Author: RevSportz Comment

When the draw for the continent’s showpiece tournament was made last May, Igor Stimac, India’s coach, said: “We will be facing Australia, Uzbekistan and Syria in the AFC Asian Cup, and it’s going to be a tough battle for us. It’s much tougher than four years ago, but we will be there to fight every step of the way. “If you look at the coaches of the teams we face, this should be one of the toughest groups. All very serious and experienced coaches. But what’s giving me confidence is that whoever I have met here, they say India is…

As an Asian Cup that has seen an extraordinary number of upsets winds its way to a conclusion in Qatar, two teams with storied histories are eyeing the prize which has eluded them for generations. Qatar, defending champions and hosts, will enjoy frenetic support from the stands, but for South Korea and Iran, this is an opportunity to write new chapters in books that have become yellow with age. Iran won a hat-trick of titles between 1968 and 1976, but have not even made a final since. A quarter-century ago, when their football was at its peak, with stars like…

This has been a topsy-turvy Asian Cup, with plenty of upsets and eye-catching goals. As we head into the last eight, three of the six group toppers – Iraq, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia – are already out, and one shock semifinalist is guaranteed as Tajikistan take on Jordan in the first of the four quarterfinals. Elsewhere, two heavyweights will pack their bags after marquee clashes – Australia v South Korea and Iran v Japan – while Qatar continue their title defence against an impressive Uzbekistan side. RevSportz previews Friday’s matches. Tajikistan v Jordan This is the match-up that guarantees a…

For those of a certain generation, Imran Khan’s name will forever be synonymous with matchless swing bowling and the cornered-tigers captaincy that led Pakistan to World Cup glory in 1992. Long before he was removed as Prime Minister and then sent to jail, Imran’s politics had invited scepticism. If his cricket was all about authenticity, then his politics led to many accusations of opportunism and doing things on the fly. But this is not about Imran the political leader or demagogue. It’s about the finest cricketer of his generation and the best all-rounder the game has seen after the peerless…

At RevSportz, we will never glorify poverty. For every ten tales of sportspersons who emerge from slums, favelas and shanty towns to make it big, there are a million others of people being crushed by deprivation and lack of opportunities. If poverty is considered a building block of sporting excellence, we’re happy to embrace mediocrity. But what Indian sport needs to guard against is at the other end of the financial spectrum. Football is once again relegated to the margins of coverage after India’s dismal Asian Cup campaign – three matches, zero goals, and barely a sniff. But both Asia’s…

The day that a generation of Liverpool Football Club fans had been dreading arrived two years earlier than they had hoped it would. In years to come, January 26, 2024, will be mentioned alongside July 12, 1974, and February 22, 1991 — the dates when Bill Shankly and Kenny Dalglish walked away from the club they had led to such glory — as moments when a fan base that is millions strong had the rug pulled from under their collective feet. Of course, Jurgen Klopp will stay on till the end of the season, but the news that he will…

Decades from now, when sports historians look back at the time when India took its first steps to becoming a sporting powerhouse, they will zero in on the role that the state of Odisha played, inspired by the visionary leadership of Shri Naveen Patnaik. Derided for decades as one of India’s ‘sick’ states, Odisha’s investment in sporting infrastructure and athletes – both teams and individuals – played a huge role in India’s sportspersons finally finding voice on the big stages. Since independence in 1947, most governments, whether at central or state level, had merely paid lip-service to sport. Awards and…

According to eyewitnesses, as Jose Mourinho’s Lexus left AS Roma’s training ground in Trigoria for the last time, close to 50 fans ran towards it. Several of them were big, intimidating men, the kind of Ultras players instinctively shy away from. But on Tuesday afternoon, many of them were weeping, yelling “Don’t go, Jose” at the departing car. Inside the vehicle, an equally emotional Mourinho thanked them for the two years at the club of their hearts, before slowly driving from view. Mourinho never won the Serie A title for Roma. In fact, he didn’t even come close. Yet, the…

The 2023 AFC Asian Cup kicks off in Doha on January 12. From South Korea’s Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae to Japan’s Wataru Endo and Daizen Maeda, there will be plenty of high-profile names on view in Qatar. Here, we look at some of those who illuminated earlier editions of the competition. Part one can be read here. Also Read: The Israeli Trailblazer, Arabian Jewel and Ageless Kazu – Asian Cup Heroes Shunsuke Nakamura (Japan) Nakamura played his first game for Japan not long after the Blue Samurai had made it to their first World Cup in France in 1998.…

The 2023 AFC Asian Cup kicks off in Doha on January 12. From South Korea’s Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae to Japan’s Wataru Endo and Daizen Maeda, there will be plenty of high-profile names on view in Qatar. Here, we look at some of those who illuminated earlier editions of the competition. Part two will appear tomorrow. Mordechai Spiegler (Israel) Because of global politics, this is a name that has largely been airbrushed out of Asian Cup history. Yet, this wasn’t always the case. In their four appearances in the Asian Cup, until political schisms made it impossible for…