Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has showered praise on Lionel Messi, insisting the club’s success during his tenure is down to the Argentina captain’s presence in the squad, reports goal.com.
‘Messi knows very well what we all think, all of the coaching staff, the people that look after him, and the other players,’ Guardiola told the club’s official website. ‘We are all delighted with what he does, has done and will do. And of course nothing that we have done would have been possible without him.
‘He is a different kind of player, his stats make him different and he lets you win games at all levels. There is never a game in which he doesn’t generate chances.’
Messi has not scored in any of Blaugrana’s last three matches, yet he still has 10 goals in nine Liga games this season.
The 24-year-old recently missed a penalty in the 0-0 draw against Sevilla last week, but Guardiola has shielded his star from harsh comments and singled him out for special praise.
‘It’s not debatable as far as we’re concerned,’ said the manager. ‘If there is any debate, then so be it, but it doesn’t weaken him and it won’t weaken him.’
Messi has often been compared with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Brazil legend Pele and Argentina great Diego Maradona. Guardiola was keen to underline why his man stands out from the crowd.
‘I don’t think there has ever been a player in history that can do what he manages to do every three days,’ he said. ‘It’s unthinkable. People buy tickets just to see him play and he is doing something unique. To find a player that has managed to be so consistent for four years, who is so fit, who fights so hard as him, I’ve never seen anything like it.
‘Perhaps I’m too young, but I never played with anybody like him and I have never coached a player like that either. He is a better player than anybody else, he has a gift.
Manchester United were drawn against CrystalPalace in the quarter-finals of the League Cup on Saturday, while Arsenal were handed a daunting home tie against ManchesterCity.
Arsenal could line up against former player Samir Nasri when they entertain City at the Emirates in the most eye-catching quarter-final.
Nasri joined City this summer following an acrimonious transfer saga and is sure to receive a hostile reception by his former club’s fans.
United, who downed Aldershot this week to reach the last eight, will take on Palace at Old Trafford in a re-match of the two clubs’ famous 1990 FA Cup final meeting at Wembley, which United won in a replay.
In other matches, Chelsea will resume their cup rivalry with Liverpool, the latest in a series of several meetings between the clubs in recent years.
The match also pits Chelsea striker Fernando Torres against his former club in what will be the third encounter between the two teams since the Spaniard headed to StamfordBridge in a £50 million ($80.6m) deal in January.
Second-tier Cardiff’s reward for reaching the last eight is a home tie with Blackburn Rovers, who advanced to the quarter-finals after a dramatic 4-3 win over Newcastle in mid-week.
Arsenal captain Robin van Persie scored a brilliant hat-trick as the Gunners stunned third-placed Chelsea 5-3 at StamfordBridge.
The decisive moment came five minutes from time when van Persie pounced on a slip from Chelsea captain John Terry for a goal that put Arsenal 4-3 up.
It capped a miserable week for Terry, who is being investigated by the FA for allegedly hurling racist abuse at QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.
Terry’s blunder came after Chelsea looked to have snatched a share of the points with Juan Mata’s 80th-minute equaliser at 3-3.
Van Persie duly completed his hat-trick with a well-taken finish in injury time as Arsenal struck on the counter-attack.
It was the final act of a mesmerising contest that saw Arsenal twice come from behind before securing their eighth win in nine games—a victory that pushed them up to sixth in the table. Chelsea took the lead through a Frank Lampard header on 14 minutes before Arsenal levelled through van Persie in the 36th minute.
Arsenal’s effort in hauling themselves back into the contest was undone on the stroke of half-time, however, when Terry restored the Blues’ lead.
Yet the see-saw momentum of the contest continued immediately after half-time, when goals from Andre Santos (49 minutes) and Theo Walcott (55) put Arsenal 3-2 up.
‘It was fantastic to watch, both teams went for it,’ Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. ‘In the second half I felt we were completely dominating the game and created chance after chance.
Kevin Pietersen smashed 53 off 39 balls as England finally found success on the Indian tour with a six-wicket victory in the lone Twenty20 international in Kolkata on Saturday.
The tourists enhanced their reputation as the reigning world Twenty20 champions by keeping the hosts down to 120-9 before surpassing the modest target with eight balls to spare. England silenced some 40,000 fans at the EdenGardens by ending the tour on a high after being blanked 5-0 by Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s India in the preceding one-day series.
