FIFA World Cup 2014: Neymar wants Messi to beat Germans in the final

July 11, 2014

Teresopolis (Brazil), Jul 11: Brazilian superstar Neymar said Thursday he wants his club team-mate Lionel Messi to lead Argentina to victory in the World Cup final against Germany.Neymar

At an emotional press conference, Neymar broke down in tears as he relived the challenge which broke a vertebrae in his back and left him fearing he would be paralysed.

With Brazil's dream of winning a sixth World Cup decimated by their 7-1 hammering by Germany, Neymar said he wants Barcelona team-mate Messi to claim the trophy on Sunday against the Germans.

"Messi's history in the sport is so important, he has won a lot of trophies and I will be cheering for him," Neymar told a press conference.

"He is a friend, he is my team-mate and I wish him luck."

Neymar was ruled out of the World Cup in a rugged challenge by Colombia defender Juan Camilo Zuniga in Brazil's 2-1 quarter-final win.

The 22-year-old wiped away tears as he described his fears immediately after the knee in the back that he would be paralysed.

"I was blessed in that situation because it wasn't more serious. Two more centimetres up and, well, I could be in a wheelchair. So it is really difficult.

"It happened at such an important point in my career," he said.

"It was something I cannot accept. That challenge and what happened was unacceptable," he added.

"I would not say there was malice because I can't speak for him, but everyone who understands football knows that challenge was not normal.

"When someone comes from behind I can't do anything about it. I did not have any control and I ended up being hurt."

FIFA decided not to take action against Zuniga for the challenge that will keep Neymar out of action for up to six weeks.

Neymar, though, insisted he held no bad feelings towards Zuniga after the Napoli defender called to apologise to him.

"Of course I would forgive him. I do not feel any anger, he even called me the next day to apologise. He said he didn't mean to hurt me and apologise."

Neymar returned to Brazil's training camp in Teresopolis for the first time since the incident on Thursday in a bid to lift his teammates' spirits after their humiliation at the hands of Germany.

"It is not a pleasant situation, but it is good just to be back here so I can see my friends and I told them we stared together so we should finish this together regardless of the result."

And, despite not being able to take part himself, he urged the rest of the Brazil squad to at least salvage some pride against the Netherlands in their third-place playoff on Saturday.

"What matters is that we are united and we are going to finish this with honour on Saturday," he said.

"We had the chance to be champion in our country and we failed. We didn't get it right, we fell short. We know we had a good campaign, but we did not play our best.

"We did not show how good Brazilian football is, its superiority and charm, but we have to look at this last match as if it were the final.

"Victory won't assimilate all the pain we feel today, but it is important."

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News Network
June 23,2020

Karachi, Jun 23: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players - Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan - have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.

"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England."

The infected players will go into self-isolation.

"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was tested positive for the deadly virus.

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News Network
March 23,2020

Colombo, Mar 23: Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has said he is currently in self-quarantine, following his government's guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authorities are concerned over people returning from the most-affected COVID-19 countries in Europe not registering with the police and practising isolation.

"I have no symptoms or anything like that, but I'm following government guidelines," Sangakkara told News First.

"I arrived from London over a week ago and the first thing was there was a news bulletin saying that anyone who had travelled from within March 1 to 15 should register themselves with the police and undergo self-quarantine. I registered myself with the police."

The former captain said this even as the government confirmed there have been at least three cases of recent returnees attempting to hide the novel coronavirus symptoms from authorities.

Both Sangakkara and his former teammate Mahela Jayawardene have been active on social media, urging Sri Lankans to avoid panic and to exercise proper social distancing, as the country went into curfew on Friday evening.

Sri Lanka has so far reported more than 80 active COVID-19 positive cases in the country.

Across the world, the number of infected has crossed three lakh besides a death toll of more than 14,000 people.

Meanwhile, former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie has also gone into a two-week isolation after returning from the United Kingdom.

Gillespie, who is the head coach at Sussex, had been in Cape Town with the team for a pre-season tour, which was cut short as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

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News Network
January 18,2020

New Delhi, Jan 18: There was not much rustiness but just the initial nervousness, which a “pleasantly surprised” Sania Mirza shook off to win a title in her first tournament in 27 months, capping off her comeback from a maternity leave in style.

Partnering Ukraine's Nadiia Kichenov, the trailblazing Indian tennis player annexed the Hobart International trophy with a straight sets win over second seed Chinese pair of Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang.

She worked hard to get into shape but the way she moved, it seemed Sania was never away from the courts.

“It's something I did not expect totally, so to say, but I am excited to be able to do this in my first tournament on comeback," Sania told PTI in an exclusive interview from Melbourne.

“I honestly thought I would be a bit more rustier than I was. I was pleasantly surprised that I was not. But there are things I can improve and that is what makes a champion. You always want to get better in what you are doing, no matter how well you do."

The 33-year-old winner of six Grand Slam titles said she played without pressure, and insisted there was no secret to the swift success on comeback.

“There is no key, I wish I knew, there was one key to winning. I just enjoyed my game. You have to work hard, play your game. I was playing with a new partner, new gear after two-and-a-half years. There was no pressure and no expectations.

"The first match was the only one when I felt a bit nervous because I did not know how my body would react and how I would play. That match was difficult but it set the tone and momentum. I was happy to come though that one and after that things kept getting better and better," she said.

Sania said her body has certainly changed after giving birth to son Izhaan but she did not have to tweak her post-match recovery process much.

“It does change. I was dealing with a calf injury, from last month and I aggravated a bit today. I am still icing it as we speak but it should not be serious.

“The body is a lot different now. It recovers different. But recovery (process) has not changed so much, it's similar."

Asked if she could go for her shots as she was doing before the break, she said, “I was able to do enough, I can improve, no matter how I play."

"My serve was decent but I can improve. I the first match I was not serving that well and was not returning well on important points but by the time I was playing the final, I was doing both of those little better. It is a process, it does not happen overnight. It's something will keep working on."

Serena Williams set an example in 2018 when she came out playing highly competitive tennis after giving birth to her daughter Olympia. There are other tennis moms like Victoria Azrenka and Evgeniya Rodina.

Sania said she did not seek any input from tennis moms but their presence on the Tour is inspiring enough.

“I did not speak to anyone but it is inspiring to see so many moms around, playing well in different sports."

Sania will play the Australian Open mixed doubles with compatriot Rohan Bopnna after her original first-choice Rajeev Ram opted out due to health reasons.

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