Argentina star Lionel Messi believes he is beginning to find his feet at Paris Saint-Germain, having required a year to settle in after his move to France.
Messi scored just 11 goals in 34 appearances during his first season at PSG in 2021-22, but has already struck six times in 11 outings for the Ligue 1 giants this campaign.
The former Barcelona man is also enjoying himself on the international stage, scoring twice and adding an assist as Argentina extended their unbeaten run to 34 matches with a 3-0 friendly win over Honduras on Friday.
Messi led his team for shots on target (three), touches in the opposition box (nine), crosses (three) and successful dribbles (two) in Miami, completing the scoring with a sumptuous 20-yard chip in the second half.
Speaking to TyC Sports after the victory, Messi compared his current form favourably with that of last season.
"I feel good, different from last year and I knew it was going to be like that," Messi said.
"Last year, as I already said, I had a bad time, I never finished finding myself and this one is different.
"I arrived with a different head, more accommodated to the club, to the locker room, to the game, to my team-mates.
"The truth is that I feel very good and I have enjoyed myself again."
Friday's brace took Messi to 88 goals in 163 senior international caps, and he will join a select group of players to have appeared in five separate World Cups when Argentina begin their campaign against Saudi Arabia on November 22.
The PSG forward believes Lionel Scaloni's men are in a good place as their trip to Qatar approaches and is trying not to think about the possibility of his team suffering injuries before the event.
He added: "It is complicated - there are many games and little rest time, but you have to face it as always.
"If you are going to play matches thinking about the World Cup, taking care of yourself or not messing up, then in the end it can be worse.
"I am one of those who think that things happen because they happen and if things have to happen they will happen. God willing nothing happens to anyone and we can all arrive at the World Cup as we are.
"We are enjoying every moment that we are together and seriously preparing ourselves when it is time to work, working on many things because it is the last time that we all have to be together, and there will not be much time before the first World Cup match.
"So, we took the opportunity to continue growing what we know and trying new things as well."
A tearful Rafael Nadal said "an important part of my life is leaving" after partnering Roger Federer for the final match of the Swiss great's career at the Laver Cup in London.
The last match of Federer's career saw him partner with his great rival Nadal to play doubles for Team Europe on Friday, taking on American duo Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe at the O2 Arena.
Despite taking the first set, Nadal and Federer ultimately fell to an entertaining 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 11-9 loss before watching a series of tributes to the Swiss maestro, who also had an on-court interview and was embraced by his team-mates, opponents, family and friends.
Nadal, one of just two male players with more grand slam wins than Federer's 20 (22, also Novak Djokovic with 21), was seen to be in tears as he sat next to the retiring star during the post-match tributes.
During the match, he also showed signs of nerves due to the scale of the occasion and later declared he would hugely miss his long-time rival.
"It has been a difficult day to handle every single thing, and at the end everything became super emotional," Nadal said.
"For me, it has been a huge honour to be a part of this amazing moment of the history of our sport.
"When Roger leaves the tour, an important part of my life is leaving too because of all the moments that he has been next to me or in front of me in important moments of my life.
"So, I have been emotional to see the family, see all the people. Difficult to describe, but amazing moment."
Top seed Daniel Evans is through to the last four at the San Diego Open after defeating Constant Lestienne 6-1 6-3 in Friday's quarter-final
It was perhaps a closer contest than the final score indicates, with Evans creating 13 break point opportunities while Lestienne created 11, but the Englishman was able to save 10 of the 11 he faced while converting five himself.
Ultimately the difference between the two players was Evans' ability to avoid wasteful errors, posting 23 winners with 12 unforced errors while Lestienne had 15 winners with 21 unforced errors.
Evans will play third seed Marcos Giron for a spot in the final after the American beat Australia's James Duckworth 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
It was a match that was decided by the efficiency of Giron, who was more accurate with his serve, landing 59 per cent of his first serves fair compared to 47 per cent for Duckworth.
The Australian actually created more break point chances – eight to three – but while he converted two of his eight chances, Giron turned all three into breaks.
While the top half of the draw played out as the seeding predicted, there was an upset in the late window as Christopher O'Connell eliminated second seed Jenson Brooksby 6-4 4-6 7-5.
The Australian had a clear serving advantage, smacking 14 aces compared to four for Brooksby, and he also racked up a massive 50 winners with 16 unforced errors. Brooksby had 24 winners with 21 unforced errors.
Despite being the better shot-maker on the day, O'Connell had to save two match points to keep his chances alive, and then broke Brooksby as the American tried to serve it out, rattling off four consecutive games to end the match.
