Messi Records His 400th Goal for FC Barcelona

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Lionel Messi is making history once again…

The 27-year-old Argentine soccer star reached another career milestone in an FC Barcelona uniform when he notched his 400th goal for the team in Saturday’s La Liga meeting with Valencia at the Camp Nou.

Messi completed his fourth ton for the Blaugrana with the very last kick of the match, latching onto a long ball over the top and landing the milestone after tucking home the rebound after his initial shot was saved by Diego Alves.

It was Messi’s 278th league goal for the Primera Division leaders, with a further 75 coming in the Champions League, 32 in the Copa Del Rey, 10 in the Spanish Super Cup, four in the Club World Cup as well as one strike in the UEFA Super Cup.

Messi had become Barca‘s all-time leading goalscorer in March last year when he exceeded Paulino Alcantara‘s 369 goals for the club scored between 1912 and 1927.

The Argentina forward, who has won the Ballon d’Or on four occasions, also holds the record for leading goalscorer in a single La Liga season, with 50 in 2011-12.

Among a host of other records, he’is also the joint record scorer in European Cup history on 75 goals, level with Cristiano Ronaldo. And he’s also tied with Ronaldo for the most La Liga hat tricks, with both forwards having scored 24.

Messi Breaks Champions League Goal-Scoring Record

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Lionel Messi has shattered another record…

The 27-year-old Argentine soccer star broke the Champions League goal-scoring record with the 72nd of his career during Barcelona‘s Group F game against APOEL on Tuesday. He then went on to cap the feat by completing a hat trick.

Messi entered Barca‘s game tied with Real Madrid legend Raul with 71, and took the record after diverting Rafinha‘s goal-bound shot into the net in the 38th minute. He then added his 73rd and 74th career competition goals in the second half.

Messi matched the record in just 90 games, while Raul played in 142 Champions League games for Madrid.

Cristiano Ronaldo is also in the race for the record, with the Real Madrid star having scored 70 Champions League goals in 106 appearances. The Portuguese forward could well surpass Messi’s total against Basel on Wednesday.

The achievement was the second goal-scoring record Messi has broken in a week. He moved past Telmo Zarra’s La Liga tally of 251 goals with a hat trick against Sevilla on Saturday.

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola said Messi’s Liga record — which currently stands at 253 goals — will not last for 60 years, but 600 years.”

Messi Reaches 400-Goal Milestone in Barcelona Win Against Granada

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Lionel Messi has smashed another record…

The 27-year-old Argentine soccer star and first-ever four-time Ballon d’Or winner scored his 400th career goal on Saturday as FC Barcelona smashed six unanswered goals past Granada at the Nou Camp.

Messi’s landmark strike came in the 61st minute of the match — heading in Dani Alves‘ volleyed cross — to put Barca up 4-0 after a goal from Ivan Rakitic and two from Neymar had all but wrapped up three points before the break.

Neymar completed his hat-trick in the 66th minute before Messi tucked away his 401st career goal late on to complete the rout and seal Barca’s biggest win in La Liga this season.

Messi has now scored 359 goals in competitive matches for Barcelona and 42 for Argentina.

“I never imagined I could achieve anything like this in my career,” Messi said on his official Facebook page.

“Thanks for all the congratulations on scoring 400 goals with FC Barcelona and the Argentinian National Team. I’ll continue working hard to reach more targets,” he added.

The four-ton mark was passed by his La Liga rival Cristiano Ronaldo last January, but the Argentine has bragging rights after reaching the total in just 525 appearances compared to the Portuguese who took 653 games.

Messi Receives FIFA’s Golden Ball Award After This Year’s World Cup

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Despite a heartbreaking loss in the World Cup final, Lionel Messi is still a golden boy.

The soccer star and captain of the Argentina national team was awarded FIFA‘s Golden Ball award as the best player of the FIFA World Cup after leading his team to Sunday’s final.

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who kept a clean sheet as his side beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time at the Maracana to claim their fourth World Cup, was awarded the Golden Gloves as the tournament’s top keeper.

“It is a sad prize that I won because we wanted to lift the trophy for Argentina,” Messi said of his consolation prize, as if the look on his face had not already said it all.

Four-times World Player of the Year Messi had a quiet game by his standards on Sunday but was the driving force behind Argentina’s push to their first World Cup final since 1990.

He scored four of their six goals in the group stage, set up Angel di Maria‘s winner in the last 16 against Switzerland and shouldered the burden of slotting home Argentina’s first penalty in their shootout win over the Netherlands in the semi-finals.

Messi also won four successive man-of-the-match awards against Bosnia, Iran, Argentina and Switzerland.

While some pundits thought Messi looked jaded after the group stage and did not influence his team as much, Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said he was a deserving winner.

