Football: Messi, Mbappe and Benzema up for FIFA Best award

PARIS, France -- Just like in the World Cup final, Paris Saint-Germain teammates Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe go up against one another for The Best FIFA Men's Player prize for 2022 on Monday, with Ballon d'Or Karim Benzema the other contender.

The ceremony takes place in Paris, and Messi appears as the favourite to add another individual gong to his collection after leading Argentina to glory over Mbappe's France in that epic encounter in Qatar.

Messi has won the Ballon d'Or seven times and claimed the FIFA award -– inaugurated in 2016 following FIFA's split with Ballon d'Or organisers France Football –- once in 2019.

In the last two years Messi has made the podium as Robert Lewandowski has won the title, but the 35-year-old's career-crowning World Cup triumph was the defining moment of 2022.

The winner is decided by a jury comprised of the coach and captain of every men's national team and one journalist from each country, but fans can also vote.

Mbappe became the first player to score a World Cup final hat-trick since Geoff Hurst in 1966 as he dragged France to a 3-3 draw after extra time –- despite two goals by Messi -- before they eventually succumbed in a shoot-out.

Mbappe, who turned 24 just after the final, was the tournament's top scorer with eight goals, one more than Messi, who claimed the Golden Ball for best player.

He was also comfortably PSG's most important player in the year leading up to the World Cup, despite being joined there by Messi -- he was Ligue 1's leading scorer and France's player of the year.

However, their World Cup achievements overshadow everything else.

"Because Messi won the World Cup he has the biggest chance of winning, that's a fact," admitted Ruud Gullit, himself a former Ballon d'Or winner.

Dutchman Gullit was speaking in his role as a member of the Laureus Academy, which recently included Mbappe and Messi among the nominees for their own awards.

"But I have so much respect for Mbappe. For me he is on the same level. What he did in the final, to take that responsibility was unbelievable," he added.

- Putellas up for women's gong -

Benzema's chances of winning another individual honor were hit after he missed the World Cup due to injury.

Exiled from the French team for five and a half years because of his involvement in a blackmail scandal over a sextape involving a former teammate, Benzema's Ballon d'Or win last October had completed his own career redemption.

The Real Madrid striker, now 35, scored 44 goals in 46 games for his club last season, inspiring them to glory in the Champions League and La Liga.

He has continued to bang in the goals this season.

"I am really, really proud of my journey," he declared after claiming the Ballon d'Or.

Current Ballon d'Or Alexia Putellas, who won the Best award last year, is again nominated for the women's prize, despite being out since July with a knee injury.

England forward Beth Mead and US star Alex Morgan are the other finalists.

Argentina's Lionel Scaloni is up for the men's coach's honour along with Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti and Manchester City's Pep Guardiola.

Sarina Wiegman, who won Euro 2022 with England, is up for the women's coach award with Sonia Bompastor of Lyon and Brazil's Pia Sundhage.

Brazil star Richarlison's World Cup strike against Serbia is one of three nominees for the Puskas Award for best goal, named after Hungary great Ferenc Puskas.

Marseille's Dimitri Payet and Polish amputee player Marcin Oleksy are also nominated, while there is also a category for the best male and female goalkeeper.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Messi snatches dramatic win for PSG after Neymar stretchered off

PARIS, France -- Lionel Messi scored a 95th-minute free-kick to give Paris Saint-Germain a 4-3 win over Lille in an extraordinary Ligue 1 game on Sunday in which Kylian Mbappe scored twice but Neymar was taken off on a stretcher with an ankle injury.

Messi's last-gasp winner came after PSG had squandered a two-goal lead and fallen 3-2 behind, with Mbappe grabbing a late equaliser before the Argentine's stunning strike.

The result ends a run of three straight defeats for PSG and ensures they end the weekend as they started it, five points clear of second-placed Marseille, who won 3-2 at Toulouse and host the Parisians next.

"We came through it. It wasn't a great performance," Mbappe told broadcaster Amazon Prime.

