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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the field with the gleeful chants of “Messi, Messi, Messi!” ringing in his ears from delighted Al-Hilal fans who had just watched their Saudi Pro League team beat the Portugal superstar's Al-Nassr 3-0 in the Riyadh Derby on Friday. Saudi soccer has not been the same since the former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward completed a move last December. Lots of people want to be like Cristiano Ronaldo but few want to work like Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo may have his work cut out to help his team win title No. 10 but, given his form so far this season, he may still have the last laugh with the Messi chants fading away.

Persons: — Cristiano Ronaldo, “ Messi, Messi, Al, Portugal superstar's, Ballon, — Aleksandar Mitrovic, Milinkovic, Savic, Hilal, Ronaldo, Cristiano, ”, Fahad, “ Al, Sadio Mane, Marcelo Brozovic, Alex Telles, “ Cristiano, ” Al, Luis Castro, Cristiano Ronaldo, ” Ronaldo, Mitrovic, Hilal’s, Germain, Neymar, Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly, Salem, Saleh Al, Shehri, Lionel Messi's, ___ Organizations: Saudi Pro League, Riyadh Derby, Serbian, Al, King Fahd International, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Fahad Al, Associated Press, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Paris Saint, English Premier League, Saudi Arabian Locations: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Riyadh, Saudi Arabian, Saudi, Al, Hilal, Asia, Paris, Brazil, Lionel Messi's Argentina, cryptocurrency

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Lionel Messi's Argentina squad celebrated like they'd won the World Cup again after a dramatic 1-0 win over archrival Brazil on Tuesday. It was Brazil's first home defeat ever in World Cup qualifying, a game that was delayed because of a brawl between fans in the stands. It was also the first time since 2009 that the five-time World Cup winners failed to score in a home game. Political Cartoons View All 1262 ImagesMessi left the pitch in the 78th minute amid a mixture of jeers and applause from Brazil fans. The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada will include 48 teams, meaning direct entry for the top six teams from South America.

Persons: — Lionel Messi's, they'd, Messi, Nicolás, Fernando Diniz, they're, Ángel di Maria, “, Rodrigo de Paul, kneeled, Cristian Romero, Gabriel Martinelli, Rodrygo, Dibu Martinez, Otamendi, Lionel Scaloni, Endrick, Joelinton, ___ Organizations: RIO DE, archrival Brazil, Maracana, Inter Miami, South, Copa America, Brazil, ”, FIFA Locations: RIO DE JANEIRO, — Lionel Messi's Argentina, Brazil, Barcelona, Argentine, Argentina, Rio de Janeiro, Maracana, Rio, Qatar, ” Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, Chile, United States, Mexico, Canada, South America, Bolivia, Montevideo, Peru

☆ Colombia fight back to shock Brazil, Uruguay beat Messi's Argentina
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 17 (Reuters) - Brazil lost their second consecutive World Cup qualifier match as Colombia fought back to win 2-1 against the five-times champions, who dropped to fifth place in the South American standings on Thursday. Brazil started well and dominated early proceedings, taking the lead in the fourth minute through a strike by Gabriel Martinelli, assisted by Vinicius Jr.'s fine first touch pass. Diaz burst into tears as he dedicated the win to his father who was celebrating emotionally in the stands. Goals in each half from Ronald Araujo and Darwin Nunez gave Uruguay victory over Lionel Messi's Argentina in a nervy affair at the World Cup champions' Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires. The visitors were the better side from start to finish and the win put them second in the standings on 10 points, two behind Argentina.

Persons: Luis Diaz, Gabriel Martinelli, Vinicius Jr, Alisson, Diaz, Ronald Araujo, Darwin Nunez, Lionel Messi's, Araujo, Emiliano Martinezm, Nunez, mightily, Messi, TyC, Fernando Kallas, Michael Perry, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Liverpool, Real Madrid, Metropolitano, Argentina, URUGUAY OUTCLASS WORLD, BUENOS AIRES, South America, Uruguay, World, TyC Sports, Thomson Locations: Brazil, Colombia, Barranquilla, Rio de Janeiro, URUGUAY, BUENOS, BUENOS AIRES Argentina, Uruguay, Lionel Messi's Argentina, Buenos Aires, Venezuela, Ecuador

☆ Morocco playing seven games at one World Cup is priceless, says Regragui
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Rohith Nair | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"But I told my players this is our seventh World Cup game. If you told any Morocco fan we would be playing our seventh game on Dec. 17, they would be proud. "Morocco played six World Cup games in 20-odd years and now we've played six games in a month - this is priceless. After the first game (where Morocco and Croatia drew 0-0 in the group stage) we knew the performance was very good," Regragui said. "I don't know if it's Modric's last game, he's a competitive warrior and will want to finish his World Cup in style.

☆ Shocks aplenty but Asia again unrepresented at business end
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Nick Mulvenney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

DOHA, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Asia will again be unrepresented in the World Cup quarter-finals but several upset wins and vibrant displays have many in the continent feeling that the gap to the best teams is closing. Japan, South Korea and Australia made it out of the group stage for a record representation in the last 16 but none were able emulate the 2002 Taegeuk Warriors and the North Korean side of 1966 by making the quarter-finals. All the people that are involved in the football in Asia as well as Japan I think can share our happiness." Of all the success for the Asian confederation sides, Australia's progressing to the last 16 was perhaps the most surprising given they had scraped into the tournament via two playoffs. "I do believe that Asian football is getting stronger and stronger and stronger, and we're catching up quickly."

