FIFA World Cup: Russia to lock horns with Croatia in quarters

Agencies
July 7, 2018

Sochi, July 7: Russia will look to book their place in the semi-final of the ongoing 21st edition of FIFA World Cup when they square off with Croatia in the quarter-final clash here at Fisht Stadium on Saturday.

Russia, who came into the tournament ranked 70, surprised the spectators around the world with their impressive run in the tournament so far.

The hosts will be coming off in the clash on the back of their two convincing victories over Saudi Arabia and Egypt while a 0-3 defeat against Uruguay in their third and final group-stage match.

The Igor Akinfeev- led side, in one of the major upsets of the tournament, defeated pre-tournament favourites Spain 4-3 via penalty shootouts after the high-voltage round of 16 ended with a 1-1 draw at full time.

Croatia, on the other hand, are so far unbeaten in the tournament and will definitely be fancying their chances against the host nation.

The Croatians squeezed past Denmark 3-2 in the penalty shootout in their high-voltage round-16 clash to book their place against Russians in the quarterfinals.

Previously, the two teams met twice during the qualifiers of Euro 2008 but both the matches ended in stalemate draws.

However, in a friendly match in November 2017, Croatia thrashed the Russians 3-1 in the encounter.

In other clashes of the day, world number twenty-four Sweden will collide with 12th-ranked England for the semi-final berth in the tournament.

Both the teams have had a roller-coaster ride in the World Cup so far and will be aiming to put their best foot forward in the match.

The two teams met twice in the World Cup so far, settling with a 2-2 draw in 2006 and a 1-1 draw in 2002.

As far as head-to-head record is concerned, England have won just two of the matches in their last fifteen meetings.

On a related note, the full Russian and Croatian squads are as follow:

Russia

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (C), Vladimir Gabulov, Soslan Dzhanaev, Andrei Lunev.
Defenders: Vladimir Granat, Ruslan Kambolov, Fedor Kudryashov, Ilya Kutepov Roman Neustadter Konstantin Rausch, Andrei Semenov, Igor Smolnikov, Mario Fernandes.
Midfielders: Yuri Gazinsky, Alexander Golovin Alan Dzagoev, Alexander Erokhin, Yuri Zhirkov, Daler Kuzyaev, Roman Zobnin, Alexander Samedov, Anton Miranchuk, Alexander Tashaev, Denis Cheryshev.
Forwards: Fedor Smolov, Aleksei Miranchu, Artem Dzyuba.

Croatia

Goalkeepers: Danijel Subasic , Lovre Kalinic, Dominik Livakovic
Defenders: Vedran Corluka , Domagoj Vida, Ivan Strinic , Dejan Lovren, Sime Vrsaljko , Josip Pivaric , Tin Jedvaj, Duje Caleta-Car
Midfielders: Luka Modric , Ivan Rakitic, Mateo Kovacic , Milan Badelj, Marcelo Brozovic, Filip Bradaric
Forwards: Mario Mandzukic , Ivan Perisic , Nikola Kalinic , Andrej Kramaric, Marko Pjaca, Ante Rebic. 

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Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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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
April 25,2020

New Delhi, Apr 25: The love and loyalty of the fans will never let him leave Royal Challengers Bangalore till the time he is playing IPL, skipper Virat Kohli said on Friday.

RCB have reached the IPL final thrice but have not gone on to win the trophy.

During a live session on Instagram with former South African captain and RCB teammate AB de Villiers, Kohli said winning the tournament remains the goal but he would not leave the team irrespective of the results.

"It has been such an amazing journey. It is always going to be our dream, winning the IPL together. There is no scenario where I could think of leaving the team ever.

"You can feel emotional about the season not going well but till the time I am playing IPL, I am never leaving this team. The fans, their loyalty has been amazing," said the India skipper.

Responding to Kohli's feelings towards RCB, De Villiers too acknowledged the support of fans over the past nine years. Kohli, on the other hand, has been with RCB since 2008.

"Same for me. I never want to leave RCB but to do that I got to keep scoring runs. I am not the captain you see," said the South African in jest.

Both recalled their early days in international cricket and their growth as cricketers and friends.

Kohli said at times, the youngsters coming in have too much regard for the "system" and he wants to see them break the norm.

"I want to see youngsters coming in scoring 500-600 runs. I want people to break the norm. Sometimes I feel people have too much regard for the system in sport. When you break the shackles, you do something special."

Kohli also acknowledged contribution of Mark Boucher, Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher early on in his international career.

"Gary always gave me positive feedback. Boucher told me in 2008 to improve my game against the short ball. He had the vision. Then Fletcher, he had a keen eye for the game. So many people who have contributed (to my growth)," said Kohli.

De Villiers picked the 119 at Wankhede in the 2015 series decider as his best knock against India. Kohli picked the 119 he scored in Johannesburg Test in 2013.

"I was always really motivated to win the series after 2-2 . I was incredibly motivated to do something special," de Villiers said.

They also picked their combined South Africa and India ODI team. It included Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ab de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, M S Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dale Steyn, Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada.

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