The Argentine national team, runner-up in the World Cup in North America, crushed its Bolivian counterpart 4-0 in the first match it played in the absence of its international star, Lionel Messi, at the Mario Kempes Stadium in Cordoba.
Lautaro Martinez (19), Nicholas Bass (29), captain Christian Romero (53), and Jose Manuel “Flaco” Lopez (86) took turns scoring the “Albiceleste” quartet.
Messi, 39, retired from international football last month, but he will wear the famous No. 10 shirt for the last time, next Tuesday, in a farewell match against Benin in the capital, Buenos Aires.
Messi, who won the Ballon d'Or for the best player in the world 8 times, played 207 matches with Argentina, and is the team's all-time top scorer with 125 goals, including 21 goals in World Cup tournaments.
The former Spanish Barcelona and Inter Miami star also tops the list of best passers in the Albiceleste shirt with 68 assists.
In its first match since losing the World Cup final to Spain 0-1 after overtime, the Argentine national team showed beautiful football highlights with a squad reinforced with new faces.
The three-time world champions continue their preparations with two additional friendly matches, and will face Burkina Faso before Benin on October 3 at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires.
Etihad Airways, the main sponsor of Manchester City, threatened to take legal measures against the English Premier League, following the publication of the independent committee’s decision that condemned the club for most of the violations related to the competition’s financial regulations, stressing that it is studying the legal options available to protect its interests.
According to The Athletic, the Emirati carrier’s position came after an independent committee concluded this week that Manchester City was guilty of artificially inflating its revenues by arranging sponsorship contracts, which the committee described as “sham,” and found that they were secretly funded by the club’s owners, who were working through the Abu Dhabi United Group. Manchester City still denies any wrongdoing.
The name “Etihad Airways” did not appear in the published report, which included extensive withholding of some names and information, but the company has a long-term sponsorship relationship with Manchester City, which includes sponsoring the team’s shirt and naming rights to the club’s stadium.
The partnership between the two parties began in 2009, before later expanding to include sponsorship of the academy facilities surrounding the stadium, known as the “Etihad Complex,” in addition to the emergence of the company’s brand within the City Clubs network in cities including New York and Melbourne.
Etihad Airways confirmed in a statement that it “categorically rejects any finding, conclusion or suggestion indicating that the company participated at any time in improper commercial arrangements.”
She added that the way in which the English Premier League announced the committee’s findings, after a period that witnessed what it described as “selective leaks and media coverage,” created harmful repercussions for the company, despite its name not appearing in the published version of the decision after the names were withheld.
The company explained that the English Premier League did not communicate with it or involve it at any stage of the procedures related to the committee’s opinion, and therefore it did not have the opportunity to represent itself, provide relevant information, or verify the accuracy and fairness of the information on which it was based in arriving at conclusions that may now be interpreted in a way that harms the company.
Etihad Airways said: “We are deeply concerned about the way in which this issue was announced to public opinion. The lack of clarity and transparency, coupled with the selective disclosure of information, created harmful repercussions for Etihad Airways, despite the company’s name not being mentioned in the published decision. The Premier League must take responsibility for the consequences of the way these results were presented.”
The company stressed its pride in its long-term relationship with Manchester City, explaining that the name “Al-Ittihad” has been carried by the club and its stadium for years, as part of a partnership that linked the company with millions of fans around the world.
She added: “Our commitment to Manchester City, its fans, and our joint partnership remains strong. “We stand with the club, its fans and the wider Etihad community as Manchester City challenges the committee’s conclusions through the procedures available to it.”
The company concluded its position by emphasizing that it “will seek appropriate legal advice regarding the options and remedies available to protect its interests,” indicating the possibility of taking legal action against the English Premier League.
Manchester City and Etihad Airways previously shared the presence of administrative figures linked to both parties, as Mohammed Al Mazrouei assumed the presidency of Etihad Aviation Group, the holding company for the Emirati carrier, for several years, in conjunction with his membership in the board of directors of Manchester City between 2010 and August 2021.
His successor as chairman of the Etihad Aviation Group is Mohammed Ali Al-Shurafa, who is a member of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which also includes Manchester City President Khaldoon Al-Mubarak.
When The Athletic addressed these links with a number of Manchester City's sponsors in 2022, the club confirmed that all its commercial agreements are concluded on an independent basis between the parties, and are free of conflicts of interest.
During previous investigations by the European Football Association (UEFA), a three-member committee at the Court of Arbitration for Sport concluded that Etihad Airways should not be considered a related party to Manchester City, despite the existence of such links, after the committee found no evidence of control or direction from the club’s owners or its board of directors over the commercial operations of the sponsors.
Until 2022, Manchester City's agreement with Etihad Airways had been renegotiated at least four times since it was first signed in 2009, and generated hundreds of millions of pounds for the club.
The English Premier League refused to comment on the Etihad Airways statement.
Elma Aveiro, Cristiano Ronaldo's sister, became involved in the escalating crisis between the Portuguese national team captain and the coaching staff, after she supported a strongly worded message attacking the press and the Portuguese, at a time when her brother left his country's national team camp and headed to Copenhagen airport in preparation for traveling to Madrid.
Elma re-published the message on her Instagram account, commenting on it with the phrase: “Everything was said here,” while it said: “Cristiano Ronaldo deserved more respect, the national team deserved better organization, and the Portuguese press deserved more efficiency and less speculation.”
The message escalated in direct criticism of the Portuguese: “As for the Portuguese people, well... they don’t deserve to have the best at anything. We are envious, condescending and ignorant, and we deserve to return to the humble level in which Portuguese football always lived before Cristiano Ronaldo.”
The message, which was supported by Ronaldo's sister, concluded: “Thank you for everything, Cristiano!” You deserved more!”
Elma's position came while Ronaldo was actually leaving the national team camp. He arrived at Copenhagen Airport in preparation for leaving the Danish capital heading to Madrid. He arrived at the private flights area in an unmarked car, while he appeared wearing the Portuguese national team’s training clothes.
The crisis had exploded hours earlier at Parken Stadium, after Ronaldo left the place before the start of the team's training session, following the press conference of coach Jorge Jesus.
During the conference, Jesus stressed his leadership of the team and his adherence to his tactical ideas, stressing that no player will change those ideas. He also announced that Goncalo Ramos will be the main striker against Denmark.
Faced with the possibility of him sitting on the bench again, Ronaldo decided to leave the camp, while the urgent moves of the Portuguese Football Federation and its president, Pedro Proensa, did not succeed in convincing him to reverse his decision.
Ronaldo's transfer from Parken Stadium to Copenhagen Airport brought a dramatic end to a turbulent day in the Portuguese camp, on the eve of the confrontation against Denmark in the European Nations League.
