World Cup 2014: Costa Rica's dream run comes to a Krul end, Netherlands win in penalties to enter semis

July 6, 2014

Costa Rica Netherland

New Delhi/Salvador, Jul 6: Substitute goalkeeper Tim Krul saved two penalties in a dramatic shoot-out on Saturday as the Netherlands edged Costa Rica 4-3 to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

After a goalless 120 minutes, the towering Newcastle United custodian came on at the end of extra time and he saved from Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana to win the quarter-final for the Dutch.

It was another masterstroke from Manchester United-bound coach Louis van Gaal, who despite his ingenuity was unable to engineer a breakthrough in normal and extra time.

Costa Rica rarely threatened and appeared content to play for penalties, their strong suit after goalkeeper Keylor Navas kept out Greece in a shoot-out in the last 16.

But their bluff was called and after Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Dirk Kuyt all buried their kicks, the outstretched Krul denied Umana to seal the win.

The thrilling shoot-out came after a match in which goalkeeping also featured strongly when the Dutch hit the woodwork three times and were repeatedly denied by Navas.

Their first chance came when Kuyt squared it to Memphis Depay, who found Van Persie in the area but had his close-range shot well blocked by Navas.

The goalkeeper then spared Ruiz's blushes, after his captain gave the ball away on the halfway line, when he stopped smartly from Depay.

Robben's frank admission to diving dominated the build-up but Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmanov had no delay in awarding free-kicks when he went down twice in quick succession.

And Sneijder nearly buried the second when he curled it past the wall, only for his goal-bound shot to be denied by Navas's fabulous flying, one-handed save.

The Levante 'keeper was again on his toes when he came out quickly to dive on Robben's through-ball just ahead of the on-rushing Van Persie.

The Netherlands were starting to carve Costa Rica open but despite 63 percent of possession in the opening half, they went into the break goalless.

Costa Rica hadn't had a shot on target but they had a chance on the hour when Junior Diaz surged and found Campbell, who went sprawling but had his penalty claim denied.

Costa Rica withdrew Campbell for Marcos Urena, and they were forced into another change when midfielder Cristian Gamboa was stretchered off and replaced by Dave Myrie.

Dutch coach Van Gaal threw on Jeremain Lens for Depay in a bid to avoid extra time, and Sneijder nearly broke the deadlock when he hammered a free-kick against the near post.

Navas again denied Van Persie from close range, and with two minutes remaining the sharpshooter appeared to have it won when Sneijder floated a ball over the defence.

But Van Persie, scorer of a magnificent diving header in the Dutch win against Spain, embarrassingly swung and missed with his favoured left foot with the goal at his mercy.

In injury time, the Dutch appeared cursed as Daley Blind's ball ran across the face, missing a forest of outstretched legs, and Van Persie's shot was deflected onto the bar.

Extra-time began for the sixth time this World Cup and Navas rescued Costa Rica again when he turned away Ron Vlaar's header before needing treatment after a clash with Kuyt.

After they changed ends for the final time, Robben painfully clashed heads with Johnny Acosta and substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was booked for colliding with Navas.

With penalties looming, Urena threatened to snatch it for Costa Rica when he broke clear, but he was denied by goalkeeper Jan Cillessen.

And almost immediately at the other end, Sneijder hit the woodwork for the second time when he smashed a curling shot off the crossbar.

Van Gaal withdrew Cillessen for the 1.93m (six feet three inches) Krul exactly on 120 minutes for the penalties.

And his judgement looked impeccable when Krul saved Costa Rica's second kick, struck by Ruiz, and then palmed away Umana's low and one-handed before racing away in triumph.

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Agencies
March 1,2020

New Delhi, Mar 1: Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif on Sunday heaped praise on Ravindra Jadeja after the all-rounder took a spectacular catch on the second day of the Christchurch Test against New Zealand.

Jadeja grabbed a one-handed stunner at deep square leg in the 72nd over to dismiss Neil Wagner, who had to depart after scoring 21 runs.

"Sir Jadeja for a reason! Jadeja Airlines, flying high! Terrific stuff," Kaif tweeted.

In the match, Jadeja also impressed with the ball. The left-handed bowler took two wickets while giving away 22 runs.

