Messi banned for four Argentina games

Barcelona star Lionel Messi was suspended for four Argentina matches by FIFA on Tuesday for swearing at an assistant referee.

Messi was found guilty of "having directed insulting words at an assistant referee" in the World Cup qualifier against Chile last Thursday which Argentina won 1-0 thanks to a penalty from the Barcelona hitman.

Messi will miss Argentina's next South American qualifying game against Bolivia, scheduled for later on Tuesday, with the remainder of the suspension served over his country's subsequent World Cup qualifiers.

The decision was announced less than six hours before kickoff of the match in La Paz and means the five-times world player of the year will play in only one of Argentina's remaining five World Cup qualifiers.

His absence will be a severe blow to the two-times world champions who are struggling in the marathon South American campaign where results have included home defeats by Ecuador and Paraguay and a 3-0 mauling by arch-rivals Brazil.

Fifa said Messi had "directed insulting words at an assistant referee" during the 1-0 win over Chile on Friday, in which he scored the only goal from a penalty.

Television pictures showed him swearing at Brazilian linesman Emerson Augusto do Carvalho at the end of the match after being harried and fouled by Chile's Jean Beausejour. The official patted him on the head and tried to calm him down but Messi kept ranting.

Fifa said in a letter to the Argentine Football Association (AFA), published by Argentine media, that the incident was not detailed in the referee's report at the time and was brought to its attention by the media.

Carvalho said he did not understand at the time what Messi was saying.

"I only realised he was swearing afterwards on reading the press," he said.

Messi, 29, will also miss games away to Uruguay and home to Venezuela and Peru. The Barcelona forward will be eligible again when Argentina visit Ecuador on 10 October.

Argentina are third in the 10-team South American group with 22 points from 13 games but have only a two-point cushion over sixth-placed Chile, with Colombia (21) and Ecuador (20) sandwiched in between.

The top four qualify directly for the tournament in Russia next year and the fifth-placed side go into a playoff against a team from Oceania for another place in the global showpiece event.

"This decision is in line with the Fifa Disciplinary Committee’s previous rulings in similar cases," Fifa said.

The AFA said it would appeal against the decision.

"Messi is sad, today we lost an important player," said AFA national teams secretary Jorge Miadosqui.

Messi has not enjoyed the same success with Argentina as he has with Barcelona and announced his international retirement last year before back-tracking on his decision.

He also led a player media silence in protest at perceived mistreatment of the team.

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Ronaldo ends Welsh run

Sorry Man we need to do it ;)

Cristiano Ronaldo led Portugal into its second European Championship final, scoring with a powerful header and then setting up Nani's goal soon after in a 2-0 win over Wales this morning.

The goals came in the space of three minutes early in the second half in Lyon, helping end Wales' unlikely run to the semifinals in only its second ever major tournament.

Ronaldo equaled Michel Platini's record of nine goals in European Championship football when he timed a prodigious leap to perfection and planted home a header in the 50th.

The Real Madrid star then sent in a long-range shot that a sliding Nani diverted into the net from 10 metres.

Ronaldo- a serial winner in club football - will get another chance to win his first trophy on the international stage, with Portugal playing France or Germany in Sunday's final at the Stade de France.

Portugal last competed in a final at Euro 2004, when the team lost on home soil to Greece. A 19-year-old Ronaldo shed tears after that match, but he has managed to lead a much weaker side to another international showpiece.

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Did you know?

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GREEN or WHITE ???

GREEN or WHITE  ???

Can anyone predict the match ???

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Cristiano Ronaldo: Revealed – the reason why Portugal star threw a microphone into a lake

CRISTIANO RONALDO threw a reporter’s microphone into a lake today in an angry exchange – but you would be wrong to think that it is just because he is frustrated at how Euro 2016 has panned out for him.

The misfiring Portugal forward launched a microphone belonging to CMTV, a station which Ronaldo has had a long and chequered past with.

Ronaldo once sued and won a case against the Portuguese television station on grounds of invasion of privacy, and has boycotted the station since 2014.

