Latest news with #JuninhoPernambucano
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lionel Messi Gets Closer to Another All-Time Record
(FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - JULY 12: Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami CF celebrates after scoring the team's first goal during the MLS match between Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC at Chase Stadium on July 12, 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by) ) (FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - JULY 12: Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami CF celebrates after scoring the team's first goal during the MLS match between Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC at Chase Stadium on July 12, 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by) ) Lionel Messi Gets Closer to Another All-Time Record originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Lionel Messi can't stop scoring in MLS. For the fifth straight game, the Inter Miami star found the net twice — the first on a free-kick goal early in the match against Nashville SC and the other came in a mistake made by the goalkeeper. With the free kick, Messi inches closer to the all-time free-kick record held by former Brazilian midfielder Juninho Pernambucano. Advertisement Juninho played eight seasons for Lyon between 2001 and 2009, becoming a key figure during the club's historic run of seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles. The Brazilian midfielder scored 100 goals in 300 appearances for Olympique Lyonnais — 75 of them in the French top flight, with an incredible 44 coming from free kicks. When adding his time at Vasco and Al-Gharafa, Juninho stands as the undisputed king of the dead ball. On the other hand, Lionel Messi is arguably one of the best free-kick takers the game has ever seen — and has been for nearly two decades. While it was never his standout skill early on, he's always been able to deliver when it mattered. During his time at Barcelona, set-piece duties often fell to others like Xavi or Iniesta. Now, with 69 free-kick goals to his name, Messi is just eight away from matching Juninho Pernambucano's all-time record of 77. Advertisement In the second half, Nashville equalized with a goal from Hany Mukhtar. But just 13 minutes later, Messi took advantage of a mistake by the opposing goalkeeper and found the back of the net again. It marked his fifth consecutive MLS match with multiple goals. Will Lionel Messi Achieve The All-time Record? As players get older, their characteristics evolve — it's a natural part of soccer, and some even end up changing positions entirely. Lionel Messi's mobility and agility aren't quite what they were three years ago, and as he approaches the final stretch of his career, his biggest threat may now come from set pieces rather than dribbling with the ball at his feet. Advertisement That said, Messi still has plenty left in the tank to play one final World Cup with Argentina next year. If he maintains this current form, he could not only help his country on the biggest stage once again — but also close in on, or even surpass, Juninho's record as the all-time leader in free-kick goals. Lionel Messi's stats in MLS in 2025 16 matches 16 goals 6 assists 21 goal contributions This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 13, 2025, where it first appeared.
The Independent
20-06-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
‘Touched by God' – how the world reacted to Lionel Messi's brilliance at Club World Cup
Another football tournament arrives, and yet again it's Lionel Messi grabbing headlines. Inter Miami 's 2-1 win over Porto in the Club World Cup is the first time that an MLS team has beaten a European side in official competition, but that is a mere subplot after Messi produced yet another magic moment to remind the world that he is more than capable of deciding a game even at the age of 37. In the 54th minute of the match, with the scores at 1-1, Miami won a free-kick around 20 yards out, right on the edge of the 'D' in a central position. Trademark goalscoring territory for a man of Messi's talents – though it was still impressive how he curled the ball over the wall, on the keeper's side, crashing it into the side-netting. It marks a 68th free-kick goal of Messi's career, meaning he is second only to Pele (70) and Lyon legend Juninho Pernambucano (77) in goal scored from direct free-kicks. When the Argentinian superstar led his nation to a third World Cup in Qatar in 2022, many assumed he would not be featuring in the next edition, whether due to age or a supposed loss of form. But with the World Cup looming large as the USA warms up by hosting the Club World Cup, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner showed that he may still be one of his nation's star players come June 2026. And the world was quick to react to yet another moment of Messi magic, with former Portugal defender Jose Fonte saying that the Argentinian is 'touched by God'. Speaking on Dazn, Fonte labelled Messi as 'incredible', with Shay Given adding that 'he is a genius'. 