"We made lots of mistakes and lost concentration too often and against a quality side you pay dearly for that, but we showed that even when we are not at our best and the context is not exactly favourable we are a different team with different players and we can always find a way."

Of immediate concern to PSG is the injury to Neymar, who looked to be in tears as he was helped onto a stretcher early in the second half after turning his right ankle.

- No fracture -

PSG later confirmed a scan had shown no fracture, but said further tests would need to be carried out on the damage to the ligaments in the coming days, building fears the Brazilian could miss the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich on March 8.

"I hope 'Ney' is going to come back quickly because he is an important player for us," added Mbappe, as PSG also saw Nuno Mendes forced off with an ankle problem.

Christophe Galtier's team were looking to bounce back from a 1-0 home loss to Bayern in the first leg of that European tie, and they went ahead early on against Lille through Mbappe -- making his first start after returning from a recent thigh injury.

Neymar soon made it 2-0 against a side PSG beat 7-1 in their last meeting in August, but Bafode Diakite pulled one back for Lille midway through the first half.

The home side then saw Neymar carried off within five minutes of the second half starting, and Lille drew level when Jonathan David converted a penalty for his 17th goal this season following a Marco Verratti foul in the box.

Jonathan Bamba made it 3-2 to the away side with a superb finish and the hosts looked set for a fourth successive loss before Mbappe converted from a Juan Bernat assist with three minutes remaining.

That was his 27th goal this season in all competitions, but it was not the end of the drama as Messi won a free-kick when he was fouled just outside the area by Benjamin Andre.

The World Cup winner stepped up to dispatch the dead ball into the net off the post to round off a remarkable game.

- Marseille keep up pressure -

Marseille have now won nine and drawn one of 11 league games played since their elimination from the Champions League in early November, after they came from behind to win in Toulouse.

Dutch striker Thijs Dallinga gave mid-table Toulouse an early lead, but Marseille came roaring back in the second half at Le Stadium.

Chancel Mbemba equalized and Cengiz Under put Marseille in front before Nuno Tavares netted his sixth goal of the season on loan from Arsenal, with Ado Onaiwu pulling one back for the hosts.

Monaco followed up their 3-1 victory over PSG last weekend by winning 2-1 in Brest to sit two points behind Marseille in third.

Aleksandr Golovin and Myron Boadu scored for the principality side, with Jeremy Le Douaron pulling one back.

Fourth-placed Lens were 3-1 winners against Nantes, while Rennes moved back above Lille into fifth by beating Clermont 2-0, ex-PSG forward Arnaud Kalimuendo scoring both of their goals.

There were also wins for Lorient and Montpellier, while Strasbourg moved out of the relegation zone on Saturday by beating bottom side Angers 2-1 on new coach Frederic Antonetti's debut.

Fellow strugglers Auxerre beat Lyon 2-1 on Friday, while Nice and Reims drew 0-0.

Agence France-Presse

France train focus on Argentina as World Cup reaches climax

France and Argentina are gearing up for a heavyweight World Cup final that pits Kylian Mbappe against Lionel Messi in a hotly anticipated duel, with history on the line.

Defending champions France beat Morocco 2-0 on Wednesday without needing to find top gear and now stand 90 minutes away from becoming the first team for 60 years to defend their title.

Didier Deschamps' men will approach Sunday's final at the Lusail Stadium with confidence but Messi has his own date with destiny in his last match on the biggest stage.

Goals from Theo Hernandez and substitute Randal Kolo Muani at Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday snuffed out the challenge of Morocco, the first African or Arab side ever to reach a World Cup semi-final.

France are into the final for the fourth time in seven editions and if they triumph on Sunday they will be the first team since Brazil in 1962 to retain the trophy.

They were congratulated in the dressing room by President Emmanuel Macron, while supporters erupted in jubilation around the Champs-Elysees in Paris, waving tricolour flags and setting off flares.

"We are in the final. We are in the final," hundreds of French supporters chanted as drivers sounded horns and anti-riot police lurked in vans lining the area.

