Real challenge for Man United

February 13, 2013

Real_challenge_for_Man_United

Madrid, Feb 13: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo faces former club Manchester United for the first time in a mouth-watering Champions League last-16 first leg at the Bernabeu on Wednesday dripping in history and intrigue.

The world’s most expensive player has won over the Bernabeu faithful with some breathtaking performances and will have the perfect opportunity to showcase his talents against the Premier League leaders.

The managerial battle between Real’s Jose Mourinho and United’s Alex Ferguson is another fascinating aspect of the tie but Ronaldo’s bid to destroy his old team-mates should take centre stage as two of the world’s biggest clubs lock horns.

Seen as a more mature and less selfish player, Ronaldo has a chance to live up to comparisons with former Real great Alfredo Di Stefano as he faces United for the first time since the club paid 94 million euros ($126 million) to lure him to Spain in 2009.

Now 28, he made his name in England after joining from Sporting as an 18-year-old in 2003 and went on to win the World Player of the Year award five years later.

He has been in scintillating form since the turn of the year and warmed up for the United game with a hat-trick in a 4-1 destruction of Sevilla, earning a rousing ovation from the home faithful when he was substituted late on.

It is a significant turnaround from a difficult patch earlier in the season when he raised eyebrows and prompted talk of an exit from the club by telling reporters he was unhappy “for professional reasons”.

Ronaldo said it was not about money and he and the club now appear to have put it all behind them so he can focus on helping Real secure the 10th European crown that has eluded them since their last triumph in 2002.

Ronaldo spent six seasons with United and scored 118 goals in 292 games.

At Real he has netted 182 in 179 matches, a far higher goals-per-game ratio than Di Stefano’s 308 in 396 appearances in the 1950s and 60s when he helped the club to five successive European titles.

Wednesday’s match also renews the intriguing rivalry between Mourinho and Ferguson who have struck up a friendship over the years and are known to enjoy a glass of wine together.

Mourinho has faced United twice at this stage of the Champions League, starting with Porto’s success on the way to winning the trophy in 2004.

As Inter Milan coach, the Portuguese lost to United in the last 16 five years later but during three years in London as Chelsea manager he suffered only one reverse to the Manchester club, winning five games and drawing four.

History favours Real. They have won three of their four previous European ties against United -- in the semifinals in 1956-57 and the quarterfinals in 1999-2000 and 2002-03. United eliminated Real in the 1967-68 semifinals. Real have won eight of their last nine home Champions League games while United have been victorious only twice in 20 visits to Spain.

Dortmund vs Shakhtar

Playmaker Nuri Sahin has pleaded for a reaction from Borussia Dortmund in Wednesday’s tie at Shakhtar Donetsk after the Germans lurched to a 4-1 home defeat by Hamburg SV in the Bundesliga at the weekend.

Dortmund won the Champions League in 1997 and topped their group with ease earlier in this season's competition but they will need a much better display against dangerous Shakhtar than the one they served up on Saturday.

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News Network
January 10,2020

New Delhi, Jan 10: Injured Assam archer Shivangini Gohain underwent a critical surgery at the AIIMS. Dr. Deepak Gupta, professor of Pediatric neurosurgery at AIIMS, revealed about the delicate nature of the procedure and said there was no room for error.

"It was touching vertebral artery which supplies blood to the brain stem. The arrow was 0.5 cm in front of the spinal cord and the child could have become quadriplegic if someone tried to pull it out," Gupta said.

According to doctors, the arrow accidentally went inside the body damaging the shoulder bone, part of the neck, spinal cord and left lung.

Dr Gupta said, "Now the patient is fine. We had planned the surgery in a very unique way. Last whole night, our team was doing the planning and plotting to conduct this complex surgery. About 15 cm part of the arrow was inside the body which has entered through shoulder bone and affected neck, spinal cord and left lung".

