Falcao-Ronaldo duel subplot to Madrid derby

November 30, 2012

ronaldo

Paris, November 30: Saturday's Madrid derby represents an opportunity for Atletico to upstage their city rivals and defending champions, Real, but the showdown also provides a chance for Radamel Falcao to outshine Cristiano Ronaldo.

The record goalscoring feats of Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi have largely overshadowed Falcao's prolific 15 months at the Vicente Calderon, but the Colombian will take centre stage alongside Ronaldo at the Santiago Bernabeu this weekend.

Despite Barcelona's remarkable start to the season, Atletico are just three points adrift of the Catalan giants after 13 matches, thanks in no small part to Falcao.

Not short on confidence, he admitted only victory would suffice on Saturday.

"We're not thinking about whether a draw would be a good result. We always want to win and deal with the challenges we encounter. It's a certain desire to win and beat your rivals," he said.

Falcao's irresistible form has drawn strong interest from Premier League giants Manchester City and Chelsea, with the latter discovering first-hand how lethal he can be following his treble against the European champions in August's UEFA Super Cup.

While Falcao's return of 24 league goals a year ago -- his first season in La Liga since leaving Porto -- paled in comparison to Ronaldo's haul of 46, the Colombian talisman has closed the gap considerably this season.

His 11 goals are just one goal shy of Ronaldo's tally, and Falcao further underlined his credentials by scoring in 11 straight matches between August and October.

Falcao has also transferred his remarkable form onto the international stage, netting five times in six World Cup qualifying matches for Colombia to put his country in a strong position to qualify for their first finals since 1998.

Akin to Ronaldo, "El Tigre" (The Tiger) is equally adept with either foot and a considerable presence in the air, despite his relative lack of size.

Similarly to the Portuguese star, who won the Champions League with Manchester United in 2008, Falcao is also no stranger to European success, having helped Porto lift the Europa League in 2011 -- two years after his move from River Plate -- scoring a record 17 goals in the competition.

Falcao ultimately appears destined for a big-money transfer in the not-so-distant future, much like Ronaldo, who swapped Manchester for Madrid three years ago in a world record 80 million pound move.



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News Network
March 26,2020

New Delhi, Mar 26: As India continues its fight against coronavirus, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly pledged to donate rice worth Rs 50 Lakhs to the needy people.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), in its statement, said Ganguly along with Lal Baba Rice will provide rice to people who have been put in government schools for safety and security.
"#Sourav to provide Free Rice to the Needy It is heartening to note that Sourav Ganguly along with Lal Baba Rice has come forward to provide free rice worth Rs 50 lacs to the needy people who have been put in government schools for safety and security. Hope this initiative of Ganguly would encourage other citizens of the state to take up similar initiatives to serve the people of our state. #CAB," CAB said in a statement.
CAB President Avishek Dalmiya has also lent support to the needy people as he donated Rs 5 lakhs to the Government's Emergency Relief Fund.
"CAB President donates 5 lakhs to the Government's Emergency Relief Fund to fight against #CoronaVirus/#Covid19," CAB said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day nation-wide lockdown to contain coronavirus.

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News Network
June 5,2020

Jun 5: The Asian Football Confederation has awarded the hosting rights of the 2022 Women's Asian Cup to India for the first time since 1979.

The decision was taken at the AFC Women's Football Committee meeting. In February, the AFC Women's Football Committee had recommended India to be hosts.

In a letter to the All India Football Federation, Dato Windsor John, General Secretary, AFC wrote: "The Committee awarded the hosting rights of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022 Finals to the All India Football Federation."

The tournament will likely be held in the second half of the year. In the 1979 edition, India had finished as runners-up.

"I need to thank the Asian Football Confederation for finding us suitable to host the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2022," AIFF President, Praful Patel said.

"The tournament will galvanise the aspiring women players and bring in a holistic social revolution as far as women's football in the country is concerned," he added.

The tournament will feature 12 teams, expanded from the previous slot of eight teams.

India qualifies directly as hosts. The event will also serve as the final qualification tournament for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The tournament comes as the latest boost to AIFF as India is slated to host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup next year.

India had also hosted the AFC U-16 Championships in 2016 and the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017.

"The tournament will play a huge role in further popularising women's football in India. The Women’s Asian Cup 2022 comes on the back of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2020, and will help us sustain, and build on the momentum gained," AIFF General Secretary, Kushal Das said.

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News Network
April 14,2020

Karachi, Apr 14: Disappointed with Kapil Dev's response, Pakistan's Shahid Afridi has backed his former teammate Shoaib Akhtar's proposal for an ODI series against India to help raise funds for the less privileged in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Afridi told reporters in Kohat that he was surprised by the comments of Indian great Kapil and former IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla, who outrightly dismissed Akhtar's suggestion.

"The entire world is fighting against coronavirus and we need unity in our region to defeat this common enemy. Such negative comments don't help at all," Afridi said.

"I don't see anything wrong with Shoaib Akhtar's suggestion for Pakistan and India to play cricket.

"Kapil's reaction has surprised me. I expected better from him and feel one should not talk like this in these crisis times."

Afridi said that he was also surprised at some of the "negative comments" Indian stars Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh's support for his charity foundation attracted.

"Sport is supposed to bring people together and build bridges. It is pretty disappointing."

Afridi also urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to order the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to restore departmental cricket in the country to save the livelihood of hundreds of domestic players.

"I myself played for the departments and witnessed how departments really salvaged domestic cricket in Pakistan and helped it thrive decade after decade.

"Departments take good care of the players and spend lots of money on the development of domestic cricket, so how can departmental cricket hurt Pakistan cricket," questioned Afridi.

He also questioned the PCB and the Pakistan team management for making a fitness of players a big issue.

"They are always talking about hard training and fitness tests. I have never seen fitness tests taken with such frequency and the result is that many players are getting injured and many of them are also unhappy with the situation."

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