FIFA: Belgium is now World No.3

Agencies
July 15, 2018

St. Petersburg, Jul 15: Thomas Meunier's early goal gave Belgium an upper hand in the third-place playoff to finally defeated England in St. Petersburg and earn the third place in the FIFA rankings.

Belgium defeated England by two goals to none.

Belgium made a flying start as Midfielder Meunier's scored a goal in the fourth minute.

The goal was possible as England left much room for Belgium's Nacer Chadli, who whipped a low cross into the middle and it is here when Meunier seized the opportunity.

Meunier's goal was the earliest ever scored by a Belgian player at the world cup. Interestingly it was the first time ever for England to concede a goal so early on in a match.

In the 39th minute, Chadli picks up a knock and was replaced by Thomas Vermaelen.

Belgium has the record of never losing a match when leading at halftime, since a 2-5 defeat to Germany in 1934. Belgium since then won eight matches while drawing only four.

In a bid to make a difference, post half-time, England made two changes in the 46th minute, wherein Marcus Rashford replaced Raheem Sterling. Also, Jesse Lingard replaced Danny Rose.

In the 52nd minute, John Stones of England received a yellow card for committing a foul on Belgium's Eden Hazard.

In the 60th minute, Belgium made their second change, wherein Dries Mertens replaced Romelu Lukaku.

Uptill the 70th minute, England's Eric Dier had two shots directed towards the goal but to no avail. The shots came at a gap of two minutes. Even England's Kieran Trippier seven attempts yielded no favourable results.

The match turned interesting as England received yet another yellow card in the 76th minute, when Harry Maguire tried to protest a decision taken by the referee.

Belgium made their third and final change wherein Mousa Dembele replaced Youri Tielemans.

In the 82nd minute, Belgium scored another goal, with England still failing to score any.

As Kevin De Bruyne executed a brilliant pass to midfielder Eden Hazard who dashed towards the box and took a shot towards the bottom left-hand corner.

Eden Hazard is one such player who has been involved directly in scoring 25 goals for Belgium. Out of the 25, 12 were direct goals and 13 of them were assists.

In utter desperation in England made their change wherein Dele Alli replaced Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the 84th minute but to no avail.

Despite winning the match, Belgium's Axel Witsel received a yellow card in three minutes past the full time.

England and Belgium faced each other for the second time in this edition, after their match in the group stages.

Belgium had defeated England in the group stage match by one goal to none.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 29,2020

Jun 29: The West Indies cricketers will sport a 'Black Lives Matter' logo on the collars of their shirts during the upcoming three-Test series against England to protest against racism in sports.

Skipper Jason Holder, who has voiced his support to the cause that has once again come to the forefront after the killing of American George Floyd, said in a statement on Sunday: "We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness."

The ICC-approved logo, designed by Alisha Hosannah, will be the one which featured in the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport's resumption earlier this month.

"This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team," Holder was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. "As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for a generation to come."

Holder, who wants racism to be treated at par with doping and corruption, said they arrived at the decision to wear the logo after much thought.

"We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop," he said.

"We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background."

The West Indies players are likely to wear the shirts for the first time in this week's four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Monday.

The opening Test of the series, which will mark the resumption of international cricket after the coronavirus-forced hiatus, will get underway at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on July 8.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
January 14,2020

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
March 14,2020

Sydney, Mar 14: New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson has been placed under 24-hour isolation amid the fears of coronavirus after he reported a sore throat following the first ODI of the ongoing three-match series against Australia in Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) which the hosts won by 71 runs.

"In accordance with recommended health protocols, Lockie Ferguson has been placed in isolation at the team hotel for the next 24 hours after reporting a sore throat at the end of the first ODI," said New Zealand Cricket in a statement.

"Once the test results are received and diagnosed, his return to the team can be determined," it added.

The first ODI of the Chappell-Hadlee series was played in front of empty stands as the spectators were not allowed to be at SCG as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier, Australian fast bowler, Kane Richardson was also tested for the coronavirus, after suffering from a sore throat on Thursday. That saw him left out of the squad for Friday's game but the test was negative.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.