Uruguay forward Edinson Cavani has said his spat with Argentina captain Lionel Messi during Monday's 2-2 international friendly is "part of football."

The pair were caught on camera exchanging words throughout the encounter played in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

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Uruguay captain Diego Godin at one point stepped in to intervene during one of the heated exchanges in the first half.

Before half-time, after Messi had been fouled by Matias Vecino, Cavani reportedly told the Barcelona forward to "fight it out," to which Argentina's No. 10 replied: "Whenever you want."

The argument between the two reportedly continued in the tunnel at half-time with both players trading insults.

Cavani, who scored Uruguay's opener and was substituted before the hour, was asked about the bust-up with Messi and told TyC Sports after the game: "It's part of football, Clasicos are like this.

"The truth is that it was at times a game that had friction, there were challenges and things that are part of football, especially of South American [football].

"We take positives from our performance and the fact that we were able to score two goals. We still need to improve but it's good to end the year like this."

Messi scored a late penalty to ensure Argentina ended the year with a 2-2 draw.

He had also exchanged words with Brazil coach Tite in a friendly on Friday, reportedly having told him to "shut your mouth" during Argentina's 1-0 win.

Argentina will be without Messi when they begin their South American qualifying campaign for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar at home to Ecuador on March 26.

Messi must serve a one-match ban for his red card against Chile in the third-place game of the 2019 Copa America.

Mauricio Pochettino has held talks with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy to discuss his increasing frustrations at the state of the squad, sources have told ESPN FC.

Spurs sit in 14th in the Premier League, having won just three of their 13 League games so far this season, and a defeat at West Ham on Saturday would see Pochettino's team drop below their London rivals and intensify the pressure on the Argentine to turn the situation around.

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Sources have told ESPN FC, however, that Pochettino believes the club are now paying the price for a failure to reshape his squad during the summer and his discussions with Levy during the international break focused on his grievances.

After guiding Tottenham to their first Champions League final -- Spurs lost to Liverpool in Madrid -- Pochettino was determined to make a number of changes this summer, with Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld regarded as surplus to requirements.

Both players remain at the club, though, and midfielder Christian Eriksen's future continues to be unresolved as the Denmark international heads towards the final six months of his contract.

Sources have told ESPN FC that a number of senior players have become frustrated by Pochettino's discontent and the manager's negative comments in the media at times this season.

Pochettino also raised eyebrows within the dressing room when he said during preseason that he would have quit Spurs had they beaten Liverpool in the Champions League final.

While this weekend's trip to West Ham is not regarded as a "must-win" for Pochettino in terms of his future at the club, sources have told ESPN FC that the manner of the performance and result could yet prove significant.

The journey taken by the United States men's national team during 2019 has had a few stumbles.

There was the Gold Cup final defeat to Mexico, as well as last month's CONCACAF Nations League defeat to Canada, the U.S. team's first loss to its northern neighbor in 34 years. The question of what the Americans' preferred style is -- and how various players should be placed within it -- remains open.

Yet with one game remaining in 2019, the U.S. is poised to achieve one of its goals. Thanks to Friday's 4-1 win over Canada in the return fixture, a win by any margin against Cuba on Tuesday will be enough for the Americans to progress to the semifinals of the Nations League next summer.

The outcome of this match seems a foregone conclusion, as the U.S. blew away Cuba last month 7-0, with Weston McKennie notching a hat trick. In this encounter, Cuba is an even bigger underdog than it normally is. According to research complied by ESPN's Tom Marshall, the Lions of the Caribbean have lost 10 senior players to defections in the past year and 29 players from all age groups. Cutting away that much talent ought to be a death blow for just about any international program. Frankly, it's amazing that Cuba has made it this far.

Tilting the scales even more in the U.S.'s favor is the fact that the match will be played at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex in George Town, Cayman Islands, instead of Havana due to problems with Cuba's home stadium. Cuba has managed some relative success of late, securing a 0-0 tie and a 1-0 win in two friendlies with Nicaragua, both on the road, but that has done little to alter the thinking that the U.S. is a heavy favorite.

Granted, if the past two years have revealed anything about the U.S. side, it's that nothing can be assumed, be it the performance of the team or the individuals within it. The pain from the World Cup qualifying failure, which included a last-day defeat to what was basically a Trinidad & Tobago reserve side, can still be felt, even if the level of discomfort isn't as intense and present as it once was. Since then, inconsistency has been the rule, not the exception, for this U.S. side.