O'Connell will face Brandon Nakashima in the semi-final after he emerged victorious 6-3 4-6 6-4 against Daniel Elahi Galan.
Nakashima has now won five of his past six matches, with the only loss in that stretch coming against Jannik Sinner in the US Open.
The Baltimore Orioles gave their fans a glimpse into an exciting future as starting pitcher Dean Kremer and rookie catcher Adley Rutschman delivered in a 6-0 win against the Houston Astros.
Houston entered the contest with a seven-game lead atop the American League standings, but they were no match for Kremer in what ended up being the first complete game shutout of his career.
Kremer, 26, is in the midst of a breakout season, with nine scoreless innings against the Astros bringing his ERA to 3.07 from 114 innings this year – a sharp improvement from his 7.55 ERA in 53 innings a season ago.
Overall, Kremer allowed four hits and two walks in the complete game, and he received some solid run support from another young star on his team.
Rutschman, 24, would be considered a strong chance for Rookie of the Year if Seattle Mariners phenom Julio Rodriguez had not already locked up the award, and the young catcher finished three-for-three at the plate on Friday.
He singled in his first at-bat, followed by a solo home run in the fourth inning, and a double in the seventh.
With the win, the Orioles are now three games behind the Mariners in the race for the last AL Wildcard spot.
The wrong Aaron homers for the Yankees
Aaron Judge remains one home run away from the American League and New York Yankees' single-season record, but his side emerged 5-4 victors against the Boston Red Sox with the help of his namesake.
It was Aaron Hicks doing the damage for the Yankees, hitting a solo home run in the third inning and an RBI single in the fifth to score the first two runs, before Gleyber Torres' two-run single doubled their advantage to 4-1.
A three-run homer to Boston's Alex Verdugo tied things at 4-4 in the sixth inning, but All-Star catcher Jose Trevino tacked on the winner for the Yankees with a single in the eighth inning.
Judge finished one-for-four with a single and two strikeouts.
Nola, Hoskins dominate the reigning champions
Aaron Nola and Rhys Hoskins were at the peak of their powers to help the Philadelphia Phillies to a dominant 9-1 home win against the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves.
Already leading 2-0 in the second inning, Hoskins stepped up to the plate and added two more runs with a double, and he chipped in another two with a homer in the fourth inning on his way to final figures of three-for-four with four RBIs.
On the mound, Nola was terrific, striking out eight batters in six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and three walks.
St Louis Cardinals legend Albert Pujols had a night he will never forget during Friday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, becoming the fourth player to ever hit 700 home runs in their career.
Pujols, 42, came into the contest with 698 homers to his name after an incredible second half of the season, with eight home runs in August and now six more in September after totalling seven combined from the first four months.
He hit number 699 in the third inning from his second at-bat of the contest, crushing a two-run shot 434 feet over the left-field wall – longer than any home run he hit at this year's Home Run Derby.
There was no lengthy wait for 700, as it came in the very next inning. After Dodgers starting pitcher Andrew Heaney was pulled from the game, relief pitcher Phil Bickford got the dubious honour of pitching the memorable homer.
On a 1-1 count, after taking two sliders, the third pitch was another slider that Pujols did not miss, this time with a 389-foot shot to a similar spot in left-field to make the score 5-0.
But the score was not relevant for his rival fans in Dodger Stadium, who rose in unison with baseball fans everywhere to celebrate the historic moment.
It was a fitting moment for Pujols, who played for the Dodgers last season when it appeared his best days were well and truly behind him, before deciding to go around one more time with the Cardinals, who he spent his first 11 seasons with.
In his past three injury-riddled seasons, Pujols hit 23 total home runs in 148 games. He now has 21 this season from 101 games.
Pujols' 700th home run now leaves him trailing only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) for the most all-time, putting an emphatic exclamation point on one of the best careers in the history of baseball.
An emotional Roger Federer bid farewell to the game he loves following Friday's Laver Cup doubles loss alongside long-time rival Rafael Nadal, calling his send-off "exactly what I hoped for".
Federer and Nadal went head-to-head with American duo Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe in the 20-time grand slam champion's last ever match, but after taking the first set, the megastars lost a second-set tie-break as well as the match tie-break for a 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 11-9 result.
The 41-year-old was then given the stage to reflect on his incredible journey to becoming one of the greatest players to ever grace the court.
After sharing his fear that he would not be able to get any words out due to the emotions of the moment, he said it was a perfect way to wrap up a perfect career.
"It's been a wonderful day," he said. "I told the guys I'm happy, I'm not sad. It feels great to be here, and I enjoyed tying my shoes one more time, and everything was the last time.
