Lionel Messi comes out of retirement

Lionel Messi has rescinded his decision to quit as captain of Argentina, reversing his decision in June to retire from international soccer.

The Barcelona forward said he would not play for Argentina again after the team lost to Chile in the final of the Copa America in the United States. However, in a statement on Friday, Messi explained that he wanted to continue representing his country as he preferred “to help from within”.

“I consider there to be a lot of problems in Argentine football and it’s not my intention to create another one,” the 29-year-old said. “There are a lot of issues that need to be resolved in Argentine football but I prefer to help from within and not to criticise from the outside.

“A lot of things went through my mind on the night of the final and I gave serious thought to quitting but my love for my country and this shirt is too great,” the player said. Messi will be named in new coach Edgardo Bauza’s squad to face Uruguay and Venezuela in 2018 World Cup, South American qualifiers to be held in the first week of September.

Bauza was in Barcelona on Thursday for a meeting with his team captain. Meanwhile, Messi has lost in three consecutive finals while on duty with the Argentina national team.

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Lionel Messi and his father handed 21-month prison sentence in Spain for tax fraud

Argentina and Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for tax fraud.

His father, Jorge Messi, was also given a jail term for defrauding Spain of €4.1m (£3.5m; $4.5m) between 2007 and 2009.

They also face millions of euros in fines for using tax havens in Belize and Uruguay to conceal earnings from image rights.

However, neither man is expected to serve time in jail.

Under the Spanish system, prison terms of under two years can be served under probation.

The footballer and his father were found guilty of three counts of tax fraud in Wednesday's ruling by the court in Barcelona.

As well as the jail terms, Messi was fined about €2m and his father €1.5m. They made a voluntary €5m "corrective payment", equal to the alleged unpaid tax plus interest, in August 2013.

The sentence can be appealed through the Spanish supreme court.

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Diego Maradona and Argentine President Ask Lionel Messi to Reconsider Retirement

Lionel Messi has been urged to reconsider his international retirement by Argentina legend Diego Maradona, who described the state of Argentine football as a 'disaster' after Gerardo Martino's side failed to win yet another major tournament final. 

Messi and his Argentina teammates have been dealt heartbreak in major tournament finals three summers running, with all three (World Cup 2014, Copa America 2015, 2016) finishing 0-0 at the end of normal time and being decided in either extra time or on penalties

Messi announced his retirement after Sunday night's shootout defeat to Chile, but Maradona told La Nacion: "Messi has to stay in the national team. He will go to Russia in form to be world champion.

"He has to rely more on boys who can help take the team forward and less on those who say they have to go. Those who are saying he should quit are doing it so that we won't see what a disaster Argentine football has become."

He added: "I am very sorry and very angry with what is happening to Argentine football. We hit bottom, we reached the bottom."

A spokesman for Argentine president Mauricio Macri told ​AFP that the country's leader had been in touch with arguably its most famous son, saying: "He [Macri] called him and told him how proud he feels of the national team's performance and asked him not to listen to the criticism.”

Macri also tweeted his own message, saying: “I never feel greater pride in our team. I hope the joy of seeing the best in the world will continue for many years more. #NoTeVayasLio.”

Sergio Aguero had said after the match: “The likelihood is that Messi is not the only one that will leave the national team. There are several players like me that are evaluating whether or not to continue."

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Twitter Explodes as crying Lionel Messi Announces His Argentina Retirement

Twitter Explodes as Lionel Messi Announces His Argentina Retirement

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Lionel Messi Dramatically Quits International Football After Losing Third Final in Three Years

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Lionel Messi Dramatically Quits International Football After Losing Third Final in Three Years

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Lightning strikes twice as Chile Defeats Argentina in 2016 Copa America Centenario Final

Chile Defeats Argentina in 2016 Copa America Centenario Final

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Transfer Rumours: Manchester United wants Messi

Manchester United have approached Barcelona over the prospect of signing Lionel Messi.

That is the claim from the Daily Mail, which says United have contacted Barca twice in the last three weeks to explore the possibility of bringing the Argentina star to Old Trafford.

The paper claims any move would likely wait until next summer, by which time United hope to be back in the Champions League, when Messi has only a year remaining on his contract at the Nou Camp.

“Sources close to Messi refused to rule out of the possibility of a move.
They admitted to that the player is increasingly ‘frustrated and hurt’ by the media circus in Spain that has surrounded a legal case investigating his tax affairs.”

United have consistently chased the world’s biggest names over the last three years, with Gareth Bale, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo all pursued to no avail.