That's why U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter, usually inclined to assume a positive outlook on things, isn't taking anything for granted when it comes to Tuesday's match.

"We haven't done anything yet, right? We had an objective to go to the next round. We're not in the next round yet," he said Friday.

To that end, one can expect a few changes to Berhalter's lineup, but one player who has done plenty to maintain his spot in the starting XI is Jordan Morris. The Seattle winger, fresh off his triumph at MLS Cup, contributed a goal and an assist against Canada, giving him three goals and a team-leading six assists for the U.S. in 2019.

"[I'm] feeling great, and obviously, it was a super special moment in Seattle," Morris said after Friday's win. "That game was amazing to win in front [of] those fans. It's hard to put into words, you know, but coming in here, the whole focus was on this game first, and I thought it was a great team performance. And the message in the locker room was that we have one more to go."

In terms of lineup alterations, it would make sense for the likes of Newcastle United's DeAndre Yedlin, Werder Bremen's Josh Sargent and Fortuna Dusseldorf's Alfredo Morales to get some minutes, if for no other reason than the distance traveled. Morales in particular possesses the kind of nastiness that could prove valuable down the road.

The U.S. will need to show some patience against a Cuba side that is likely to bunker in, at least at the start of the match. For that reason, the creativity of a Sebastian Lletget, who showed well against Canada, could also be useful. But the U.S. should cruise no matter whom Berhalter puts on the field.

The U.S. players gained some confidence from Friday's result. Closing the deal against Cuba with a resounding win will allow the squad to finish 2019 with a bit of momentum.

South Australia 4 for 322 (Ferguson 122, Cooper 81*, Carey 50, Crone 2-76) beat Victoria 5 for 321 (Finch 119, Handscomb 87, Worrall 2-56) by one run

Victoria slipped to a last-ball one-run defeat against South Australia in Melbourne despite being on top of their 323 chase until the 45th over, with Aaron Finch's 119. They needed 39 off 31 balls when Finch fell to Adam Zampa before Kane Richardson conceded only 10 runs in his two remaining overs and Cameron Valente defended 11 in the final over. The result had no bearing on next week's final.

Jake Fraser-McGurk scored eight runs off four balls as soon as he got strike in the final over, but with three needed off the final ball, he failed to connect and only managed a leg bye.

Victoria's chase had been set up by Finch's 21st one-day hundred and Peter Handscomb's 87 off 75 balls after Callum Ferguson scored 122 and captain Alex Carey and Tom Cooper struck half-centuries for South Australia.

Ferguson has been in stunning form of late - he came into this match on the back of scores of 127 and 91 in the competition - and continued to dominate the Victoria bowling after Carey opted to bat, his 122 coming off 128 balls. Jake Weatherald fell early, and Ferguson lost the company of Harry Nielsen in the 19th over, but added 104 runs with Carey for the third wicket to put SA on the road to a solid score. More than Ferguson, though, it was Cooper's blitz towards the close - 76 runs came in the last four overs of the SA innings - as his 81 off 46, with five fours and seven sixes, powered them to 4 for 322.

In reply, Victoria lost opener Sam Harper in the first over for a duck before Finch led the reply smartly almost till the end, with a 147-run stand for the third wicket with Handscomb. Richardson accounted for Handscomb and Matthew Short chipped in with 35 before Finch was dismissed and the chase went out of their hands.

Shahadat Hossain, the Bangladesh fast bowler, has been banned for five years, with two years suspended, following an incident during a National Cricket League game in Khulna when he physically assaulted team-mate Arafat Sunny Jr on the field.

The 33-year-old Dhaka Division player was withdrawn from the game against Khulna Division after allegedly hitting Sunny, apparently following an argument about shining the ball. Those who saw the incident said it needed the Dhaka players' intervention to restrain Hossain.

His actions amounted to a Level 4 offence and he was handed a fine of BDT 1 lakh (USD 1200 approx.) by the Bangladesh Cricket Board on Tuesday.

Hossain, who turned out in 38 Tests, 51 ODIs and six T20Is between 2005 and 2015, hasn't been a part of the national frame since he was arrested in 2015 for beating up his domestic help, which led to a temporary suspension.

More to follow…

At the end of the English domestic season Ryan ten Doeschate made a revealing comment. Asked whether he intended to play for Essex for another season in the County Championship, he replied he wasn't sure. "Batting at No. 6," he said, "it's where you blood someone to bat. And there are a couple of young guys who are close to being ready."

