Brazil plot Germany demise without Neymar, Silva

July 8, 2014

Neymar Silva out

Belo Horizonte, Jul 8: Brazil and Germany collide in a heavyweight clash of continental superpowers here Tuesday as the World Cup semi-finals get under way.

The prize for the winner is a place in Sunday´s final where they will meet either Argentina or the Netherlands, who face off in another South America-Europe semi-final duel on Tuesday.

Brazil face Germany missing star striker Neymar and captain Thiago Silva after an appeal to FIFA to rescind his suspension fell on deaf ears on Monday.

Two hundred million Brazilians may not agree with him but German coach Joachim Loew suggests this twin misfortune may help rather than hinder the hosts.

"Setbacks often set free additional forces," Loew said.

"Nobody should believe that our task is made easier by the loss of Neymar, quite the opposite." And Thiago Silva´s suspension shows the depth of the Selecao´s squad." (Brazil coach Luiz) Felipe Scolari can now use a player like (Bayern Munich centre-back) Dante, so I can´t see there being a loss of quality."

Scolari has urged Brazil to use Neymar´s injury blow as motivation to reach the title.

"I think the additional motivation we must have in every match is going up another step and getting closer to our objective of the final," Scolari said.

"The way Neymar spoke to the players made them understand that he had done his share and now we need to do our share. "Myself, the other players, all the Brazilian people. This match is very important, it could take us to the final. "We are playing for our country, it is everything we imagined and dreamed of, and also for Neymar."

Silva´s captain´s armband will be worn by Paris Saint-Germain´s £50 million ($85 million) new acquisition, David Luiz.

The former Chelsea defender and his colleagues, who have the hopes of an expectant nation resting heavily on their shoulders, or Germany will have to wait 24 hours to discover the identity of the team they´ll meet in Sunday´s climax at the Maracana.

Curiously, the two countries´ paths have only crossed once before at a World Cup - in the 2002 final with Brazil prevailing 2-0.

Wednesday´s second semi-final sees the Dutch facing Lionel Messi´s Argentina in Sao Paulo - a repeat of the 1978 final won by the Argentines 3-1 in extra-time.

Like Brazil, Argentina go into battle with sizeable personnel problems of their own.

While four-time World Footballer of the Year Messi reports for duty, Argentina must contest their first semi-final since 1990 without Angel di Maria.

The Real Madrid forward´s absence following injury in the quarter-final win over Belgium is an enormous blow to Alejandro Sabella´s team.

On the plus side Argentina say that striker Sergio Aguero is fit to return after a leg muscle problem ruled the Manchester City striker out of the last 16 defeat of Switzerland.

Dismissed as ´ordinary´ by Belgium coach Marc Wilmots after Saturday´s quarter-final Messi-inspired Argentina have now won their first five matches at a World Cup finals for the first time.

Sabella has hailed the Barcelona legend´s contribution in Brazil, declaring: "He´s the water in the desert. He finds solutions when we think there aren´t any."

Messi is about to find out whether he is up to solving the complex riddle posed by master tactician Louis van Gaal´s highflying Dutch side.

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May 11,2020

Karachi, May 11: Pakistan might play more Test matches during their tour of England if it goes ahead as scheduled in July after the West Indies pulled out of an assignment there in June owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pakistan Cricket Board and the England and Wales Cricket Board officials are due to have a video conference on May 18 to discuss how they should proceed with the tour given the situation because of the pandemic.

"At present we have to play three Tests and three T20 internationals but the number of Tests could be increased and the tour could start a bit early in July," a PCB source said.

The source said that the ECB could offer to organise a four or five Test series against Pakistan if the West Indies tour didn’t go ahead.

Issues that are likely to be discussed in the May 18 meet are a quarantine period for Pakistani players when they arrive in England in July and limiting the venues for the matches and playing before empty stadiums.

PCB CEO Wasim Khan confirmed the video conference but said so far, the ECB has not spoken to them on increasing the number of matches on the tour which is scheduled between July and September.

