"Lionel Messi" majestic best

Lionel Messi, a scrawny kid turned away by River Plate in 2000 despite being described by one of the club’s youth coaches as a mixture of Omar Sivori and Diego Maradona, set a Barcelona scoring record of 234 goals at the age of only 24 on Tuesday.  Barca’s faith in their ability to groom the little lad from Rosario for their first team and transform him into the world’s best player has paid off handsomely while River have been left to rue not making him theirs. Messi has already won 18 titles in his eight seasons in the Barca first team – three Champions Leagues, five La Ligas, one King’s Cup, two European Super Cups, five Spanish Super Cups and two Club World Cups. Three World Player of the Year awards in a row look like being followed by a fourth for 2012 – and it is only March. The Catalan club are through to the last eight of this season’s Champions League and will play the King’s Cup final against Athletic Bilbao in May though they are five points behind Real Madrid in La Liga with 10 matches left. Messi was once again at his majestic best on Tuesday and scored a sublime hat-trick in Barcelona’s 5-3 league win over Granada at the Nou Camp to cruise past Cesar Rodriguez on the club’s all-time scoring list. The diminutive forward, who has now netted 34 league goals and 54 in all competitions this season, needed 314 games to break the record, while Cesar scored his 232 goals in 354 official matches. “He (Messi) is sat at the same table as the best in history because he was won very important titles, because he has three Ballon d’Or awards and he will be the one who wins the most because being the player he is he can achieve a lot more,” Johan Cruyff was quoted as saying in the Barca’s latest club magazine. “Messi is by far the best player in the world,” added the Dutchman, who won European titles with Barcelona as a player and coach and three World Player awards. “He is incomparable, he plays in a different league.”

Asia Cup 2012 tough final Pakistan v Bangladesh

On the other hand, BD captain Mushfiqur Rahim is confident he can lead Bangladesh to an historic victory when it plays in its first Asia Cup final against Pakistan at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Rahim says, "We are now so close and do not want to lose the chance." Bangladesh beat both World Cup finalists, champion India and Sri Lanka, to reach the final, and lost to Pakistan by 21 runs in the round-robin. Senior Pakistan batsman Younis Khan paid respect to Bangladesh for its gutsy performances and expected a hard-fought final. Khan says Bangladesh s teamwork is "tremendous," and the team has demonstrated a "great strength" to chase any big total.

Liverpool beat Stoke 2-1 in FA Cup quarter-final

Liverpool reached the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over Stoke. The Reds opened the scoring at Anfield after 23 minutes thanks to a sublime finish from Luis Suarez, the Uruguayan striker stroking the ball into the corner of the net from 20 metres. Last season s FA Cup runners-up struck back quickly, however, when former Liverpool forward Peter Crouch nodded in the equaliser from a corner. Liverpool, who won the League Cup in February, dominated possession after half-time and they got their reward in the 57th minute when winger Stewart Downing ran across two Stoke defenders in the penalty area before drilling a firm shot past goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen. In the semi-final Liverpool will play either Everton or Sunderland.

Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka

Bangladesh reached its first Asia Cup final by cruising past Sri Lanka by five wickets with nearly three overs to spare in a rain-disrupted match. Bangladesh will meet Pakistan in the final on Thursday at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium having upset both finalists from last year s World Cup. After limiting Sri Lanka to 232 in 49.5 overs, Bangladesh was handicapped by a mid-innings downpour which reduced the winning target to 212 but increased the required run rate from 40 overs. Bangladesh s win has come as a shock for India since they stood a chance only if Lankans had won. Tamim Iqbal (59) and Shakib Al Hasan (56) hit impressive half-centuries as Bangladesh achieved the rain revised target of 212 with 17 balls to spare in the day-night match. Pakistan topped the league with nine points from three matches, followed by Bangladesh (8/3), India (8/3) and Sri Lanka (0/3). The hosts made it to the final as they beat India in the league match. Bangladesh’s good bowling limited Lankans to 232 runs, but the target was lowered to 212 runs after the rain. Yet, the revised target was even difficult since the overs, on the other side, had also been slashed to 40. Nazmul Hossain took 3-32 and Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak two wickets each to dismiss Sri Lanka for 232 in 49.5 overs.