It was revealing for a couple of reasons. For a start, it underlined what a fine team man ten Doeschate is. While many players, approaching their 40th birthday, might have thought little beyond attempting to secure themselves another contract, ten Doeschate was thinking about what was best for the future of Essex as a club. His personal aspirations were clearly secondary to the team's long-term benefits.

More pertinently, his words underlined how a successful team - and Essex have won the County Championship twice in the last three years, remember - integrates new players. And they contrasted with England's approach in recent times.

Take the example of Ollie Pope. Having earned the attention of the selectors by batting at No. 6 for Surrey, the then 20-year-old was thrust into bat at No. 4 in Test cricket. That meant that, even though he had never batted inside the first 20 overs of a first-class innings at county level, he was then expected to come in before the 10th over in Test cricket. It's hardly surprising he struggled.

It was a similar story with Jason Roy. Having impressed as an opening batsman in white-ball cricket, where there is little lateral movement and the pitches tend to be good for batting, Roy was given the task of opening in Test cricket in England where the ball moves lavishly and the surfaces, in recent times, offer seamers plenty. Again, it was hardly surprising that he struggled.

At least it appears England are learning. Pope may well move up the order in the months or years ahead but, for now, he will be given a chance to acclimatise to the higher standards of Test cricket by batting at No. 6 in New Zealand. Equally, England have opted for two specialist opening batsmen. Not only should they offer more expertise in negotiating new-ball spells, they should also provide some protection for the middle-order.

While Joe Denly is still being asked to bat out of position at No. 3, the presence of Zak Crawley - another opening batsman - in reserve probably hints at the direction of travel. After a period of simply picking the most eye-catching players and asking them to adapt, the new team management are adopting a more sophisticated approach towards both young players and the embrace of specialists.

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There is one exception to this. In handing the gloves back to Jos Buttler - with Pope as reserve keeper now that Jonny Bairstow has gone home - England are still taking a risk. Buttler performed well with the gloves in the warm-up games, but Ben Foakes remains, by a distance, the best keeper available to England.

The issue of specialisation was acknowledged by Dom Sibley as he anticipates his Test debut. He knows he will be required to perform at a higher level than he has previously, but he also knows what the job entails.

"If I do play I'll try to do exactly the same as what I've done this season in county cricket," he said. "I'll try to get through the new ball, soak up as many balls as I can and score big hundreds. It's been a strength of mine that once I've got in, I've really cashed in. Hopefully if I do play and get through the new ball, I can do the same."

There was a minor scare at training on Tuesday when Ben Stokes briefly left the nets for treatment after he was struck on the hand by a delivery from Archer. He returned shortly afterwards, however, and dismissed any suggestion of injury. You suspect it would take more than the loss of one hand to keep him out of this game.

A first look at the Mount Maunganui pitch might have pleasantly surprised the bowlers. While most pre-match predictions have suggested this will prove to be the Bay of Plenty of runs, the surface was surprisingly green. It may well be, however, that the layer of grass is only there to prevent the pitch drying out in the strong winds. Both sides are expected to field specialist spinners for just such a reason. This will be only the 10th first-class game here - three of the first nine have been drawn - however, so there must be an element of the unknown about how the surface will play.

Gary Stead, the New Zealand coach, has suggested his team may look to "fight fire with fire" during the Test series against England.

While Stead acknowledged that England have, in Jofra Archer, a "point of difference" fast bowler, he pointed out that his side have some good pace-bowling options of their own. Lockie Ferguson, in particular, offers sharp pace and could make his Test debut in the coming weeks.

"England are a fine Test team," Stead said. "They've got some real world-class players. We'll have to be somewhere near the top of our game throughout the whole series. We just want to be as competitive as we can, take the games deep and hopefully if we do that then you get on the right side of some of the results when you get to the back end of games.

"It sounds like Archer bowled fast in Whangarei. Every time he's bowled, he's bowled with heat so I don't think that's a big surprise to anyone. He's a world-class player and he started in the Ashes with a real hiss and a roar. For us it's about getting used to that extra pace and then combating it and working out a way you can continue to score.

"Jofra Archer will be a threat. He is a point of difference. But he can only bowl from one end.

"And we've someone in our squad who bowls at a similar type of speed in Lockie Ferguson. It's really exciting to be able to fight fire with fire in some ways. And it's exciting that there's a potential debut for him at some stage as well. I think it's really good in terms of the balance of the squad that we have five pace bowlers who all offer us slightly different things."