Fast bowler Steven Finn grabbed 3-22, and Tim Bresnan and Ravi Bopara picked up two wickets each, to set up the emphatic win after India elected to take first strike on a slow pitch.
Pietersen, who was dropped on one by Suresh Raina, led England’s charge with three sixes and four boundaries. Samit Patel helped Pietersen add 60 for the third wicket after two wickets had fallen by the seventh over with the score at 40.
Earlier, Raina top-scored in India’s innings with 39 off 29 balls with two sixes and four boundaries, while Dhoni made 21 before being run out off the final delivery.
The ninth-wicket pair of Dhoni and Ravichandran Ashwin (17 not out) boosted the total by taking 25 runs from the last two overs.
The tourists made a flying start by removing both openers, Ajinkya Rahane and Robin Uthappa, in the first eight deliveries to catches by wicket-keeper Craig Kieswetter.
Srore in brief: India innings:120/9,Raina 39,Dhoni 21,Finn 3/22,Bresnan 2/19. England innings:121/4,Pietersen 53,Patel 21,Jadeja 1/9,Raina 1/9. SeriesEngland won the one-off match
Man of the match:Pietersen (England)
Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal took five wickets to steer Pakistan to a nine wicket win in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Dubai Stadium here on Saturday, going 1-0 up in the three-match series.
The 34-year-old finished with 5-68 -- his fourth five wicket haul in a Test—to help restrict Sri Lanka to 257 in their second innings before Pakistan went about reaching their modest 94-run target to seal victory with a day to spare.
Ajmal was ably supported by left-arm spin partner Abdul Rehman (2-65) and paceman Junaid Khan (2-38) as they exploited the spin and low bounce on a weary pitch to the best effect. Pakistan lost opener Taufiq Umar, bowled for one by spinner Rangana Herath, but Mohammad Hafeez (59) and Azhar Ali (29) scored the required runs inside 24.1 overs soon after the lights went on in the stadium.
Ali took the winning single much to the delight of a 2,000 holiday crowd but it was Hafeez who hit five boundaries and two towering sixes to secure Pakistan’s win on the fourth day.
In Sri Lankan’s second innings opener Tharanga Paranavitana (72) and vice-captain Angelo Mathews (52 not out) put up notable resistance against some penetrative pace-cum spin attack from Pakistan.
Pakistan had dismissed Sangakkara (30) in the fourth over of the fourth day before dismissing Mahela Jayawardene (five) and skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan (three) -- three wickets within 18 runs—to put them on the victory path.
The first Test ended in a draw at Abu Dhabi last week. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq praised the team effort.
‘It was a thorough professional performance,’ said Misbah, who has now won four of his nine Test as captain, losing one and drawing the other four. ‘Our pacemen gave the edge on the first day and we kept that pressure well.’
Misbah’s counterpart Tillakaratne Dilshan said his team needs to bat well.
‘We batted poorly after winning the toss,’ said Dilshan, yet to win a Test as captain in eight attempts. ‘Sangakkara’s wicket was the key and then Pakistan bowled well.’ Sri Lanka, who resumed at 88-1, had been hoping for Sangakkara to stay longer and keep Pakistan at bay as he did in the second innings of the first Test when he scored an epic 211.
But the experienced batsman was reduced to adding just a single to his overnight score of 29 when he didn’t offer a stroke to left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman’s incoming delivery and although he pushed too far New Zealand umpire Tony Hill adjudged him leg-before.
Sangakkara, who didn’t hit a single boundary, walked back in disgust. He added 73 for the second wicket with Tharanga.
Mahela Jayawardene then missed a sweep off spinner Saeed Ajmal and was bowled and Dilshan’s horrible form in the series continued when was trapped leg-before by paceman Junaid Khan three runs later.
Paranavitana, though, remained composed and reached his ninth half-century with a square driven boundary off Umar Gul. He fell soon after lunch, caught off a sharp turning delivery from Ajmal in the slip.
He hit four boundaries during his fighting knock. Pakistan took the second new ball after 85 overs and were immediatley rewarded with the wicket of Kaushal Silva, caught off a miscued pull off Khan at mid-on by Ajmla for eight.
Dhammika Prasad (33) helped Mathews add an invaluable 56 for the eighth wicket to delay Pakistan’s victory before Rehman bowled him with a faster delivery.
