Lionel Messi made a getaway from Paris to bolster Argentina ahead of their final World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday.

Rumours surround the future of Messi at club level, with Barcelona appearing to hold the door open in case he fancies a return to Camp Nou, having left in tears last August.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner's first season at Paris Saint-Germain is almost certain to end with a Ligue 1 title, but exits from the Champions League and Coupe de France have dampened spirits.

Messi was booed by PSG supporters in the recent 3-0 home win over Bordeaux, with that March 13 game following in the wake of defeat to Real Madrid in Europe.

He has another year left on his PSG contract after this season.

The national team captain was assured of a warm welcome with Argentina, having made the trip out later than planned after missing PSG's 3-0 weekend defeat at Monaco due to what coach Mauricio Pochettino said was a bout of flu.

The 34-year-old travelled by private jet with PSG team-mates Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes, ahead of a home game against Venezuela on Friday and a trip to face Ecuador four days later. Local media showed the pair arriving on Tuesday morning.

Argentina began their preparations for the games on Monday, ahead of the trio arriving from France.

Although Argentina have already qualified for the Qatar 2022 finals, Messi's availability comes as a boost to head coach Lionel Scaloni.

A host of injuries means Argentina's squad has been significantly weakened, and Inter striker Lautaro Martinez has pulled out after a positive COVID-19 test.

According to former national team defender Roberto Ayala, who is now Scaloni's assistant, Argentina have no worries about Messi.

Ayala told La Red earlier this month: "We see Messi well. He is a boy who is transformed when he comes to the national team. He is very contained by the group and also wants them to see him as part of the group."

Leonard Fournette has become the latest player to re-sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to reports.

After Tom Brady made a sensational U-turn on his decision to retire, Chris Godwin also agreed to a three-year deal worth $60million with the Bucs after being franchise tagged by the team who won Super Bowl LV at the end of the 2020 season.

Fournette is understood to be signing a new three-year deal in Tampa Bay worth $21million, potentially rising to $24m.

The 27-year-old running back reportedly visited the New England Patriots, who had also shown interest in him when he left the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2020, on Monday.

However, like then, Fournette looks to have decided on the Bucs, where he enjoyed a productive 2021 season.

His 1,266 total yards from scrimmage ranked sixth in the NFL, as he rushed for 812 yards, caught 69 passes for 454 yards and scored a total of 10 touchdowns.

Fournette's 4.5 yards per carry average last season was a career-high.

His best game of the season came in the 38-31 win at the Indianapolis Colts in Week 12, scoring four TDs, making eight first downs and racking up a total of 131 yards from 24 touches.

Fournette was placed on injured reserve after suffering a hamstring issue following Week 15, but returned for the divisional round defeat to eventual Super Bowl LVI winners, the Los Angeles Rams.

The man nicknamed "Lombardi Lenny", or "Playoff Lenny", had previously put in a 135-yard performance as the Bucs won Super Bowl LV, beating the Kansas City Chiefs.

Abdullah Shafique was closing in on another half-century at stumps on day two of the deciding Test as Pakistan made a strong start in reply to Australia's 391 all out at Gaddafi Stadium.

Cameron Green (79) and Alex Carey (67) frustrated Pakistan in the heat on Tuesday before Naseem Shah (4-58) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (4-79) prevented the tourists from going beyond 400 in Lahore.

Pat Cummins dismissed Imam-ul-Haq cheaply, but an unbroken stand of 70 between Shafique (45 not out) and Azhar Ali (30no) took Pakistan on to 90-1 at the close - trailing by 301 runs.

Carey and Green took Australia from 232-5 at the start of play to 320-5 at lunch, bringing up their half-centuries as the Pakistan attack toiled.

Nauman Ali ended a sixth-wicket stand of 135 by trapping Carey bang in front and Naseem cleaned Green up with an excellent delivery. 