"Funny enough, with all the matches, and having the guys, and being here with fans, family and friends – I didn't feel the stress so much, even though I did think something was going to go. Pop a calf, or lock my back or something.
"I'm so happy to make it through, the match was great, I couldn't be happier. It's been wonderful.
"Of course, playing with Rafa on the same team, and having the guys all here, the legends… thank you."
With Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray among those in the Team Europe corner, Federer said it was a special feeling to get to share his finish line with other icons of the sport.
"It's amazing, it really is," he said. "I didn't want it to feel lonely out there… to be saying goodbye in a team, I always felt I was a team player at heart.
"Singles doesn't really do that a whole lot, but I've had a team that travels with me around the world, that's been amazing with them.
"It does feel like a celebration to me. I wanted to feel like this at the end, and it's exactly what I hoped for, so thank you."
When asked to reflect on his legacy and standing in the game, Federer became overwhelmed with emotion, saying "it was never supposed to be that way".
"I was just happy to play tennis, and spend time with my friends really," he said. "And it ends here. It has been a perfect journey and I would do it all over again.
"It's been great. It's been so much fun. It's been amazing."
A tearful Roger Federer bid goodbye to a 25-year career with defeat at the Laver Cup in a doubles contest that went past midnight in London.
Federer teamed with long-time rival Rafael Nadal against American duo Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock as Team Europe face Team World at the O2 Arena.
After winning the first set, the Swiss and the Spaniard were faced with a spirited fightback from Tiafoe and Sock, who won a second-set tie-break before also clinching the match tie-break to seal victory 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 11-9.
There had been a great atmosphere in London on Friday for the fifth edition of the three-day competition.
Federer, 41, had not played a match since he was knocked out of Wimbledon by Hubert Hurkacz at the quarter-final stage last year due to knee injury.
There were huge cheers when Federer and Nadal came onto the court and loud roars for the Swiss great when he came up with his first winner.
There was a sensational moment in the first set when Federer appeared to have won a point after his shot hit the top of the net and bounced in, only for a replay to show the ball had somehow been hit through a small hole between the net and the post, meaning Team Europe lost the point, despite the remarkably unlikely event of the ball passing through such a gap.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were among Federer and Nadal's team-mates offering some tactical input between games, and the legendary duo had to save a first break point of the match before the Spaniard held to put them 5-4 up.
It was two of the all-time greats that took a tight opening set when Sock put a volley into the net, prompting Team World captain John McEnroe to tell his doubles pair they appeared to be getting "caught up in the hoopla."
A determined Team World managed to level it up after a back-and-forth second set went to a tie-break, with Tiafoe and Sock coming out on top with their superior power and pace.
That took it to a dramatic deciding match tie-break, with every point keeping fans holding their breath, including some trademark Federer magic at 6-7 when he diverted a Sock shot across court for a crowd-pleasing winner.
It looked like the dream script was being followed as Federer served at match point for himself and Nadal, but the former could only hit a shot into the net, before Sock and Tiafoe won the next two points to secure the win for Team World.
It was then hugs all round as respect was paid to the 20-time grand slam winner at the conclusion of a phenomenal career.
Earlier in the day, Casper Ruud drew first blood for the Team Europe, beating Sock 6-4 5-7 10-7, before Stefanos Tsitsipas doubled their advantage with an emphatic 6-2 6-1 defeat of Diego Schwartzman.
There was drama after the first set of that second singles match when a protester, wearing a T-shirt with the message, "END UK PRIVATE JETS" on, set their arm alight on court before being escorted out by security.
Alex de Minaur then got Team World on the board with a 5-7 6-3 10-7 success over home favourite Murray before the late-night main event under the lights.
Friday was the second day of The Presidents Cup, and the second day in a row the United States team came away with four of the five points on offer to lead 8-2 in the best-of-30 competition.
After foursomes was the format on Thursday, things moved to four-ball for the second trip around Quail Hollow, meaning all four golfers in their matchup play each hole, with only the best score from each duo counting towards their score.
Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele – the reigning champions from the PGA Tour's only team event during the season, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans – showed no signs of slowing down after their blistering 6 and 5 win in the opening round, again delivering the biggest margin of victory for the day.
They defeated the duo of Hideki Matsuyama and Tom Kim 3 and 2, and the International team needed to mount a comeback to even survive that long as the United States were 5up through eight holes.
Kim was responsible for all three winning holes for his duo, with birdies on the 12th, 14th and 15th, while Cantlay and Schauffele evenly split their six triumphant holes with three apiece.
The only other fixture to not go the full 18 was Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas' 2 and 1 win against Australian duo Cam Davis and Adam Scott.