Ajmal then wrapped up the tail, removing Herath (15) and Chanaka Welegedara (four) in one over and then three overs later ended the Sri Lankan innings by bowling Suranga Lakmal (eight), finishing with eight wickets in the match.
Mathews hit five boundaries and a six during his 143-ball resistance-filled knock—the fifth half-century in his last eight innings.
The third and final Test starts in Sharjah from November 3.
79.1 Ajmal gets Paranavitana, with lots of flight from round the stumps, it dips full on Para, draws him forward, spins enough to take the edge and settles in to the hands of Younis Khan at slip, a screaming Ajmal rushes towards his team-mates 141/5
13.1 Hafeez has got the breakthrough! flight from round the wicket, pitches on a length on middle, draws him forward, and spins past the push to clip off stump, Hafeez is delighted 22/1
Pakistan 2nd innings:94/1,Hafeez 59*,Herath 1/29
48.6 Sanga has been given this time by umpire Hill, he walks off in disgust, was he playing a shot as he pushed forward too far outside the line of one that broke back in, seems to have struck him just in line with off, but there was a lot of turn on it and it cannot be said without doubt whether it would have hit leg stump, Pakistan are celebrating, massive strike early in the morning for them 95/2
Man of the match:Saeed Azmol.
60.3 they have got the big one, Mahela has fallen on the sweep, he looked to fetch a flatter one from outside off stump, but missed it as it spun in sharply and struck leg stump 113/3
The Argentine grabbed a hat-trick within the first half-hour before Isaac Cuenca and Dani Alves completed the rout against Joaquin Caparros' side at CampNou.
Messi is now on 199 goals for the Catalan giants, 36 goals behind Cesar Rodriguez - the side's record goalscorer - but the forward is more focused on team accolades.
"The team played well again,” he told Gol TV after the game. “We got quick goals and in the first half, the result was nearly confirmed. We have to continue this way.
"It's crazy to say that after three games [without a goal] I was in crisis. I do not care whether I score or not, what matters is that the team win and continue to do so.
The 24-year-old was also questioned about his goal celebration after his third goal, where he held up three fingers, one-by-one.
However, Messi denied it had anything to do with going three games without scoring, saying that it was a personal tribute to a friend.
"I have a friend from home who told me to do that,” he explained. “The number 123 has a special meaning for him.”
The attacker will now travel with his team-mates in midweek to the CzechRepublic where they will face Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League.
Lionel Messi answered his critics with a superbly taken hat-trick inside the opening half-hour at CampNou as the Barcelona thrashed Mallorca 5-0 in La Liga.
The Argentine striker had gone three matches without scoring, evoking criticism for his recent performances but Barcelona’s No. 10 responded in emphatic fashion.
Messi’s first came courteous of a penalty which he thumped home into his top right corner leaving the ‘keeper no chance, and the Argentine turned in his second of the night just six minutes later.
Goal number 199 followed when Dani Alves’ inch perfect cross was turned home on the half-volley.
Isaac Cuenca added a fourth with his first senior goal and stunning Dani Alves strike late on helped lift Barcelona to the top of la Liga ahead of Real Madrid’s clash against Sociedad.
Barca dominated the early possession but it was Mallorca who came closest to taking the lead when Joao Victor burst onto a low cross only to divert his shot wide of the target.
And Mallorca were left ruing that miss when they found themselves a goal down not long afterwards when Emilio Nsue handled inside the penalty area giving Messi the chance to end his goal draught. The Argentine steadied himself before converting the spot-kick in emphatic fashion rifling the ball into the top corner of the net.
Youngster Cuenca then tormented Pedro Bigas before sending a devilish cross to the far post which Adriano volleyed, somewhat fortunately, into the path of Messi, who tapped home from close range to double Barcelona's lead 21 minutes in.
Lionel Messi had completed his hat-trick inside 30 minutes with a beautifully taken half-volley after Dani Alves swung a cross into the Argentine's path and he struck the ball perfectly with his left foot to move his Barcelona record to 199 goals in all competitions.
Barcelona started the second-half in similar fashion and had their fourth of the night when Isaac Cuenca rounded Aouate before hammering in his first-ever senior goal following Adriano’s intricately placed through ball.
There was still time for Dani Alves to add a fifth goal when he attempted an audacious shot from distance which dipped viciously below the crossbar to ensure a five-star performance from Guardiola’s men.
Mallorca failed to pressurise the Barcelona defence as the game sauntered to an end with Joaquin Caparros turning his attention to the match against Sevilla next week in pursuit of his first win as Mallorca’s coach.