Delighted France coach Deschamps, who led the nation to success in Russia in 2018, 20 years after captaining them to glory, said: "There is emotion and pride. 

"Obviously it was another important step today and now there will be another one.

"We've been together for a month. It's never easy, but here it is -- it's been a joy so far and my players have been rewarded."

Defeat for Morocco ended their fairytale run in Qatar that captured the imagination of Africa and the Arab world.

"We gave the maximum, that's the most important thing," said coach Walid Regragui. "The most important thing is to have given a good image, to have shown the world that Moroccan football exists and that we have beautiful supporters."

- Messi v Mbappe -

The final will inevitably be billed as a battle between Messi and his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Mbappe.

The two players are joint top of the World Cup goalscoring charts on five goals apiece, with Argentina's Julian Alvarez and France's Olivier Giroud just one behind.

The Copa America champions, who produced arguably their best performance of the tournament in beating Croatia 3-0 on Tuesday, will sense vulnerability in a France team that have not found top gear in Qatar.

Messi, playing in his fifth World Cup, has been a man on a mission, desperate to crown his career by leading Argentina to their first win at the tournament since Diego Maradona inspired the South Americans to the title in 1986.

On Tuesday he produced flashes of genius to help Argentina overcome 2018 finalists Croatia, confirming after the match that he expects Sunday's final to be his last appearance at a World Cup.

"Being able to achieve this, being able to finish my journey in the World Cups by playing my last game in a final, is something very exciting," said the 35-year-old Argentine captain.

Deschamps said he would come up with a plan to counter the threat of the "scintillating" Messi, who will seek to exploit France's vulnerability in the full-back positions.

"He looks in great shape and of course he is one of the best players in the world so we will try to counter Messi's threat as much as possible, just as Argentina will try to stop the influence of some of my players," he said.

Deschamps also has another headache in the form of an illness stalking the camp after midfielder Adrien Rabiot missed the Morocco game due to illness.

Defender Dayot Upamecano also dropped out of the line-up for the semi-final, although he was named among the substitutes.

"The air conditioning is on all the time and so we have had a few cases of flu-like symptoms but we will try to avoid it spreading," said Deschamps.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Neymar scores brace, Mbappe on target in PSG victory

PARIS, France -- Neymar continued his outstanding start to the season with a brace while Kylian Mbappe marked his return to the team with a goal but also had a penalty saved as Paris Saint-Germain trounced Montpellier 5-2 in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Neymar rolled in a spot-kick to put PSG 2-0 up at the break on a hot night at the Parc des Princes after Falaye Sacko's own goal had put them ahead.

The Brazilian then headed in his second and PSG's third shortly after the interval, taking his tally for the season to five goals already after just three games.

Wahbi Khazri pulled one back for Montpellier before Mbappe made it 4-1 and new signing Renato Sanches came off the bench to get the fifth late on.

Enzo Tchato notched another consolation for the visitors at the death but PSG have now recorded three wins out of three this season under new coach Christophe Galtier, scoring 14 goals in the process.

Neymar has picked up where he left off last season, when he scored nine in PSG's final nine Ligue 1 matches.

So often plagued by fitness issues since arriving in Paris in 2017, he finally looks in rude health.

In contrast, Mbappe was playing his first competitive game since announcing on the final night of last season that he had agreed a new three-year deal to stay at PSG, turning down a move to Real Madrid in the process.

- Mbappe 'needs time' -

The France superstar missed his club's first two games of the new campaign –- a 4-0 defeat of Nantes in the season-opening Champions Trophy, and then the 5-0 win at Clermont -- due first to suspension and then injury.

"Physically, we knew his lack of game time in pre-season would cost him," Galtier told broadcaster Canal Plus when asked about Mbappe's performance and attitude, with the 23-year-old appearing frustrated at times on the night.

"He is a competitor, he wants to be good, and he wants to be good quickly."

Mbappe, whose last match was against Gamba Osaka in Japan almost three weeks ago, had a penalty saved midway through the first half by Montpellier goalkeeper Jonas Omlin after the VAR spotted a handball in the area.

