Euro 2012: Italy beat England on penalties, advance to semi final

June 25, 2012
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Kiev, June 25: England's penalty curse struck again here Sunday as Italy advanced to the semi-finals of Euro 2012 with victory in a shoot-out after a tense quarter-final duel finished 0-0 following extra-time.

The Italians will face Germany in the semi-finals in Warsaw on Thursday after England's campaign came to a bitterly familiar end with their sixth defeat in a penalty shoot-out in seven attempts since 1990.

Italy clinched a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win after Ashley Young sent his spot-kick against the bar and Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon saved from Ashley Cole to seal England's fate.

The winning penalty was struck by substitute Alessandro Diamanti to leave England desolate once more at Kiev's Olympic Stadium.

England had taken a 2-1 lead in the shoot-out after Riccardo Montolivo hit his spot-kick wide but Young ceded England's advantage when he crashed his penalty off the bar.

Antonio Nocerino scored to restore Italy's advantage and when Buffon saved from Cole, Diamanti stepped up to clinch victory.

The defeat extended England's poor record of never having won a knockout game on foreign soil against a top-level football nation.

But England could have few complaints after being comprehensively outplayed over the 120 minutes of normal and extra-time, Italy with 35 attempts to England's 9 while enjoying 64 percent of possession.

The tone for a surprisingly open first half had been set after only three minutes, when Daniele De Rossi rattled the woodwork with a thumping shot from 25 yards that had Joe Hart beaten.

England responded immediately and squandered a golden chance to take the lead when Glen Johnson's effort was superbly saved by Buffon.

With their confidence lifted England enjoyed their best spell of the match and a curling Johnson cross saw Wayne Rooney's diving header fly over with the Manchester United striker under pressure from Ignazio Abate.

But having soaked up the early English pressure, Italy soon got into their stride with man-of-the-match Andrea Pirlo springing England's offside trap to send Mario Balotelli racing clear on 25 minutes.

The Manchester City striker took just a fraction too long, however, and John Terry was able to snuff out the danger with a fine cover tackle.

Italy finished the half the stronger of the two sides, Antonio Cassano testing Hart with a long-range effort which was parried wide.

Cassano then turned provider when he headed back across goal for Balotelli, only for Joleon Lescott to get a vital touch ahead of his City team-mate.

Italy's dominance stretched into the second half, and England continued to live dangerously.

De Rossi wasted a golden chance to put his side ahead when he hooked wide after Claudio Marchisio headed Hart's punched clearance into the box.

Hart then rescued England with a fine double double-save, parrying De Rossi's long-range effort before blocking Balotelli's follow-up. Montolivo shot over the bar but England breathed again.

Hodgson made a positive double substitution on the hour-mark, bringing on Andy Carroll for Danny Welbeck and replacing James Milner with Theo Walcott.

The changes had little effect, however, with England unable to exploit Walcott's pace, leaving the Arsenal winger a frustrated spectator.

Prandelli meanwhile rang the changes for Italy, bringing on Diamanti for Cassano and Nocerino for De Rossi.

Diamanti was soon into the action testing Hart with a firm low shot. Nocerino also had a chance to snatch victory two minutes from time, latching onto Marchisio's lovely pass only for Johnson to block.

Rooney sent a late overhead kick flying wide before the game went into extra-time.

Italy again dominated in extra-time, Diamanti's curling cross eluding the entire English defence and hitting the post.

Then with five minutes remaining Nocerino had the ball in the net from Diamanti's across only to be correctly ruled off-side.



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Agencies
March 26,2020

Karachi, Mar 26: Pakistan's centrally-contracted cricketers will contribute Rs 5 million to the national government's emergency fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani on Wednesday said apart from centrally-contracted players contributing Rs 5 million, the employees in the board, up to the senior manager level, will contribute their one day's salary.

Those employed as general managers or on higher posts will give two days' salary to the fund.

"The PCB will collect all these funds and deposit it to the government's coronavirus fund," he said.

Pakistan has recorded more than 1,000 positive cases of the deadly virus, which has claimed more than 19,000 lives all over the world.

"It is the history of the cricket board that we always stand by the government in difficult times," Mani said.

The PCB has already given its high performances centre in Karachi at the national stadium to be used by paramedical staff working at the special coronavirus hospital set up at the expo centre in the in the city.

Mani said though cricket has been disrupted by the virus outbreak but it was far more important for the nation to stand by the government and also take all precautionary steps during the pandemic.

Pakistan's centrally-contracted players are entitled to monthly salaries ranging from Rs 5 to 12 lakh besides match fee and other earnings.