He even refused to answer questions from their journalists at a press conferences.

It had been claimed that Ronaldo was asked whether he had seen his rival Lionel Messi score a sensational free-kick last night to become Argentina's record goalscorer, but reports in his native Portugal now suggest that it was his long-standing feud with CMTV which was the reason for the angry exchange, in which he grabbed the reporter's microphone and threw it into the lake near Portugal's team hotel in Lyon.

Ronaldo has endured a frustrating Euro 2016 so far, in which he was marked out of the game against Iceland and then saw his penalty agonisingly hit the post against Austria.

Portugal take on Hungary tonight knowing that they must win to progress at the tournament in France. Should they finish second they will play Roy Hodgson's England in the Last 16 on Monday.

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Cristiano Ronaldo says he's the world's best soccer player of the last year

Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted he has been the best footballer in the world over the last 20 years.

The 31-year-old has been the standout star of his generation alongside Lionel Messi, winning league titles in England and Spain as well as the Champions League twice with Real Madrid and once with Manchester United.

The Portugal international has won three Ballon d'Or titles - two less than Messi - and he believes his performances over the years separate him from anyone else over the last two decades, maintaining he can compete at the top level for much longer.

"Where would I rate myself amongst the top players of the last twenty years? Thinking positively, then I believe with what I’ve achieved, I’m the best of the lot," Ronaldo told Italian magazine Undici.

"The best athletes always influence their sport, so I think I’ve had an important impact. I can’t say how much, but if you can run faster, jump higher than the rest, be consistently strong and agile, then you can make your talent as effective as it can be.

"I’ve worked hard to get to the highest level and I’ll continue doing it to stay where I am. I maintain the same attitude and dedication in every single training session and in every match. 

"I look after myself so I can keep making history in football well into the future."

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Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid forward donates €600,000 Champions League win bonus to charity

Cristiano Ronaldo may have earned some criticism for the way he celebrated Real Madrid’s Champions League final victory but few will complain about his latest gesture of goodwill.

After a muted display during the 120 minutes of regulation play against Atletico Madrid, the Portuguese forward scored the winning spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out and proceeded to celebrate in typically ostentatious fashion.

There is, however, a humbler side to Ronaldo and after his triumph in Milan, he made sure to spread the rewards around.

According to Pipi Estrada, the former Manchester United player donated his win bonus of €600,000 to good causes.

Ronaldo, who was named the world’s most charitable sportsperson last year, reportedly spoke to Jorge Mendes, his agent, before last Saturday’s final and asked him to donate the bonus of around £456,000 to a non-governmental organisation.

The 31-year-old has supported a number of charities throughout his career, including Unicef, World Vision and Save the Children.

After an earthquake in Nepal killed over 8,000 people last year, Ronaldo donated £5million to the latter to help their aid efforts in the country.

The Portugal international, who will captain his country at this summer's European Championships in France, missed his national side's 1-0 defeat to England at Wembley on Thursday night.

Chris Smalling's late goal earned Roy Hodgson's side an unconvincing victory over their Iberian counterparts, who were also without Pepe, the Real Madrid centre-back.

Ronaldo was absent after being given permission to take a pre-tournament holiday by Fernando Santos, the Portugal coach, and has spent his week holidaying on a yacht in Ibiza.

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Cristiano Ronaldo shows there is no rest for the wicked as he trains in Ibiza with friends ahead of Portugal's Euro 2016 campaign

Cristiano Ronaldo was photographed doing some cross training exercise in Ibiza, Spain on Friday, shortly after his Portugal side lost to England at Wembley Stadium on Thursday night.

The 31-year-old has been given time off after scoring the winning penalty in Saturday's Champions League final and the Real Madrid maestro will join up with his national team at the weekend. 
But before doing so, the former Manchester United forward is clearly keeping in top physical form - even while on holiday - as he was pictured sprinting topless with two friends on a running track.