Australia lost five wickets for 50 runs, with Afridi removing Mitchell Starc and making a mess of Mitchell Swepson's stumps after the impressive Naseem bowled Nathan Lyon.

Imam (11) was snared lbw by Cummins off balance in the 12th over of Pakistan's reply to end an opening stand of 20, while Shafique was fortunate to edge between Carey and Steve Smith in the slips.

Azhar clattered Lyon down the ground for six and Shafique ticked along nicely in great batting conditions.

Cummins wasted a review for an lbw shout against Azhar as Pakistan put a frustrating start to the day behind them.


Pakistan's young pace duo fire after Carey and Green stand

Green and Carey gave Australia just the start they were looking for, but Pakistan's young pacemen fired in the afternoon session.

Teenager Naseem and 21-year-old Afridi bowled with a combination of pace and reverse swing as they cleaned up the tail in quick time.

Naseem was not selected for the second Test but he will surely be a mainstay for years to come, while Afridi has already proven he is a class act time and again.


Rock-solid Shafique 

The composed Shafique has been a revelation for Pakistan at the top of the order and the opener laid solid foundations once again.

Having made a 134 and 44 in the opening match of the series in Rawalpindi before falling four short of a century in the first innings in Karachi, Shafique will be eyeing three figures again.

Chris Hoy has labelled Mark Cavendish's spectacular Tour de France comeback as "one of the greatest" in sporting history.

Cavendish, a silver medallist on the track for Great Britain at the 2016 Olympic Games, made a stunning return to Le Tour in 2021.

Having not featured in the race since 2018, Cavendish came in as a late replacement for Deceuninck-QuickStep and landed four stage wins, seeing him match the great Eddy Merckx's career record of 34 stage victories that had stood since 1975.

Indeed, Cavendish went into the final stage with the opportunity to surpass Merckx, though he could only finish third in a sprint finish on the Champs-Elysees. He nevertheless took the green jersey for the second time in his career.

It was an unlikely road back for 36-year-old Cavendish, who just last week became the oldest winner of the Milano-Torino.

"Oh, I think Mark Cavendish's comeback last year was one of the greatest in sport we've ever seen," Hoy, one of Great Britain's greatest Olympians, told Stats Perform.

"It was, I don't think even he had really thought that he was gonna have such an impact, and to be called in so late in the year. He had a really solid year, started winning again, he got his confidence back.

"But I don't think that he even envisaged that he would be competing in the Tour de France, let alone winning multiple stages and equalling the greatest of all time in many people's eyes.

 

"He's having a fantastic year this year as well, but regardless of what he does from now on he is a legend of the sport and that will not change. An extra Tour de France stage win is what he wants, but it wouldn't make him any more of a legend in my eyes.

"I'm sure for most of the cycling community his place is already cemented forever. He is a proper legend of the sport."

For Hoy, Cavendish's legacy is secured around the globe.

"I think Mark has real global appeal," Hoy said. "He's well known in the UK and has a huge following over here, but equally wherever he goes, wherever he competes, because of the way he raced, because he's so exciting, because there's always drama surrounding him.

"He either wins or there's always some controversy or something. It is great for the sport. I think the best thing about his comeback is seeing how much it means to him and the emotion, because sport is nothing without emotion.

"If somebody wins just routinely, and it becomes almost easy looking, even if it's not, but if it appears to be easy and there's no emotion, then it's hard for the public to get behind that. But for Cav, he's always had that emotion, people love to see how much it means to him.

"We've never seen Cav quite as emotional as when he won his first stage of the Tour last year, it was incredible."

Marc Marquez revealed he has been suffering from double vision again after a huge crash that ruled him out of the Indonesian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The six-time MotoGP champion hit the ground hard in a massive highside at Turn 7 during the warm-up for the race at the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit.

Marquez was left dazed after landing heavily and was taken to hospital for a check-up.

The Repsol Honda rider suffered concussion and was unable to start the first grand prix in Indonesia since 1997.