It was another hot start for the United States, with back-to-back birdies from Thomas and one from Spieth putting them 3up through eight holes, and although Davis and Scott both won a hole each down the back-nine, they were never able to bring the margin to within one.
Things were much more competitive in Max Homa and Billy Horschel's 1up win against Canadians Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith, as the Americans picked up the lead with one hole to play.
Team United States took a 2up lead into the back-nine, which was quickly erased by Conners with two birdies on the 11th and 13th, leaving things tied until the 17th, where Homa delivered a clutch birdie to secure the win.
There were no wins for the Internationals on Friday, but they collected two half-points as the duos of Mito Pereira and Christiaan Bezuidenhout as well as Im Sung-jae and Sebastian Munoz held on to salvage something from the day.
Im and Munoz had a tough matchup against world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, but it was Burns doing most of the heavy lifting for the United States, winning three of his team's four holes.
Munoz won three of the Internationals' four holes, including a par on the 17th as both Americans bogeyed to even things up.
Lastly, Pereira and Bezuidenhout were leading through 13 holes, before Cameron Young tied it and collected another half-point for his duo with Kevin Kisner.
Saturday will see teams contest both foursomes and four-ball rounds, before the competition moves to singles play on Sunday.
Brazil head coach Tite has praised the "impressive" performance of his side regaining possession against Ghana.
The South American side blitzed to a 3-0 win against their African opponents in a friendly in France, Marquinhos opening the scoring inside nine minutes before Richarlison struck a brace before the break.
Victory in Le Havre raises optimism for the five-time World Cup champions before the tournament later this year, with Tite's side excelling in the final third and putting their opponents to the sword.
However, Tite was impressed by the display of his side without possession against Ghana as they quickly responded to win the ball back.
"In the first half, the team mobilised to, after losing possession, immediately regain control of the ball," he said.
"There are several different ways to call it: lose-and-press, five seconds of madness, everyone uses a different term. But our speed in regaining possession was impressive.
"When the balls stopped, the team also went well, it was clean. Coming to France, without the athletes having to change time zone, helped."
In the second half, Brazil were unable to perform entirely up to the standard they displayed in the opening 45 minutes but Tite believes doing so would not have been possible.
"In the first half, the team had pace and the performance, they dominated and controlled. In the second half, Ghana managed to control for 15 minutes, we could not finish them as they had a wall of five players," he explained.
"At the same time, we were solid. If we didn't create, we didn't let our opponent create either. With the entry of fresh players [off the bench], we regained dominance.
"Then we had clear chances to extend our lead. Matheus Cunha had two clear chances, there were chances with Neymar, Rodrygo, Paqueta.
"So, the team was able to do well in these different stages but being equal to what we did in the first half does not always work."
Brazil face Tunisia on Tuesday in their final game before the World Cup commences in Qatar in November.
Germany boss Hansi Flick says he must take responsibility for his side's Nations League defeat to Hungary, after suffering the first loss of his tenure.
Adam Szalai's outrageous first-half flick was the only goal of a 1-0 loss in Leipzig, as the hosts failed to turn almost three-quarters of possession into a response on the scoreboard in Group A3.
It condemned Germany to a first loss against Hungary since 2004, with Flick's side often looking uncomfortably despite their control, with Jonas Hofmann dropped to right-back instead of his traditional midfield role.
Speaking afterwards, the former Bayern Munich boss admitted he has gambled incorrectly, though England's loss to Italy means they are safe from relegation, excusing further blushes.
"We wanted to try something with Jonas in the right-back position," he told ZDF. "I have to take responsibility for that. We never got where we wanted to use [our full-backs]. That's didn't work."
Addressing a media conference shortly afterwards, Flick added his side would not be disorientated by the result with the Qatar 2022 World Cup looming however, adding: "This defeat will not throw us off track.
"We know what is required of us now and this has opened our eyes a bit. It’s better to lose now rather than at the World Cup.
"Our first half was really poor. We didn’t do enough, played without confidence and made too many basic errors. It was a lot better after the break, though we failed to create enough chances."
Hofmann concurred with Flick's assessment, and vowed to not let a first loss since last year's last16 exit at Euro 2020 to England throw them off-balance.
"Tonight just wasn’t good enough," he added. "This defeat will not be the end of the world for us, of course it’s frustrating tonight, but we won’t let it get us down."
Germany will return to the scene of their last loss when they face England - already relegated to the B tier of the Nations League after a miserable post-Euros campaign - at Wembley Stadium on September 26.
Roberto Mancini praised Italy's new generation following a 1-0 victory over England in the Nations League.
Giacomo Raspadori's strike at San Siro condemned the Three Lions to relegation to League B, while Italy will face off against Hungary on Monday to decide who will advance to the Nations League finals.
