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Monday Evening Ticker: Messi opens up about future; Kroos and S. Bender out for Germany; and more

Lionel Messi

By JUSTIN FERGUSON

Lionel Messi has hinted that he could return to Argentina to finish his career, saying that he still has a good relationship with his home country despite recent criticism.

The superstar forward told Argentinian television channel TyC Sports that he would like to return to his home country when his newborn son Thiago starts school.

“I would like to return to live in Rosario,” Messi said. “I do not know what will happen. My son will surely begin school there, then I do not know what will happen. I love it there. I have been a long time in Barcelona, and my home is here, but I always want to return home.”

Messi left Rosario club Newell’s Old Boys to join Barcelona’s youth system at the age of 13 and has played his entire professional career with the Catalan giants.

He also addressed criticisms from his fellow countrymen in the interview, saying that some attacks against him have been out of line. Messi said that he did not sing the national anthem before World Cup matches because he was angry with himself—not due to a lack of national pride.

“What they said seemed stupid to me,” he said. “Then I did not sing, it was because I was angry. So many bad things, ugly things, happened with the national team that I heard everything there is to hear…I knew I was not performing well for Argentina, but I was not the only one… I cried more than once, in 2006 and 2010, when we did not achieve our goals.”

Here are some more stories to wrap up your Monday:

KROOS AND S. BENDER OUT FOR UPCOMING WC QUALIFIER

German national team manager Joachim Loew will cross two more names off of his injury-filled roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan. Midfielders Toni Kroos and Sven Bender were both dropped from Die Mannschaft’s roster on Sunday.

Kroos, who sat out Bayern Munich’s 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, is still recovering from an inflamed knee. Borussia Dortmund’s Sven Bender will miss the qualifiers due to the flu.

Loew is already missing the likes of Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, Holger Badstuber, Miroslav Klose and Sven’s twin brother Lars for the Kazakhstan matches. Germany will look to overcome its depth issues and stay at the top of UEFA’s Group C.

POLICE INVESTIGATING WEST HAM FAN INCIDENTS

Two men were arrested Sunday after West Ham’s 2-0 loss at Chelsea for alleged racial incidents.

Police confirmed that the two men, who have met bail, were sitting in the West Ham supporters section at Stamford Bridge.

An investigation has also been launched into allegations of West Ham fans throwing objects at Frank Lampard and John Terry during Sunday’s match. Coins, bottles and hot dogs were thrown in the direction of Chelsea players as they celebrated former West Ham player Lampard’s 200th club goal. Terry was reported to be struck by an object while warming up near West Ham fans prior to the match.

West Ham could be punished by the FA for both incidents. The club said that anyone found to have thrown the objects will face a ban from attending future matches.

QUICK KICKS

West Bromwich Albion says that the club will deal with Peter Odemwingie internally following the striker’s recent Twitter outburst. (REPORT)

Bulgarian club Levski Sofia has refused to accept the resignation of coach Ilian Iliev, who quit the 26-time champions on Sunday. (REPORT)

Promotion candidate Watford, which is currently in third place in the Championship, has been placed under a transfer embargo. (REPORT)

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What do you think of these reports? What are your thoughts on Messi moving back to Argentina after his Barcelona career ends? Think the criticisms from his countrymen are justified?

Share your comments below.

Comments

  1. Leo is a classy person. He wouldn’t be the only “great” not to win a World Cup, Cryuff, comes to mind.

    They still have one more world cup. But truth is winning a world cup is not easy. You almost have to have a complete “perfect” team (from defenders to miss, to even subs!!!) I think the least overall superior team to win was probably Brazil 1994′

    Every other team, France, Brazil 2002, Italy, Spain have been stacked teams!

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  2. I like the trend of more players playing for their home country club teams. The idea of the money teams taking away players, not letting them be seen by huge populations of fans is always going to be there, but it doesn’t make it any less repulsive to me.

    I was reading a post where someone said the Neymar is pulling in close to $30 million a year. Even if that is way off, there is still quite a bit of room for money that keeps him where Brazilians can see him play. Messi has to be in a similar situation.

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  3. Messi is quite possibly the greatest quintessential athlete/role model you’ll ever see. He’s as humble as can be. He is a good person. He is a great team mate. He’s more about team than self. He values loyalty to club and community–including Rosales in Argentina.

    Not to mention he is a tireless worker, always pushing himself further and has become one of if not the greatest player ever.

    He maintains the Leo Messi Foundation and personally raises funds for it to help kids that were like himself in Argentina and also brings doctors from small towns in Argentina to Spain to receive training and education.

    Respect.

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    • Germany is the deepest team in the world right now, imo. Even with the injuries…

      ———————Gomez———————
      Draxler————-Ozil—————–Gotze
      ————Khedira—–Schweinsteiger—-
      Boateng———————————Lahm
      ———–Howedes—Mertesacker——–
      ———————-Neuer———————-

      And that leaves: Smelzer, Schurrle, Muller, Podolski, Gundogan just for the depth on the bench…….

      Reply
  4. For those who had attempted to compare Messi to Pele, here you clearly see Messi’s MEA CULPA for the whole team, not just himself for the thumping 2006-2010. I would drift to see his point because soccer is associative: one player cannot win a World Cup for the whole team! Now, think about Brazil’s squad in 1958-60-70! What do you insinuate about Pele? Forgive Messi, then the truth is clear as the day; the best squads win the World Cups! To me, Spain have the “finest” World class squads. Of course, moving back to Argentina after his career will be a good move for this legend and criticisms from his countrymen are not quite justified considering the tandem of a team. But, being in third place in World FIFA Ranking, the Argentinian squad is not underachieving as a team!

    Reply
      • If it was, could you blame him? I don’t see the issue as long as you can get the gist of what is being said.

        SBI and its childish readers…smh.

      • This response is pertinent and to the point!. The one who asked the question could not explain his drift. What I had expressed could be understood by non-hypocritical readers. Personally, I speak five languages; hence, I would not need to translate what I originally write in English! Thank you to Ceez for understanding that this reader does not get the “gist” of intelligent writing!

      • This response is pertinent and to the point. The reader really did not get the “gist” of what had been expressed. I would not need to originally translate what I said in view that I speak five languages! Non-hypocritical readers understand! Try to be one! He could’ve explained his drift before being so vague.

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