Lionel Messi scores 800th career goal as Argentina beats Panama 2-0
Buenos Aires (AP): Messi mania gripped Buenos Aires as the Argentina national team led by Lionel Messi beat Panama 2-0 in a friendly match that was essentially a celebration of their World Cup victory last December.
Although the world champions dominated the game, they didn't get a goal until the 78th minute of the second half, when Thiago Almada scored after a free kick by Messi hit the goal post.
Ten minutes later, it was Messi's turn and he scored the 800th goal of his professional career with a perfectly executed free-kick. He is now one short of the 100-goal mark for the national squad.
After the match, the celebrations got into full swing and Messi took center stage, smiling from ear to ear as he received awards and accolades.
"I want to thank you for all the love we've been receiving . . . We told you we were going to do everything possible to win this," a visibly emotional Messi said as he was handed the microphone.
"Let's enjoy this because we went a long time without winning it, and we don't know when we'll win it again."
When it was coach Lionel Scaloni's turn to speak, the first thing he did was lead the packed stadium on a chant praising Messi.
"Eternally grateful to this group of players," Scaloni said as tears streamed down his face and he thanked fans for their support.
The players' families later joined them in the pitch and each of the players proceeded to lift a replica of the World Cup trophy in celebration. The players then walked around the pitch waving to fans as fireworks lit the night sky.
Earlier in the day, news channels carried live images of the players travelling to the stadium with a police escort as excited fans waited to see the team's first game since it beat France in a thrilling final in Qatar.
Outside the Monumental Stadium there was a party-like atmosphere from early in the afternoon as somebody impersonating Pope Francis blessed a World Cup replica, children almost universally donned Messi's No. 10 jersey and street sellers hawked Messi dolls.
Amid the celebrations there were also recriminations as many fans lamented they'd bought tickets for several times their face value from resellers that ended up being fake. The frustration led to scuffles with law enforcement that fired tear gas to disperse the angry fans.
"This World Cup was a miracle," Marcelo Saracho, 49, said while dressed up like the pope, an Argentine, but with his cheeks painted in the light blue and white colors of the national flag.
Messi, the Paris Saint-Germain star who only last week was whistled by a group of fans of the French club that had been knocked out of the Champions League, received a massive ovation when he and his Argentina teammates entered the stadium filled with 83,000 fans.
When the anthem played the cameras zoomed in on Messi, who looked to be holding back tears as fans sang along triumphantly.
"I can't believe I'm here," Sof a Clavero, 12, said as her eyes welled up with tears while describing how she was eager to see her "idol" for the first time on the field.
The match culminated a week in which Messi, 35, was widely celebrated as a hero after helping Argentina win its third World Cup title, a marked change for the player who once suffered the indifference and even apathy from many Argentina fans who blamed him for the team's failings in previous championships.
It all started Monday night when hundreds of fans mobbed a steakhouse in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo when word spread that Messi was inside having dinner. He needed a police escort to leave but was all smiles as people shouted "Messi I love you" and "Thank you, Leo."
The next day, a group of fans realized the car next to them on the highway was carrying the man who is often described as the world's best soccer player. They immediately started shouting, "I love you, Messi!" and "Let's go, Messi!"
That's when Messi proceeded to roll down his window and wave. The brief video of the encounter quickly went viral.
On Wednesday, the hosts of a morning network TV show went wild when they received an audio message from Messi.
"Good morning everyone," Messi said in the message that the hosts huddled to hear. "I'm happy to be here, to enjoy everything we keep experiencing after what happened in December, and excited to enjoy tomorrow's game."
To avoid any issues, the players were taken to the stadium six hours before the start of the match flanked by a security operation that involved dozens of law enforcement officers. Plans for the transfer had been kept under wraps to avoid a repeat of what happened in December when a celebratory open-top bus throughout the capital had to be cut short when millions of fans made it impossible for the vehicle to advance.
Tickets to Thursday's match sold out quickly but the game was just one chapter of the celebration that included local musicians and a trailer of a documentary about the World Cup-winning squad. The fan who wrote "Muchachos," which became the unofficial anthem for the Argentina squad in Qatar, was also present.
The party continues next Tuesday when the team will play another friendly match against Cura ao in Argentina's central Santiago del Estero province.
Messi's 800th career goal comes as a free kick in his first game with Argentina as World Cup champions.
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 24, 2023
Perfect.
(via @TV_Publica)pic.twitter.com/sWSREGPOBZ
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UK Professor Nitasha Kaul's Overseas Citizenship of India cancelled
Academician decries move as "transnational repression"
London/New Delhi: Professor Nitasha Kaul, a London-based academic, announced on May 18, 2025, via a social media post that her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card has been cancelled by the Indian government. She described the move as a "bad faith, vindictive, cruel example of transnational repression" intended to punish her for her scholarly work critical of the Modi government's policies concerning minorities and democracy.
The cancellation follows an incident in February 2024 when Professor Kaul, who holds a British passport and held an OCI card, was denied entry into India upon arrival at Bengaluru airport. She had been invited by the then Congress-led Karnataka state government to speak at a conference on "The Constitution and Unity in India."
According to an image of the letter shared by Professor Kaul, the Indian government stated that it had been "brought to the notice of the Government of India that you have been found indulging in anti-India activities, motivated by malice and complete disregard for facts or history." The letter further accused her of regularly targeting India and its institutions on matters of India's sovereignty through "numerous inimical writings, speeches and journalistic activities at various international forums and on social media platforms."
Professor Kaul, who is a Professor of Politics, International Relations, and Critical Interdisciplinary Studies and the Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at the University of Westminster, London, vehemently rejects these accusations. She stated she had provided a 20,000-word response to what she termed the government's "ridiculous inanity about ‘anti-India’," but the OCI was cancelled through a "rigged process."
In her social media posts, Professor Kaul lamented the decision, questioning how the "mother of democracy" could deny her access to her mother in India. She characterized the action as stemming from "thin-skinned, petty insecurity with no respect for well-intentioned dissent."
The February 2024 denial of entry had already sparked controversy. At the time, immigration officials reportedly cited "orders from Delhi" without providing formal reasons, though Professor Kaul mentioned informal references to her past criticism of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Ministry of External Affairs had then responded by stating that the entry of foreign nationals into India is a "sovereign decision." Unofficial government sources had indicated that a "preventive lookout circular" was issued against her due to her alleged "pro-separatist" and "anti-India" stance on Kashmir.
The BJP in Karnataka had criticised the state government for inviting her, labelling her an "anti-India element." Conversely, the then-Karnataka government and various international human rights organizations and academic bodies had condemned the denial of entry.
Professor Kaul has been an outspoken commentator on Indian politics, including the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and has testified before international bodies such as the US Congress on human rights in the region. She maintains her work is academic and pro-democracy, not anti-India.
The cancellation of her OCI card effectively bars her from entering India, a country to which she has personal and academic ties. This incident adds to a growing list of academics, journalists, and activists of Indian origin whose OCI status has been revoked or who have been denied entry to India in recent years, raising concerns about freedom of speech and dissent. Reports indicate that over 100 OCI cards were cancelled by the Indian government between 2014 and May 2023. Furthermore, in 2021, new rules were introduced requiring OCI cardholders to obtain special permission for activities such as research and journalism.
