Sports
        

Stars

Messi celebrates Ballon d'Or with hat-trick

Updated: 2011-01-14 08:01

Twitter Facebook Myspace Yahoo! Linkedin Mixx

Messi celebrates Ballon d'Or with hat-trick

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates his goal against Real Betis during their Spanish King's Cup soccer match in Barcelona Jan 12, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

MADRID - Lionel Messi celebrated a second successive World Player of the Year award with a hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed second division Real Betis 5-0 in a King's Cup quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.

Earlier, two goals from Alvaro Negredo and a late strike from Alexis scrambled a 3-3 draw for holders Sevilla at Villarreal.

Related readings:
Messi celebrates Ballon d'Or with hat-trick Messi the surprise winner
Messi celebrates Ballon d'Or with hat-trick Lionel Messi wins FIFA world player award
Messi celebrates Ballon d'Or with hat-trick Messi, Mourinho spoil Spanish party at FIFA award ceremony
Messi celebrates Ballon d'Or with hat-trick Messi, Ronaldo light up European goal show

Messi paraded the FIFA Ballon d'Or trophy on the pitch at the Nou Camp before kickoff, flanked by teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi who came in second and third respectively, and then took apart a valiant Betis.

The Argentine scored the first just before halftime, dinking the ball over the goalkeeper from an Iniesta pass, showed persistence to score the second in the 62nd, and claimed his hat-trick with a breakaway goal 11 minutes later.

He was given a standing ovation when he was substituted near the end, with the whole stadium chanting his name.

Pedro and Seydou Keita wrapped up the scoring to leave the second division leaders with a mountain to climb in the next week's second leg.

"This game will end much of the debate (about the Ballon d'Or). It is in good hands," Barca defender Dani Alves told Spanish television.

"Messi is the best and he proves it every day. The other two deserved it as well, but it's clear he is different to the rest."

Alves went on to praise the visitors who hit the crossbar at the end of the first half, when an adventurous game plan caused Barca a lot of problems until Messi's goals and tired legs took their toll.

At the Madrigal, Sevilla defender Alexis swept a low shot inside the far post in the 88th minute, after a clever stepover from Frederic Kanoute, to complete a comeback that had looked far from likely earlier on.

Villarreal have played some of the best football in La Liga this season and deservedly took a two-goal lead with a volley from Cani and a deflected Giuseppe Rossi shot after a corner.

Negredo muscled his way past a defender to pull one back against the run of play in the 39th minute and, after Marco Ruben had nodded Villarreal 3-1 up early in the second half, he struck again with a back-post header on the hour mark.

Reuters

   Previous Page 1 2 3 Next Page  

Specials

President Hu visits the US

President Hu Jintao is on a state visit to the US from Jan 18 to 21.

Ancient life

The discovery of the fossile of a female pterosaur nicknamed as Mrs T and her un-laid egg are shedding new light on ancient mysteries.

Economic Figures

China's GDP growth jumped 10.3 percent year-on-year in 2010, boosted by a faster-than-expected 9.8 percent expansion in the fourth quarter.

2011 postgraduate entrance exam
Pet businesses
Critics call for fraud case to be reopened