"Things will be clear after the meeting but whatever decision we take we will consult our captains and head coaches before giving any confirmation," Khan said.

The PCB has so far kept mum on the chances of the series taking place in England because of the COVID-19 situation.

But with the British government due to announce measures to ease the lockdown in the country, it appears Pakistan could be touring on schedule.

Some former players have, however, asked the PCB to tread on the side of caution.

"If the West Indies have decided to postpone their series in June because of safety reasons and because of the situation then the PCB should also be very careful before taking up any offer from the ECB," a former captain said.

The West Indies Cricket Board said its players have to be convinced of their safety for it to commit to the assignment, which "is not possible in June."

"...we will continue our discussions with the ECB and other Internationals Boards on trying to find new dates," it said in a recent press release.

"We will only travel to England to play the series if our players can be assured that it is safe to do so," it added.

Pakistan is also scheduled to play an ODI series against Ireland while in UK but that series could be rescheduled and also be held in England.

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January 17,2020

Jan 17: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza cruised into the women's doubles final of the Hobart International with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok here on Friday.

Sania and Kichenok sailed past the Slovenian-Czech pair of Tamara Zidansek and Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the semifinal contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Ukrainian combination will lock horns with second seeds Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang of China. The Chinese pair got a walkover after Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck conceded the other semifinal match because of injury.

While Sania and Kichenok had to fight hard in the opening set, the second set was a cakewalk for the combination.

The first set was a tough contest between the two pairs, bringing the tie-breaker into the equation after it was level at 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, Sania and Kichenok upped their game by a few notches to outsmart their opponents and take the lead.

The second set was a no-contest as Saina and Kichenok broke their opponents thrice -- in the second, sixth and eighth game -- to easily pocket the set and a place in the summit clash.

Saina and Kichenok got 11 break chances out of which they converted four, while their opponents utilised two out of the five break chances that came their way.

The 33-year-old Sania is returning to the WTA circuit after two years. During her time away from the game, she battled injury breakdowns before taking a formal break in April 2018 to give birth to her son Izhaan. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Before the ongoing event, Sania last played at China Open in October 2017.

A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania is a former world No.1 in doubles and has six Grand Slam titles to her credit.

She retired from the singles competition in 2013 after becoming the most successful Indian woman tennis player.

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June 11,2020

New Delhi, Jun 11: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has indicated that this year's IPL could be conducted in empty stadiums, insisting that all possible options are being explored to ensure that the suspended event does take place despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to all the affiliated units sent late on Wednesday after the ICC Board meeting, Ganguly seemed confident of an IPL this year despite its current status of being indefinitely suspended because of the raging pandemic, which has claimed more than 8,000 lives in India.

"The BCCI is working on all possible options to ensure that we are able to stage IPL this year, even if it means playing the tournament in empty stadiums," Ganguly wrote.

"The fans, franchises, players, broadcasters, sponsors and all other stakeholders are keenly looking forward to the possibility of IPL being hosted this year.

"Recently, a lot of players both from India and other countries, participating in the IPL have shown keenness on being part of this year's IPL. We are optimistic and the BCCI will shortly decide on the future course of action on this," the former India captain said.

It is widely speculated that the IPL is eyeing the October event if the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia at that time is postponed. The ICC has deferred a decision on the World Cup's fate until next month.

Ganguly also said that the BCCI is working on the domestic schedule while exploring various formats which would make tournaments like Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Vijay Hazare "competitive and feasible".

"Moving ahead, the BCCI is in process of planning the domestic competitions for the next cricketing season. We are working on various options and formats in our endeavour to ensure that various domestic tournaments are held, they stay competitive and participation feasible," said the former India captain.

"The BCCI will come up with more details in next couple of weeks," he added.

He also informed that BCCI is preparing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for resumption of cricket in all state units to ensure medical safety of those involved.

The president also informed that the BCCI has made "all efforts to release funds/grants to its various members."

"Associations which have made proper submission of their accounts and funds utilization certificates have already received their grants," he said.

The other units will also receive their grants once they submit relevant documents, the president assured while informing that vendors have also been paid.

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