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Lionel Messi has thanked Paris Saint-Germain players and supporters for the warm reception he has received on the back of a World Cup triumph.
The Argentina superstar dashed French dreams at Qatar 2022 when helping to down Les Bleus in an epic final encounter that finished 3-3 after 120 enthralling minutes and required a penalty shootout in order to determine a winner. Messi is now back in France after taking in an extended break on the back of his heroic efforts in the Middle East, and was given a guard of honour upon returning to training with the Ligue 1 title holders.
Messi’s message on Instagram reads: “Many thanks to my colleagues and all the people of the club for the welcome they gave me. We’re back and looking forward to continuing to meet the goals of this season, now with PSG.”
With no absent Messi or suspended Neymar to call upon, PSG suffered their first Ligue 1 defeat of the season last time out when going down 3-1 away at Lens and will be back in action on Friday – without Kylian Mbappe or Achraf Hakimi as they take in well-earned breaks – when facing Chateauroux in the last 64 of the Coupe de France.
ASB Classic: Injured Raducanu in tears 11 days before Australian Open
Emma Raducanu retired from her second-round ASB Classic match in tears after injuring her ankle just 11 days before the start of the Australian Open.
The 20-year-old Briton won the opening set 6-0 against Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova, but lost the second 7-5.
She received medical attention before the start of the third set but signalled her withdrawal two points into her opening service game.
The former US Open champion had an injury-blighted 2022 season.
Having retired from five matches last year, Raducanu said she was injury free and feeling “good” following an exhibition match in December.
She began 2023 with victory over teenager Linda Fruhvirtova in her opening match in Auckland in preparation for the season’s first major tournament in Melbourne.
Elsewhere, on Thursday, Coco Gauff beat fellow American and winner of the 2020 Australian Open Sofia Kenin 6-4 6-4.
The 18-year-old number one seed will play in the quarter-finals against China’s Zhu Lin, who defeated seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams 3-6 6-2 7-5 in a rain-interrupted match.
Zhu won the final four games of the match as she came from 5-3 down in the deciding set. Williams served for the match at 5-4 but the Chinese world number 84 broke and saved four break points as she held serve to move 6-5 ahead before again breaking serve.
