Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MESSI An already miserable 2017 got worse for unlucky Sanchez as Chile blew it after a late twist
said: “Luckily, the nationality of the best player in the world is Argentine. “Messi does not owe a World Cup to Argentina – football owes a World Cup to Messi.
“He is the best player in history.”
Messi will turn 31 during next year’s tournament. It will, surely, be his last World Cup, when he is at anything like the peak of his powers.
And the five-time world player of the year admitted: “There was always the fear of missing out, coming here. It would have been crazy not to be in the World Cup.
“Luckily, we could react and play well. We were calm, we achieved the goal, and that is the most important thing. Thanks to God, we fulfilled the objective. There has been criticism and this was an important day for all.
“We ended up suffering to enter this World Cup and, hopefully, we will get it once and for all.“ ALEXIS SANCHEZ will be relieved to see the back of 2017.
Another international break has brought more misery for the Arsenal forward.
There will be no World Cup next summer after Chile suffered lastgasp heartbreak and failed to get out of their qualifying group – the latest in a series of blows this year.
The 3-0 defeat by Brazil saw Chile fall from third to sixth place – one outside the play-off spot – but that only tells half the story.
Chile conceded a late third goal, scored by Gabriel Jesus after the Manchester City striker’s club-mate, La Roja goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, went up for a corner.
Had Chile scored in Sao Paulo, they would have beaten Peru to the play-off place on the basis of the two nation’s head-to-head records.
And in another twist, Peru’s equaliser, which saw them nick the last qualifying spot, also occurred in bizarre circumstances.
Sanchez’s Arsenal team-mate and Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina got a hand on the successful Peru indirect free-kick, which meant the goal was allowed to stand.
Had Ospina just let the ball go in, it would have been disallowed.
Sanchez will now finally take a summer break from football, having not had a full off-season since 2013 when he was at Barcelona.
But that will be of little consolation after a year to forget so far.
Last season, Sanchez’s dissatisfaction at Arsenal became clear in a number of public tantrums before the Gunners missed out on a top-four finish and Champions League football.
Sanchez, 28, then hoped to escape the Emirates and secure a summer move to Manchester City.
On deadline day, while he was away with Chile, he seemed all set to get his wish – only to see his hopes dashed at the last minute.
Failing to make the Ballon d’or shortlist this week, despite scoring 31 goals for club and country last season, was another setback.
And Chile’s World Cup exit on Tuesday, after losing three of their final four qualifiers, rubbed salt in the wounds.
Next year could bring a change of scenery, which might lift his spirits.
And Paris Saint-germain defender Dani Alves, a member of the Brazil side that dumped out Sanchez’s Chile, said: “It’s a possibility [he could join PSG].
“He’s courted by many teams. It would be nice if he joined us.
“I will always appreciate him and I will always wish him the best, wherever he goes.” League C and 16 in League D. Each division will split into groups of three or four at a draw in January and play each other home and away between September and November.
The winner of the new competition will be decided in June 2019 when the four winners of each of the League A groups meet in a play-off with semi-finals, a final and third-place match.
A four-up, four-down promotion and relegation system will also operate between the leagues and affect the structure of the second competition which will start in 2020.
The introduction of the new competition will also have an impact on qualifying for Euro 2020 with the start date pushed back to March 2019.
The final four places will also be decided via play-offs between the winners of the 16 Nations League groups in 2018.