However, it was his shot that was diverted in by Sacko for an own goal to break the deadlock, and Mbappe later got his goal following a Neymar corner in the second half, but Galtier admitted the striker was not yet on peak form.

"A top-level footballer can't just switch himself on or off. He needs time to be back to 100 percent of his athletic ability and when he gets there he will make even more of a difference," Galtier admitted. 

"He likes to get forward and score goals and it is really quite normal that he should be, not disappointed, but a bit short of full fitness compared to his teammates."

Meanwhile Neymar thought he had a hat-trick late on when he finished from a Lionel Messi pass, only for the celebrations to be cut short when the VAR spotted an offside in the build-up.

Soon after that Sanches scored moments after coming on for his debut following a move from Lille for a reported 15 million euros ($15.4m).

PSG are expected to make more signings before the transfer window closes and have been strongly linked with Napoli's Spanish international midfielder Fabian Ruiz.

Earlier in Ligue 1, Monaco bounced back from their midweek Champions League elimination to draw 1-1 with Rennes.

Knocked out in the third qualifying round of Europe's elite club competition by PSV Eindhoven, Monaco had Youssouf Fofana sent off inside 15 minutes at the Stade Louis II.

Axel Disasi then had a penalty saved for the hosts, and Gaetan Laborde put Rennes ahead before the hour mark.

However, Swiss forward Breel Embolo pounced on an error by Rennes substitute goalkeeper Dogan Alemdar to ensure a share of the spoils.

Sunday's scheduled match between Lorient and Lyon was called off because of damage caused to the Brittany side's pitch by the scorching, dry summer weather in France combined with a festival held on the surface last week.

Agence France-Presse

Football: PSG aided by own goal for the ages in win over Lyon

PARIS, France -- Paris Saint-Germain survived the absence of Neymar and a Lyon fightback to win Sunday night's Ligue 1 clash 4-2 at a stormy Parc des Princes, helped by Fernando Marcal's truly stunning second-half own goal.

Runaway leaders and defending champions PSG were cruising at half-time with Angel Di Maria and Kylian Mbappe giving them a two-goal advantage against a Lyon side enduring a disappointing season.

Then Marcal comically blasted the ball into the roof of his own net just after the break, leaving Lyon looking at another heavy defeat in Paris, where they lost 5-0 in this fixture last season.

However, Martin Terrier and Moussa Dembele quickly pulled goals back, and PSG needed a late strike by substitute Edinson Cavani to secure the points.

"Normally after a goal like that the game is over," said coach Thomas Tuchel of the own goal. "But we were not disciplined enough and it was a lesson for us that it's never over."

PSG's performance showcased why they can ill afford to be complacent heading into their Champions League last 16, first leg match away to Borussia Dortmund on February 18, even if sporting director Leonardo insisted to Canal Plus that the tie was "not life or death" for the Qatar-owned club.

They will hope to have Neymar back by then. The world's most expensive player sat out a second consecutive match here due to a rib complaint.

"We play a lot of games and errors happen but I don't know if it's the time to be too critical," Tuchel added.

"The team was great and we can't forget we were without lots of key players."

Without Neymar -- as well as his injured compatriots, Thiago Silva and Marquinhos, in defence -- Tuchel's side made it eight straight wins and stretched their unbeaten run to 21 games in all competitions.

Lyon, meanwhile, have not won in three and this result leaves the seven-time former champions in ninth place.

They are eight points adrift of the Champions League qualifying spots and their upcoming European double-header against Juventus looks certain to be a step too far for them.


- Cavani nears double-century -

How Rudi Garcia's side must have wished this match had been postponed due to the swirling wind and rain caused by Storm Ciara -- which left ticker-tape from pre-match fan displays strewn all over the pitch -- as they struggled to keep up with PSG in the first half.

PSG broke forward to open the scoring midway through the first half as Idrissa Gueye fed Di Maria to cut in from the right and beat Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes with a low strike at his near post.

