Leo Messi: "Uruguay didn't want to play football against Argentina"

Leo Messi accused Uruguay of doing little else other than trying to bully Argentina in Tuesday's Copa America clash. Sergio Aguero scored the only goal of a bruising encounter in La Serena that featured six yellow cards and Argentina coach Gerardo Martino being sent to the stands in his side's 1-0 win.

Messi felt Oscar Tabarez's men were to blame for the ugly nature of the game, claiming his team-mates had been left with no choice but to fight fire with fire. 

"Uruguay wanted to play hard with a lot of contact," the Barcelona superstar told reporters. "We demonstrated that we know how to play this way too, even if it is not the thing we want most.

"However, we tried to play at the same level during the whole game but Uruguay set out a very tight match. They did not want to play a lot.

"We tried to attack them from both flanks. They were expecting to recover the ball in order to play long.

"Luckily, we got Aguero's goal and then we fought, as that was what the game was asking for."

It was a crucial victory for Argentina, who had blown a two-goal lead in drawing with Paraguay in their tournament-opener. 

However, the 2014 World Cup runners-up are now top of Group B going into their final game, against winless Jamaica. "Our goal is the same now as when we arrived," Messi added. "It was a pity the draw against Paraguay. We were leading 2-0 and we couldn't win. "However, now we're where we wanted. We are on top and we get to rely on ourselves to qualify in the first position."

FC Barcelona land six players on all-league squad

FC Barcelona ran away with the lion's share of the eleven coveted spots on the 2014/15 La Liga ideal 11, published by The Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) on Monday. The Catalans making the team were goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, defenders Dani Alves, Gerard Piqué, and Jordi Alba, midfielder Ivan Rakitic, and striker Leo Messi, bringing to six the number of FC Barcelona representatives on the squad. The remaining five slots went to Valencia's Nicolás Otamendi, Sevilla's Grzegorz Krychowiak, Atlético Madrid's Antoine Griezmann, and Real Madrid's James Rodríguez and Cristiano Ronaldo.

 

FC Barcelona's Luis Enrique Martínez was named La Liga's coach of the year.

This new announcement of awards for FC Barcelona comes just a few days after the UEFA named its all-Champions League squad. Of the 18 players selected,10 were from FC Barcelona.

The 2014/15 season has finished for Ronaldo, but not for Messi.

The season has finished for Ronaldo, but not for Messi. His fight to go one better than the Portuguese is not yet over - there is the honour of being the season's top goalscorer to play for. Ronaldo signed off his footballing year with a hat trick against Armenia, giving Portugal their much-needed victory which was a giant step towards qualifying for the Euros next summer. These last three strikes saw him finish the season with 66 goals from a total of 60 games, meaning an average strike rate of 1.1 goals per match.

Messi has a maximum of five games left to play this season, depending on how far Argentina get in the Copa América. 'La Pulga' scored from the penalty spot in his country's draw with Paraguay and now he is preparing himself for the games against Uruguay and Jamaica before the quarter-finals. This last goal from the 12-yard spot puts the Argentine ace on 62 goals - oddly enough, from 62 games, making his strike rate a goal a game. He therefore needs four more to come level with Ronaldo - something he is more than capable of doing.

Messi and Ronaldo are way above anybody else. Nobody comes even close to the goals they have scored, except for one man. Jonathon Soriano, who plays in the Austrian league has proven to be as deadly this season. The Red Bull Salzburg forward has put the ball into the back of the net 44 times from 45 games. Of course, Austria's is not such a demanding league. If we look at the more competitive leagues, we find Agüero (38 goals from 48 games, an average strike rate of 0.79), Neymar (48 from 62, an average of 0.72), Luis Suárez (28 from 46, 0.6), Tévez (27 from 52, 0.51) and Lacazette (32 from 46, 0.69). Nobody comes close to the two Real and Barça stars.

Neymar - the alternative FIFA Ballon d'Or pick

The Copa América could provide the platform that Neymar needs to strengthen his bid to win the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or.

