Cristiano Ronaldo Claims European Goals Record

November 15, 2014

Cristiano RonaldoFaro, Nov 15: Cristiano Ronaldo became the European Championships' all-time top scorer as Portugal beat Armenia 1-0 to stay one point behind Group I leader Denmark in European Championship qualifying on Friday.

Ronaldo scored the winner striking from close range following a goalmouth scramble in the 72nd minute.

"We are in good shape at the moment in qualifying," Ronaldo said. "Denmark also won, but the team is doing very well at the moment, and if we win our game in hand we go top.

"The coach Fernando Santos has been able to impose a new system, bringing new players, and I think we are on the right track."

Elsewhere, Nicklas Bendtner scored twice as Denmark came from a goal down to beat Serbia 3-1. Serbia's Dutch coach Dick Advocaat said after the game that he would consider resigning.

Serbia winger Zoran Tosic opened the scoring with a low strike from 12 yards (meters) in the fourth minute.

But Bendtner equalized in the 60th and centerback Simon Kjaer headed in a free kick from Christian Eriksen two minutes later. Bendtner made it 3-1 in the 85th.

France, which has already qualified as the host of Euro 2016, drew 1-1 with Albania.

In Faro, Portugal coach Fernando Santos made three changes to the side that edged Denmark 1-0 a month ago with the return of veterans Jose Bosingwa and Helder Postiga while leftback Raphael Guerreiro earned his first cap.

Armenia had the best chances in the first half. Henrikh Mkhitaryan had a free kick saved by goalkeeper Rui Patricio and the Borussia Dortmund midfielder then released Kamo Hovhannisyan down the right flank - but Patricio parried the powerful strike from the Armenia wingback.

Roman Berezovski kept Armenia in the game after the break, tipping away a header from winger Nani in the 59th and stopping a long-range attempt from Ronaldo.

However, the Armenia goalkeeper was let down by his defenders when he denied substitute Ricardo Quaresma. Nani flicked the rebound toward Ronaldo, who beat defender Varazdat Haroyan to the ball for the winner.

Portugal nearly added a second in the 89th but the downward header from substitute Eder crashed against the post.

In Belgrade, the match was played in an empty Partizan stadium as punishment by UEFA following a qualifier between Serbia and Albania last month, when skirmishes involving players and fans broke out over an Albanian flag that was flown above the stadium by a drone.

Four minutes after Tosic scored, Serbia almost doubled the lead but goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel stopped the overhead kick from striker Danko Lazovic.

Tottenham playmaker Eriksen hit the post in the 49th before his low drive was only parried by Vladimir Stojkovic - allowing Bendtner to tap home the equalizer. Two minutes later, Denmark took the lead with Kjaer's header.

The match could have gone either way as Lazovic hit the woodwork in the 64th and Denmark rightback Peter Ankersen rattled the bar with a curling shot a minute later.

Bendtner put the result beyond doubt by chesting down a cross from Michael Krohn-Dehli to beat Stojkovic.

Serbia coach Advocaat was quoted as telling UEFA's website: "This is our first terrible match since I became the manager. If someone should be blamed then it's me. And, yes, I will think about resigning."

In Rennes, Albania defender Mergim Mavraj stunned the hosts with a header in the 40th. But France substitute Antoine Griezmann salvaged a draw by cutting inside to fire into the bottom corner in the 73rd.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Chennai, Jan 26: Former India cricketer Kapil Dev on Saturday said that it will be a big loss for the Indian side when MS Dhoni decides to hang up his boots.

"I think he has served the country so well and nobody has done it like him. Everyone has to retire sooner or later. He is not playing matches currently. So I don't know when he will come out one day and say -- I have had enough. I think it will be our loss because he is such a fabulous cricketer," Dev told reporters here.

In the recently released BCCI contracts list, Dhoni did not find a place for himself. The former World Cup winning captain Dev said that it is unfortunate that Dhoni was not included in the contract list.

"I feel sorry that they have not included him. 

Tendulkar, Gavaskar had to witness the same. It's not my job and I am not there to give the contract to anyone. It is the job of the cricket board. So, I don't know. You can ask this question to the cricket board. They will be able to answer this question," Dev said.

The 38-year-old Dhoni is currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the tournament. 

Especially in the games against England and New Zealand (semi-final), he had to bear the brunt of netizens, who deemed him as the reason for the Men in Blue's loss.