'If you get a chance to go see this guy live - you go and see him. This is what he does,' added Given. 'You call him maestro, magician, the words run out.' 'He is affecting the game, he is controlling the game. He is controlling his team-mates, he never gives the ball away,' said former Scotland midfielder Don Hutchinson. "Lionel Messi has still got those amazing feet. At his age, 37, [he's ]still dancing through,' he added. Inter Miami teammate Fafa Picault went even further, suggest that Messi is still 'the greatest player in the world'. Social media clearly remains enchanted by the Argentinian too, with a simple Fabrizio Romano post on X regarding Messi's free-kick goals tally garnering almost 100,000 likes. Another post outlined that Messi now has 1250 goal contributions across his career, with 866 goals and 384 assists. The goal marked Messi's 50th for Miami since joining in 2023, and it takes his overall tally at club level to 754. He sits second in the all-time scorers list at the Club World Cup too, with six goals – one behind Cristiano Ronaldo – having scored his first in the old format in 2009 with Barcelona. The victory marked the first time Inter Miami have won a match in this competition, having only been formed in 2018. And a draw against Brazilian giants Palmeiras on Monday evening would be enough for both sides to advance to the round of 16 in the first edition of the new format.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Players from one nation winning the men's ‘big five' leagues in a season
'The success of Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour, Harry Kane and Eric Dier means that British players have won three of the 'big five' leagues this season. Has that happened before? And have any countries managed five out of five?' wonders Philipp Lohan. To answer the first question, yes, it has happened before and not too long ago. Robbie Dale emailed in to highlight the 2020-21 season, when Kieran Trippier (Atlético), Ashley Young (Inter) and Phil Foden, John Stones and few others (Manchester City) also ticked three of the five boxes for British players. If we move on to nations who provided players who won all of the 'big five' leagues then we had better get busy making a list. Advertisement 2000-01 France Fabien Barthez and Mikaël Silvestre (Manchester United), Claude Makélélé (Real Madrid), Vincent Candela and Jonathan Zebina (Roma), Bixente Lizarazu and Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich) and French FC Nantes players. Email from Lowri Cusack 2003-04 Brazil Edu and Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Ricardo Oliveira (Valencia), Dida, Cafú, Kaká and Serginho (Milan), Aílton (Werder Bremen), Claudio Caçapa, Edmilson, Juninho Pernambucano and Giovane Élber (Lyon). Email from Dirk Maas 2007-08 Argentina Carlos Tévez (Manchester United), Gabriel Heinze, Fernando Gago, Gonzalo Higuaín and Javier Saviola (Real Madrid), Nicolás Burdisso, Walter Samuel, Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso, Santiago Solari, Hernán Crespo and Julio Cruz (Inter), Martín Demichelis and José Sosa (Bayern München), César Delgado (Lyon). Email from Dirk Maas 2007-08 (again) Brazil Anderson (Manchester United), Marcelo, Júlio Baptista and Robinho (Real Madrid), Júlio César, Maicon, Maxwell and César (Inter), Lúcio and Zé Roberto (Bayern München), Anderson, Cris, Juninho Pernambucano and Fred (Lyon). Email from Dirk Maas 2009-10 France Patrick Vieira (Inter), Thierry Henry and Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), Steve Mandanda (Marseille). Email from Thomas Bickley With so many players on a high, France must have been unbeatable at that summer's World Cup, eh? Oh. Advertisement 2016-17 Brazil David Luiz and Willian (Chelsea), Danilo, Marcelo and Casemiro (Real Madrid) Alex Sandro and Dani Alves (Juventus), Rafinha and Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich), Jemerson, Boschilia