Dybala wants to play beside Messi

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a Croatian soccer shirt with the name "Putin" printed on the back on Sunday, hours before Croatia play France in the World Cup final in Moscow.

Croatia has been caught up in soccer fever after the Balkan nation of 4.2 million people swept aside more fancied opponents to reach its first ever World Cup final, which Russia is hosting this year.

Grabar-Kitarovic has, herself, entered into the spirit of the occasion, travelling to Russia to watch matches and dressing in the colours of the national flag. Croatia knocked Russia's team out of the competition in the quarter-finals.

At a Kremlin meeting, Putin congratulated the Croatian president on the Croatian team's performance.

"I'm sure we will see a beautiful game today," he said. Grabar-Kitarovic thanked Putin for what she said was the successful organisation of the competition.

Putin presented her with a bouquet of flowers, while she gave the Russian leader the Croatian national shirt.

AS Roma forward Paulo Dybala said on Tuesday his contract with former club Juventus had not been renewed because he was not part of the Serie A club's future plans while thousands of AS Roma fans welcomed him in the Italian capital.

The 28-year-old, who has represented Argentina 34 times, joined the Europa Conference League champions on a free transfer last week following his departure from Juventus. 

"With Juve it was not a financial problem," Dybala told reporters.

"We had a deal to sign in October, then the club asked us to wait and in March told me that I would have not been part of their future plans.

"The club took a different decision together with the coach."

Dybala won five league titles and four Coppa Italia trophies with Juventus after joining them from Palermo in 2015, scoring 115 goals in 293 appearances across all competitions, but his last two seasons were hampered by a string of injuries.

"At Juve I earned experience, I'll try to do my best in the locker room as well to help (the team) win and to always be positive during difficult moments," he added.

"It is too soon to talk about the scudetto. At the moment there are teams which are ahead of us, we need to work with a peace of mind.

"Everyone likes to win, we need to do it match after match and later on we will see where we have arrived."

AS Roma travel to Salernitana on Aug. 14 in their first match of the 2022/2023 season and will compete in the Europa League having won the Europa Conference League last season.

Lionel Messi has been named Time magazine's "Athlete of the Year" for 2023 after a trailblazing season marked by an eighth Ballon d'Or award and his ground-breaking move to Major League Soccer's Inter Miami.

Time said the Argentine superstar had already had a transformative impact on the American sporting landscape, which has been historically slow to embrace football.

"Lionel Messi this year managed to do what once seemed impossible, when he signed with Inter Miami: turning the US into a soccer country," Time commented.

The 36-year-old Messi made his debut for Miami in July following an acrimonious departure from Paris Saint-Germain.

The World Cup-winner also rebuffed a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia in favor of a new chapter in MLS.

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner made an instant impact on Miami's fortunes, playing a pivotal role in helping the team win the expanded Leagues Cup, a cross-border competition for teams from MLS and Mexico's top flight.

Messi finished the campaign with 11 goals in 14 appearances across all competitions, but an injury towards the end of the season meant he was unable to help Miami force their way into the playoffs.

Messi was quoted by Time as saying that his first preference after PSG had been a fairytale return to Barcelona, but that move stalled over the club's finances.

"I tried to return, and it did not happen," Messi said, adding that he was also "thinking a lot" about joining the wave of overseas players who have headed to the Saudi Pro League.

"It was Saudi Arabia or MLS, and both options seemed very interesting to me," Messi told the magazine.

Time said Messi's arrival had driven a surge in attendances, ticket prices, merchandise sales and viewership, revealing that on the day of his debut, subscriptions to Apple TV -- which retains exclusive rights to MLS -- had jumped by 110,000, a 1,700% increase over the previous day.

Injured forward Paulo Dybala made the cut as Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni named on Friday his 26-man squad for the Nov. 20-Dec. 18 World Cup in Qatar, where Lionel Messi will lead the side.

