Revenge of Suarez: England's World Cup dream in jeopardy as Uruguay win 2-1

June 20, 2014

England win

Rio de Janeiro, Jun 20: Luis Suarez scored twice to give Uruguay a 2-1 victory over England at the World Cup on Thursday, making an instant impact on his return from injury to revive his team's Group D campaign.

The Liverpool striker, who hadn't played since undergoing surgery on his left knee last month, lashed in the winner in the 85th minute, after seeing his first-half opener canceled out by Wayne Rooney.

After surprisingly losing its Group D opener to Costa Rica, Uruguay's qualifying chances have now been given a major lift, while England's hopes of advancing to the round of 16 are in real jeopardy after its worst World Cup start in more than half a century.

Suarez seemed to revel in inflicting England's second successive loss in Brazil, having been punished twice by the country's Football Association for misdemeanors, serving bans for racism and biting in the Premier League.

Of Uruguay's six efforts on target, five were from Suarez — including the two that beat goalkeeper Joe Hart as England's slack defending was exploited.

"I dreamt this," Suarez said at the Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paulo. "I'm enjoying this moment, because of all I suffered, the criticism I received. So, there you go."

By taking his World Cup tally to five goals, Suarez ensured that Rooney's first-ever goal in 10 matches on football's biggest stage was in vain at his third tournament.

Rooney tapped the ball home from close range in the 75th minute after connecting with Glen Johnson's pass. Having also lost against Italy, England now faces the prospect of not advancing from the group stage for the first time since 1958.

"We are a team that is making progress but results decide everything and both results have been negative," coach Roy Hodgson said.

"Where does it leave us? I don't know. I don't quite know."

Group D leader Italy and Costa Rica, who both have three points, meet for their second group game on Friday. Uruguay now has three points, while England is on zero points after consecutive defeats following its losing start to Italy.

It is in the England where Suarez has stepped up a level and powered in the goals that saw him voted the Premier League's best player last season. And despite lacking sharpness at times, he still managed to recapture the scoring form that helped Liverpool finish second last season with 31 goals.

Suarez was in the thick of the action in the opening minutes against an edgy England side. Goalkeeper Joe Hart's first save came after Suarez's cross-shot was deflected off the head of Gary Cahill.

"Quite frankly, for long periods of the game we kept him very quiet," Hodgson said. "We are normally used to seeing him much more active in and around our penalty area than we saw him today."

When Suarez did break forward, though, he was a real menace.

Suarez's first goal came in the 39th when Diego Godin picked up possession on the halfway line and sprayed it to Edinson Cavani on the left. Suarez easily evaded Phil Jagielka to head over Hart, seizing on defensive lapses just as Mario Balotelli did in Italy's win.

Although after several chances, Rooney ended his World Cup hoodoo it was rendered meaningless by Suarez's devastating final touch.

Suarez's Liverpool teammate, England captain Steven Gerrard, tried to clear a long punt by Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, and the ball glanced off the head of midfielder and back toward his own goal. Suarez ran onto it and beat Hart with a right-footed shot from about nine yards.

"If this was a movie, people probably couldn't have wished for a better result, at least in Uruguay," Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said.

___

Uruguay: Fernando Muslera; Martin Caceres, Jose Gimenez, Diego Godin; Alvaro Pereira, Alvaro Gonzalez (Jorge Fucile, 79), Egidio Arevalo, Cristian Rodriguez, Nicolas Lodeiro (Christian Stuani, 67); Luis Suarez (Sebastian Coates), Edinson Cavani.

England: Joe Hart; Glen Johnson, Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines; Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson (Rickie Lambert, 87), Raheem Sterling (Ross Barkley); Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck (Adam Lallana), Daniel Sturridge.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Melbourne, Jul 21: Cricket Australia's chief executive Nick Hockley has said that the Indian players and staff will most likely be asked to face two weeks of quarantine before the four-match Test series.

This scenario will bring the Adelaide Oval and its newly constructed hotel firmly into view as the sort of biosecure bubble, ESPNCricinfo reported.

India and Australia are slated to face each other in a four-match Test series, which is to begin from December 4 at Brisbane.

"The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined. What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be," ESPNCricinfo quoted Hockey as saying.

"Certainly the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel. It does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into the venue," he added.

Hockley also said that an exacting standard of biosecurity and testing would be applied before the series against India as the coronavirus cases are spiking in the subcontinent.

"It's widely known and it's unlikely that international travel restrictions would have lifted by the time that India will be due to come into the country. Clearly there will be testing regimes. We will be able to test people before that they get on to the plane and it is the nature of the situation of making sure we have the quarantine arrangements in line with government and health authority protocols," Hockley said.

"The key thing for the players is that there's regular testing and that we appropriately quarantine them when they come in and all of those plans are currently in development," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup 2020 slated to be held in Australia from October 18-November 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the announcement, the BCCI is likely to go ahead with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October-November window. However, it is known where the T20 tournament will be played as cases continue to rise in India.
"I think the BCCI has made no secrets that they are considering what that means for the IPL. For us, it's about getting a bit of an understanding and certainty around what that means. Clearly, in a normal course, some of our best players are obviously top picks for those IPL teams," Hockley said.

"It's a bit premature to speculate on that. We need to understand what the plans are if any and once we understand that we will make decisions accordingly," he added.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was earlier banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code, on Friday, said that people are bound to make mistakes and the important thing is that how well they make a comeback.

Shakib was banned from all forms of cricket on October 29 last year after he accepted the charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He will be able to resume international cricket from October 29, 2020.

"You have to be honest. You just can't lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can comeback from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths," Shakib told Deep Dasgupta in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010.
He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.

"I think [it's] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent," Hasan said.

"Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won't see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely," he added.

Shakib is likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh's proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October. 

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Colombo, Aug 1: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has expressed his interest in playing the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), scheduled to start from August 28.

Pathan is among 70 foreign players to have shown interest in playing the LPL, ESPNcricinfo reported.

It is believed that Pathan has taken permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take part in the competition. 

BCCI doesn't allow active players to participate in other T20 leagues but Pathan announced his retirement in January this year.

Former swashbuckling all-rounder Yuvraj Singh also played in a foreign league last year. He played for Maratha Arabians in the T10 League in Abu Dhabi.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Pathan will now be put in a player draft unless one of the five franchises choose him to be a marquee player. The details of the draft, and the franchise owners, are yet to be finalised and announced. 

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is also waiting on some government clearances even as it decides on franchise owners. The five franchises will represent Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna.

On Monday, SLC Executive Committee granted approval for the tournament.

"The 23 match League will be played on the four international venues of R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Rangiri Dambulu International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and Suriyawewa Mahinda Rajapakse International Cricket Stadium. Five teams named after the cities of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna will participate in the League," SLC said in a statement on Monday.

Sri Lanka has controlled the spread of COVID-19 better than many other cricket-playing nations.

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