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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP)—Lionel Messi is back home and setting his sights on winning the Copa America for his native Argentina.

Messi arrived Tuesday in Buenos Aires and said the “most important thing now” was to win the continental championship, which begins July 1 with Argentina facing Bolivia. The final is July 24, with Argentina and Brazil the favorites.

Messi was the man of the match in Barcelona’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United on Saturday in the Champions League final, but he has had limited success with the Argentine national team.

“The most important thing now is to get the Copa America,” Messi told reporters at Buenos Aires airport. “I’ve had the luck to win everything with Barcelona, win everything as an individual and my goal now is go win things for the Argentine national team.”

Argentina, then coached by Diego Maradona, was demolished 4-0 by Germany last year in the World Cup quarterfinals and Messi was no factor, often isolated in midfield without the ball.

Maradona has since been replaced by Sergio Batista as coach. Argentina has won the World Cup twice—1978 and 1986—but it has not won a major international tournament since claiming the Copa America in 1993 in Ecuador.

Labels: America, Messi, sights

Jornada 24 in the Primera Division was a weekend that witnessed defences come out on top, with just seventeen goals netted in the ten league fixtures.

There simply had to be a place in our La Liga Team of the Week, however, for a goalkeeper who opted to show the shot-shy strikers how it's done. Daniel Aranzubia's 94th minute leveller for his team was a finish worthy of any forward, and represented one of the most novel moments of the round.

Barcelona, driven by maestro Xavi, eventually edged past a stubborn Athletic Bilbao side who had threatened to cause an upset, and ensured their five-point advantage at the top of the table following Real Madrid's straightforward 2-0 win over Levante.

Goal.com has selected the best eleven of the week below in a 4-4-2 formation. Disagree? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Formation: 4-4-2

Goalkeeper - Daniel Aranzubia (Deportivo)

TOTW Apps: 2

It is always worth celebrating when a 'keeper gets his name on the scoresheet, and the Galician shot-stopper produced an incredible end to the match against Almeria, leaping highest to head home a 94th minute equaliser.

The veteran full-back was part of the staunch Verdiblancos back line that managed to keep Getafe at bay, but also kept his nerve in the dying moments to slot home the winning goal from the penalty spot, and ensure that coach Marcelino could enjoy two wins from two upon his return to Cantabria.

Player Rating: 7.5 (vs Levante)
TOTW Apps: 3

The Portuguese prefers the company of Pepe alongside him in the centre of the Blancos back line, but he strolled through the ninety minutes against the Granotes in his absence. He also chipped in with a goal on the stroke of half-time that clinched the three points, and put pressure on leaders Barcelona.

It's been quite a week for the former Barcelona defender; he turned in a superb performance to snatch a point from his former club last weekend, and against Valencia on Saturday he comfortably dealt with everything the home side could throw at him, on the way to a composed clean sheet.

The Colombian can be guilty of inconsistent form and a lack of concentration at times, but he proved to be a steady influence as Atleti held out for a valuable three points. He was a towering figure in the centre of the back four, and to squeeze him into our team, we find a spot for him at left-back.

Player Rating: 8 (vs Levante)
TOTW Apps: 4

The Santiago Bernabeu faithful has taken to the tricky Argentine in his debut season in Spain, and the mazy run that helped put the ball on a plate for Karim Benzema typified the skill and technique that has made the 23-year-old one of Los Blancos' players of the season.

Player Rating: 8.5 (vs Athletic Bilbao)
TOTW Apps: 5

The Blaugrana suffered from a tumultuous week, and despite the resilience shown by Athletic Bilbao, Xavi ensured that a five-point gap was maintained at the top of the table. His two glorious passes in the build-up to each goal helped unlock a disciplined Leones defence.

The former Schalke midfielder has wasted no time in settling into his new role with Los Nervionenses, and won the match with a neat finish against Hercules at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. His runs from deep are providing coach Gregorio Manzano a new dimension, and he typified his impact by combining with Luis Fabiano to good effect.