BCCI released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Srinagar, Jan 10: Real Kashmir FC made a strong comeback in the second half to play out a 1-1 draw against former champions Punjab FC in their home I-League match here on Friday.

The 'Snow Leopards' equalised in the 62nd minute through Gnohere Krizo in front of a partisan crowd of 8,500 spectators after Makan Chothe had given Punjab FC the lead in the 21st minute at the TRC ground.

After Thursday's draw, Punjab FC is placed third on the table with 10 points from seven games. Real Kashmir FC remained at eighth with six points from five matches. This was Real Kashmir's third home match on the trot.

The match was a story of two halves as the first belonged to the visitors who enjoyed a 62 per cent possession of the ball, whereas the second belonged to the home side.

Both the teams were looking to gain an early advantage and Punjab FC took the lead after 21 minutes.

Confusion inside the Real Kashmir box because of a long ball from Punjab opened up an opportunity for Chothe and he made no mistake as he smashed the ball at the back of the net.

As the fans cheered on, Real Kashmir created a flurry of chances, but none of the home side players could find the back of the net. Punjab was able to hold on to their slender lead heading into the tunnel.

The second half resumed with Real Kashmir pressing high up the field and pressurising Punjab.

In the 56th minute, Real Kashmir playmaker Kallum Higginbotham cut through two defenders on the left side of the box and the ball fell to Mason Robertson, whose shot was too weak to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper.

Soon after, it was Danish Farooq who tried a curler from a distance but his shot did not have enough bend to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper. The home team's effort finally paid off in the 62nd minute.

A miscalculated header by Danilo Augusto fell at the feet of Gnohere Krizo, who was one-on-one with the keeper. He made no mistake in striking the ball into the opponent's goal to score the equaliser.

Real Kashmir was in their groove now, and Kallum came in from the right with a beautiful low cross across the face of the goal but Mason could not get a touch as the chance went begging.

The duo of Kallum and Mason were proving difficult for Punjab to deal with. In the 82nd minute, a beautiful long ball by Kallum found the head of a towering Mason, but the effort went just over the crossbar.

Within a few moments, Punjab again had another nervous moment as Chesterpoul Lyngdoh's cross from the right side hit the arm of Thoiba Singh but the referee turned down an appeal for penalty.

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News Network
May 6,2020

May 6: They have similar impact on their teams but Virat Kohli is driven by sheer passion to subdue the rivals while Steve Smith just enjoys batting, says Australia opener David Warner.

India skipper Kohli and top Australian batsman Smith are arguably the top two cricketers of the current era. They achieve new milestones consistently, invoking debates, who is better between them.

"Virat's passion and drive to score runs is different to what Steve's would be," Warner said while speaking to Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"Steve is going out there for a hit in the middle, that's how he sees things. He's hitting them out in the middle, he's having fun, he's enjoying himself, just does not want to get out."

Warner feels, while Kohli is batting he is aware that if he sticks around the middle his team will be on top of the proceedings.

"Virat obviously doesn't want to get out but he knows if he spends a certain amount of time out there, he's going to score plenty of runs at a rapid rate. He's going to get on top of you. That allows the guys coming in, especially in the Indian team you've got a lot of players who can be flamboyant as well."

The Australian opener added that both men are mentally strong and a good knock by them boosts the morale of the entire team.

"When it comes to cricket, they both have got the mental strength, the mental capacity to score runs. They both love spending time in the middle.

"They stabilise, they boost morale - if they score runs, everyone else's moral is up. If they are out cheaply you almost sense that on the field that everyone is (down on morale and thinking) 'now we all have to step up'. It's a very bizarre situation," he added.

Asked about the similarities between himself and Kohli, who are both live wires on the field, Warner said the passion to do better than the opponent keeps him going.

"I can't speak for Virat, obviously, but it's almost like we got this thing in us when we go (out to the middle) we need to prove people wrong, prove someone wrong."

"If you're in that contest, and if I'm going at him for example, you're thinking, 'Alright, I'm going to score more runs than him, I'm going to take a quick single on him'. You are trying to better that person in that game. That's where the passion comes from."

Warner also explained how he breaks down a match into smaller competitions.

"Obviously you want to win the game but you almost break it down to: If I can score more runs than Virat, or if Pujara scores more runs than Steve Smith, you have these little contests and that's how you try to narrow the game in the sense that if we do these little things, we can be ahead of the game or we can be behind the game.

"The passion is driven by...I know my sense - one, the will to win and two, wanting to do better than that person in the opposition," said Warner.

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