Author: WebDesk

 Another Tie-Breaker another win for #Croatia!! This time they knocked #BRA out of the #Qatar2022 . Who makes it to our Fittest Athlete of the day?

Van Gaal against Messi, and the Cruyff Way   The sixth instalment of one of the great World Cup rivalries will pit a legendary coach who didn’t see eye to eye with Johan Cruyff, against Lionel Messi, who remains the best example of how the late Dutch titan wanted football to be played.  When Netherlands take on Argentina in front of nearly 89,000 at the Lusail Stadium on Friday night, it will mark the latest chapter in one of the World Cup’s most intense rivalries. Both have had moments to savour, but this is also a contest characterised…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay All defeats hurt. Some of them sting and leave a long-lasting impact on the sufferer. India’s loss in the second ODI against Bangladesh which also cost them the series belongs to this category. It was not merely about India losing. It was about the manner they let the initiative slip. Considering that this happened twice in two games, there are reasons to ask whether this lot is the right one looking ahead to next year’s World Cup. Since the World Cup to be hosted by India is about 10-11 months away, let us stay in the present instead…

“We are disappointed with this outcome as our intention was to give David the opportunity to demonstrate why his lifetime leadership ban should be varied at an independent hearing and we amended our Code of Conduct accordingly,” the statement read. “We supported David’s wish for these discussions to be heard behind closed doors and respect his decision to withdraw his application. “David is a very senior and highly regarded member of the Australian team who has been a great ambassador for the game as a whole since his return from a year-long ban.”

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay You committed a mistake and were caught red-handed. The jury was out and found you guilty. They handed a punishment. You accepted it. Life should move on after that. Isn’t it? Or should you keep getting punished for the offence you have already been punished for? This appears to be the reason behind David Warner’s decision to withdraw his appeal against the lifelong leadership ban imposed on him after the ball tampering scandal during a Test match in South Africa in 2018. It caused a national furore in Australia and the Prime Minister stepped in. Warner, captain at…

Reality Bites for CR7 as Ramos Runs Riot   There were shades of peak Ronaldo in the manner in which the brilliant young Benfica star took his hat-trick, and his partnership with Joao Felix could well decide whether Ronaldo – in a new avatar as super sub – leaves the World Cup stage a winner. If, at the age of 37, Cristiano Ronaldo does get his hands on the World Cup trophy, it will almost certainly be in his new role as Portugal’s super sub. Unless Goncalo Ramos, the youngest scorer of a World Cup hat-trick since Hungary’s Florian…

Old Guard Snuff Out Asian Challenge   Asia’s World Cup hopes are over, after two contrasting defeats. Japan, not for the first time, lost their nerve at the most crucial time, while South Korea simply couldn’t overcome the gulf in class. After the optimism and euphoria created by performances in the last round of group matches, it took a little under six hours for the Asian challenge at the 2022 World Cup to fizzle out. Japan and South Korea, who have been Asian football’s standard-bearers for a generation, went out in contrasting fashion. The Japanese suffered the heartache of…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay “Mbapre”. Saw a tweet saying this a few days back during the course of the ongoing World Cup. This was actually the headline on the sports pages of a Chennai-based daily I used to work for. This was in 2018, after the France-Argentina last 16 match. Can’t stick my neck out and say that I liked it, because I am not in favour of mixing English with Hindi. But let me admit, it has some meaning. The phenomenon born in Bondi in France to parents of Cameroonian and Algerian lineage is becoming a terror for the oppositions, more…

Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 World Cup goals is just one of many under threat from Kylian Mbappe. Not even 24, there are few limits to what he can go on to achieve. Just where does Kylian Mbappe sit in the pantheon of French goal-scorers? First, the disclaimer. Neither he nor anyone else will ever come close to matching Just Fontaine’s record of 13 goals from six matches at the 1958 World Cup. But that unreal strike-rate needs to be viewed in context, with 1958 being the last of the ‘open’ World Cups, before strategies based on sound defence…

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay The highlight of Bangladesh’s ‘Mirpur Miracle’ was the 51-run last-wicket stand which carried them to an unlikely win. From the Indian point of view, the natural tendency would be to blame the bowlers. Nine wickets down, 50 more runs in the bank — nine out of 10 times bowling sides win such matches. India bowlers were on top, before they suddenly started appearing clueless. Once the dust settles, a few more factors should also come to the fore. This is a second-string Indian attack not high on experience. A few of them will be out once those recovering…