance for referees would increase on his watch.

"Permanent evolution of football: promoting permanent discussions relating to the use of technology within the rules of the game," Zico's eighth point reads.

Fifa's next president is set to be decided in February 2016.

#AFCON2016 QUALIFIERS: TANZANIA 0-0 NIGERIA| Highlights Download

Tanzania held Nigeria to a 0-0 draw in Saturday's 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier played at the Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium, Dar-es-Salaam....

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Andres Iniesta is confident that Barcelonacan make history by becoming the first team to defend the Champions League this season.

The Catalans enjoyed a brilliant first season under Luis Enrique, sealing a historic treble with the 3-1 win over Juventus in May’s Berlin final.

No side has ever successfully retained Europe’s elite club competition in its current form, although Barca did win two in the space of three years with their 2009 and 2011 successes.

Iniesta is aware that history suggests Barca will be unsuccessful in their bid to defend the crown, but hopes the quality of their squad will give them every chance in 2015-16.

“It is challenging and very difficult, but we have that goal in our mind,” the Camp Nou skipper, 31, told Sport.

“Retaining the Champions League has not been done by any club. But we have already been knocking on the door of reaching consecutive finals before and we will try again. Winning teams and players have to return to fight for everything.

“We always aspire to achieve the maximum and this year is no exception, although the difference between winning and losing is often very close. After what we put in last season and the whole experience, I think this has to be another great season.

“I think we should be always optimistic, believing in ourselves and our colleagues. For me, my team and my team-mates are the best and you have to fight for every title.”

France head coach Didier Deschamps paid tribute to his players after they responded to his call for desire and aggression in a 1-0 friendly win over Portugal in Lisbon.

Substitute Mathieu Valbuena's late free-kick clinched the win for France, who dominated Friday's game and played some attractive attacking football, despite clear cut chances being few and far between.

Deschamps was pleased to end a run of defeats in their previous two outings, and said: "We showed a lot of aggression, we had some good moves, and we did not concede a goal.

"Beyond the result against a good Portugal team, we had the ingredients we needed. We had the better chances and could have scored before we did.

"We had a stranglehold on the second half. I saw beautiful things."

Goalscorer Valbuena showed no sign of resentment at having to play from the bench and looked forward to the next friendly against Serbia in Bordeaux on Monday.

He said: "It is a group, a family. Those who are on the bench must be decisive when they get a chance.

"We did a good job; the mood has returned. We showed that we were together. We had chances and that's encouraging - it will continue against Serbia."

Mesut Ozil is convinced Germany will take another step towards a place at Euro 2016 against Scotland on Monday - providing Joachim Low's men replicate the performance that enabled them to beat Poland.

The world champions moved to the top of qualifying Group D with a 3-1 win over the Poles in Frankfurt on Friday with Mario Gotze scoring twice. Thomas Muller was also on the scoresheet with Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski netting for the visitors

Germany are now two points ahead of Poland at the summit with the Republic of Ireland in third, a further two points adrift - another victory for Low's men at Hampden Park will see them move to the brink of a place in France next summer.

And Ozil is confident they can achieve that aim, although he is wary of a Scotland side whose own qualification hopes were hit by a shock defeat to Georgia on Friday.

The Arsenal midfielder told reporters: "I think we deserve to be at the top of the group. Now we have to go further on Monday.

We know it will be a tough game because Scotland will fight until the 90th minute. But if we show what we can then Scotland won't be able to stop us."

Germany were always in control against Poland, although Real Madrid star Toni Kroos believes they will need to tighten up defensively against Scotland.

"Overall you have to say that we earned the victory," he said.

"We dominated for long periods of the game, we created chances and we scored some good goals. But we also allowed Poland a couple of chances – that’s somewhere we have to improve. All in all, it was a good day. It could be a difficult game in Scotland, and we’re prepared for that."

Gotze was pleased to have made a significant contribution after a summer which has seen his club future thrown into question with the Bayern man linked with a move away from the Allianz Arena.

He said: "We absolutely wanted to go home with three points and as group leaders. It could have gone much worse - also for me personally."

Real Madrid To Donate €1Million to Refugees

Real Madrid have announced they are to make a €1 million donation to aid the refugees fleeing war-torn Syria.

Hundreds of thousands of people have risked their lives to migrate to other countries in Europe - at least 2,500 have died in the process - with pressure now being ramped up on governments to provide greater relief to those in need.

Bayern Munich announced on Thursday they have donated €1m to help people pouring into Germany, and Madrid have now pledged the same amount to aid refugees in Spain.

A club statement read: "Real Madrid has announced that it will donate €1million to aid refugees that are taken in by Spain.

"Faithful to its commitment to charity, the club has taken this decision with the aim of supporting men, women and children who have been forced to leave their homes in order to flee from war and death.

"The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, spoke yesterday by phone with the president of the [Spanish] government, Mariano Rajoy. The pair talked about this contribution and other measures that the club will put in place in order to collaborate with the care of refugees that arrive in Spain.

"Among these measures, the club is considering various initiatives and schemes with a special focus placed on the youngest refugees. It will also make some of the club's infrastructure and sports goods available to the Executive's interministerial commission that organises the system for receiving refugees."