and Fabinho (Monaco). Email from Dirk Maas 2021-22 Spain Dani Carvajal, Marco Asensio, Isco and others (Real Madrid), Aymeric Laporte and Rodri (Manchester City), Brahim Díaz and Samu Castillejo (Milan), Marc Roca (Bayern Munich), Sergio Ramos, Juan Bernat and Ander Herrera (PSG). Emails from Seán Smith and Boris Cule 2023-24 Brazil Éder Militão, Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Ederson (Manchester City), Carlos Augusto (Inter), Arthur (Bayer Leverkusen, though he only played four times), Marquinhos and Lucas Beraldo (PSG). Emails from Seán Smith, Tim Dockery and Lloyd Jones We also had word that Brazilian, French and German players won the 'big five' leagues in 2017-18, Brazilians and Germans in 2018-19 and Brazilians in 2019-20 but we've run out of air to take another deep dive down for details. Late-career goalscoring centurions 'Brian Graham recently scored his 100th goal for Partick Thistle at the age of 37 having not joined the club until the age of 32. Has anyone ever reached a century after joining so late in their career?' writes Calum Stewart. Advertisement Let's start with two of modern football's deadliest netbusters. Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski joined Juventus and Barcelona respectively at the age of 33. Ronaldo scored 101 goals for Juve, Lewandowski is on the same total after hitting two against Athletic Bilbao in the last game of the season. Adam Webster points out that Ronaldo is one short of a century for Al-Nassr, the club he joined at the age of 37 – although he may have scored his last goal for the club. A word too for another Real Madrid legend: Ferenc Puskas, who moved to Spain at 31 and scored a whopping 242 goals over the next eight seasons. 'Romário returned to Vasco da Gama at the age of 33, after leaving at 22,' adds Ben. 'He went on to score another 171 goals for them in two stints: 132 from 2000-2002 and 39 from 2005-2006. Now to some lesser known hitmen, whose stories are in some ways more interesting. 'One answer is Gary Abbott at Aldershot Town,' writes Chris Heath. 'He joined the Shots, newly promoted to the Isthmian Premier League (then the sixth tier of English football) in the summer of 1998, making his debut three months shy of his 34th birthday. Over the next three seasons he scored 120 goals in 156 games, including 10 hat-tricks.' If Ronaldo does leave Al-Nassr at the age of 40, he'll have the chance to surpass the feat of Aleksandar Duric. 'He joined Singapore Armed Forces FC in 2004, aged 34, and scored his 100th goal for them sometime in 2008,' writes Thanos Michail. 'He then moved to Tampines Rovers in 2010, aged 39, and reached a century of goals shortly after his 43rd birthday.' Mind the (league title) gap 'Royale Union Saint-Gilloise have just won the title in Belgium – 90 years after their last championship in 1935. Are there any longer gaps between two national titles for any team?' asks Holger Seiffert. Advertisement 'To beat that you'll need to travel to another multilingual European country,' writes Ben. 'In Switzerland, St Gallen were champions in 1903-04, and weren't league champions again until 96 years later, in 1999-2000. In all the seasons in between, they weren't even runners-up, their best being third in 1917-18 and in 1982-83.' Knowledge archive 'I remember reading about a football pitch in South America which had a large tree in an awkward position near the centre of the pitch,' wrote John Malcolm in September 2007. 'Local bureaucrats refused permission to uproot said tree due to political/environmental reasons stemming from the deforestation of South American rainforests, so the local side just played there anyway! Was this true? Does the tree still stand? And are there any other examples of such environmentally friendly football pitches?' Unfortunately we haven't been able to track down John's tree thus far, but a couple of St Albans City fans did email in to give us details of the large oak tree that once dominated the main terrace at their Clarence Park ground. Due to its age, the tree was legally protected, and couldn't be taken down as long as it was healthy. Advertisement 'It used to get a huge cheer if any opposing player managed to hit it with a wayward strike,' recalls Fraser Mann, but supporters were less enthused when it prevented the club from getting promoted in 1992-93. According to the club's website: 'During a second spell in charge, John Mitchell took the Saints to the (Isthmian League) Premier Division runners up position in 1992-93 only to be denied promotion to the Conference at that time due to a 140-year old oak tree standing within the terrace behind one of the goals. In 1998 the diseased tree was felled.' Can you help? 