Interest in this niche breed of cryptocurrencies, typically linked to sports teams like Barcelona or Brazil, has been charged up by the soccer World Cup which began on Nov. 20. The token of Lionel Messi's Argentina side slumped 25% to $5.26 following the team's shock defeat by Saudi Arabia in their opening World Cup game. The broader crypto market malaise is partly to blame for price drops, according to researchers who said the flighty assets were wilting as investors shunned risk. "But the first perception should never be that you're buying the fan token from a profit-generating standpoint." It facilitates trading of most fan coins, describing buying such tokens as joining a loyalty scheme with exclusive benefits and prizes.

☆ Wounded Argentina must put Saudi trauma behind them
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Andrew Cawthorne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Nov 22, 2022; Lusail, Qatar; Argentina forward Lionel Messi (10) plays the ball against Saudi Arabia during a group stage match during the 2022 World Cup at Lusail Stadium. Yet he and his disconsolate team might take heart from 32 years ago when Argentina began the World Cup in Italy with a shock loss to Cameroon but still went on to reach the final. Of course," said former Argentina defender Pablo Zabaleta, citing the 1990 run, although the South Americans were to lose that final to West Germany. 'DO IT FOR MESSI, MARADONA'Coach Lionel Scaloni sent out the same signal. Scaloni must quickly reinstill the meanness and steel that had served Argentina so well on their remarkable unbeaten run since mid-2019.

☆ Morning Bid: On the fence
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Steve Scherer | David Ljunggren | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The market has been looking, almost clamouring, for signs of slowdown in the pace of interest rate hikes. And so, the dollar remains on guard, Asian equities mostly tracked Wall Street gains and gold stayed flat . The tentativeness among investors is in stark contrast with the soccer world, which remains in shock after Saudi Arabia came from behind to beat Lionel Messi's Argentina in the World Cup. The central bank warned the economy might have to spend an entire year in recession to bring inflation under control. The first bankruptcy hearing for FTX showed that the collapsed crypto exchange has been the subject of cyberattacks and had "substantial" assets missing.

LUSAIL, Qatar, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Unheralded Saudi Arabia notched one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over Lionel Messi's Argentina thanks to a scintillating second half come back. But Saudi Arabia, the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament after Ghana, threw caution to the wind at the start of the second half, charging at Argentina's defence in front of a frenzied 88,012 crowd. Despite plenty of possession after that, Argentina were unable to penetrate Saudi Arabia, who were competing in their sixth World Cup but had never previously won an opening game. ", the green-clad Saudis chanted over and over in the Lusail Stadium, on their feet and greeting every clearance from their defence with a deafening roar. Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne and Shady Amir; Editing by Christian RadnedgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Saudi win over Argentina inspires Morocco on eve of Croatia clash
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Simon Jennings | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Saudis, the second-lowest ranked team at the World Cup and coached by former Morocco boss Herve Renard, beat Lionel Messi's Argentina 2-1 to deliver one of the biggest shocks in the tournament's history. Morocco are 10 places below 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia in the world rankings and Regragui said his team were inspired by the way the Saudis had outplayed Argentina. "If Croatia doesn't allow us to have full possession tomorrow, OK, then we need to be very strong at the back. He's shown us what we can do and I hope we'll be able to feel the same as Saudi Arabia." Morocco captain Romain Saiss said the Saudi win proved once again that anything was possible in football.

☆ Saudis stun Argentina to take 2-1 lead
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/4] Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group C - Argentina v Saudi Arabia - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - November 22, 2022 Saudi Arabia's Salem Al-Dawsari celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates REUTERS/Dylan MartinezLUSAIL, Qatar, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia took a shock 2-1 lead in the second half of their World Cup game against Lionel Messi's Argentina with brilliant individual goals from Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari. Al-Shehri squeezed in a low shot in the 48th minute while Al-Dawsari curled in a scorching strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 53rd minute to leave Argentina, one of the tournament favourites, looking shell-shocked. Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne and Shady Amir; Editing by Christian RadnedgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Messi's Argentina expected to roll over Saudis in Group C opener
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Andrew Cawthorne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The South Americans are on a 36-match unbeaten run with top scorer and captain Messi playing his fifth and last World Cup in search of the elusive honour that would grant him immortality at home alongside Diego Maradona. "I see him as always ... eager to enjoy the World Cup," said head coach Lionel Scaloni, trying to ease some of the pressure on his main man. Yet they have pedigree too: this is their sixth World Cup, they reached the last 16 in 1994, and they made it to Qatar by topping their group ahead of Japan. Renard's far lesser-known team is entirely home-based, with the financial clout of the Saudi Pro League ensuring few leading players aspire to venture overseas. Argentina will fully expect to beat Mexico and Poland in their other Group C games, whereas the Saudis may have to accept damage limitation in their opening match before a more realistic quest for points in their next two.

☆ Every World Cup 2022 squad announced: USMNT, Germany, Belgium and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

CNN —‘Tis the season for wall charts and fans gathering around to pick their starting teams for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. “It’s always difficult when a guy helps you get to the World Cup, he scores three goals in World Cup qualifying and isn’t going to be a part of the program. Again, it’s more about who we did add that we felt good about.”All but one of the 26 will be making their World Cup debut at this year’s tournament and, according to the USMNT, it will be the youngest team to qualify for the World Cup. Octavio Passos/Getty Images Europe/Getty ImagesGhanaManager: Otto AddoThe final squad has not been announced yet. READ: Meet Otto Addo, the coach responsible for guiding some of Europe’s brightest young talents (2021)—–PortugalManager: Fernando SantosThe final squad has not been announced yet.

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