River Plate Make Messi Apology

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River Plate have apologised for the behaviour of their supporters towards Lionel Messi at an airport in Tokyo amid reports he was spat at following Barcelona’s 3-0 victory in the Club World Cup final.

A number of fans found themselves close to a group of Barça players and began hurling insults and abuse at, among other Messi and Javier Mascherano, promoting the intervention of the manager, Luis Enrique, to stop the incident escalating.

The River Plate statement read: “In relation to the attacks on Lionel Messi at Narita airport, Club Atlético River Plate condemns all forms of violence and wishes to apologise to the player and Barcelona. River Plate congratulate Barcelona on winning the 2015 Club World Cup, held in Japan.”

Barcelona had claimed a comfortable 3-0 win in Tokyo with Messi scoring the opening goal before two more from Luis Suárez. Messi has often been criticised for failing to replicate his Barcelona form for the national team but the River Plate president, Rodolfo D’Onofrio, was similarly critical of the behaviour of his club’s fans.

“There’s always one idiot, to use a more polite way of describing these people. I’ve only just read that Messi was given problems by a fan at the airport who had drunk more than he should have … and did something stupid against Messi. Messi is the best player in Argentine football, he’s a gentleman,” D’Onofrio told Fox Sports Show.

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Messi and Higuain Argentina Scorers

Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain scored as Argentina retained top spot in the CONMEBOL qualifying zone thanks to a 2-1 win over Chile in Santiago.

It was a fifth win in six games for Argentina, which has 20 points and is three clear of Ecuador in the standings.

Messi opened the scoring in the 27th minute with his 14th goal in 14 appearances under national team coach Alejandro Sabella.

And Higuain made it 2-0 just three minutes later after collecting a long pass from Angel Di Maria and firing past Miguel Pinto.

Higuain was forced off with an apparent ankle injury in the second half following a bad tackle by Gonzalo Jara, while Chile got on the scoresheet in injury time through Felipe Gutierrez.

Messi was delighted to claim two wins from the last two matches, adding: "We wanted the six points from these matches because we thought we could made a very important step (towards the World Cup).

"The tournament is very even," he said. "There were some results that helped us escape a little bit, but we must keep working. There are some friendly games ahead so we should continue training in order to keep gaining points in March, when the qualification resumes."

Defender Federico Fernandez added: "It was a great game by Argentina. We knew Chile were in need of results but we took a very important result."

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Messi Copa Penalty Miss

Lionel Messi had a penalty saved early in the second half as Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw at Valencia in a hard-fought Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Wednesday night.

Valencia snatched a 27th-minute lead at their Mestalla Stadium when Jérémy Mathieu found space down the left wing and Jonas clipped the Frenchman's low cross high into the net past the goalkeeper José Manuel Pinto.

Pinto was lucky to be still on the pitch after television replays showed he handled the ball outside his area in the 18th minute but the referee waved play on.

Barça's captain, Carles Puyol, equalised 10 minutes before the break when he met a deep Cesc Fábregas corner and nodded past Diego Alves, who had come out to collect the ball but watched it sail over his head.

Alves, who has an impressive record saving spot-kicks, made amends 11 minutes into the second half when he flung himself to his left and parried away Messi's penalty, awarded after Miguel felled Thiago Alcântara in the area.

"He [Messi] is a player who doesn't give you much of a clue about which way he is going to shoot," Alves said afterwards. "You just have to hang in there and try to deceive him and today I was happy to be able to help the team."

The substitute Daniel Alves smashed a shot against the post after a brilliant one-two with Messi around 15 minutes from time but neither side was able to find a winner ahead of next week's second leg at Camp Nou.

It was Barça's third successive draw, coming after they were held to a 0-0 stalemate at Villarreal in La Liga on Saturday and last week's 2-2 Cup quarter-final draw at home to Real Madrid that sent Pep Guardiola's side through 4-3 on aggregate.

Guardiola, who was without the injured Andrés Iniesta, David Villa and Pedro and opted to rest Xavi, said that it was the best performance against Valencia he had seen from his players since he became coach in 2008.

"We created a lot of problems for them and they have always done the same to us, at home or away," the former Barça and Spain midfielder said. "It was a great result but the tie is not decided and now we need to win the return leg and see if we can make the final."

The eventual winners will play 23-times winners Athletic Bilbao or third-tier Mirandes in the final.

Mirandes, only the second team from Spain's Segunda B to reach the last four of the cup in its present format, gave themselves hope of pulling off another upset with a late goal in Tuesday's first leg at their tiny stadium in Miranda de Ebro as a Fernando Llorente double gave Bilbao a 2-1 success.

Pele Factory Closed Down

Brazil legend Pele says Barcelona's Argentina star Lionel Messi has a long way to go to be considered his rival as the greatest player of all time.

Messi, 24, has won Fifa's Ballon d'Or for the best player in the world for a third successive year.

But Pele thinks he needs to improve for Argentina and score more goals.

He's a great player for Barcelona, but when he plays for Argentina he doesn't have the same success.

"When Messi's scored 1,283 goals like me, when he's won three World Cups, we'll talk about it," Pele told French newspaper Le Monde.

Messi has won the Champions League three times with Barcelona, as well as five league Spanish league titles.

But his only triumph with the national team was at the 2008 Olympics - while Pele's Brazil won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970.

The 71-year-old said: "I like Messi a lot, he's a great player. Technically, we're practically at the same level.

"He's a great player for Barcelona, but when he plays for Argentina he doesn't have the same success.

"People always ask me: 'When is the new Pele going to be born?' Never. My father and mother have closed the factory."