The Iranian was missed by Los Rojillos during his recent spell at the Asian Cup, and he showcased his importance to the team in yesterday's thumping defeat of Espanyol. The 30-year-old scored two first half goals, handing coach Jose Luis Mendilibar a perfect start to his reign in Pamplona.

These days, it seems that whenever the diminutive Argentine performs, he manages to drag Atleti from mediocrity, and he netted his first goal in two months to see off the challenge of Zaragoza, as well as providing an inspirational all-round display that offered respite to coach Quique Sanchez Flores.

Player Rating: 7.5 (vs Athletic Bilbao)
TOTW Apps: 13

Most definitely a game of two halves for the Argentine, who seemed unable to control the ball in the first, but was mesmerising in the second as he caused the Basque side no end of problems, before netting what could prove to be a vital winning goal.

Labels: Athletic, Barcelona, Bilbao, Goalcom, Lionel, Messi, Overcome, Round

A late Lionel Messi goal was enough to see La Liga leaders Barcelona defeat Athletic Bilbao 2-1 and return to winning ways despite a spirited performance from the Basque club.

The home team opened the scoring on four minutes through David Villa yet an Andoni Iraola penalty on 50 minutes saw Bilbao draw level. However Lionel Messi scored what was to be the winning goal on 78 minutes.

The result sees the Catalan giants regain their five point lead over rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

The home side started brightly as they have done so often this season and found themselves a goal up after four minutes. A wonderful chipped Xavi pass found Dani Alves in space on the right side of the Athletic box. The Brazilian wing-back played a neat cut-back to David Villa who made no mistake in directing the ball ball past a helpless Gorka Iraizoz from 12-yards out.

Athletic responded well to going a goal down and came close to an equaliser on 11 minutes. Star striker Fernando Llorente drifted out to the left before clipping a precise cross to Markel Susaeta whose header could only hit the side-netting.

The away team continued to repel Barcelona's constant attacks and came even closer to equalising on 37 minutes. Igor Gabilondo did brilliant to find space on the left wing before curling an inviting ball into the box. The towering Llorente powered a firm header goalwards but Jose Pinto was on hand to make a stunning low save. The former Celta Vigo 'keeper could play a pivotal role in the Catalan club's fortunes this season with the news that Victor Valdes could miss the next six weeks.

Los Leones started the second half with plenty of ambition and were level on 50 minutes after the home side gifted their opponents a soft penalty. Eric Abidal played a tame pass to Sergio Busquets in the Barcelona box but Llorente did well to get a foot to the ball with Busquets clumsily bringing down his international team-mate. With Llorente on the sidelines receiving treatment, Andoni Iraola was handed the task of converted the spot-kick which he did with ease, sending Pinto the wrong way.

The La Liga champions responded fairly well and could have re-taken the lead on 69 minutes. Xavi played a decent through ball to Villa who had the beating of Fernando Amorebieta before seeing his snapshot expertly tipped around the post by Iraizoz.

Despite not being at their best, Barcelona scored their second on 78 minutes. Xavi's wonderful pass found Alves once again on the right. The former Sevilla man drilled a low cross into the feet of Lionel Messi who smashed the ball into the roof of the net from six-yards out for the goal that gave Pep Guardiola's men all three points.

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Labels: Athletic, Barcelona, Bilbao, Goalcom, Messi, rescue

By Laura Williamson and Ivan Speck Last updated at 9:00 PM on 18th February 2011

After Xavi, Iniesta and Messi come Scott McGleish and Alex Revell.

It's another cup match but, in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium, Arsenal will have very different challenges.

Leyton Orient versus Arsenal restores Arsene Wenger's team to the status of favourites. Their hosts will be the ones chasing the ball this time.

But Wenger is proud of his record of never having lost to a side outside the Premier League in 25 FA Cup outings against lower league opposition.

Before training on Friday morning, the Frenchman watched 30 minutes of Orient's 3-2 win at Milton Keynes on Tuesday night and finished off the rest of the match in the  afternoon.

The Gunners boss said: 'We always try to prepare properly. We watched them against MK Dons so we always research them.

'They have a good left back (Charlie) Daniels and a striker who looks dangerous, Revell. They have (Ben) Chorley, a former Arsenal player, and also Jason Crowe, who played here when I arrived.