Having failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, Mancini has looked to younger players for the future as the likes of 22-year-old Raspadori have made an impression for the European champions and hailed the displays of his young guns.
"We rebooted in June and were always in the running in this Nations League group. Clearly, we need these games, these wins, so we can grow," he said.
"I expected a good performance and knew it would be difficult, because many of tonight's lads are inexperienced at this level, with not even 30 per cent of England's caps, but I think we won deservedly."
Mancini was then asked why Italy are seemingly more effective when under pressure than in games where they are clear favourites but disagreed that this was the case.
"I don't think we threw anything away, football has an element of luck to it. We won the Euros on penalties, we deserved to win it, then failed to qualify for the World Cup after two games we dominated and did not win against Switzerland," he explained.
"We made mistakes too, that is obvious. I don't know if today was our best performance of the Nations League, we did well against Hungary and Germany too."
As for England, Mancini remains confident that Gareth Southgate's side can be contenders at the World Cup in Qatar and played down the significance of relegation from the Nations League.
"It's always satisfying to beat England, but especially after the difficult time we've had recently, it takes a little pressure off and that is important," he added.
"In my opinion, England are one of the best teams in the world and will have a good chance at the tournament. I don't think they will care too much about the relegation."
England manager Gareth Southgate insisted there were "a lot of positives" in the Three Lions' 1-0 defeat to Italy on Friday.
Giacomo Raspadori struck the only goal of the game to condemn England to equal their worst winless streak since 2014, and also resulted in relegation to League B of the Nations League.
It marked another game without a goal for England, who are now 495 minutes without scoring from open play, and have just 90 minutes of football against Germany on Monday before the World Cup.
However, despite receiving boos from the travelling supporters at San Siro, Southgate remains positive and suggested England were the better team.
"It's difficult for me to be too critical of the performance. We had more possession, more shots, more shots on target," he said.
"For large parts of the game we played very well. We didn't deal with the decisive moment defensively. We had moments where we had the chance to be decisive in their final third, [but] our quality wasn't quite right.
Luis Enrique is "optimistic about what lies ahead" as Spain prepare to try and win Group A2 in the Nations League.
La Roja host Switzerland on Saturday knowing a win will secure top spot for them if Portugal lose to the Czech Republic.
Should they not seal it this weekend, Spain will have a second chance to do so when they travel to face Portugal in their final Nations League group game on Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Luis Enrique was boosted by what he had seen in training from his squad, including first-time call-ups Borja Iglesias and Nico Williams.
"It has been the best week of training for the players since I became a coach," he said. "Even Borja and Nico, making their debuts.
"I am optimistic about what lies ahead. A brutal week, even those who play little have the level to compete."
The former Barcelona boss was refusing to look ahead to the clash with Portugal before facing the Swiss.
"Even losing [to Switzerland], if we beat Portugal, We'll be through," he said. "But that doesn't mean we'll speculate. The next one is the most important game.
"The good thing about the Nations League is that all the teams have something at stake. If Switzerland don't get more points, they will [be relegated to League B].
"Good players can play together like [Alvaro] Morata and Borja. We will not change the way any player plays and everyone has assimilated to our way of working."
Luis Enrique was also asked about the situation with the Spain women's team, with 15 players having said they do not want to play under current head coach Jorge Vilda.
Ballon d'Or winner and Barcelona superstar Alexia Putellas effectively joined the rebellion on Friday, posting a statement from the disenchanted group.
"It is a totally abnormal situation, and difficult to manage," Luis Enrique said on the matter. "But I have not the slightest doubt that the [Spanish Football] Federation will manage it in the best possible way. There are many factors."
Stanislas Wawrinka edged closer to a first ATP Tour title in five years after edging Mikael Ymer in a thriller to reach the Moselle Open semi-finals.
On the same day fellow countryman Roger Federer would hang up his racquet at the Laver Cup, Wawrinka was forced to go all the way by his opponent in Metz, eventually winning 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-5).
The three-time grand slam champion, whose injury struggles and form have seen him tumble to 284 in the world rankings, served up seven aces to Ymer's two, and made no double faults.
Victory moves him into the last four, where he will meet seventh seed Alexander Bublik after the Kazakh saw off Holger Rune in another three-set encounter with a 6-3 5-7 6-4 win.
Defending champion Hubert Hurkacz is also through to the semi-finals after making quick work of home favourite Arthur Rinderknech, winning 6-3 6-2.
The world number 10 will face Lorenzo Sonego next after the Italian also came through his quarter-final in straight sets against Sebastian Korda.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