Dybala has not played for his club AS Roma since early October but has been named in the squad asArgentina hope he regains his fitness before their World Cup campaign begins on Nov. 22 against Group C opponents Saudi Arabia.

Messi, 35, will be playing in his fifth World Cup and will be accompanied by fellow veterans Angel Di Maria and Nicolas Otamendi along with fresh faces who helped Argentina win the Copa America title last year.

PHOTO: REUTERS

"They are proud to be called up and wear this jersey, let's hope that you as fans are too. All together," coach Scaloni said in an Instagram video.

Argentina also play Mexico and Poland in Group C.

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Full fixtures of FIFA World Cup 2022

ARGENTINA SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Franco Armani (River Plate) and Geronimo Rulli (Villarreal)

Defenders: Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), German Pezzella (Real Betis), Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Nicolas Tagliafico (Olympique Lyonnais), Marcos Acuna (Sevilla)

Midfielders: Leandro Paredes (Juventus), Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis), Enzo Fernandez (Benfica), Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Alejandro Gomez (Sevilla), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Forwards: Paulo Dybala (AS Roma), Lionel Messi (Paris St Germain), Angel Di Maria (Juventus), Nicolas Gonzalez (Fiorentina), Joaquin Correa (Inter Milan), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Julian Alvarez (Manchester City).

Mexican side Monterrey sent Lionel Messi and Inter Miami crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Wednesday after completing a 5-2 aggregate victory in their quarter-final clash.

Goals from Brandon Vazquez, German Berterame and Jesus Gallardo sealed a deserved 3-1 win on the night for the Liga-MX side, who advance to a semi-final with Major League Soccer champions Columbus.

Trailing 2-1 after last week's first leg in Florida, Inter Miami recalled Messi to their starting line-up for the first time since his near-month-long injury absence.

But the presence of the eight-time Ballon D'Or winner was not enough to inspire Inter against a Monterrey side who looked far sharper in all departments.

Inter goalkeeper Drake Callender was forced into action early on, saving smartly after a bullet header by Monterrey's US international striker Vazquez.

Messi had Miami's best chance of the first half but he shot over the bar from just inside the area on 25 minutes.

Monterrey took the lead on 31 minutes after Vazquez punished a howler from Callender.

The goalkeeper miscued an attempted pass to Sergio Busquets and found Vazquez just yards from the Miami goal.

The American coolly sent Callender the wrong way and tucked away the finish.

Inter Miami created little of note thereafter, with Messi's former Barcelona team-mate Luis Suarez rightly having a goal disallowed for offside in first-half stoppage time.

On 58 minutes, Monterrey left Miami with a mountain to climb with a fantastic strike from their own Argentine striker Berterame.

After crisp approach play, Berterame jinked clear of his marker on the edge of the area and crashed a thunderous strike into the top corner.

Six minutes later Berterame turned provider, chipping a cross to an unmarked Gallardo, who buried a perfectly timed header past Callender.

A miserable night for Miami ended in acrimony on 78 minutes when former Barcelona defender Jordi Alba was sent off after picking up his second yellow card for a stamp on Gallardo.

Diego Gomez nodded in a late consolation goal for Miami from Messi's inviting free-kick on 85 minutes.

Miami coach Gerardo Martino said Monterrey's second goal had killed the tie off.

"We said that even if we conceded the first goal it didn't change anything because we always needed to score twice," Martino said. "But their second goal ended the tie for us."

The CONCACAF Champions Cup is the premier regional club competition for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, with the winner of this year's tournament earning a place at next year's expanded FIFA Club World Cup.

Mexican clubs have dominated the Champions Cup since Guadalajara won the first edition in 1962, lifting the trophy 38 times.

Martino warned that MLS clubs would continue to struggle against Mexican teams because of tight salary and spending restrictions for sides in Major League Soccer.

"Until the MLS relaxes the rules to allow teams to have bigger squads and don't make it so hard to replace players because of injuries and suspensions, Liga-MX teams will continue to have an advantage," Martino said.