World Cup

WORLD CUP viewers were left baffled after TV cameras lingered on Lionel Messi scratching his private parts during Argentina’s win over Croatia.The 35-year-old lit up the first-half, scoring from the penalty spot to help his side into a 2-0 lead.
Lionel Messi was caught itching his nether regions during Argentina’s clash with Croatia
As he came out for the second period, telly cameras inevitably focused on the Argentine superstar.
Just as they did, Messi decided to itch his nether regions… for millions watching at home to see.
And as TV cameras took in the awkward moment, fans quickly commented on social media.
One wrote: “Why did they zoom in on Messi playing with his balls im kind of uncomfortable.”
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And a second added: “just had to watch Messi scratch his balls for 10 seconds on live tv.”
A third Twitter user joked: “obligatory shot of Messi scratching his balls in different angles.”
While a fourth asked: “why’d they zoom into Messi scratching his balls?”
Another seemed to enjoy it, however, tweeting: “The close up shot of Lionel Messi scratching his balls has got to be the highlight of this World Cup in my opinion.”
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A further fan quipped: “the cameramen giving like three different angles of messi scratching his balls. This is what football is all about.”
And another added: “Thanks World Cup control room for giving us multiple angles of a close up on Messi scratching his nuts. Vital television.”
Messi’s 34th minute penalty was followed by a stunning, albeit fortuitous, solo goal by Julian Alvarez.
And in the 70th minute he produced another moment of magic, bamboozling Josko Gvardiol before teeing up Alvarez for his side’s third as they coasted to a 3-0 victory.
Messi is aiming to win the World Cup for the first time during his glittering career.

He has reached one previous final, losing 1-0 to Germany in Brazil eight years ago.
But will face his date with destiny on Sunday against either Morocco or France.
Messi, 35, is aiming to win the World Cup for the first timeCredit: Getty More

CROATIA coach Mario Mandzukic was sent off while on the bench after being left fuming with Argentina’s penalty. Lionel Messi put his side 1-0 up in the World Cup quarter-final after Julian Alvarez was brought down by keeper Dominik Livakovic.
Julian Alvarez is taken down by Dominik LivakovicCredit: Getty
Messi converted from the spot, to become Argentina’s all-time World Cup scorer on 11, but ex-Croatia star Mandzukic was left raging.
The ex-striker angrily contested the decision, so much so that it saw him dismissed from the bench and match itself.
Manchester City’s Alvarez then doubled Argentina’s lead before the half-time break.
But the foul that subsequently led to Messi’s opener from 12 yards was hotly disputed in the ITV studio.
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Gary Neville, Ian Wright and Roy Keane all agreed that it should not have been given.
But retired referee and expert Peter Walton said the right decision was made, as Livakovic missed the ball and impeded the player.
Co-commentators Ally Mccoist and Lee Dixon also believe a penalty should have been awarded.
The team of Messi and Alvarez again linked up with the City forward doubling his lead to make it 3-0 after 70 minutes.
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Reigning champions France and Morocco contest for the second place in the final tomorrow night.
France beat England 2-1 to progress to the last four, with Harry Kane missing a late penalty.
Meanwhile Morocco stunned Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal to become the first African side to reach a World Cup semi-final.
Julian Alvarez celebrates with Lionel MessiCredit: Reuters More

MANCHESTER UNITED legend Roy Keane defended Argentina’s “s***housery” tactics against the Netherlands in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals.The Albiceleste made it to the semi-finals after eliminating Holland in a fiery encounter that saw them draw 2-2 before Lionel Messi and co won 4-3 on penalties.
Argentina beat the Netherlands in a fiery World Cup quarter-finalCredit: Rex
Manchester United legend Roy Keane defended Argentina’s “s***housery” tacticsCredit: Twitter @itvfootball
That was the most heated game of the entire World Cup in Qatar as referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz issued 18 yellows cards, two of which became a red for Dutch star Denzel Dumfries.
The tension wasn’t contained on the pitch as Argentine stars took shots at the Oranje after the game backstage as well.
Aston Villa star Emiliano Martinez slammed Netherlands’ then manager Louis van Gaal saying he “needs to keep his mouth shut”.
Argentina captain Messi, on the other hand, yelled at Wout Weghorst during his a post-match interview and called him “stupid”.
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Keane was part of the ITV panel previewing the Argentines’ semi-final clash with Croatia.
The ex-United captain was joined by Arsenal legend Ian Wright, who described the quarter-final scenes as “pure housery”.
But the former Republic of Ireland hardman praised Lionel Scaloni’s men because they showed fight.
Keane told ITV: “I didn’t like to see that, but what we have to say, we criticised them after the first game [2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia] when they got beaten, saying they didn’t show enough fight.
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“So we can’t now criticise them for that because that is fight. We don’t like to see it but they showed that.
“They’re desperate to win and when you play top level football, you do stuff on the pitch, you look back and think ‘Maybe I shouldn’t’ have done it’.
“But when you’re that desperate to win, I don’t think you can be too critical.
“You get the feeling they’d do ANYTHING to win this football match tonight.” More