"Him and 10 more" was the headline used recently in São Paulo newspaper Folha to succinctly describe Brazil's tight victory over Peru. Everything revolved around Neymar in the opening match of the tournament for 'La Canarinha': he scored their first goal from a Dani Alves assist, he had supporters on their feet after a double flick-over left Luis Advíncula in a twist, he almost netted a second with a shot that hit the bar and he presented the winning goal on a plate to Douglas Costa in the 92nd minute. "I played a good pass, but he did 70% of the work", stated the Barça star, who was chosen man of the match.

Brazil have been accused of being over-reliant on the 23-year-old, who has scored nine goals and provided three assists since the World Cup, meaning he has been involved in more than half of the team's goals in that period. Nobody else has scored more (Diego Tardelli and Roberto Firmino come next in the charts with three) or set up more (Willian and Filipe Luís also stand on three). However, after the Peru game Dunga denied claims of Brazil being a one-man team: "Neymar is decisive, but the whole team contributes. Dani Alves also got an assist, Douglas scored..."

The Copa América could be the perfect showcase for Neymar to stake his claim for this year's Ballon d'Or. The Brazilian is leading the chasing pack to dislodge Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have won each of the last seven editions, and is considered a certainty to make it on to the podium at the very least. The magician looks to be on course to emulate another Santos alumnus, the great Pelé. As the legendary Tostão, a World Cup winner at Mexico 1970, put it: "Neymar is on track to become the second best Brazilian player of all time".

Leo Messi refused man of the match award

Argentina captain Leo Messi refused the man of the match award for his side’s 2-2 draw against Paraguay because he was furious with how his team threw away a two-goal lead in their Copa America opener.

Messi was key in the build-up to Sergio Aguero’s strike and scored Argentina’s second from the penalty spot, but missed chances in the second half to put the game out of Paraguay’s reach and was in no mood for a photo call following the final whistle on Saturday.

A representative from MasterCard, who hand out the awards in every match in the continental competition, went to the Argentina dressing room to inform the 27-year-old he had been chosen to receive the prize but was told Messi would not accept the award.

Following the Barcelona forward’s refusal, MasterCard were keen to pick another Argentine player after the fantastic first half performance from Gerardo Martino’s men, but the mood in the dressing room was sombre and the representative was told that none of the players were willing to accept the accolade.

It was then decided to give the prize to one of Paraguay’s two goalscorers and Nelson Valdez - who netted the first for the Albirroja before Lucas Barrios’ late leveller - was on hand to pick up the unwanted man of the match award.

Joan Laporta has announced he will stand in the upcoming Barcelona presidential election

The Catalan politician , Joan Laporta , has already had one period as the Camp Nou side's chief, having spent seven years there from 2003 to 2010. During that time, Barca won four league titles and two Champions Leagues.

The club's board has been dissolved as they prepare to enter the election campaign and the 52-year-old has announced that he is in the running to replace Josep Maria Bartomeu, who is standing for re-election.

"As you know, I will be a candidate ahead of Barcelona presidency elections," Laporta said in a video announcing his candidacy. "I am doing it to make Barcelona a club for everyone. I have to say that I feel more prepared than ever to be the president of this club.

"I have more experience, I have my faults too as you know, but I have the same principles. For me this club is more than a club. It’s a model based on Johan Cruyff, La Masia, Catalunya and Unicef.

"I will defend this model with all my strength. For many years I have received the support of many Barcelona fans, I thank you with all my heart. It’s one of the reasons I want to be president again.

"I will need your support more than ever.”

Despite being involved in a criminal investigation over fraud in relation to the signing of Neymar, Bartomeu may prove tough to dislodge after the club won the treble and he tied up futures of coach Luis Enrique and Dani Alves.

Laporta is the sixth man to enter the race, with Bartomeu, Toni Freixa, Agusti Benedito, Jordi Majo and Jordi Farre also looking to gain control of the club.

The election will be held on July 18 at Camp Nou.