Marquez was diagnosed with diplopia following a crash in practice at the Portuguese Grand Prix last year and the Spaniard has been troubled by the same issue following his latest accident.

The 29-year-old revealed he has not suffered as badly as he did previously and did not state whether he will be able to get back on his bike for the next race in Argentina on April 3.

He tweeted on Tuesday: "It seems that I am experiencing deja vu... During the trip back to Spain, I began to have discomfort with my vision, and we decided to visit Dr. Sanchez Dalmau, who confirmed that I have a new episode of diplopia.

"Fortunately, it is less severe than the injury I had at the end of last year. But now it's time to rest and wait to see how the injury evolves."

Liverpool never had any doubts that Luis Diaz would fit in immediately, with Jurgen Klopp explaining he wants the winger to play his "natural" game.

Diaz joined Liverpool in January in a big-money move from Porto, for whom he had already scored 16 goals across all competitions this season.

Everton wanted to sign the attacker in August 2021 while Tottenham were thought to be frontrunners in January, only for the Reds to pip them to the post.

Since Diaz made his debut as a substitute in the FA Cup win over Cardiff City at the start of February, the Colombia international has featured 12 times, with no other Liverpool player playing on more occasions in that time.

He has scored twice, with those goals coming in Premier League wins over Norwich City and Brighton and Hove Albion, creating 11 chances for team-mates, the fifth-most in Liverpool's squad.

Only Mohamed Salah (95) has had more touches in the opposition box than Diaz (69), whose energetic and aggressive pressing has seen him settle in quickly to Klopp's set-up.

Of Liverpool attackers, just Roberto Firmino (12) has attempted more tackles than Diaz's eight, with the winger having a 100 per cent success rate. Indeed, his 113 duels is also a team-high, with only Fabinho having won more (58 compared to 51).

Klopp and his staff had no concerns over Diaz's ability, but the Liverpool manager has stressed the importance of allowing the 25-year-old to play his own game.

"Every coach would say the same about a January signing. You do it, but if you could, you would do it in the summer," he told Sky Sports.

"There is a reason why you sign a player. The reason is the quality that he has. The reason is the way that he is playing the game.

"With Luis, where it has been really special is that when we saw him we knew that he would fit in immediately. That is really difficult usually but because he did not have to change, that is why we have a really confident boy here.

"He was in a really good moment with Porto, playing good for Colombia, and so he came here full of confidence. But what we tried to make sure is that he does not lose that because of the playbook as we tell him that he has to do this and he has to do that.

"We want him to be natural. It was clear from the first moment that we saw him that he would be a player who could play immediately, on a specific level, if he could deal with it mentally."

It has been a superb start to life at Anfield for Diaz, who has already helped seal an EFL Cup triumph.

"Nothing has happened yet," warned Klopp. "Yes, the start has been really good. But he is a long-term project for us and we are a long-term project for him.

"There is loads more to come."

Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal has tested positive for coronavirus ahead of the friendlies against Denmark and Germany.

Van Gaal is isolating in Woudschoten after returning a positive test on Monday.

Danny Blind, Henk Fraser and Frans Hoek will take on Van Gaal's duties until the Oranje boss is able to link up with the squad again.

Netherlands face Denmark at the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Saturday and take on Germany in Amsterdam three days later.

PSV defender Jordan Teze was last week called up for the upcoming friendlies and is poised to make his debut.

The Oranje qualified for the World Cup in Qatar this year by winning Group G with a 2-0 win over Norway in November.

Blaise Matuidi believes Juventus will struggle to replace Paulo Dybala when he departs at the end of the season.

Juve chief executive Maurizio Arrivabene confirmed on Monday that Dybala's contract will not be renewed.

The Argentina forward's deal expires at the end of June and the Bianconeri have opted against offering him an extension.

