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Messi shines for Argentina, Brazil maintains form
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LIONEL Messi produced a magical display to get Argentina’s World Cup qualification back on track on Tuesday as Brazil notched its sixth consecutive victory to put one foot in the 2018 finals in Russia.
Messi curled home a stunning 30-yard free-kick and set up goals for Lucas Pratto and Angel Di Maria in a 3-0 win over Colombia in San Juan.
The victory elevated Argentina into the qualifying places after a disastrous run of results which saw it take just two points from its previous four games.
But the feelgood factor generated by the result was overshadowed by a media boycott imposed by a furious Messi and his teammates after the game.
Messi said the Albiceleste’s players were incensed by a claim made by an Argentine journalist that forward Ezequiel Lavezzi had been caught smoking marijuana in the camp.
Lavezzi, who was not on the substitutes bench against Colombia, has denied the claims.
“We have made the decision not to talk to the press anymore, obviously you know why,” said Messi, who has an often tense ties with Argentina’s media.
“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 don’t play that game of disrespect. We can be criticized 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.”
Tuesday’s win left Argentina in fifth spot in the 10-team standings, with 19 points from 12 games. The top four sides qualify automatically for the 2018 finals while the fifth-placed team goes into a playoff with the first-placed team from the Oceania zone.
Colombia meanwhile slipped to sixth following the defeat, one point behind Argentina.
While Argentina has made hard work of qualification so far, Brazil appears to be coasting towards Russia.
Only a miraculous sequence of results is likely to deny it an automatic qualifying place following Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Peru in Lima.
Manchester City-bound Gabriel Jesus was the hero once more, scoring one goal and laying on another for Renato Augusto to give Brazil a sixth consecutive win under new coach Tite.
It left Brazil four points clear of Uruguay at the top of the table on 27 points from 12 games.
In qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, 28 points were enough to guarantee automatic qualification. With six games left, Brazil should be safe with something to spare.
Elsewhere, it was: Chile 3, Uruguay 1; Bolivia 1, Paraguay 0; and Ecuador 3, Venezuela 0.
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