'To be successful in the end, you need to go through these kind of games. It is a mental test of how much we want to win.'

But before the Carling Cup final against Birmingham City at Wembley on February 27 and their Champions League trip to the Nou Camp on March 8, Arsenal must navigate an FA Cup fifth-round test at 9,271-capacity Brisbane Road.

Russell Slade's side, 10th in League One, are unbeaten since New Year's Day and have not lost at home since September 11. Arsenal are in giant-killing territory in East London.

Revell, 27, and veteran strike partner McGleish, 37, are the players most likely to create a headline. The pair have scored 27 goals this season, 15 years after meeting at Cambridge.

McGleish was on loan from Peterborough and became an idol for the young Revell when he gave him a pair of yellow boots. Despite meeting as opponents, it was only when Revell signed for Orient last summer he dared mention the boots.

Revell said: 'We were doing a 4km run in pre-season, and I said to Scotty: "Do you remember those boots you gave me?" He said: "What, those yellow Apta ones?" "Yeah." We started giggling away like two school kids. Scotty was an idol to me for doing that. I always looked out afterwards to see how he was getting on.'

McGleish is a traditionalist when it comes to boots and, while he scored seven goals in that 10-match spell at Cambridge, he never actually wore the yellow boots in a match.

He said: 'I wore them only in the warm-up. I just looked at them and thought: "No, I can't wear these." Even now I only ever wear black boots. It was only when Alex mentioned it I twigged it was him that I gave them to.'

But McGleish has picked up his share of souvenirs along the way. He said: 'At Barnet we played Wolves in the Carling Cup and I got Keith Curle's shirt.

'I was having my first house built and they were just giving everyone a small three-by-three slab patio. The site manager was a massive Wolves fan. He asked if he could have the shirt and I said: "Yeah, for a bigger patio." I had a huge one done that was eight slabs by eight.

'The only other one I've got was Jamie Redknapp's Southampton shirt from a Cup tie when I was at Northampton. But my missus won't let me get rid of that one.'

And if they can't do it, here's a kid from Spurs who might...

Harry Kane has added motivation to knock out Arsenal. The 17-year-old striker belongs to Tottenham and is on loan at Orient until the end of the season.

The highly rated forward scored 18 goals in 22 games for Spurs Under 18s last season, and has three since arriving at Brisbane Road in January.

He has done pretty well at international level too, firing in two goals in three games for the England Under 17s before it was decided he was too good for that age group. Since moving to the Under 19s, he has hit two goals in two appearances.

Arsenal's defence might want to keep a special eye out for his David Beckham-esque set pieces.

Labels: daily, Heaposs, Itaposs, McGleish, Messi, Revell, Wenger

Argentina coach Sergio Batista declared that he was pleased with his side's 2-1 victory over  Portugal tonight in Geneva, and singled out match-winner Lionel Messi and debutant Marcos Rojo for special praise.

A last minute penalty from Messi won the encounter for the Albiceleste, after a goal from Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo had canceled out Angel di Maria's opener.

Speaking in a post-match press conference, 'Checho' praised his men for triumphing in a tough fixture, against a Portugal side that battled for the entire 90 minutes.

"We are still lacking a little bit of depth, but in general the team is looking good," Batista began, before praising the attitude of his squad and promising that "things still need to be corrected."

The coach moved on to talk about 'La Pulga', who scored one and set one up in the game, and asserted that he would place him ahead of 'CR7'.

"I enjoy watching the two, but for me it seemed that today Lionel was a step above."

Batista finished by praising new boy Rojo.

"I liked how he handled himself tonight, it is never easy marking a player like Nani."

The hero of the hour Messi also commented on the game, and remarked that he had a good feeling about how he and the national team were progressing.

"I felt great. We played a great game. We tried our best on a terrible pitch," the playmaker told reporters in the mixed zone.

"We know exactly what our tactics and game-plan are. We have won our last few matches and we have to continue in the same fashion."

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Labels: Above, Argentina, Batista, coach, Cristiano, Goalcom, Lionel, Messi, Ronaldo, Sergio, Tonight