Guardiola’s side will now shift their focus to the Champions League as they face a difficult trip to Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday night
Pakistan secured a first-innings lead of 164 over Sri Lanka on day three of the second Test in Dubai before Sri Lanka hit back to reduce the deficit to 76 by stumps.
Tharanga Paranavitana (42 not out) and Kumar Sangakkara (29 not out) fought hard on a deteriorating pitch after their side had been put under severe pressure.
Pakistan were eventually bowled out for 403 in their first innings in reply to Sri Lanka's 239 with Asad Shafiq completing a fluent half-century while both Dammika Prasad and Tillakaratne Dilshan returned three-wicket hauls.
Misbah-ul-Haq (41) fell early in the day when he was caught by Mahela Jayawardene off Chanaka Welagedara, who quickly struck again to remove nightwatchman Saeed Ajmal, who was caught by Angelo Mathews for 20 as Mathews atoned for an earlier miss.
Shafiq then made his way confidently to 59 in 101 balls, hitting four fours and one six down the ground with Adnan Akmal adding a punchy 41 in 80 deliveries as the pair put on 70 for the seventh wicket.
Shafiq fell when he guided Prasad to Jayawardene in the gully and after Abdur Rehman (0) and Umar Gul (2) were despatched by Rangana Herath, Akmal fell when he was caught by Kaushal Silva off Dilshan. Sri Lanka made their way cautiously to 22 in reply before losing the wicket of Lahiru Thirimanne, who fell when Misbah turned to Mohammad Hafeez and reaped the dividend when the off-spinner delivered a beauty that clean bowled him.
Paranavitana, who has faced 141 balls and Sangakkara, who has kept out 86, faced plenty of nervous moments from spinners Hafeez, Rehman and Ajmal but survived to fight another day - with Sri Lanka still facing a huge task to get back into the game.
The opening Test between the two sides was drawn when Kumar Sangakkara propped up Sri Lanka's second innings with a double-century; the sort of innings that is required of him, or one of his team-mates, once again.
Score in brief:
Pakistan 1st innings
R
B
4s
6s
SR
Mohammad Hafeez
lbw b Prasad
33
63
4
0
52.38
23.3 they have created pressure all morning, and now they have got the big wicket of Hafeez, rapped on the pads with one that came back in a long way from outside off, would that angle have taken it down leg, umpire Hill did not think so, tight call, hit him above the knee roll as well, but Sri Lanka have sent the openers back 64/2
Taufeeq Umar
c †Silva b Prasad
27
75
3
0
36.00
21.1 that is it for Taufeeq, he has gone for the drive to a full delivery going across him, and edged it for Kaushal to take a tumbling first catch in Test cricket, the runs had just not been coming for him, even as he was trying too hard 63/1
Azhar Ali
lbw b Dilshan
100
242
9
0
41.32
97.5 Dilshan strikes again, just as the day is about to end, Azhar went down to sweep a tossed up full delivery that turned in to strike him on the pad, would have gone on to hit middle and leg but did that hit him outside the line of off? It did strike him in line but replays show there was some bat on that, oh dear, what a way to bring an end to a break-through knock 275/4
Younis Khan
b Dilshan
55
103
2
1
53.39
63.2 Dilshan strikes at the stroke of tea, Younis falls in a manner similar to how Mahela fell in Abu Dhabi, trying to cut a flighted and sharply spinning offbreak, and edges it on to the stumps 181/3
Misbah-ul-Haq*
c Jayawardene b Welegedara
41
113
2
1
36.28
100.4 oh well, Misbah is gone pretty early, he has had a quite needless poke at this one outside off after having left so many deliveries similar to this one, slightly fuller and going further away, Misbah goes after it feebly and a fine tumbling catch is taken in the slips, it is Mahela who holds on as he dives to his right at second slip 283/5
Saeed Ajmal
c Mathews b Welegedara
20
51
1
0
39.21
114.2 this time he is gone, and it is Angelo who makes up for his earlier drop, it was floated wide and full outside off, Ajmal had a go at it, the thick edge flew straight in to Angelo's hands, and he banged it in the ground after taking it 324/6
Asad Shafiq
c Jayawardene b Prasad
59
101
4
1
58.41
133.1 Asad is gone to a pretty ordinary shot, it was short outside off, but he lazily steered it off the front foot straight to gully, even Hafeez would have taken this one 394/7
Adnan Akmal
