Lionel Messi on target as Argentina held by Chile in 2022 World Cup qualifier


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Argentina were held to a 1-1 draw by Chile in their 2022 World Cup qualifier on Thursday, with Lionel Messi's penalty cancelled out by Alexis Sanchez.

Barcelona captain Messi slotted home the spot kick midway through the first half after Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez was brought down by Guillermo Maripan. The hosts' lead only lasted 12 minutes as Sanchez finished off a cut back from Gary Medel.

Messi could have grabbed his second and earned Argentina a lead with a curled free-kick, only for Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to make a superb save by tipping the ball around the post.

Messi also saw a free-kick come off the woodwork in the second half.

Argentina pushed forward as the game went on but Chile's defence stayed was solid, even without experienced holding midfielder Arturo Vidal, who missed out after contracting Covid-19.

Messi continued to push hard for Argentina's winner, but a number of his late shots could not find a way past Bravo.

The draw means Argentina are unbeaten at home against Chile in 35 matches, and have gone 12 games without defeat since losing to Brazil in the 2019 Copa America semi-finals.

"The positive aspect is that this team always stands up to be counted, tries to attack," Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said. "[Chile] practically never created any chances."

Argentina are second in the 10-team South America qualifying group for Qatar 2022 with 11 points from five games, a point behind Brazil, who play Ecuador on Friday. Chile are sixth, with five points from five games.

The top four teams qualify automatically for Qatar while the fifth-placed side goes into an intercontinental play-off.

Colombia down Peru

Yerry Mina, centre, scored the first goal in Colombia's 3-0 win over Peru. EPA
Yerry Mina, centre, scored the first goal in Colombia's 3-0 win over Peru. EPA

Colombia got their second win in the qualifiers, a 3-0 victory at last-placed Peru.

Yerry Mina put the visitors ahead five minutes before the break and Peru's task became even harder when Miguel Trauco was sent off for a second yellow card offence on the stroke of halftime.

Mateus Uribe made it 2-0 just four minutes into the second half and Luis DIaz added a third six minutes later.

Colombia moved into sixth while Peru remain the only one of the 10 teams still to record a win.

Earlier in the day, Bolivia beat Venezuela 3-1 at home and Uruguay and Paraguay drew 0-0 in Montevideo.

The specs

Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo

Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed

Power: 271 and 409 horsepower

Torque: 385 and 650Nm

Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000

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Brief scoreline:

Manchester United 1

Mata 11'

Chelsea 1

Alonso 43'

Timeline

2012-2015

The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East

May 2017

The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts

September 2021

Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act

October 2021

Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence 

December 2024

Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group

May 2025

The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan

July 2025

The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan

August 2025

Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

October 2025

Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange

November 2025

180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE

Gertrude Bell's life in focus

A feature film

At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.

A documentary

A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.

Books, letters and archives

Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
 

How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059