Majestic Messi sparks misfiring Argentina
LIONEL Messi scored a majestic free-kick as Argentina reignited their misfiring World Cup qualification campaign against Colombia on Tuesday before declaring a media boycott over claims of drug use by a teammate.
Barcelona maestro Messi (pctured, AFP) was at his bewitching best in a 3-0 win over Colombia, which included a 10th-minute 30-yard freekick before assists for Lucas Pratto and Angel Di Maria.
But the feelgood factor from a win that catapulted Argentina into the qualifying places in South America’s campaign was short-lived at an explosive post-match press conference.
Addressing reporters as he stood in front of the entire Argentina squad, Messi said players would no longer speak to the media following a claim made on Twitter by one journalist that forward Ezequiel Lavezzi had been caught smoking pot in the camp.
“We have made the decision not to talk to the press anymore. Obviously, you know why,” the Argentina skipper said. “There were a lot of accusations, a lot of disrespect, and the accusations they made against ‘Pocho’ [Lavezzi] are very serious.
“We know that most of you guys don’t play that game of disrespect. We can be criticised if we lose or win, or if we play well or badly. But this is getting into personal lives. If we don’t put a stop to it now, we’ll never stop it.”
Lavezzi, who plays for Chinese side Hebei Fortune, has denied the claim and vowed to take legal action.
The media blackout deflect- ed attention away from what was a convincing victory.
The two-time world champions had taken just two points from their previous four games to languish just outside the qualification berths in South America’s marathon qualifying tournament.
But Tuesday’s win puts Argentina back into the qualification positions in fifth place with six games remaining.
Co l o mbi a , me a n w h i l e , slipped to sixth place following the defeat, one point behind Argentina.
While Argentina have made hard work of qualification so far, Brazil appear to be coasting towards Russia.
Only a miraculous sequence of results is likely to deny them an automatic qualifying place following Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Peru in Lima.
Manchester City-bound teen Gabriel Jesus was the hero once more, scoring ing one goal and laying on another nother for Renato Augusto to o give Brazil a sixth consecutivecutive win under new coach h Tite.
The resu lt leff t Bra z i l four points clea a r at t he top of the standings ngs with 2 7 p oi nt s f r om 1 2 ga mes. I n qua l i f ier iers s for t he 2010 World orld Cup, 28 points was enough to guarannt e e a u t o m a t i c qualif icat ion.
In Santiago, meanwhile, Chile contint inued their recover r y w i t h a h a r dfoug ht 3-1 w i n over Uruguay.
Arsenal star Alexis exis Sanchez was the hero, scoring twice wice for the Chileans in the second half after Eduardo Vargas had cance cancelled out Edinson Cavan Cavani’s first-half opener for U Uruguay. Ma Manchester City goalkeep keeper Claudio Bravo sa saved a late penalty f from Luis Suarez as t the two-time Copa A America winners hung on for the win. In other games on Tu Tuesday, Bolivia jolted Para Paraguay with a 1-0 win in L La Paz, while Venezue zuela slipped to the botto bottom of the standings after Ec Ecuador coasted to a 3-0 win in Quito. Ecu Ecuador are now third i n t he st a nd i ngs, t three points behind s e c o n d - p l a c e d U Uruguay.