FIFA World Cup 2018: Germany Face Crunch Sweden Clash as Belgium Eye Knockouts

Agencies
June 23, 2018

Sochi, Jun 23: Germany can ill afford another slip-up when they take on Sweden at the World Cup on Saturday, as the defending champions attempt to follow Brazil's lead by belatedly springing into life.

Joachim Loew's side slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Mexico in their opening Group F match, paying the price for a calamitous first half in a performance that drew stinging, widespread criticism.

Lothar Matthaeus, the 1990 World Cup-winning captain, said he hadn't seen a Germany team "so weak at a big tournament for a long time" following the loss in Moscow.

The holders will likely be without defensive pillar Mats Hummels due to a neck injury, while Marco Reus could be handed a start after a bright 30-minute cameo off the bench against Mexico.

"Everyone is ready to fight for their lives," said striker Timo Werner, who is again set to lead the Germany attack.

With 10 World Cup goals to his name, Germany will also expect more from Thomas Mueller at his third finals appearance.

"The pressure is terrifically high, but we won't win both games if we beat ourselves up internally and look for the mistakes in each other," said Mueller, with Germany to meet South Korea in their final match.

Sweden beat the Koreans 1-0 to join Mexico at the top of the section, but a stomach bug has prevented three players -- Pontus Jansson, Filip Helander and Marcus Rohden -- from travelling to Sochi.

They could yet make the trip separately, with Sweden also hoping Victor Lindelof can return after sitting out the opener due to an illness of his own.

"This is really what you spend your whole career and life working towards. It is an extraordinary opportunity to be involved in a World Cup match like this," said Sweden boss Janne Andersson.

"Whether we knock out Germany is one thing, but we have a chance to qualify and that is extraordinary."

The two sides of VAR

Brazil, one of several contenders to make a slow start in Russia, left it late before finally overcoming a plucky Costa Rica 2-0 on Friday.

Neymar won a penalty before referee Bjorn Kuipers reversed his decision after he consulted the video assistant referee, the first time a spot-kick award has been chalked off at the tournament.

Philippe Coutinho broke the deadlock in the 91st minute, with Neymar volleying in a second with virtually the last kick of the game.

Brazil must pick up at least a point against Serbia next Wednesday to be assured of progressing, with Switzerland also in a strong position in Group E after Xherdan Shaqiri's 90th-minute winner in a 2-1 victory over Serbia.

Argentina received a lifeline in Group D as Ahmed Musa's brace sealed a 2-0 victory for Nigeria over Iceland, who saw Gylfi Sigurdsson sky a VAR-awarded penalty.

Lionel Messi and company looked down and out after capitulating against Croatia, but a win over Nigeria on June 26 could send them through as runners-up.

Romelu Lukaku and Belgium can effectively lock up a last 16 berth with victory over Tunisia in Moscow in Group G, ahead of a blockbuster clash with England next week.

Lukaku scored twice in a 3-0 win over debutants Panama, and Roberto Martinez is trying to finally squeeze the best out of a squad brimming with talent.

"The World Cup does not respect generations, the World Cup doesn't respect individual names, it only respects winning teams," Martinez said.

Mexico head into their showdown with South Korea after a "milestone" win over Germany, but a misstep in Rostov-on-Don would undo all that good work.

The Taegeuk Warriors are drawing inspiration from Asian rivals Japan and Iran as they bid to avoid a premature end to their Russian adventure.

"I had a suspicion the Asian teams in this World Cup would do well and I had the idea that we would do well as an Asian team too," midfielder Jung Woo-young said.

"It has caused a lot of excitement for us and we are even stronger in our belief that we can do it."

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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Agencies
May 22,2020

India's cricket board will not push for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia to be postponed but would consider staging the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October/November slot if it becomes available, a senior BCCI official has told Reuters.

This year's IPL, which is worth almost $530 million to the BCCI, has been indefinitely postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic while the World Cup, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 18, is also in jeopardy.

Reports in Australian media have suggested India's influential board may look to push for the World Cup to be postponed to open up a window for the IPL.

World Cup contingency plans are on the agenda at next week's International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting but BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal said India would not be recommending it be pushed back.

"Why should the BCCI suggest postponing the Twenty20 World Cup?" Dhumal told Reuters by telephone.

"We'll discuss it in the meeting and whatever is appropriate, (the ICC) will take a call.

"If the Australia government announces that the tournament will happen and Cricket Australia is confident they can handle it, it will be their call. BCCI would not suggest anything."

While Australia has seen new infections of the novel coronavirus slow to a trickle and is gradually easing travel curbs and social distancing restrictions, hosting a 16-team World Cup would be a Herculean task for Cricket Australia.

Dhumal questioned whether the tournament should go ahead if it had to be played without spectators and said the Australian government would play a key role in any decision.

"It all depends on what the Australian government says on this - whether they'd allow so may teams to come and play the tournament," he added.

"Will it make sense to play games without spectators? Will it make sense for CA to stage such a tournament like that? It's their call."

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts was guarded about the prospects of staging the tournament as scheduled on Friday.

"We don't have clarity on that one, yet. But as the situation continues to improve, you never know what might be possible," he said.

"It's ultimately a decision for the ICC."

The ICC has said it was unlikely to make a final call on the fate of the World Cup until August but some boards are in the process of making contingency plans in the event of a postponement.

While the BCCI recognised an open October-November window would suit the IPL, Dhumal said there was no point in making plans until there was some certainty about the World Cup.

"If we have the window available, and depending on what all can be organised, we'll decide accordingly," he added. "We can't presume that it's not happening and go on planning."

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Agencies
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Expressing solidarity with the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign, star West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has alleged that he faced racist remarks during his career and cricket is not free of the menace.

Gayle did not elaborate when he faced racial remarks but hinted it might have been during his stints at global T20 leagues.

"I have travelled the globe and experienced racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," he posted on instagram on Monday night.

"Racism is not only in football, it's in cricket too. Even within teams as a black man, I get the end of the stick. Black and powerful. Black and proud," he said.

The big-hitting batsman's comments came in the backdrop of African-American George Floyd's death in the USA after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed man's neck as he gasped for breath.

The incident has sparked violent protests across the USA.

"Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own!," Gayle wrote.

Racism in cricket was drew attention most recently last year when England pacer Jofra Archer was abused by a spectator in New Zealand.

New Zealand's top players and the cricket board had offered apologies for the incident to the Englishman.

Also on Monday night, the England cricket team's official twitter handle posted a message denouncing racism.

"We stand for diversity, We stand against racism," the message read.

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