BARCELONA/PARIS - Barcelona fans gathered outside Lionel Messi's house on Monday and spoke of their sadness at the club's greatest player leaving after 21 years, while Paris Saint-Germain fans eagerly awaited his arrival in the French capital.
One Barça member filed complaints with a French court and with the European Commission to try to block any move by PSG to sign Messi, according to documents seen by Reuters on Monday.
BARCELONA — From posing for selfies to enjoying seafront meals and taking his children to bouncy castles, Lionel Messi's down-to-earth existence won him the admiration of many locals in his longtime hometown Barcelona.
Messi bade a tearful farewell to FC Barcelona on Sunday, preparing to find a new life away from the Castelldefels suburb where he lived a peaceful, homely existence.
PARIS — Paris St. Germain started its Ligue 1 campaign with a comeback 2-1 win at promoted Troyes on Saturday while anticipating the arrival of six-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi, who appears set to join the French giant.
Messi will be holding a news conference at 10 a.m. GMT on Sunday after Barcelona said earlier this week that the 34-year-old Argentine will leave the club.
Lionel Messi is set to join Paris St Germain after Barcelona were forced to let their Argentine talisman go as they could not afford to give him a new contract under La Liga's salary limit rules, L'Equipe reported on Friday.
After a potential title chase ended up in a fifth-place finish and a change of manager, Olympique de Marseille has been remarkably active in the transfer window this summer.
Jorge Sampaoli has been backed to the tune of $52 million as Marseille has secured 10 signings thus far. This summer has been one of transition for the side from France's second city, as Valère Germain, Yuto Nagatomo and Florian Thauvin have left the club in addition to academy graduate Maxime Lopez, Kevin Strootman and Hiroki Sakai.
Come August, there are always a few clubs that capture the imagination with their audacious summer spending before inevitably collapsing by October. Usually this is Everton.
The return of a club legend, the signing of a highly touted prodigy or a loan move for a big-name player whose career has stalled (or preferably all three in one window) are the usual fixings for getting way too hyped before the start of a new campaign.
Defending champions Brazil advanced to the quarter-finals of the men's Olympic soccer tournament after a 3-1 victory over Saudi Arabia on Wednesday helped them top Group D while Ivory Coast booked their berth by sending Germany home.
Japan advanced after delivering the knockout blow to 10-man France with a 4-0 win to stay perfect in Group A. Takefusa Kubo, Hiroki Sakai, Koji Miyoshi and Daizen Maeda all scored for the rampant hosts while Randal Kolo Muani was sent off for France.
Sufrió y batalló, sufrió y batalló, sufrió y batalló hasta conseguir una agónica victoria. Francia derrotó a Sudáfrica por 4-3 en los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio, con un André-Pierre Gignac estelar. De hecho, el jugador de Tigres marcó un hat trick y al momento de celebrar no olvidó a los aficionados felinos.
Fue un partido duro para Les Bleus, siempre viniendo desde atrás en el marcador, pero con Gignac manteniéndolos a flote, una y otra vez.
Francia salió destrozada de su debut en los Juegos Olímpicos. México la goleó por 4-1 y seguro muchos que veían el partidos se preguntaban dónde estaban las estrellas de este equipo. Todos sabemos de la potencia de los galos, actuales campeones del mundo, sin embargo, muchas de las figuras Sub-23 que tiene se quedaron en casa y no viajaron a Tokio. ¿El ausente más célebre? Kylian Mbappé.
TOKYO - France's Olympic men's soccer campaign got off to a dreadful start when they were thrashed 4-1 by Mexico while Argentina suffered a shock 2-0 loss to Australia as the group stage kicked off on Thursday.
Brazil striker Richarlison scored the first hat-trick of the men's tournament as the defending champions held off a late rally from Germany in a 4-2 win at Yokohama's International Stadium.