ALSO READ: England embrace the conventional to assist Pope's second coming

Such are New Zealand's options that it is possible that Tim Southee, despite more than 250 Test wickets at an average under 30, could be forced to make way at some stage in the series. While it remains probable he will be play in Mount Maunganui, it is possible that New Zealand could field both the relentlessly aggressive Neil Wagner and Ferguson in one of the Tests.

"We've five seamers that are all worthy of Test selection," Stead said. "I'm loath to use the word 'rotation' because that's not what we're about at all but we'll pick horses for courses of what we think the right bowling attack is for any given surface and also that we have five Tests in about a six-week period as well.

"For us, it's working out pitch conditions for a start, whether he will be a greater threat and factor than other bowlers that are in the line-up and then just looking at things like conditions."

Despite the depth of pace bowling options, Stead played down any suggestion New Zealand may think of going into the first Test without a spinner.

"I think that's unlikely because the weather forecast looks so good over the next week," he said. "Also, this is generally a pitch that's worn pretty quickly and perhaps provides the footmarks that open up a wee bit more."

Bangladesh cannot just keep waiting for their senior players to perform for the team to start doing better overseas, believes Mehidy Hasan, the offspin-bowling allrounder. After their innings-and-130-run defeat at the hands of India in the Indore Test, the team's over-reliance on their senior players stood exposed again, and showed up the team's lack of balance in the absence of Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.

Come the pink-ball Test in Kolkata, the onus to put up a fight, according to Mehidy, will be on him and the rest of the younger brigade, players like Liton Das, Mustafizur Rahman, Shadman Islam and Mohammad Mithun.

"I wouldn't necessarily say I am a junior player now. I have played three years of international cricket. I am learning a lot and gaining experience day by day," Mehidy, who returned 1 for 125 from his 27 overs in Indore, said. "The seniors have put us in a good position but we should also support them. We have to perform better, which will help the team combination.

"If you look at our Test wins recently or [those in which we] played well, we combined and communicated quite well with the senior players. Some of us like myself, Liton, Mustafiz, Shadman and Mithun have an important role in the team."

With the experience of 20 previous Tests under his belt, Mehidy played his part to some degree - with the bat, albeit in a one-sided contest - in the second innings of the Indore Test; he made 38 in a fighting 59-run seventh-wicket stand with half-centurion Mushfiqur Rahim.

Mehidy's performance with the bat, by his own admission, came after he was instructed to strengthen the lower order by propping up the more established, set batsman, and spend more time at the crease. Without Shakib, Bangladesh are relying on Mehidy to provide some all-round spark, but that, for the best part of the Indore game, had been missing.

"As lower-order batsmen, we need to support the batsmen at the other end," Mehidy said. "Mushfiq bhai was batting so well, but we couldn't help him. He could have scored more runs. Coach [Russell Domingo] has spoken to all of us, and said we must support them by playing 20-30 balls. It would give the batsmen more confidence. Coach said that I should let the batsmen do the job, but also spend more time in the middle."

Mehidy also revealed that discussions with Mushfiqur, during Monday's net session, were mainly about how the young allrounder could be more focused against a quality bowling attack that doesn't allow the batsmen any breathing space.

"Some of my biggest partnerships are with Mushfiq bhai in ODIs or Tests - we have a good combination - and he was telling me that my batting was fine but I have to be careful of more good balls. I have to be prepared to survive through long spells of good bowling. He suggested that I should be focused in my training."

Mehidy, who has a distinctly better home bowling average (21.44) compared to his overseas record (57.68), also said that he has had discussions with Domingo about being more effective in foreign conditions where the ball doesn't grip or turn off the pitch from the first day, as it does in Dhaka or Chattogram.

"When we play at home, there's an obvious advantage, but in overseas Tests, we only get to spin the ball from the third or the fourth day," he said. "I have been told by the coach and others to bowl economically when I am playing abroad, to check the run rate.

"They [the Indian batsmen] were attacking in the last match, hitting balls on a good length. But if we can curb the run rate, the spinners will have more chance to take wickets."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

TOKYO -- Japanese pitcher Shun Yamaguchi, who led Japan's Central League in wins, strikeouts and winning percentage this season, says he wants to move to the major leagues through the posting system.

The 32-year-old right-hander declared his intention this week and becomes the first player from the Yomiuri Giants to pursue a career in the majors.

Yamaguchi went 15-4 this season with 188 strikeouts and a .789 winning percentage, helping Yomiuri to its first CL pennant in five years.

He signed with the Giants before the 2016 season after leaving the DeNA BayStars as a free agent.

The posting system allows Japanese players under contract to negotiate with major league teams. If a contract is reached, their Japanese club receives a transfer fee based on a percentage of the value of the player's contract.