On day two, India bundled out New Zealand on 235 runs in the second Test. However, in their second innings, Indian batsmen again struggled to tackle the New Zealand pacers and lost six wickets with a lead of just 97 runs.

India went to stumps at 90/6, with Trent Boult doing the majority of the damage with three wickets.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Jun 27: India's Test batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara cannot describe in words the influence that Rahul Dravid has had on his life but says he will always remain grateful to him for teaching the importance of switching off from cricket.

Often compared to Dravid, who was considered the 'wall' of Indian cricket, Pujara said he is thankful to Dravid for teaching him how to keep personal and professional lives separate.

"He helped me understand the importance of switching off from cricket. I had the same thought, more or less, but when I spoke to him, it gave me a lot of clarity about it and I was sure of what I needed to do," he told ESPNcricinfo.

"I also saw in county cricket how they keep personal and professional lives separate. I value that advice a lot. Many people consider me to be focused. Yes, I am focused, But I also know when to switch off. There is life beyond cricket."

In his illustrious international career, Dravid amassed 13288 runs in 164 Tests and 10889 runs in 344 ODIs. He also captained India in 79 ODIs, winning 42 of them, which includes the world record of 14 successive wins while chasing.

"I cannot say in one line what Rahul bhai means to me. He has always been an inspiration, and will remain one," Pujara said.

His mental fortitude and batting technique is often compared to Dravid but Pujara said "despite my enchantment with him" he never tried to "copy him."

"There is a similarity in our games, but that's not because of my fascination with him. That came mainly through my experiences with Saurashtra, where I learned that scoring a hundred alone isn't enough, you have to carry your team," he said.

"That is how I learned responsibility - it is about helping my team to raise a big total, and for that I ought to attach importance to my wicket. I learned that from my junior cricket days with Saurashtra, which was a weaker team in domestic cricket."

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News Network
June 19,2020

Jun 19: The BCCI is open to reviewing its sponsorship policy for the next cycle but has no plans to end its association with current IPL title sponsor Vivo as the money coming in from the Chinese company is helping India's cause and not the other way round, board treasurer Arun Dhumal said on Friday. Anti-China sentiments are running high in India following the border clash between the two countries at Galwan valley earlier this week. The first skirmish at the India-China border in more than four decades left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. Since then, calls have been made to boycott Chinese products.

But Dhumal said Chinese companies sponsoring an Indian event like the IPL only serve his country's interests.

The BCCI gets Rs 440 crore annually from Vivo and the five-year deal ends in 2022.

"When you talk emotionally, you tend to leave the rationale behind. We have to understand the difference between supporting a Chinese company for a Chinese cause or taking help from Chinese company to support India's cause," Dhumal said.

"When we are allowing Chinese companies to sell their products in India, whatever money they are taking from Indian consumer, they are paying part of it to the BCCI (as brand promotion) and the board is paying 42 per cent tax on that money to the Indian government. So, that is supporting India's cause and not China's," he argued.

Oppo, a mobile phone brand like Vivo, was sponsoring the Indian cricket team until September last year when Bengaluru-based educational technology Byju's start-up replaced the Chinese company.

Dhumal said he is all for reducing dependence on Chinese products but as long as its companies are allowed to do business in India, there is no harm in them sponsoring an Indian brand like the IPL.

"If they are not supporting the IPL, they are likely to take that money back to China. If that money is retained here, we should be happy about it. We are supporting our government with that money (by paying taxes on it)."

"If I am giving a contract to a Chinese company to build a cricket stadium, then I am helping the Chinese economy. GCA built the world's largest cricket stadium at Motera and that contract was given to an Indian company (L&T)," he said.

"Cricketing infrastructure worth thousands of crores was created across country and none of the contract was awarded to a Chinese company."

Dhumal went on to say the BCCI is spoilt for choice when it comes to attracting sponsors, whether Indian or Chinese or from any other nation.

"If that Chinese money is coming to support Indian cricket, we should be okay with it. I am all for banning Chinese products as an individual, we are there to support our government but by getting sponsorship from Chinese company, we are helping India's cause."

"We can get sponsorship money from non-Chinese companies also including Indian firms. We can support our players any way but the idea is when they are allowed to sell their products here, it is better that part of money comes back to the Indian economy."

"The BCCI is not giving money to the Chinese, it is attracting on the contrary. We should make decision based on rationale rather than emotion," he added.

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