Thomas Meunier then squared for Mbappe to score his 15th league goal of the season in the 38th minute after fine work by Mauro Icardi, and both Icardi and Mbappe also had goals disallowed for offside before the interval.

Then, two minutes after the break, came what looked like the coup de grace.

An attempted cutback by Julian Draxler was going nowhere before Thiago Mendes intervened, allowing Draxler to keep the ball in play and return it to the edge of the six-yard box, where the hapless Marcal slammed it into the roof of his own net.

Nevertheless, Lyon hit back with Terrier's shot squirming under the body of Keylor Navas before Karl Toko Ekambi teed up Dembele to convert his 13th in the league this season just prior to the hour mark.

Mbappe had another effort ruled out and then hit the woodwork, and it was not until the introduction of Cavani -- the fans' favourite reduced to role of bit-part player -- that the home side made sure of the points.

Di Maria set up the Uruguayan to complete the scoring 10 minutes from time with what was his 199th goal for PSG.

They are 12 points clear of Marseille, who beat Toulouse 1-0 on Saturday with a Dimitri Payet goal. Elsewhere on Sunday, Montpellier beat struggling Saint-Etienne 1-0 and Strasbourg won 3-0 against Reims, with both sides staying in touch with the European places.

Agence France-Presse

Football: PSG produce dramatic comeback to draw 2-2 at Real Madrid

MADRID - Real Madrid underlined their return to top form with a spectacular Champions League display at home to Paris St Germain on Tuesday but they still had to settle for a 2-2 draw after two late strikes secured top spot in Group A for the French side.

Real had sealed their place in the knockout stages for a record-extending 23rd successive year thanks to Club Bruges' 1-1 draw at Galatasaray earlier, while PSG had also already qualified.

Yet with top spot on the line, as well as pride after PSG had crushed Real 3-0 back in September, both sides played with the passion, skill and commitment of a blockbuster knockout tie, serving up a thrilling game at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Karim Benzema knocked into an empty net to give Real the lead in the 17th minute of his 100th Champions League start and the French forward doubled the advantage with a 79th minute header.

Yet Kylian Mbappe immediately reduced the deficit in the 81st minute, capitalising on a mistake from Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois before Pablo Sarabia equalised in the 82nd.

PSG's fightback added to concern in the stands after Real winger Eden Hazard hobbled off in the second half with an ankle injury, although substitute Gareth Bale almost snatched a winner when he struck the post in added time from a free kick.

Real coach Zinedine Zidane was annoyed that his side could not toast their sizzling display with a victory but paid tribute to his players.

"I liked everything we did and the performance of every player. They all showed attitude and played superbly. The game was a true spectacle," he told reporters.

"The players deserved to win. I wouldn't normally say that because a match is about the whole 90 minutes but after playing as well as we did I believe it."

Zidane added that Hazard, who has burst into a form after a slow start to life at Real, had twisted his ankle but did not give any more details on the injury.

PSG midfielder Marco Veratti admitted his side had been outplayed for sections of the game but praised them for their reaction.

"In the first half, we didn't play our game and suffered too much but it's hard to avoid suffering away to Madrid. Few teams win here," he said.

"We were a little more courageous in the second half. Even though we gave away a lot of chances, we played like we know how."

PSG top Group A with 13 points from five games while Real are second on eight. Club Bruges, who Real visit in their final game next month, are third on three points, while Galatasaray, who will travel to PSG, are bottom with two.

Real were cruising in the first half but the game looked set to be shaken up when PSG were awarded a penalty and Courtois was shown a red card for hauling down Mauro Icardi in the area.

But the referee overturned both decisions following a VAR review, and awarded Real a free kick instead for a foul on Marcelo in the build-up.

SLACK DEFENDING

Madrid, who had won five of their previous six games, produced a dominant display but were let down by slack defending in the closing stages.

They should have killed the game off long before Benzema's second but were repeatedly denied by their former, much-loved keeper Keylor Navas.

The Costa Rican, who won three consecutive Champions League crowns with Real before moving to Paris at the start of the season, made 10 saves, including a stunning block to deny Benzema from point-blank range.