Before Ronaldo missed out on his country's 1-0 defeat to the Three Lions, his manager Fernando Santos spoke of looking forward to seeing how his team would get on without their talisman.
'All my players are important,' said Santos. 'Portugal is not a one-man team, I want to test my whole squad.
'Ronaldo said he played 4,000 minutes this season but when they booked this match, we didn't know he would be playing in the Champions League final.
'Of course he's very important, like he would be for any other team in the world, but this is a good opportunity to play without him.

'I hope he will play seven games in France but we need to know how to play without him.

'All my players were tired and they have to rest physically and mentally. I'm not worried about this, because we are having good preparation.'
Ronaldo scored 51 goals in 48 Real games in all competitions last season, and will now be hopeful of netting for Portugal as they take to Group F at Euro 2016. 
In their pool, Portugal will face Iceland, Austria and Hungary, with their first game against the Nordic island nation on June 14 at Saint-Etienne's Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

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Cristiano Ronaldo hits back at his critics: You're just jealous that I'm still the No 1!

Cristiano Ronaldo said: ‘This season I was the No 1 in the team, again, for most minutes. I have more than 4,000. That means a lot to me. It means I am still good, I still feel good physically, mentally. I was the top scorer in this competition again (with 16 goals).

The three-time Ballon d’Or winner failed to hit the heights Real Madrid - who paraded the trophy at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night - have become accustomed to during an attritional Champions League final against Atletico Madrid in the San Siro, but still had the final kick of the game.

Ronaldo was poor for much of the 120 minutes, missing a clear-cut headed chance as well as a one-on-one, but took responsibility of converting the match-winning penalty in the shootout and afterwards rejected suggestions that his age, 31, may be creeping up on him.

Ronaldo said: ‘This season I was the No 1 in the team, again, for most minutes. I have more than 4,000. That means a lot to me. It means I am still good, I still feel good physically, mentally. I was the top scorer in this competition again (with 16 goals).
‘If you ask me if I feel tired now, of course, I have a lot of minutes in the legs. But I am still there, I am always there. I showed the team I am there for the good moments and bad moments. This is what makes me feel proud.

‘My performance (in the final) is maybe not the best one but who played unbelievable? No one. So it’s tough, it’s the end of the season, you don’t have power in the legs that you have in the beginning of the season, but I did my best. I ran and we won. That is the most important.

‘To win my third Champions League is unbelievable.’
Ronaldo, who has two years left on his current contract, last week said Real would be making a ‘smart decision’ by offering him a new deal and made it clear he feels he has plenty more seasons in the tank.
Asked if he still has personal goals, he replied: ‘It is what it is, six years when I’m scoring more than 50 goals, but I am asking more. I am always in the top level. I just want to maintain. I still feel fresh and I want to carry on like that. I love to play for Real Madrid. I want to carry on.’

Ronaldo will take a six-day break to recharge before joining up with Portugal ahead of Euro 2016, so is scheduled to miss Thursday’s friendly against England.
He said his home nation would feel proud and happy of his club success as ‘the only Portuguese to win the Champions League three times’ but sounded a slightly sour note too.
‘Only the jealous don’t feel that,’ he said. ‘But I don’t care about that. I always keep the people who love me. So this Champions League is for them, the guys who support me all the time, my fans in Portugal and around the world.’

Ronaldo believes it is possible that Real can become the first team to retain the trophy in the Champions League era, but said future finals should be closer to the end of the league season.
There was a 14-day gap between Real’s final La Liga game and the encounter in Milan, which Ronaldo believes contributed to widespread cramp in extra-time. He said: ‘The break is a lot. I hope next year — or the coming years — they do it closer to the end of the league season.
‘As you see in the pitch everybody was tired and felt cramp in the legs. And it was very hot.

‘The penalties are always a lottery, you never know what is going to happen. But we showed we are the more experienced team.’ Ronaldo missed from the spot when Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties in 2008 but had no doubts about stepping up again.
‘To be honest I was confident I would score,’ he said. ‘I saw (Zinedine) Zidane before the penalties and told him to put me as the last taker because I feel I am going to score the winning goal. This is what happened.’

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