c †Silva b Dilshan
41
80
4
0
51.25
141.1 Dilshan ends the innings with some flight, drift and turn from outside off that produces an outside edge from Adnan as he pushes inside the line, Kaushal snaps up a fine catch 403/10
Abdur Rehman
b Herath
0
12
0
0
0.00
Umar Gul
lbw b Herath
2
3
0
0
66.66
136.5 Herath now has two in the over, he catches Gul on the crease with the one that slides in with the angle from a length, this time umpire Tarapore upholds Sri Lanka's loud appeal, but there was too much angle on that one 399/9
Junaid Khan
not out
0
7
0
0
0.00
Extras
(b 10, lb 10, w 2, nb 3)
25
Total
(all out; 141.1 overs)
403
(2.85 runs per over)
Bowling
O
M
R
W
Econ
Welegedara
29
7
79
2
2.72
(1w)
100.4 to Misbah-ul-Haq, oh well, Misbah is gone pretty early, he has had a quite needless poke at this one outside off after having left so many deliveries similar to this one, slightly fuller and going further away, Misbah goes after it feebly and a fine tumbling catch is taken in the slips, it is Mahela who holds on as he dives to his right at second slip 283/5
114.2 to Saeed Ajmal, this time he is gone, and it is Angelo who makes up for his earlier drop, it was floated wide and full outside off, Ajmal had a go at it, the thick edge flew straight in to Angelo's hands, and he banged it in the ground after taking it 324/6
Prasad
32
2
104
3
3.25
(3nb)
21.1 to Taufeeq Umar, that is it for Taufeeq, he has gone for the drive to a full delivery going across him, and edged it for Kaushal to take a tumbling first catch in Test cricket, the runs had just not been coming for him, even as he was trying too hard 63/1
23.3 to Mohammad Hafeez, they have created pressure all morning, and now they have got the big wicket of Hafeez, rapped on the pads with one that came back in a long way from outside off, would that angle have taken it down leg, umpire Hill did not think so, tight call, hit him above the knee roll as well, but Sri Lanka have sent the openers back 64/2
133.1 to Asad Shafiq, Asad is gone to a pretty ordinary shot, it was short outside off, but he lazily steered it off the front foot straight to gully, even Hafeez would have taken this one 394/7
Herath
37
5
89
2
2.40
136.2 to Abdur Rehman, Herath gets one past Rehman, who charges out for an attempted swing over midwicket as he sees flight from over the stumps, is beaten and the ball turns in to strike the stumps 397/8
136.5 to Umar Gul, Herath now has two in the over, he catches Gul on the crease with the one that slides in with the angle from a length, this time umpire Tarapore upholds Sri Lanka's loud appeal, but there was too much angle on that one 399/9
Lakmal
24
8
54
0
2.25
(1w)
Dilshan
19.1
1
57
3
2.97
Sri Lanka 2nd innings
R
B
4s
6s
SR
Paranavitana
not out
42
141
2
0
29.78
Thirimanne
b Mohammad Hafeez
8
45
0
0
17.77
13.1 Hafeez has got the breakthrough! flight from round the wicket, pitches on a length on middle, draws him forward, and spins past the push to clip off stump, Hafeez is delighted 22/1
The hopes of vice-captain Mahmudullah to return to the national team with the second Test against West Indies were shattered after he was diagnosed with a fractured bone in his right thumb on Thursday.
Mahmudullah was all set to go through a fitness test on Thursday before getting into the Bangladesh squad for the second Test match.
The all-rounder has just recovered from dengue he picked up on October 10 and which kept him out of the series against the West Indies so far.
But misery seems to be a constant companion of him as he was hit by a ball in his thumb nail while batting in the nets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday.
Though it did not seem to be severe on the very night and while puncturing the injured finger to remove the blood clot it was found that new blood was coming out.
He felt pain when padding up for practice that prompted the physicians to have an X-ray which finally showed he had fractured his thumb.
‘He is having a fracture in his right thumb and is ruled out for three weeks,’ Debashish Chowdhury, a physician of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, told reporters on Thursday.
‘He will join the camp for the Pakistan series on November 18 and we hope he will recover by that time,’ he added.
His injury opened the door for Imrul Kayes to have another opportunity after the opener accumulated 511 runs in 15 Tests at 17.03.
