Euro 2016: Robin van Persie scores own goal, Dutch fail to qualify

October 15, 2015

Paris, Oct 15: The Netherlands, finalists at the 2010 Fifa World Cup, failed to qualify for the 2016 Euro Championships on Tuesday, while Croatia and Turkey took the final automatic qualifying spots.

Euro 2016

The Dutch needed to beat the already-qualified Czech Republic in Amsterdam and hope Turkey lost at home to already-qualified Iceland in Konya to salvage third place in Group A and a spot in next month’s play-offs. But in the end neither happened, with the 1988 European champions going down 3-2 to the Czechs, their third loss in four qualifiers under Danny Blind, while Turkey beat Iceland 1-0.

Pavel Kaderabek of Hoffenheim put the Czechs ahead and Josef Sural doubled their lead, before the away side had Marek Suchy sent off for chopping down Memphis Depay as he raced through on goal two minutes prior to half-time.

However, Robin van Persie, who came off the bench in the first half to win his 101st cap, inexplicably headed into his own net in the 66th minute to make it 3-0. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Van Persie scored at the other end to reduce the deficit but by that point the damage had been done and the Dutch will miss a major tournament finals for the first time since the 2002 World Cup.

The Dutch have not failed to qualify for a European Championship since 1984, when the finals were also played in France.

“I have no intention to step down. I’m going to carry on with my work because I’m under contract until 2018 and I believe in this team,” Blind, who replaced Guus Hiddink in July, said afterwards. “Am I the one to blame? I now have to analyse that,” he continued. “The results weren’t good. I won only one match (out of four since taking over).”

Turkey, meanwhile, had Gokhan Tore sent off 12 minutes from time against Iceland but had third place in the bag thanks to events in Amsterdam.

They went one better, though, as Selcuk Inan’s brilliant free-kick on 89 minutes saw them win their game. And that, coupled with a 1-0 win for Kazakhstan in Latvia -- secured by an Islambek Kuat goal -- allowed Fatih Terim’s side to progress automatically as the best third-placed side.

It made for agonising viewing for Hungary, who had been poised to progress as the best third-placed side. Now they must come through the play-offs -- the draw is on Sunday -- next month if they are to reach a first major finals since the 1986 World Cup.

Bosnia in play-offs

Elsewhere, Croatia clinched qualification from Group H as a 1-0 win in Malta allowed them to snatch second place in the section behind Italy, at the expense of Norway. Norway had started the day two points clear of Croatia but were beaten 2-1 by already-qualified Italy in Rome, despite Alexander Tettey of Norwich City putting the visitors ahead.

Alessandro Florenzi equalised for Italy before Southampton’s Graziano Pelle struck the late winner, while Croatia beat Malta thanks to a solitary Ivan Perisic goal, leaving Norway to settle for a play-off place.

The other game in Group H saw Bulgaria end a disappointing campaign with a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan in Sofia, with Mihail Alexandrov and Dimitar Rangelov on target.

Meanwhile, Bosnia and Herzegovina secured third place and a play-off spot in Group B with a dramatic 3-2 victory in Cyprus.

Haris Medunjanin had put the Bosnians ahead but captain Constantinos Charalambides equalised for the hosts in Nicosia and Nestor Mytidis put them ahead. Nevertheless, Medunjanin made it 2-2 just before the break and Milan Djuric got the winner for the Bosnians midway through the second half.

Belgium secured top spot in the group, and with it moved to the top of the Fifa world rankings, after beating Israel 3-1 in Brussels. Dries Mertens, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard were all on target for Marc Wilmots’ side before Tomer Hemed got one back towards the end.

And Wales celebrated securing their historic first qualification for a major tournament since 1958 by easing past Andorra 2-0 in Cardiff with star duo Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale getting their goals.

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News Network
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: In a startling revelation, India speedster Mohammed Shami has claimed that he thought of committing suicide thrice while battling personal issues a few years ago, forcing his family to keep a watch over him at all times.

He said his family members feared he "might jump" from their 24th floor apartment.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, opened up on his personal and professional life during an Instagram chat with teammate and limited overs squads' vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed during the session on Saturday.

Now one of the mainstays of Indian bowling attack across formats, the 29-year-old was struggling to focus on his cricket, then.

"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot.

"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot."

Speaking about another painful period in his life after his injury in the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field.

"When I got injured in the 2015 World Cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was on February 7, 1999, that Anil Kumble became just the second bowler in the history of cricket to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He achieved the feat against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, now known as Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi during the second Test of the two-match series.

India had set Pakistan a target of 420 runs in the match and the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket.

It was then Kumble who came into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

The spinner, also known as 'Jumbo' first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After the right-handed batter's dismissal, India kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan was reduced to 128/6 in no time.

Kumble then kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and he got his tenth scalp in the 61st over after dismissing Wasim Akram.

This effort enabled India to register a win by 212 runs, and Kumble became the second bowler after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a single Test inning.

Kumble finished with the bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs.

Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 and finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

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News Network
June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday paid tributes to Indian Army soldiers, who were killed during the face-off with the Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley.

Extending condolences to the kin of bravehearts, Kohli said, "No one is more selfless and brave than a soldier."

"Salute and deepest respect to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect our country in the Galwan Valley. NO one is more selfless and brave than a soldier. Sincere condolences to the families. I hope they find peace through our prayers at this difficult time," he tweeted.

The violent face-off happened on late evening and night of June 15 in Ladakh's Galwan Valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to "unilaterally change" the status quo during de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh and the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side, India said on Tuesday.

The Army confirmed that 20 soldiers were killed in the face-off, including 17 who were critically injured at the stand-off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain.

Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area in Ladakh where they had earlier clashed on the night of June 15 and 16, Indian Army said.

Former cricketer Irfan Pathan tweeted, "We will always be indebted to our jawans of #IndianArmy who lost their lives in #GalwanValley #JaiHind."

Expressing similar sentiments, Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan wrote, "A sacrifice that will never be forgotten by the nation. Heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the Indian Army officer and the two soldiers. Saluting your bravery, Jai Hind! #GalwanValley."

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