Lionel Messi on Thursday hit a post twice after he came off the bench, but struggled to deliver a strong performance following his return from injury. Still, Argentina beat Paraguay 1-0 in their South American World Cup qualifying match.
Argentina’s biggest South American rivals left the pitch to some jeers at Cuiaba, Brazil, after the hosts and Venezuela drew 1-1. The result put pressure on new Brazil coach Fernando Diniz and kept Argentina as the sole leaders of the round-robin competition with their third victory in three matches.
The only goal of the match at the Monumental de Nunez Stadium came in the third minute after a corner that found Nicolas Otamendi free in the penalty area. The defender smashed the ball into the net with a left-foot volley.
Photo: AP
Messi has felt muscular pains in his right leg that has sidelined him for several matches at his club Inter Miami. Coach Lionel Scaloni picked Nico Gonzalez as his replacement. The star substituted Julian Alvarez in the 52nd minute, when Argentina were already in the lead.
Messi hit the post from a corner he took 10 minutes after stepping on the pitch, but his other efforts to dribble and give deep passes fell flat.
A free-kick from the same spot where he scored the winner against Ecuador last month raised hopes for Argentina fans shortly before the final whistle, but Messi’s shot hit the right post.
“I get very calm when we have Leo on the pitch,” Argentina midfielder Rodrigo de Paul said. “We are at a very good level. We feel comfortable with the way we are playing.”
For the first time, Brazil failed to beat Venezuela at home. Neymar, Vinicius Junior and Richarlison struggled the entire first half to get a clear shot on goal.
Seconds after Neymar got his first big opportunity after the break, with a shot from the edge of the penalty area, Brazil scored with an assist from the al-Hilal player.
Neymar took a corner that ended in a close-range header by Gabriel Magalhaes in the 52nd minute at the Arena Pantanal.
Venezuela scored in the 85th minute with a half bicycle-kick by Eduardo Bello, in one of the most impressive goals of South American World Cup qualifying so far.
Venezuela’s defense managed to keep Brazil at bay until the final whistle.
“Now we have to hold our heads up high and think about Uruguay. We wanted to go at them, they wanted to defend and we couldn’t break them like we wanted,” Brazil captain Casemiro said.
Elsewhere on Thursday, Colombia and Uruguay drew 2-2. Ecuador beat Bolivia 2-1 in La Paz with a goal in the final moments of the match and Chile beat Peru 2-0.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
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