Messi retired after 125 goals for Argentina, and Vardar changed its bench eight points off the pace

Messi closed the biggest chapter in Argentina's history

For twenty years he carried a national team on his back and in the end handed it the title everyone had demanded of him. Lionel Messi announced he will no longer play for Argentina. The numbers look like a typo even on paper: 207 caps, 125 goals, 68 assists, the 2022 World Cup, two Copa America titles, the Finalissima, Olympic gold. "I gave everything I had, I have nothing more to give," he wrote, admitting the decision "hurt and still hurts deep in the soul." The most interesting detail is when he wrote the message - on 21 July, just two days after the final defeat to Spain, and he published it only now. A man who at 39 was among the best players at the tournament sat for six weeks with a written farewell in a drawer.

Liverpool paid 106 million pounds to replace Salah

When a club puts down 106 million pounds (125 million euros) for a 23-year-old winger, that is no longer a transfer but a statement. Bradley Barcola arrived at Liverpool from PSG with up to 17 million pounds more in bonuses and a five-year contract, becoming the club's third most expensive signing ever - behind Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz. The question is what exactly is being paid for. Last season Barcola scored 13 goals with 7 assists in 49 matches for PSG, and by the run-in he was not even making the first three matchday squads in the domestic league. Liverpool spent the whole summer looking for Mohamed Salah's successor, negotiating for Yankuba Minteh and Ismaila Sarr too, and the final sum says how long those talks dragged on. Do 106 million buy a player, or just the nerves of a club left without its star?

Platini demands Infantino's resignation: "I always knew he loved money and power"

Former UEFA president Michel Platini has publicly called for Gianni Infantino to leave the head of FIFA, accusing him of failing to respect the rules of football. The list is specific: extra breaks in World Cup matches, a 30-minute half-time in the final, and the annulled ban on American striker Folarin Balogun after an intervention by US president Donald Trump. Above all of it sits Infantino's plan to let private investors own a share of FIFA. UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian confederation are already lining up against him ahead of the March 2027 elections in Morocco, and UEFA is preparing a complaint for "disloyal management" under Swiss law. "This will not be resolved through the sporting institutions - if UEFA wants to bring Infantino down, it will be through the courts," says Platini. A man who was himself a candidate for the same post, then fell over a fraud accusation and was only cleared in 2025.

Vardar changed its coach, and eight points after five rounds do not disappear with a signature

The draw with Tikvesh (1:1) was the last straw. Vardar is eight points behind the leader after only five rounds played, which in a league of this format is more than a serious deficit. The board is finally reacting, replacing Kristijan Fabijani with Montenegrin Miodrag Bozovic, a former Red Star coach. Two new names join the staff with him - Gogo Jovchev, a former Vardar goalkeeper who knows the weight of that shirt, and Dejan Mrvaljevic. Changing the coach is the fastest way for a club to show it is doing something. The question nobody asks out loud is whether the problem was on the bench at all, or where the squad was put together.

The Macedonian Cup starts with a finalist who will not play

From today until 14 October the first round of the Macedonian football Cup is played - sixteen ties, single matches, the winner going through to the last sixteen. The top-flight clubs are favourites and all are away from home. Holders Kratovski Sileks have a bye in this round. But one fact stands above the schedule: last year's finalist, Shkendija of Tetovo, will not be competing at all - because of the events in the final. Today it is Pobeda Valandovo v Struga TL, Studenichani v Pelister, Vellazerimi v Makedonija GjP and Venec Negotino v Brera, and tomorrow Ovche Pole host Vardar. The competition begins, and last season's punishment still sits in the schedule as an empty slot.