Dybala has scored 113 goals for the Serie A giants, ranking him third all-time among the club's non-Italian scorers, behind only David Trezeguet (171) and John Hansen (124).

He joined Juve from Palermo in a deal worth up to €40million in June 2015 and has proved to be a shrewd acquisition, finding the back of the net 80 times in 202 Serie A appearances.

 

Matuidi is surprised the Turin giants have allowed his former team-mate to move on and says he will leave a big void.

The ex-France international told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "I have an excellent relationship with him, I heard the news, but I have not yet had the opportunity to speak to him.

"He is a great man, as well as a great player. I am very surprised because I think that it will not be easy for Juventus to replace him and find a new player at his level.

"He has done fantastic things in recent years, the fans love him and they will never forget him. I am sure he will find a club that will allow him to continue to grow and do well.

"The only explanation is that Juventus have decided to renew the team. I know it's difficult to accept, but in these situations you have to know how to turn the page."

Juve have been linked with Roma's Nicolo Zaniolo as they prepare for life without Dybala.

Arrivabene explained the reasoning behind Dybala's impending departure, telling Tuttomercatoweb.com: "The most important change is that Juventus has not renewed Paulo Dybala's contract.

"With the transfer market, I reiterated it: the approach was sincere. With the signings made in January, with the arrival of [Dusan] Vlahovic, Paulo's position is not what it was anymore at the centre of the project.

"That is why we preferred to make this kind of decision."

Chris Hoy believes "fierce competitor" Egan Bernal can return to full strength despite the injuries he suffered in a horror crash earlier this year.

Bernal, who won the Tour de France in 2019 and the Giro d'Italia in 2021, was treated in intensive care following the accident in Colombia in January.

The 25-year-old underwent multiple operations after sustaining a fractured vertebra, a fractured right femur, a fractured right patella, chest trauma, a punctured lung and several fractured ribs.

Bernal subsequently revealed in a social media post that there was a "95 per cent chance" of him being paralysed or losing his life.

However, after leaving hospital, Bernal is now on the road to recovery and this month shared a photo of him training on a static bike at home.

Hoy, speaking to Stats Perform to mark 500 days until the start of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, said he is hoping Bernal will be back competing at the highest level after a long road to recovery.

"I guess it's always hard to tell just how bad an injury or how bad mentally a big crash can affect athletes and with social media, you're always trying to portray the best possible side and the positive side all the time," said Hoy, who is one of Great Britain's most successful Olympians with six gold medals.

"But there is no doubt that no matter how well he's doing now, it will have been a huge struggle to get past the physical injuries and the psychological scars as well from such a horrible accident.

"He is a fierce competitor, all the other team-mates who know him say that if anyone can, he can, and I think the cycling community is hoping that he will get back to his very best and be able to compete on the biggest stage. But, you know, it's not a small challenge that he's facing, but we'll have to wait and see."

Four-time Tour de France winner and Bernal's former INEOS Grenadiers team-mate Chris Froome also suffered a horrendous crash in 2019, which put him out of action for almost a year.

Froome was 34 when that accident occurred, and Hoy says Bernal at least has age on his side.

"I think Bernal’s age will help, that the chances on getting back and competing at the highest level, are definitely improved by the fact that he is still relatively young," Hoy said.

"But until you get back into that real cauldron of competition you just don't know what it's going to be like and I guess the longer you're away from competing, the more that fire burns and the more you want to get back and taste that victory again."

Lonzo Ball's recovery from a left knee injury will be slowed with Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan revealing they will "pull back" on the guard's rehabilitation process.

Ball, who is averaging 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists this season, has not played since January 14 when he sustained a slight meniscus tear, which required arthroscopic surgery.

The Bulls have been without Alex Caruso in recent weeks too, coinciding with their slide down the Eastern Conference standings to fifth with a 42-29 record.

Donovan said the Bulls would pause Ball's recovery for 10 days, taking him up to April 1, leaving only five regular-season games for him to return prior to the playoffs.