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Cristiano Ronaldo named most famous athlete in the world

Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who helped Real Madrid win their 11th Champions League title last season, has been named the most famous athlete in the world in the list of 100 most famous athletes released by sporting giant ESPN. 

The list was researched by ESPN’s director of sports analytics and released on the 31st May.The list features a host of familiar names of the sporting world and was researched using a formula which combined salary and endorsements along with social media following and Google search engine popularity, the results of which were calculated to figure out who the 100 most famous athletes on the planet were.

Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who was one of the star performers in Real Madrid’s historic 11th Champions League win, was proclaimed to be the most famous sports person on the planet, followed by NBA star LeBron James and footballing rival Lionel Messi. 

Messi’s Barcelona teammate Neymar found himself in the 4th spot with Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer rounding off the top five. Ronaldo leads a list of 17 footballers who star in the top 100 list. The top five footballers on the list ply their trade in La Liga, with James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale who are on 9th and 10th in the list, round up the list of the top five most famous footballers. 

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney is 6th on the most famous footballer’s list, coming only 17th in the overall standings.

                                             Full list

Position	Name	Sport
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	Football
2	LeBron James	Basketball
3	Lionel Messi	Football
4	Neymar	Football
5	Roger Federer	Tennis
6	Kevin Durant	Basketball
7	Tiger Woods	Golf
8	Virat Kohli	Cricket
9	James Rodriguez	Football
10	Rafael Nadal	Tennis

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Lionel Messi and his dad may face two year Jail term over tax evasion.

 In the dock: Lionel Messi sits in court with his father Jorge Horacio Messi

Lionel Messi insisted he had no knowledge of any attempts to avoid over €4 million in tax as he gave evidence in his and his father's trial over tax evasion.

Both Messi, 28, and his father, Jorge Horacio, declined to take questions from the state prosecutors but gave testimony in the court in Barcelona.

And the Argentina skipper, who is due in San Francisco for his nation's Copa America opener in just four days, stuck largely to the same defence that he had employed in his 2013 witness declaration as he spoke for around 12 minutes.

"I didn't know anything, all I know about is playing football and winning. I left it all to my Dad," he said, wearing a dark suit and tie."I only knew that sponsors would pay some amount of money, that I had to do adverts, photos and things like that."I never read anything... I would sign where [the lawyers] said."I signed [the adidas contract] when I was 18, I was in another world."

The FC Barcelona star and his father Jorge stand accused of defrauding Spain of over €4 million in taxes by using offshore companies in Uruguay and Belize to conceal image rights earnings in the period 2007-2009.

Tax authorities are asking that both serve nearly two years in jail for the offence, but the public prosecutor is only pursuing Messi Sr.

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Messi nets two assists in extra time, Barcelona wins Copa del Rey title

Ten-man Barcelona retained the King's Cup with a 2-0 victory over Sevilla to complete a domestic double thanks to extra-time goals by Jordi Alba and Neymar at the Vicente Calderon stadium on Sunday.

Luis Enrique's La Liga champions had Javier Mascherano sent off in the 36th minute but kept the score at 0-0 before Sevilla had Ever Banega dismissed in added time at the end of 90 minutes.

With both teams down to 10 men, Barcelona began to take control in the extra period and left back Alba burst down the wing to score in the 97th after a superb defence-splitting chip from Lionel Messi.

Sevilla were then reduced to nine players when defender Daniel Carrico was sent off for dissent late on and Neymar doubled Barcelona's lead after also being set up by Messi.

It was the 28th time Barca had won the trophy.

They had struggled after Mascherano's red card as Unai Emery's side, who won the Europa League for the third time in a row last week, piled on the pressure.

But Barca, who lost top scorer Luis Suarez to injury just before the hour mark, stubbornly refused to cave in and eventually came out on top in a tense, spiky encounter. 

"It has been really great. It was tough and we had to dig deep," said Barca captain Andres Iniesta. "It has been a magnificent season."

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Messi is the prince. But I am the king says Pele

Pele was nicknamed 'the king' during his career and he thinks Messi is as important to the game as he was during his playing days, even if he believes the prolific attacker is not the best Argentine player ever.

"If I am the king, then Messi has been the prince over the past 15 years," Pele told La Vanguardia.

"I cannot call him the king, because there is only one king. I believe that Alfredo Di Stefano was the most complete of the Argentine stars, he was more complete than [Diego] Maradona and Messi.

"I am glad that I played in my era, even if it's true everything is more simple now.

"Players like Di Stefano are I are not as well-known because there are far fewer recordings of our performances."

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