(Reporting by Richard Martin Editing by Ian Chadband)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Macron can bless his lucky stars, again, as France wins World Cup

PARIS -- It looks like Emmanuel Macron just got lucky again.

France's thrilling 4-2 triumph over Croatia in the World Cup final on Sunday, their second World Cup after home success in 1998 that ushered in a wave of national optimism, is the sort of good-news fillip most presidents can only dream of.

After 14 months in power, Macron's poll ratings have been falling steadily, down to barely 40 percent. Despite overseeing a raft of economic and social reforms, the 40-year-old former investment banker has earned the label "president of the rich" from many left-wing critics, and the tag has stuck.

Recent controversies over spending on official crockery, a swimming pool built at a presidential retreat, and cutting remarks about the costs of welfare have reinforced the image of a leader out of touch with the people, at least in some minds.

But just as he took advantage of an extraordinary series of lucky breaks during the 2017 presidential campaign, when his strongest conservative rival had to withdraw after a corruption scandal, Macron's fortunes may be about to turn upwards again.

In Moscow to watch the final with his wife Brigitte, Macron was overcome by the victory, standing on the field in the pouring rain to hug each of the players in turn at length and then kissing the World Cup trophy in delight.

In 1998, then President Jacques Chirac's popularity soared on the "World Cup effect" -- an 18-point jump in his ratings according to Ifop pollsters -- helping the ageing Gaullist recover from a humiliating defeat in a 1997 snap election.

Chirac's bonhomie and enthusiastic embrace of 1990s-playmaker Zinedine Zidane's multiracial Black-Blanc-Beur (Black-White-North African) team helped him shake off a string of corruption scandals and he went on to win a second term.

That Macron -- who is still very much in charge and not reduced to a largely ceremonial role as Chirac was under the "cohabitation" regime with the Socialists -- could gain much more than a few points from his current low is unlikely.

But nonetheless, political pollsters say a boost of some kind is not out of the question, at home and abroad.

"It's far from a given that what happened in 1998 will be reproduced in the same way now," Gael Sliman, a pollster with Odoxa, told Reuters. "(But) one could very well see 5, 6, 10 points of popularity gains for the executive.

"It could also have a meaningful impact on French economic morale, people's confidence in the future, their optimism in general, including when it comes to consumer behavior."

LUCKY GENERAL

Macron's lieutenants have sought to play down any suggestion that politics and soccer are linked. They don't want the president to be accused of leveraging the World Cup, even if Macron and his wife were in Moscow to watch the final.

"We have nothing to do with it, but let's rejoice," Macron told his ministers last week, after France beat Belgium in the semi-final, according to spokesman Benjamin Griveaux.

That said, Macron can expect Sunday's euphoria to unleash a wave of renewed self-confidence and national pride, while perhaps enhancing France's reputation internationally.

For the young president, it's somewhat akin to what Napoleon Bonaparte is supposed to have said of his military commanders: never mind their skill, "give me lucky generals."

"You have to be very cautious about a political effect, but maybe there will be a moral effect that will last through the summer," Frederic Dabi of Ifop told Reuters. "I see more of an effect on the image of France abroad, it gives a cumulative effect, it reinforces the Macron chorus of 'France is back.'"

Domestically, the nation could do with a "feel-good" lift.

After years of high unemployment, economic stagnation and a string of deadly Islamist attacks since 2015, the World Cup win may help the nation feel the worst is behind it. That may also help sweeten the pill that the government is shortly to unveil, with unpopular spending cuts due after the summer.

"The second half of the year will be a bit complicated," Ludovic Subran, head of research at Allianz, told Reuters.

"Spending power is down and those French who are not entrepreneurs are complaining. Macron needed this victory."

According to Subran's research, the World Cup will boost French consumption by 0.2 percentage points this year, which in turn will give wider economic growth a 0.1 point lift.

That might be just enough to help Macron sing along to the tune of the French team's 1998 anthem: "I Will Survive."

source: news.abs-cbn.com