"The feeling was, let's really pull back on what he's doing and let's let him, I don't want to use the word rest because it's not like he's sitting around doing nothing – he'll do strength training and those kind of things – but take a break on the running and trying to ramp him up," Donovan told reporters prior to Monday's 113-99 win over the Toronto Raptors.

He added: "We'll have a better feel of that once they get through this next 10 days. Obviously, it's coming to the end of the season.

"I think that they felt like, OK if he can, over this 10-day period, really get back to the ramp-up period, because he has been out for quite some time, that would enable him to get back into contact relatively soon.

"But we can't even get him into that until he gets over that hump, so I don't want to speculate what may or may not happen after 10 days."

LeBron James hopes former teammate Kevin Love harbours no resentment after a brutal dunk in the Los Angeles Lakers' 130-121 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

James' return to Cleveland saw him put up a triple-double of 38 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, along with the dunk on his championship-winning teammate Love.

Attacking off an Austin Reaves dish inside, the 37-year-old launched to the basket with Love underneath, and the knee in the chest only served as a punctuation mark to what was a ferocious dunk.

Afterwards, James joked he hopes the invitation to the wedding of Love - whom he played with at the Cavs from 2014 to 2018 - is not rescinded.

"It was after the offensive rebound so I was diving down the middle, and once I got the bounce pass and put my left leg down on the ground, that's when I looked up," James said at the post-game news conference.

"To be completely honest, I hate that it had to be him. He's my guy, that's my brother and I hope I'm still invited to the wedding.

"That's not even in my all-time dunks so take it out. Kevin Love, I love you. I wish I could take those two points back and we'd still win by nine."

After last Sunday's demolition at the hands of the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers have regrouped on this road trip and if not for a fourth-quarter collapse against the Washington Wizards on Saturday, would be coming back home with a three-game win streak.

James believes performances have nevertheless been encouraging, with the Western Conference play-in on the horizon.

"For about 11 quarters, we've played some good basketball," he said. "Aside from the fourth quarter in the last game, we've played some good basketball and want to continue that trend.

"Obviously we want to defend a lot better, but this team is making a lot of shots, making a lot of plays and scoring a lot of points versus everybody.

"To come into this building, where [they] have played some exceptional basketball all year, on the last game of a road trip before we head back west, it was a big game from us."

Brooklyn Nets' All-Star Kevin Durant has showered praise on upcoming opponent Ja Morant comparing him to Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson.

The Nets take on Morant's Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, with Durant describing the first-time All-Star as a combination of Jordan, Iverson, Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose.

Morant has enjoyed a breakout year after being pick two in the 2019 NBA Draft and leading the Grizzlies to the playoffs last season.

The 22-year-old Memphis guard is averaging 27.6 points up from 19.1 points in the 2020-21 season along with 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.2 steals this season for the playoffs-bound Grizzlies who have a 49-23 record.

"He's a combination of players, I feel," Durant told reporters after the Nets' 114-106 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday.

"I think the greatest players in our game can transform into anybody at any given point, and I think Ja is on the way to that. I mean when he's playing I see like two or three or four different hall-of-famers in his game.

"From Iverson, he might make a Jordan-like lay-up, he might run down the court like a Westbrook or a D-Rose. His float game is up there with some of the best that's ever played.

"I don't wanna gas him up too much since we're playing against him, but I think the sky is the limit for him. His future is obviously bright, and he makes everybody better playing against him."

On the Grizzlies, Durant added: "When you got a future Hall of Famer at the head of the snake, it just makes everybody better."

Durant scored 37 points with nine rebounds and eight assists in Monday's win as the Nets improved to 38-34.

The Nets forward surpassed close friend Jerry West (25,192 points) into 22nd on the NBA's all-time scoring charts with his 37-point haul on Monday.