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News Network
April 26,2020

New Delhi, Apr 26: The idea of having a full-fledged women's IPL is in a "progression stage" and a World Cup title for India can actually help in turning that into a reality sooner than later, says former captain Anjum Chopra.

Under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian team sailed into the final of the last women's T20 World Cup, but was thrashed by home favourites and defending champions Australia when it mattered the most.

Chopra, one of the country's most decorated women cricketers, said a World Cup title triumph would have brought about a generational shift to the women's game in cricket-mad India.

"Women's IPL in the progression stages. From one game at the start we had four last year in the Women's T20 Challenge, and this time it was supposed to be seven. It has progressed," Chopra said.

"If the women's team had won the World Cup this year, the number of matches would have been more. There is a big difference between winners and runners up."

Chopra had a successful career spanning over 17 years during which she represented India in six World Cups while becoming the first woman cricket to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She added, "A victory (in final of last T20 World Cup) would have been a complete generational shift in a much more progressional manner."

Referring to the rapid strides the women's game has made the world over, she praised the International Cricket Council (ICC) for "consciously building it up".

"ICC has bifurcated viewership numbers also very well for Indian audience."

The icing on the cake was a near-packed Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the World Cup final between India and Australia, and that was not lost on Chopra, who is now a respected analyst and sportscaster.

"To have 80,000 people watching the final that's commendable. That definitely a boost," said Chopra, who holds the distinction of leading India to their first ever Test series win.

A World Cup triumph and the "mind set would have gone to different level altogether", she believed.

Asked about the chatter around pay disparity in Indian cricket, her simple message was win more to earn more.

"There is already pay parity in Australia. Because both teams have won the World Cups more than any other nations.

"If you start winning, then I am sure things will be different. It's also about how much you are able to generate as a team.

"I would say sky is the limit for them."

With the COVID-19 pandemic bringing sporting activities to a standstill, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the fate of many big events lined up in the near future.

While the IPL has been put on hold indefinitely, the pandemic has thrown the men's T20 World Cup, scheduled for October-November in Australia, into doubt.

"There has been a suggestion that if we are hosting the World Cup in October, then play the IPL as preparation ground for World Cup."

That is only if the situation improves in the coming times.

"It's difficult to see, to gauge where sport will be after this. For sure it is not going to be where it was before. Even if it opens up tomorrow it couldn't be the same.

"Can sports people can get back to work without worry? We don't know when this is going to be under control."

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Agencies
January 6,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 6: 'The Irishman,' and 'Two Popes' were shut out from the winners list despite getting multiple nominations, the movies didn't win a single award at the Golden Globes Award held on Sunday (local time). Other movies in the list include 'Bombshell,' 'Dolemite Is My Name,' 'Harriet,' 'Jojo Rabbit,' 'Knives Out' and 'Little Women.'

According to The Hollywood Reporter, 'The Irishman' may have gone into the 2020 Golden Globes with the second-highest number of film nominations, tied with 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' with five nods, but Martin Scorsese's highly anticipated mob epic for Netflix was completely shut out at the award ceremony.

Netflix landed the most film nominations of any company with 17 mentions, but it won only one award which is the best-supporting actress for 'Marriage Story's' Laura Dern. Netflix's nominated films 'Dolemite Is My Name' and 'The Two Popes' was tied with 'Joker' with four mentions each and failed to grab any awards.

'Dolemite Is My Name' star Eddie Murphy was expected by a number of pundits to win for best actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy.

'Bombshell', 'Harriet',' Frozen 2', 'Jojo Rabbit', 'Knives Out', 'The Lion King', 'Little Women' and 'Pain and Glory' are among the other films that received multiple nominations but didn't win a single award.

On the TV side, Netflix's 'Unbelievable' tied in the race to most small-screen nominations with 'Chernobyl' and 'The Crown' with four nominations, and 'The Crown' won only one award, for star Olivia Colman.

The three-time nominees 'Barry', 'Big Little Lies', 'The Kominsky Method' and 'The Morning Show' also didn't grab any award. 'Catch-22', 'Killing Eve', 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' and 'The Politician' who were two-time nominees that were also iced out.

'Hustlers' star Jennifer Lopez failed to take home the best-supporting actress award as she was predicted to win the award by a number of pundits. Billy porter also failed to make history with the best drama actor win for his role on 'Pose,' if he would've won the award, he reportedly would have been the first openly gay African-American to win that award.

'Chernobyl' won two of its four nominations. Despite that, star Jared Harris didn't win the best actor in a limited series Globe which was predicted by many prognosticators. The award was bagged by Russell Crowe for his portrayal of Roger Ailes in 'The Loudest Voice.' But the star was absent from the ceremony.

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