LIONEL MESSI became Argentina’s all-time World Cup top goalscorer with an unsavable penalty. The PSG star put his side 1-0 up in the quarter-finals in Qatar against Croatia from the spot.
Lionel Messi scores from the spot against CroatiaCredit: Richard Pelham / The Sun

He riffled it into the roof of the net, leaving keeper Dominik Livakovic with no chance.
It proved record-breaking as Messi moved to 11 goals in World Cup competition, surpassing Gabriel Batistuta.
Batistuta played for Argentina from 1991–2002, scoring 56 times with ten of those in the World Cup.
Messi, who debuted in 2005, is now on 96 international goals as he bids to win the World Cup in what could be his last attempt.
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Argentina have not lifted football’s most prestigious prize since 1986, led by the iconic Diego Maradona.
Messi, 35, admitted before the winter World Cup that it would “likely” be his final.
He helped his side reach Sunday’s final after a goal and assist in Argentina’s eventual 3-0 win over Croatia.
And his former Barcelona team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic reckons it is written in the stars for the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
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He said: “I think it’s already written who will win – and you know who I mean. I think Messi will lift the trophy; it’s already written.”
Ibrahimovic added: “I don’t think it’s a surprise because I knew they were good before the World Cup. Then obviously in the World Cup everything can happen.
“That they reached the semi-final, maybe a little surprised, but remember it’s a good team, a good nation.
“And these surprises I think the people like; they enjoy because they want these things to happen so they get some kind of extra adrenaline.”
Lionel Messi celebrates scoring for ArgentinaCredit: Getty More

JULIAN ALVAREZ put Argentina 2-0 up against Croatia after a brilliant run from his own half.The sensational solo goal immediately drew comparisons with Diego Maradona’s strike against England in 1986, despite requiring a little bit of luck.

Julian Alvarez began his run from deepCredit: ITV
The Argentina made his way into the boxCredit: ITV
After a fortunate ricochet Alvarez beat Dominik Livakovic one on oneCredit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
Alvarez, 22, was back defending a Croatia set-piece during tonight’s semi-final, when Argentina managed to launch a counter-attack.
Its initial protagonist Lionel Messi was brought down, although the ball subsequently fell to Alvarez just shy of the halfway line.
From there he embarked on an amazing solo run, driving at the heart of the Croatian defence.
It appeared that Josip Juranovic had managed to tackle him, only for the ball to ricochet back into Alvarez’s path.
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Left-back Borna Sosa then seemed favourite to cut out the attack, only for his scuffed clearance to also rebound back to Alvarez.
The forward then found himself through on goal, poking the ball past Dominik Livakovic to give his side a 2-0 lead five minutes before half-time.
Despite elements of good fortune, the goal was compared to Maradona’s by fans online.
One wrote: “The goal scored by Julian Alvarez is better than that of Maradona in 86.”
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Diego Maradona bamboozled England in 1986Credit: AFP
While a second excitedly tweeted: “ALVAREZ GOT HIS MARADONA GOAL.”
A third frantically tweeted: “MARADONA LIVES IN JULIAN ALVAREZ.”
Alvarez had already played his part in Argentina’s first effort.
The forward was played through one on one with Livakovic, poking the ball beyond the goalkeeper before finding himself being clattered.
After his goal-bound effort was cleared, the referee pointed to the penalty spot, with Messi making no mistake from 12 yards.
Alvarez went on to make it 3-0 on 69 minutes, tucking the ball home following Messi’s sensational assist.
He was subsequently replaced by Paulo Dybala a few minutes later.
Alvarez celebrates with Lionel MessiCredit: AP More

ROY KEANE slammed England for “finding a way to lose” against France, using the analogy of having “your foot on somebody’s throat” and easing off. Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions crashed out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stages in Qatar.
Roy Keane slammed England for ‘finding a way to lose’ against FranceCredit: Twitter @itvfootball
England lost 2-1 to France with Harry Kane missing a late penalty, squandering the chance to equalise from the spot for a second time in the game.
Manchester United legend and ex-Ireland international Keane criticised Southgate’s squad for failing to prevail in a tournament again.
He said on ITV: “What England are doing in a lot of these big games, is they’re finding a way to lose.”
England were beaten by Croatia in the World Cup 2018 semi-finals.
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And they lost on penalties to Italy in last summer’s European Championship final.
Keane blamed mindset and pressure on England’s past failures.
Asked how to win tournaments, he said: “That’s where the players have to take control.
“I suppose it might be a lack of experience in big tournaments and big games, I know a lot of the England players have won trophies at club level.
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“When we were at the game against France the other night, I describe when you’re in that position and you have your foot on somebody’s throat, you’ve got to press down. Don’t ease off.
“If you take the pressure off a good team like France, and when you’re in the quarter-finals they’re going to have quality, as soon as they eased off the got punished for it.”
Southgate is set to decide on his England future with the FA keen to keep him in charge.
Ex-Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel and former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino are among the foreigners linked with the role.
But the FA would like to keep an English coach, with Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard also in the frame.
Although Neville, who represented England at two World Cups, wants to see Southgate stay.
He said: “I’m absolutely convinced he should carry on.”
England were dumped out in the quarter-final stagesCredit: Getty More