"Winning the championship with Jerry, having conversations with him, knowing the history of who he is, he helped kickstart the NBA basically, it's an honour," Durant said.

"He's a legend in the game. He's almost like the godfather of our sport. Good to see him back around our game but it's even better to pass him. He's one of the all-time great players in this league."

Durant moves to 25,213 points, with Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller next above him on 25,279 points.

LeBron James scored 38 points and notched up another triple-double upon his return to Cleveland, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 131-120 win over the Cavaliers on Monday.

Other than this season's All-Star Game, it was Akron-born James' only home visit. Having played 11 seasons in two stints with the Cavs, he was warmly received as he added 10 rebounds and 12 assists to those 38 points.

Russell Westbrook and D.J. Augustin added 20 points each for the Lakers, who moved three games clear of the 10th-placed San Antonio Spurs for Western Conference play-in calculations.

Meanwhile, the Cavs only just remain in sixth in the Eastern Conference at 41-31, one game clear of the Toronto Raptors in the first play-in spot.

Durant gives Jazz the business in Brooklyn

Kevin Durant was at his talismanic best, as the Brooklyn Nets won 114-106 at home to the Utah Jazz.

Durant had 37 points on 15-of-23 shooting, including four-of-seven from beyond the arc, as well as coming up with nine rebounds and eight assists.

Brooklyn look set to secure an Eastern Conference play-in spot at 38-34 in eighth, and despite 30 points for the Jazz, Donovan Mitchell couldn't stop the Nets from snapping their three-game win streak.

Maxey catches fire in Heat win

Tyrese Maxey scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter, propelling the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers to a 113-106 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat.

Without Joel Embiid and James Harden, Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz added 20 and 18 points respectively, while Maxey made critical buckets down the stretch.

In a game that was tight throughout, the 21-year-old came up big in the clutch, scoring on a drive plus the foul to give the Sixers a 106-101 lead with 2:18 remaining.

Chris Godwin has revealed his uncertainty over his Tampa Bay Buccaneers future before a message from Tom Brady helped him decide to re-commit to the side.

Godwin recently agreed to a three-year deal worth $60million with the Bucs after being franchise tagged with the Super Bowl LV champions.

Had the Buccaneers failed to agree a long-term deal with the wide receiver before the July 15 deadline, he would have played under a one-year, $19.18m franchise tender.

Godwin, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury in Week 15 of the 2021-22 season, agreed to the deal after superstar quarterback Brady confirmed he would come out of retirement to keep playing with the Bucs.

"It was a definitely a whirlwind of emotions," Godwin told reporters. "It was a lot of uncertainty at different points and sometimes it leaves you questioning just like why things happen.

"But you can't control what happens to you. You can just control your personal response to it and how you choose to go about it."

He added: "This last week has been a whirlwind for a lot of people. I think it just restores faith in the Bucs' fan base. 'We're back, man, and we're not laying down for nobody. We're coming back to try to make it to the top of the mountain, and you need great players and great people to do that, and obviously Tom coming back was a huge piece."

The 26-year-old wide receiver admitted his decision on his future was crystallised once Brady declared his intentions to come out of retirement and revealed their text exchange in a group chat with the QB and teammate Mike Evans.

Brady wrote: "Yo...just letting y'all know...I'm coming back and I'm excited for another year."

Godwin said: "Me and Mike were so gassed up, like, 'Yo, what are you talking about? You just retired?! It's hard to walk away from the game when you're as dedicated as Tom is."

Though his 2021 campaign was ended prematurely by his ACL injury, Godwin still finished the year with 98 receptions for 1,103 yards - both career highs - and five touchdowns.

According to Stats Perform data, Godwin registered a burn, which is when a receiver wins his matchup with a defender on a play where he is targeted, on 70.4 per cent of his targets.

That ratio was third-best in the NFL among wideouts with at least 100 targets behind team-mate Mike Evans (72.7) and Tyreek Hill (70.8). 

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.