Author: RevSportz Comment

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…

It remains one of the most iconic images in football history – Franz Beckenbauer striding across the turf at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, arm in a sling. In what would later be called the Game of the Century, West Germany had already made the two available substitutions when Beckenbauer dislocated his shoulder. For the remaining 50 minutes, including half an hour of extra time, he braved excruciating pain while defending and organising with the composure that he was famed for. Italy may have prevailed 4-3 in a titanic tussle, but that picture of Beckenbauer has become synonymous with…

Portugal’s John II may have renamed the coastline the Cape of Good Hope, but for Indian cricketers who had made the trek to Newlands in Cape Town for close to three decades, it was the original name given by Bartolomeu Dias that struck a chord. Cabo das Tormentas, or the Cape of Storms, had frustrated India in six Tests dating back to 1993. For all the undoubted achievements overseas in the new millennium, Newlands remained a fortress that no Indian XI could breach. Apart from all-time-great Australian sides and an England team inspired by the all-round skills of Ben Stokes,…

Even if the International Olympic Committee hadn’t named him Athlete of the Century in 1999, Pele’s status as one of the greatest of all sportspersons would have been unchallenged. Integral to two of the greatest teams of all time, his influence extended far beyond the playing field. If you happened to be in some remote corner of the world, and you mentioned the name “Edson Arantes do Nascimento”, the chances were that you would be greeted with blank stares in return. Instead, if you used the nickname that the same man was popularly known by, Pelé, those same stares would…

Though David Warner is nearly seven years older, it was Pat Cummins that made his Test debut a fortnight before his fellow Sydneysider. In the 12 years since, the two have played 46 Tests, 73 ODIs and 36 T20Is together. There isn’t a trophy worth winning that they haven’t lifted together. It’s safe to say that they know each other pretty well. Players that share a dressing room talk. They share their experiences, and their impressions of what’s going on around them. That way, the dressing room is no different from any other workspace. Just as a group of techies…

RevSportz Comment Earlier this year, Real Madrid signed Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund for a fee of £88m. With add-ons based on the player’s performance, Dortmund could eventually make as much as £114m from the deal. At the time, some thought it was a lot of money to invest in someone who was just about to turn 20. But Real knew what they were doing. With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the last lap of their careers, and Kylian Mbappe seemingly unsure of whether he values on-field honours or off-field rewards more, Bellingham is football’s future. A return of…

Caption: Usman Khawaja has been in the eye of a storm over his views on Palestine. (Source X) At the pre-match press conference ahead of the Perth Test against Pakistan, Pat Cummins, Australia’s captain, left little room for doubt as to where his sympathies lay. “I think it is one of our strongest points as a team that everyone has their own passionate views and individual thoughts,” he said. “I chatted to Uzzy briefly about it today, and yeah, I don’t think his intention is to make too much of a fuss, but we support him. “[The ICC] drew attention…

RevSportz Comment As Manchester United sink deeper and deeper into the quicksand of mediocrity, the temptation to look at the past with rose-tinted glasses becomes overwhelming. But Erik ten Hag, who walked onto the Old Trafford pitch at the final whistle on Tuesday night with all the enthusiasm of a man approaching the electric chair, is not the first manager to lead the club through such a dismal European campaign. Back in 2005-06, as he was approaching two decades in charge of the club, Sir Alex Ferguson saw his team finish rock-bottom of a group that included Villarreal (Spain), Benfica…

For the first three seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lalit Modi was a ubiquitous presence, usually in a beige or cream linen suit. His relentlessly upbeat demeanour and bombastic statements ensured that the IPL stayed in the limelight even out of season. It was no surprise then that a sizeable media contingent journeyed to Goa in early February 2009, for the second IPL auction. After the mega auction in 2008, most squads were pretty full with players on three-years deals, but some high-profile names had made themselves available for a season that would eventually end up being played…

It wasn’t something you could make up. As Sreesanth started to establish himself in India’s Test line-up in 2006, dismissing the likes of Brian Lara, Greg Chappell, then coach, had a small routine. Before most sessions that India were in the field, Chappell would take Sreesanth to one side and ask him: “So, are you going to be good Sree or bad Sree?” No, this is not the script of Kindergarten Cop. It actually used to happen. Sreesanth would usually reply that he would be good Sree. Then, Chappell would ask: “What does good Sree do?” Sreesanth would then tell…