Australia's leaders are finally convinced that Mitchell Starc will not let opposition teams "off the hook" in Test cricket by dropping too short or floating too full, the result of searching discussions in England that were a part of his peripheral role in how Tim Paine's men retained the Ashes.

Starc has been confirmed to play in the first Test of the home summer against Pakistan at the Gabba, matters simplified by James Pattinson's ban for personal abuse of an opponent in the Sheffield Shield but also the result of significant development in the left-arm bowler's game. Starc had long frustrated captains and coaches alike when handed the red ball in Tests, despite a powerful record in limited-overs formats.

While Starc's Test record is far from poor, his economy rate has not compared favourably with those of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, allowing opponents a precious release of pressure at key times in the past, especially overseas. Head coach Justin Langer revealed an exchange alongside Ricky Ponting with Starc in England, while he was one of the dominant performers in the World Cup, about what he lacked in Test matches by comparison.

"Yes, Yes…100%. It has been an issue in the past," Langer said when asked whether he was more confident Starc would not simply be used to reverse the ball and knock over the tail. "What I'm most impressed with with Mitchell Starc is we talked to him, I remember one of the conversations, at Hampshire with the white ball - Punter [Ponting] was there, I was there - we were saying 'Mitch, if you hit that length more often you are actually a scary commodity because you come from so high, you are so fast. If you bowl a bit full or a bit short against good players you keep letting [them] off the hook, but hitting that length more regularly you are a nightmare'.

"What has most impressed me - his white-ball cricket has always been world-class - is how hard he has worked. He worked really hard with Troy Cooley in the Ashes when he wasn't playing.

"He bowled beautifully in that fourth Test when he wasn't playing - the ball didn't reverse swing there but he bowled really well. I just love his development, it's what we see in a lot of the players, his maturity through that period when he wasn't playing. He took 10 wickets in the last Test against Sri Lanka, I just love his development and can't wait to see him bowl in this Test."

Langer acknowledged that though Starc would never be a run miser in the fashion of South Africa's Vernon Philander or Hazlewood, he had shown an eagerness to learn and improve as a Test bowler that would help the whole attack this summer and beyond. "He can bowl yorkers at will, he can bowl a good bouncer, it's about getting more consistent at hitting that first-class length," Langer said.

"He's never going to be a Philander, or in a sense Josh Hazlewood who will bowl the same ball every ball. That's his strength, but the more consistent he can hit that back-of-a-length delivery - five, seven metres, I'll let the bowlers talk about whatever it is - he's a nightmare to face and he's getting better and better at it."

Starc provided a great insight into the challenges of growing and developing as a fast bowler by noting that while his methods were becoming more nuanced, the mental cues that helped extract his best displays needed to be carefully managed too. He arrived at the Gabba for an early season Shield game this season and, thinking too much of what he had tried in England, delivered a flat, ineffective display. That gave rise to a simple message on his wrist band "f**k it, bowl fast", that balances the tactical and technical advancements by ensuring Starc still attacks the crease.

"That came after the Gabba Shield game actually," he said. "It just did not feel like things were clicking well after coming back from England. I felt a bit slow and I did not have that good feeling I've talked with Andre [Adams, New South Wales coach] a lot about. So throughout the England tour I had by bowling cues on my wrist and it worked pretty well and kept things pretty clear. But just a little change in mindset when I got back and it's worked the last few weeks so I'll probably kick on with it.

"There's been a little bit of chat around being really clear minded, but a lot of the bowling stuff's been a feeling based thing and feeling the good stuff, feeling the positive stuff in terms of the action and a lot of it was taking the result of the other end out of it and just controlling what I can control there."

This evolution has run alongside Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins, Pattinson and others - including the yet to debut Michael Neser - accepting the need for a squad mentality where the same three or four bowlers are not being asked to turn up and play match after match. This not only adds to Australia's depth and versatility, it also allows for each of the fast men to enjoy longer careers than if they were to simply be bowled into the ground.

"Everyone wants to play every game, don't you," Starc said. "But right from the beginning the whole bowling group especially bought into that squad mentality. The fact we've all grown up together and played a lot with and against one another led to that being such an easy thing for the group to be of that mentality.

"As much as you want to play every game, you're still hoping your mate does really well and the team does really well at the same time. Of course, you want to play, but I think it was the fact that I'm older and a bit more mature, the toys weren't thrown out the cot. The schedules along with everything else, it becomes a slightly easier pill to swallow now we've all bought into that squad mentality."