“I think Lionel reached the pantheon of the greats a while back,” Sabella told reporters. “Yes, I think he deserved it. He played a great World Cup to get us where he did.

“I think it’s very deserved.”

Germany forward Thomas Mueller was runner-up to Messi and Netherlands winger Arjen Robben was third.

France midfielder Paul Pogba was named young player of the tournament, while Colombia took the Fair Play Award after receiving just five yellow cards in five matches in Brazil.

FIFA also praised their positive play and the behavior of their players and officials.

Higuain’s Gorgeous Goals Puts Argentina into the World Cup Semifinals

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Gonzalo Higuain has helped propel Argentina into the FIFA World Cup semifinals for the first time in 24 years.

Early in Argentina’s game against Belgium, the Argentinean footballer blasted a half-volley inside the far post on Saturday at Estadio Nacional to give La Albiceleste a 1-0 lead in the match.

Higuain’s netting in the eighth minute gave his team all they would need to advance.

With the win, Argentina has advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1990 and further buttressing his reputation as one of the sport’s all-time greats.

In pursuit of its first crown since Diego Maradona’s 1986 squad, Argentina will face off against the Netherlands in Wednesday’s match in Sao Paulo.

“Argentina has gone a long time without doing this,” sais Lionel Messi, “and it was us who crossed the frontier.”

Rodriguez Scores Two Goals to Lead Colombia Into Its First World Cup Quarterfinal

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like James Rodriguez is emerging at this year’s FIFA World Cup superstar…

The 22-year-old Colombian footballer scored a pair of goals to give Colombia a 2-0 victory on Saturday over Uruguay, earning his team its first-ever World Cup quarterfinal berth.

The Uruguayans came into the match at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Maracana Stadium with a chip on their shoulder after Luis Suarez was given a nine-match international ban for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in Group D action Tuesday, but the loss of their star striker proved too much against Jose Pekerman’s talented squad.

Both teams started off the match at an unhurried pace, patiently looking to mount their attacks in the Round of 16 knockout match.

But when it seemed that the crowd of 73,804 might have to wait a while for the action to heat up, Rodriguez produced one of the most stunning goals of the 2014 World Cup in the 28th minute.

The play started with midfielder Abel Aguilar lofting a ball in the direction of forward Jackson Martinez, who was standing just outside Uruguay’s penalty area.

Uruguayan defender Maxi Pereira tried to clear the ball but it went back to Aguilar, who headed to Rodriguez.

Rodriguez proceeded to bounce the ball off his chest to give himself some space and then, without letting it hit the ground, fired a left-footed rocket from 25 yards out that hit the crossbar over the outstretched arm of net minder Fernando Muslera and ricocheted into the goal.

It was Rodriguez’s fourth goal of the World Cup and tied him for the tournament lead along with Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Brazil’s Neymar and Germany’s Thomas Müller.

But Rodriguez, who plays for AS Monaco in Ligue 1, wasn’t done yet.

Just five minutes into the second half, midfielder Juan Guillermo Cuadrado received a cross from defender Pablo Armero and headed it back across the box to Rodriguez, who knocked a right-footed shot into a practically empty net for his tournament-leading fifth goal.

Nearly an entire half of soccer still remained to be played but Uruguay, lacking Suarez’s firepower, was unable to cut into the lead against a well-organized defense backed by stellar goalkeeper David Ospina.

Next up for this history-making Colombian squad will be host nation Brazil, which topped Chile on penalties earlier Saturday.

That quarterfinal clash will be played Friday at Castelao Stadium in the northeastern city of Fortaleza.

Messi Scores Two Goals Against Nigeria to Tie Neymar at the World Cup

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Lionel Messi is proving his critics wrong at this year’s FIFA World Cup…

The 37-year-old Argentine soccer star – his country’s team captain – has lit up the World Cup stage with four goals in his first three games, matching Brazil’s Neymar, his fellow teammate at FC Barcelona, for the most goals so far.

Messi, who has had to contend with critics who say he never delivers when playing in an Argentina jersey, has now scored more times in this tournament than his previous two World Cups combined.

Messi’s wwo goals against Nigeria in Wednesday’s 3-2 victory helped Argentina secure the top spot in Group F and move the team into the Round of 16.

“Messi is one heck of a player,” Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi told reporters. “You can’t take that away from him. He’s blessed. I think there are other players in the Argentina squad who are very strong, but Messi is from Jupiter.”

Messi left Argentina for Spain at the age of 13 — a move which led many in his homeland to question whether he had taken on a Catalan identity by the time he grew into one of the world’s greats.

That myth will surely be extinguished should Messi lead his country to its first World Cup triumph since 1986 — and the signs are increasingly encouraging.

He has now scored 42 goals in 88 international appearances while playing with an energy which suggests he may have been saving his best for last following a relatively poor season at Barcelona, which was interrupted by injury.