Australian Grand Prix 2012

McLaren's Jenson Button won the Australian Grand Prix in a thrilling start to the season Sunday as he held off two-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel in second place. Button took full advantage of an error by pole-sitting team-mate Lewis Hamilton to lead from the start of the race. Hamilton finished third with Vettel s Red Bull colleague, Mark Webber, fourth. Button, the 2009 champion, finished second to Vettel in last year s standings but way ahead of Hamilton in fifth, and the affable Briton will be delighted to throw down the gauntlet to both rivals in the year s first race. Vettel, 24, is aiming to become just the third man to win three championships in a row, while Hamilton is determined to bounce back from his poor showing in 2011.

India won against Pakistan by 6 wickets

It was a must-win match for India to stay in the tournament. The Indian victory owed it to superb knocks of Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and RG Sharma, and partly owed it to poor Pakistani bowling and Misbah’s slack captaincy. Kohli scored 183, while RG Sharma 68. India were 247 for 2 at the end of 40th over while chasing Pakistan’s 329. Pakistan’s defeat disappointed the cricket-lovers across Pakistan as they were expecting tight bowling to bring home victory after such good performance with the bat. Virat Kohli earlier scored his century while leading chase. He scored his 11th century in 96 balls. Pakistan made a strong comeback earlier by claiming the wicket of Tendulkar. However, Kohli continued the momentum after a brief lull cause by Sachin’s exit. India lost second wicket of Sachin Tendulkar at a time when India almost appeared dominating the match. Younis Khan took the catch of Sachin at 53 off the ball of Saeed Ajmal in 20th over. Kohli was playing at 73 with India at a total of 133 when Sachin got out. The first Indian wicket fell in first over, yet Kohli and Tendulkar had placed their team in strong position. Tendulkar and Kohli made the advantage appear transient by taking the run rate to 6.95 an over, above the required rate. Pakistan skipper Misbah once again surprised all, this time by taking off Hafeez despite him taking the wicket in the first over. His replacement Aizaz Cheema received a lot of bashing from the Indians, yet the skipper continued with Cheema. India were 98 at end of over number 15, with one wicket down. Tendulkar was playing at 47 and Kohli 45. Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and decided to bat in last Asia Cup league match against arch-rivals India at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. India made one change in their playing eleven, replacing injured Ravindra Jadeja with Yusuf Pathan, while Pakistan brought Wahab Riaz in place of Sarfraz Ahmed.

AVB still in the Hearts of chelsea

Chelsea Fc Captain John Terry Says AVB will never be forgettable In my whole career and he did allot of handwork But we couldn't manage it . Since Villas-Boas' sacking, Chelsea have played and won three games, including a stunning turn-around against Napoli in the Champions League, and interim manager Roberto Di Matteo has put the emphasis on the squad's 'old guard' in his team selections.

The improvement in results does not, however, mean that the contribution of Villas-Boas has been swiftly forgotten. Speaking about his former manager in the afterglow of that stirring victory over Napoli, Terry told The Sunday Telegraph: “I’m still in contact with him, like a lot of players here, and probably will remain that way.

“You know on nights like this you don’t forget things like that. He won’t be forgotten. It’s disappointing really because we would have loved things to go on [with him] and he had a vision and a plan and unfortunately that gets cut short with disappointing performances from us really.

“So it has a knock-on effect on him, because at the end of the day we’re the ones out there performing and we weren’t performing as well as we could do. We’ve shown what we can do tonight but still at the same time we don’t forget what he’s done.”

If rumour and media speculation are to be believed, some Chelsea players may have been glad to see the back of the Portuguese manager, but captain Terry wasn't one of them. He valued the support Villas-Boas gave him during the difficult period when he was accused of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.

Terry said: “The perception from outside is that there are problems in the football club, that senior players run the club, it’s controlled by us, we make decisions. People will continue to write that because they believe that but it’s really not the case and hasn’t been since I’ve been at the football club.

“I think initially when [Chelsea owner] Roman [Abramovich] came in he spoke to the players and wanted advice and he was new to football, he took that on board. I think now he’s got the right people involved and people he can rely on without the players which he does and they make the decisions.”

If Chelsea beat Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday their season will immediately take on a more positive aspect. They will be in the Champions League last eight, have a semi-final spot in the domestic cup, and still have a chance of sneaking into the top four in the Premier League.

The England international isn’t sure what has caused the recent upturn in form, saying: “You can’t put your finger on a certain thing, it’s this, it’s that.

“Things just seem to change really and things have changed for the better for us. But that’s no disrespect to Andre. He started something here so I think credit has to go to him for what he started.

“Unfortunately the club made a tough decision, but the players, we don’t forget what he started at this football club.”