'This season, Fenerbahçe finished the season runners-up again, fourth season in a row and 26th time in the Turkish top flight (since 1959),' weeps Emre Öztürk. 'Which teams have been runners-up most times? Is my team second in that list, too?' 'Truro City will have a few long trips next season in the National League,' begins Mel Slattery. 'The distance from their stadium to Gateshead's is 457 miles according to Google Maps. Have two clubs in England ever met who are based further apart? Competitively or otherwise.' Advertisement 'The Charlie Kelman offside goal mentioned in the last couple of weeks was the opening goal in the Leyton Orient v Stockport County playoff semi-final first leg. It was part of a (continuing) run of Stockport conceding first in their last seven games but not losing any (W4, D3). What is the longest such run of conceding first but not losing in consecutive games?' asks Ian Waterhouse. 'Édouard Mendy and Riyad Mahrez have won continental championships – for club or country – in three different confederations: the Africa Cup of Nations (Senegal and Algeria respectively), the Uefa Champions League (Chelsea/Manchester City) and now the AFC Champions League Elite (Al-Ahli). Has any other player in history achieved a similar 'triple crown'?' wonders Ben. 'At each major Wembley final this year (League Cup, FA Cup, Women's FA Cup, Championship, League One and League Two playoff finals, FA Trophy final and National League playoff final), the fans of the winning team were allocated the same (western) half of the stadium,' notes Tom Davies. 'Has this happened before?' 'PSV scored 103 goals in the 2024-25 Eredivisie,' fact-states Dirk Maas. 'Their best goal scorer was Luuk de Jong, netting 14 times. This gives a percentage of 13.59%. Has there ever been a player with a lower percentage in a team that scored 100+ goals in a professional football league season?' Advertisement 'Has any team done a full Beautiful South during European competition?' asks Sean Boiling. 'That means playing in 'Rotterdam, or anywhere, Liverpool or Rome' in that order (ignoring the 'or')?' • Mail us with your questions and answers
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
⚽ Messi now third: The greatest free-kick scorers of all time
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here. He can still do it from a dead ball. Yesterday, Lionel Messi scored his 67th career direct free-kick goal. With his goal in Inter Miami's 3-3 draw against Philadelphia Union, La Pulga surpassed two true specialists on the all-time free-kick list. Do you know which players have scored the most free-kick goals of all time? Here are the top five (Source: 'Goal') Free-kick goals: 66 Free-kick goals: 66 17 years ago #OnThisDay , everyone was asking, did 🇧🇷@10Ronaldinho mean it 🤔After seeing the player he became, are there still any doubters? 🤙 — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 21, 2019 Free-kick goals: 67 Free-kick goals: 70 📸 getty Free-kick goals: 77 Juninho Pernambucano. Free-kick master🎯🇧🇷 @Juninhope08 😎@OL | #FreekickFriday | #UCL — UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 19, 2021 Juninho was simply a GOAT at dead ball situations. And like the four other free-kick artists on the list, he also comes from South America. Coincidence? 📸 Isaiah Vazquez - 2025 Getty Images
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
🎥 Declan Rice? A look at the free-kick master Juninho's best for Lyon 😍
Declan Rice is rightly hogging the headlines right now after his two stunning free-kicks in Arsenal's statement win over Real Madrid, but to many, free-kicks remind them of one man: Juninho Pernambucano. The Brazilian scored exactly 100 goals in a glorious eight-year spell with Lyon in the 2000s, with a ridiculous 44 of them coming from deadball situations. He was a master of the knuckleball technique that so other players have adopted, but could also curl them, float them, and do just about anything and from almost any distance. Free-kick? Did you mean Juninho?? 🇧🇷☄️ — Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) April 8, 2025 The Brazilian icon might have been on Rice's mind last night when he stepped up, and who could blame him? 📸 JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT - 2007 AFP