"We started the surgery in the morning at 6 am which lasted for three and a half hours. We have successfully removed the arrow. The patient is stable now and shifted to ICU for observation," he added

Shivangini Gohain, the 12-year-old Assam archer who was impaled by an arrow shot accidentally at the SAI centre in Dibrugarh, was training unsupervised and the mishap was a result of negligence by the local coach and officials, the state's archery association has said.

The child was training at the Dakha Devi Rasiwasia College at Chabua, which serves as an extension centre under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Regional Centre in Guwahati when the incident took place on Wednesday.

She was airlifted to Delhi on Thursday night and admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Pulin Das, a joint secretary of Assam Archery Association and executive member of the state Olympic association said the injury to the school girl from the Deodhai village, which is 3km from Chabua, happened as the trainees were practising without any coach and other officials.

“There is a SAI contractual coach Marcy and he has left for the Khelo India Games in Guwahati. He didn't instruct the trainees to stop the camp for some time nor did the college principal, who acted as administrator of the extension centre, looked after the practice,” Das said on Friday.

The extension centre has 11 trainees, six boys and five girls, and they were training under SAI contractual coach A C Marcy from Nagaland, who is in Guwahati for the Khelo India Youth Games.

“The training ground itself is in very bad shape, it was not even a dedicated ground for archery training, some play football, cricket and other sports on that ground. But the worst part is that the SAI coach did not give instructions to stop the camp for a while and the archers were training without any supervision,” he added Das said Gohain was struck by an arrow shot by boys doing practice for compound event. The arrow remained stuck for more more than a day before she was airlifted to New Delhi on Thursday night.

“There was nobody to look after the archers, they were training on their own though their parents were outside the ground. An arrow shot by a boy trainee who was doing compound event practice hit her on the shoulder,” the official said.

Gohain's father Brinchi Gohain was outside the practice area and with no official of the college and SAI coming for help, she was taken to Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh, 33km from Chabua.

“She could reach the AMC in Dribugarh only on Thursday morning. There, the doctors told her parents to take her to a more reputed hospital like AIIMS in Delhi. With help from people close to the local Member of Parliament and Assam CM himself, she was taken by air ambulance to Delhi.

“I was told that she had a very tough time as the arrow remained stuck for more than a day. She is a strong-willed girl and she fought. Her father must be a daily wage labourer and he was distraught also.”

The SAI said that it will bear all the expenses of her treatment. The Assam Archery Association has contributed Rs 20,000 towards her treatment.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Chennai, Jan 26: Former India cricketer Kapil Dev on Saturday said that it will be a big loss for the Indian side when MS Dhoni decides to hang up his boots.

"I think he has served the country so well and nobody has done it like him. Everyone has to retire sooner or later. He is not playing matches currently. So I don't know when he will come out one day and say -- I have had enough. I think it will be our loss because he is such a fabulous cricketer," Dev told reporters here.

In the recently released BCCI contracts list, Dhoni did not find a place for himself. The former World Cup winning captain Dev said that it is unfortunate that Dhoni was not included in the contract list.

"I feel sorry that they have not included him. 

Tendulkar, Gavaskar had to witness the same. It's not my job and I am not there to give the contract to anyone. It is the job of the cricket board. So, I don't know. You can ask this question to the cricket board. They will be able to answer this question," Dev said.

The 38-year-old Dhoni is currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the tournament. 

Especially in the games against England and New Zealand (semi-final), he had to bear the brunt of netizens, who deemed him as the reason for the Men in Blue's loss.

BCCI released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was on February 7, 1999, that Anil Kumble became just the second bowler in the history of cricket to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He achieved the feat against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, now known as Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi during the second Test of the two-match series.

India had set Pakistan a target of 420 runs in the match and the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket.

It was then Kumble who came into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

The spinner, also known as 'Jumbo' first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After the right-handed batter's dismissal, India kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan was reduced to 128/6 in no time.

Kumble then kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and he got his tenth scalp in the 61st over after dismissing Wasim Akram.

This effort enabled India to register a win by 212 runs, and Kumble became the second bowler after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a single Test inning.

Kumble finished with the bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs.

Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 and finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

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