FIFA World Cup: Croatian fan takes 4000km driving detour to Russia, now awaits tickets

Agencies
July 14, 2018

Moscow, Jul 14: Croatian soccer fan Dubravko Flegar was so keen to support his team in the World Cup that he tried to drive to Russia, only to be turned back when he attempted to cross into annexed Crimea.

As a result he missed his team`s quarter final on July 7 but Croatia`s successful run all the way to a final against France given him time to re-draw his travel plans and finally make it to Russia.

The 51-year-old Croatian dental technician and three friends set off on a 2,000 km (1,250 miles) drive in a camper van, hoping to attend Croatia`s quarter-final against Russia in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

But after crossing Hungary, Romania, Moldova and the breakaway state of Transdniestria - which none of them had heard of - they drove to southern Ukraine only to learn they could not drive into the peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

So they missed the game.

Crossing into the peninsula, which has effectively been integrated into Russia, is a complex process that requires prior permission from Kiev and Moscow.

"We didn`t know this," Flegar said. "It took almost three days. The road is terrible."

The only alternative route for them involved driving to the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov north of rebel-controlled territories and then driving south through Russia. But the huge distances meant they would not make it in time.

They traded their quarter-final tickets for semi-final tickets, betting on a Croatia win against Russia, and drove home in what Flegar said was a 4,000 km round trip.

They booked a flight to Moscow to watch their team beat England 2-1 in the semi-final on July 11 and have stayed on in Moscow in the hope of securing tickets for Sunday`s final against France.

On Friday, Flegar was lunching with his three friends on a pedestrian street popular with fans with a sign cellotaped to his red and white chequered hat that read "Need Tickets."

But they faced extortionate prices, though Flegar said he hoped they would succeed in obtaining tickets at a fair price.

"It`s too expensive at the moment. They asked $2,000. It`s too much," Flegar told Reuters. "It`s a lot. For us four guys, that`s $8,000. We could buy a car," he said.

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News Network
May 14,2020

New Delhi, May 14: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an unconventional and unique leader, whose biggest strength is his incredible gut feeling, says his Chennai Super Kings teammate Faf du Plessis.

The former South Africa skipper has spent considerable time with Dhoni after joining the Indian Premier League (IPL) side in 2011 and has been an integral part of its successful journey.

"He reads the others player really well and he uses that to make instinctive decisions on the field. He's got an incredible gut feeling on the game and I think that's his biggest strength," du Plessis said in a Facebook live session with Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal.

The 35-year-old said Dhoni changed his perception of how a captain should be.

"It was amazing for me to see how different M S was as a captain. I used to think a captain must speak all the time in team meetings etc but M S was completely different.

"He doesn't believe a lot in team meetings. He's a very instinctive captain he's got such a good cricket brain that he relies on it to make the right decisions on the field," du Plessis said of former India skipper.

Dhoni last played for India in World Cup semifinal last year and was expected to be back to playing competitive cricket at now-postponed IPL.

Calling Dhoni the best finisher he has played with, Du Plessis said no one can emulate what the dasher from Ranchi can do with the bat.

"He's extremely calm. I haven't played with someone who is a better finisher than him. It's just remarkable to watch him from the side of the field."

"If someone else tries to do it like him they won't be able to. He's just so unique like he times the ball so late he's got an incredible calmness. He knows his game and he picks a bowler and goes for it."

Du Plessis said that playing for CSK alongside Dhoni and under the guidance head coach Stephen Fleming has taught him a lot about leadership.

"I'm lucky to have started my journey there at CSK because I have really learned a lot from a leadership point of view. I tried to learn as much as possible from Dhoni and Stephen Fleming because both are great captains."

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News Network
February 5,2020

Aukland, Feb 5: Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women's hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand in the last game of its five-match tour here on Wednesday.

Navneet found the net in the 45th and 58th minutes, while Sharmila scored a field goal in the 54th minute as India drew curtains on the New Zealand tour on a bright note.

After a goalless opening two quarters, Navneet finally broke the deadlock for India in the 45th minute.

Sharmila then doubled the lead when she struck a powerful shot past the New Zealand goalkeeper in the 54th minute. Navneet found the net again just two minutes from the final hooter with a beautiful field strike.

India began the tour by thrashing New Zealand Development squad 4-0 before suffering close 1-2 and 0-1 defeats to the home senior team.

In penultimate game of the tour, skipper Rani's lone strike handed India a 1-0 win over Great Britain.

"...I am happy we produced three goals against New Zealand in the last match. This tour gave us a good insight about where we need to improve and one of the things is to create faster play than we do now," said India's chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Commenting on his side's performance during the tour, Marijne said, "Sometimes we tend to keep the ball too long on the stick and then we create pressure. We need to avoid that by passing faster.

"On the defence side, we need to be a bit more calmer and need to improve our tackling. We will have a four week camp after a short break when we return home and we will be working on these points."

The Indian team will return home on February 7.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Dhaka, Jun 20: Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza on Saturday tested positive for coronavirus.

The skipper had gone for a coronavirus Test last week, and now his reports have come back as positive, ESPNCricinfo reported.

As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, it is not known how Mortaza contracted the virus.

Mashrafe, also a member of the parliament from Narail 2 constituency, had stepped down as the ODI captain of the country in March this year.

Covid-19 cases have crossed 1,00,000 mark in Bangladesh and the government is now planning area-wise lockdown.

Bangladesh was slated to face Sri Lanka in July in a three-Test series and the side would have later hosted New Zealand in August, but both series look unlikely now.

The Asia Cup, scheduled for September, is also uncertain due to the coronavirus.

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