World Cup 2014 : German football quake magnitude 7 strikes, epicentre Brazil

July 9, 2014

Germani won

Belo Horizonte, Jul 9: Brazil's World Cup dream crumbled in spectacular fashion on Tuesday in a record 7-1 semi-final defeat. Here is is a blow-by-blow account of a Germany's night of triumph:

ONE (Thomas Mueller 11')

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Brazilians wondered how their team would cope without the injured Neymar, but the absence of captain Thiago Silva, such a reassuring presence at the back, was just as big a blow.

The Brazilian defence was hopelessly exposed at the opening goal, as Toni Kroos floated in a corner from the right and Thomas Mueller found himself completely unmarked at the back post to slot home his fifth goal of the tournament.

However, the movement by Mueller and the German players was intelligent as David Luiz, who should have been marking the goalscorer, found himself blocked off and unable to make a challenge.

TWO (Miroslav Klose 23')

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The crumble really began as Fernandinho failed to cut out a pass from the German right, and Kroos and Mueller combined to cut through the middle of the Brazil defence.

Klose collected the ball inside the area and saw his shot from close range blocked by Julio Cesar, but he still reacted the quickest to convert the rebound.

The veteran striker confirmed himself as the greatest poacher in the history of the competition, scoring a record-breaking 16th World Cup goal to move one clear of the Brazilian Ronaldo, compounding the hosts' misery.

THREE (Toni Kroos 24')

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Almost immediately after the restart, Germany scored again through a combination of poor defending and marvellous finishing.

Nobody cut out Philipp Lahm's low centre in from the German right, and even after Mueller mis-hit his shot, the ball came to Kroos.

The Bayern Munich man's connection, first-time on the half-volley with his left foot from the edge of the area, was marvellous and Julio Cesar could do nothing.

FOUR (Toni Kroos 26')

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Fernandinho was hopelessly caught in possession just outside his own area, and Kroos and Sami Khedira took advantage to break into the area.

Khedira returned the ball to Kroos, who this time simply could not miss.

FIVE (Sami Khedira 29')

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The culmination of an extraordinary first-half burst that will go down in history came as Mats Hummels sliced right through the heart of the Brazilian team, riding unchallenged deep into the opposition half.

Germany simply walked the ball into the net this time, with Mesut Ozil providing the assist and Khedira applying the finish.

SIX (Andre Schuerrle 69')

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Brazil attacked after the break in a doomed attempt to rescue some pride, but they still had six defenders in their own area when Germany went on to add a sixth goal midway through the second half.

Schuerrle, who had replaced Klose 11 minutes earlier, still found himself in space in the box to convert Lahm's cutback, as Brazil were yet again found wanting on the left-hand side.

SEVEN (Andre Schuerrle 79')

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Mueller turned provider this time to set up Schuerrle to score again, and his delightful control was followed by an arrowing left-foot shot on the half-volley that beat Julio Cesar and went into the net off the underside of the crossbar.

Oscar's late reply for the hosts was irrelevant, with Brazil already having succumbed to their greatest ever humiliation.

Germani win

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Agencies
March 10,2020

Mumbai, Mar 10: The addition of two new members, including the chairman, in the national selection committee, has not changed the panel's stance on M S Dhoni, who will "have to perform" in the upcoming IPL to be considered for T20 World Cup selection, a top BCCI official told PTI.

The Sunil Joshi-led selection panel met for the first time in Ahmedabad on Sunday to pick a rather "straightforward" squad for the three ODIs against South Africa beginning in Dharamsala on March 12.

Fit-again Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan made their way back into the side.

Joshi's predecessor MSK Prasad had made it clear that the team has moved on from Dhoni and he has to first play to be considered for selection.

Dhoni, who has not played since the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in July, will be making his highly-awaited comeback in the IPL beginning March 29.

"It was a pretty straightforward selection meeting and since Dhoni was obviously not in the reckoning this time (for South Africa series), there was no formal talk about his future," a BCCI source told PTI.

"He will be back in the reckoning only if he has a good IPL. And why only him, there are so many senior and young players who will play in the IPL. If they do well, they are ought to be considered too. So, you could see some surprise inclusions," he said.

The T20 World Cup will be played in Australia in October-November and the games India play after the IPL leading up to the mega event will also be a factor in the final squad selection.

"But the performance in the IPL could be the clincher," the source added.

Head coach Ravi Shastri too has hinted that Dhoni could be back after a good IPL but his future remains a subject of intense speculation as he has not played a game in more than seven months.

With his heir apparent Rishabh Pant not setting the world on fire and K L Rahul being groomed into a full-time wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni's comeback cannot be ruled out.

His countless fans will finally get to see him in action when he leads Chennai Super Kings against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener at Wankhede Stadium on March 29.

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News Network
May 9,2020

May 9: Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has donated an undisclosed amount to financially help 4,000 underprivileged people, including children from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tendulkar made the donation to the Hi5 Foundation, a non-profit organisation based out of Mumbai.

“Best wishes to team Hi5 for your efforts in supporting families of daily wage earners,” Tendulkar tweeted.

The organisation, through a tweet, thanked Tendulkar for doing his bit for the needy.

“Thanks @sachin_rt for proving once again that #sports encourages compassion! Your generous donation towards our #COVID19 fund enables us to financially aid 4000 underprivileged people, including children from @mybmc schools. Our budding sportspersons thank you, Little Master!”

The legendary batsman had earlier contributed Rs 25 lakh each to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the country’s fight against COVID-19. Tendulkar had earlier pledged to bear the cost of feeding 5,000 people for a month in a couple of areas in Mumbai.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

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