His last-gasp goal which secured a 1-0 win over a valiant Iran was a moment of magic which will long be remembered.

That goal, which came just moments after Diego Maradona — arguably Argentina’s greatest ever player — had left the stadium, appeared to signal his arrival as the nation’s new hero.

Messi, who turned 27 on Tuesday, said the perfect birthday gift would be the World Cup title — and given his recent performances, it looks like that’s quite possible.

Messi’s Late Goal Kicks Argentina Into the World Cup Round of 16

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It came late in the game, but Lionel Messi still performed a stunning magic trick to prove why he’s commonly ranked as the world’s best soccer player.

The 26-year-old Argentinean footballer, a four-time Ballon d’Orwinner, finally found a way through Iran’s defensive wall with an awe-inspiring goal in stoppage time on Saturday to lead Argentina toa tense 1-0 victory, earning his team a place in the FIFA World Cup round of 16.

Iran had defended solidly throughout the game and took the match to Argentina in the second half, creating several chances to win the Group F game and cause a tournament sensation.

But Iran was punished for those missed chances when Messi picked up the ball about 20 meters out and smacked a shot into the left-hand side.

“In the first half, we had four or five clear chances to score a goal, and in the second half they complicated things for us with counterattacks,” Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said, “but having Messi resolved everything.”

It was another instance of Messi’s brilliance, and showed why he’s been voted world player of the year four times. Messi, getting a rare touch, quickly moved the ball toward his dangerous left foot and fired a curling shot just beyond the reach of the diving goalkeeper and into the left corner of the net.

“When I saw that I had scored I was very happy, because we were in added time already and wanted to qualify for the next phase,” Messi said.

Up until that point, he had been kept quiet by Iran’s stoic defending, while Argentina had at times been exposed to counterattacks.

“It was a difficult game to be honest,” Messi said. “They were able to close up at the back, so it was difficult for us to break down the defence. It was very hot for us.”

Iran had several chances to win it, especially in the second half. The best came in the 67th minute, when midfielder Ashkan Dejagah’s powerful header from close range was tipped just over the bar by Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero.

“We know that it would be a difficult, tense match,” Romero said. “Thank God I could get my hand on the ball and it didn’t go in. Messi then rubbed his magic lamp and we won.”

Shakira Releases Official Video for the World Cup Anthem “La La La (Brazil 2014)”

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Shakira is having a World (Cup) of fun in her latest music video…

The 37-year-old Colombian superstar has released the official music video for “La La La (Brazil 2014)“, her new 2014 FIFA World Cup anthem.

In the video, Shakira shows off her energetic dance moves in a black floor-length dress while a bunch of people play soccer.

To help her get the world moving, Shakira recruited some big names in soccer, including her boyfriend Gerard Pique, to make cameo appearances.

The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer’s beau flashes a big grin in the clip, happily singing a little part of the song alongside his Futbol Club Barcelona teammates including Cesc Fabregas, Lionel Messi and Neymar.

But Shakira’s son with Pique, Milan, steals the show with his apperance.

“La La La (Brazil 2014)”, featuring Brazilian musician Carlinhos Brown, is a World Cup-themed rework of her track called “Dare (La La La)” which appears in her recently released self-titled album Shakira.

Shakira partnered with Activia for the new version, saying, “With ‘La La La (Brazil 2014)’ we want to make a small contribution so that everybody knows about the outstanding work the World Food Programme is doing to fight hunger.”

Shakira previously recorded “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Messi’s Hat-Trick Leads Barcelona to a 4-3 Win Over Real Madrid

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a clasico moment for Lionel Messi and his Barcelona teammates…

Futbol Club Barcelona is now within one point of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga as the team came from behind twice thanks to a hat-trick from the 26-year-old Argentine soccer star.

Messi miraculous play helped Barcelona to a thrilling El Clasico win at the Santiago Bernabeu by a final score of 4-3.

Both sides went in tied at 2-2 at halftime as a record 19th goal against Madrid from Messi cancelled out Karim Benzema‘s double after Andres Iniesta had put Barca in front.

Cristiano Ronaldo then put Madrid back in front from the penalty spot, but the hosts were reduced to 10-men when Sergio Ramos pulled down Neymar inside the box 10 minutes later and Messi leveled once more from the spot.

And the Argentine won the game with another penalty seven minutes from time after Iniesta had been felled by Xabi Alonso.

A first defeat for Real in 32 games means Atletico Madrid remains atop the standings thanks to their better head-to-head record against Los Blancos with Barca still in third.

“The league starts a new now,” said Barca boss Gerardo Martino. ”More than the mathematical distance we were behind, the impression was people wrote us off. Atletico Madrid were always in the fight and I think that after this result we are too. We knew if we didn’t win tonight it was over for us. We still don’t have matters in our own hands, but we’ll now fight till the end.”

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