Di Matteo’s next game in charge is the FA Cup tie with the Foxes. With Terry and David Luiz both picking up knocks during the Napoli game he may decide not to risk them, and call upon the services of Jose Bosingwa and Gary Cahill. Terry said: “I was like Douglas Bader at the end.

“It’s been an incredible start for Robbie and for us as well. Robbie said that for two months, everyone needs to give everything, sacrifice everything. If you’re not playing you need to be there for the team.

“The FA Cup has been really special for him in the past and for Chelsea for the last four or five years, so who knows? With the magic of the FA Cup and what could be in the Champions League - this could be one of our finest seasons ever.”

Federer through to the finals Of Indian wells

Roger Federer The world no.4 Won in straight sets Against Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4  and is now through to the Final Of this event.Federer handled the cold, windy conditions better than Nadal, whose grumpy expression matched his out-of-sorts body language. The match got started nearly three hours late because of rain. Wind whipped the court and there was a 20-degree drop in temperature from Friday, when it was in the 80s.The match was also delayed for 2 minutes because 0f rain,Nadal netted a forehand to give Federer match point when rain drops slickened the lines on the court and the chair umpire halted the action. The players sat in their chairs trying to stay warm. Minutes later, Federer got up and smacked an ace wide to Nadal’s forehand side, giving him his first win over Nadal since last year’s ATP World Tour finals. The Swiss star still trails their series 18-10.Federer will play 11th-ranked John Isner in Sunday’s final, a rematch of their Davis Cup showdown last month in which Isner won on clay in Switzerland. Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and No. 2 Maria Sharapova will meet for the women’s title.
Isner fired 20 aces, including one at 135-mph on his fourth match point, to beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the other semifinal.
Isner will try to become the first American winner in the desert since Andre Agassi in 2001.Isner’s victory guaranteed he will break into the top 10 for the first time in next week’s ATP Tour rankings at No. 10. A victory in the final would move the American to No. 8, passing countryman Mardy Fish who is currently in that spot.Isner is the first American to beat a world No. 1 since James Blake defeated Federer in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Isner needed nearly three hours to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 series final after 25 tries. He didn’t get past the round of 16 in his first 23 events until making his first semifinal in Paris last fall and now the final in the desert.
He threw his arms up and soaked in the applause from the crowd that was squarely behind him throughout the match.
“It’s something that you don’t experience every day,” Isner said. “I was just trying to take it all in.”
The 6-foot-9 American towered 7 inches over Djokovic, giving Isner an easy advantage with his serve-and-volley game. He played a few loose points in the 12th game of the final set, sending a forehand past the baseline on his first match point, and Djokovic held to force the second tiebreaker.
Isner aced Djokovic with a 143-mph serve to lead 3-2, then hit a forehand winner down the line to go up 4-2.
“I told myself I was going to run around the backhand and hit a forehand, and I was just hoping that he wasn’t going to hit the serve up the T. He had been doing that quite a bit, especially on the ad side,” Isner said. “I wanted to put a good hit on the ball because if you don’t, he just gets you moving. That’s why he’s the best in the world.”
Isner’s 144-mph serve forced Djokovic into a netted return that set up Isner’s second match point.
Even Djokovic caught himself looking at the scoreboard to see how fast Isner’s serves were.
“Sometimes just to admire, because I will never get there,” he said, laughing.
Isner connected on 74 percent of his first serves, although Djokovic actually won 11 more points than he did in the match. The Serb had little success lobbing to keep Isner off the net as the big guy put away smashes with confidence.
“It’s a lot of pressure knowing that somebody serves that well. You need to win your service points, especially when you get to the tiebreak,” Djokovic said. “But this time I was unlucky. He didn’t wait for it, he went for it.”
Djokovic served up a rare ace of his own and Isner committed an unforced error before closing it out with his 20th ace.
Isner’s height and power had him tabbed as a future American star since he turned pro in 2007, but success has come in fits and starts. He reached his current — and best — career ranking of 11th just last month.
“I knew going into this year that I had the tools and I had the game to be able to at least compete with these guys. I take the court no matter who I’m playing expecting to win and believing to win,” Isner said.There was a win over Andy Roddick at the 2009 U.S. Open, but casual fans may know Isner best for a marathon win over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010. They played the longest ever pro match, stretching 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days.
“I’ve just kept on surprising myself after each year. When I reached the top 50 in the world, that’s actually when I actually did believe I could crack the top 10,” he said. “I’ve always been a late bloomer.”
Djokovic, the defending champion, fell to 14-2 this season, having lost to Andy Murray in Dubai earlier this month.