World Cup 2014: Higuain strike takes Argentina into semis, Belgium's dream run comes to an end

July 6, 2014

Higuain Belgium

Brasilia/New Delhi, Jul 6: Gonzalo Higuain smashed home an early goal as Argentina dashed the World Cup dreams of much-fancied Belgium with a 1-0 win in the quarter-finals in Brasilia on Saturday.

Higuain struck in the eighth minute at the Mane Garrincha National Stadium to send Argentina into the last four for the first time since 1990 and thwart Belgian hopes of avenging their defeat in the 1986 semi-finals.

Alejandro Sabella's side will play either the Netherlands or Costa Rica, who face off in the fourth and final quarter-final later on Saturday.

The only black mark for Argentina was an injury to influential midfielder Angel Di Maria that forced him off in the first half and may yet deny him a chance to play in the semi-final.

"It was our best game of the World Cup," said Sabella.

"It is a great joy for this team, for the people for my family and for everyone. This was the best game for Argentina in terms of balance and all aspects of its game.

"However, the injury to di Maria is a big blow."

Hours after Neymar was ruled out of the tournament due to injury and James Rodriguez was eliminated with Colombia, Lionel Messi gave further evidence to suggest the World Cup may yet belong to him.

He illuminated Argentina's play with his trickery and incisive passing and although he failed to score, Higuain's goal was enough to see off Belgium's 'golden generation', for whom the occasion proved a step too far.

A symbol of Belgium's travails, star player Eden Hazard was booked for a crude challenge on Lucas Biglia and then replaced by Nacer Chadli with 15 minutes remaining.

Showing three changes to the team that had laboured to beat Switzerland in the last 16 - Jose Maria Basanta, Martin Demichelis and Biglia coming in - Argentina were quick to put Belgium on the back foot.

Messi was at the forefront, freeing Ezequiel Lavezzi for a low cross that Vincent Kompany hacked clear and then playing a central role in Argentina's opener with a pirouette and pass to Di Maria.

Di Maria's subsequent pass was intended for the overlapping Pablo Zabaleta, but it flicked off Jan Vertonghen's right foot and into the path of Higuain, who lashed in his first goal of the tournament.

Di Maria trudges off

Messi then produced a cleverly weighted pass to Di Maria, who shifted the ball onto his left foot, only for Kompany to block.

Though seemingly anodyne, it was a moment that could have lasting repercussions for Argentina.

Di Maria injured himself while shooting and had to trudge off in the 33rd minute, with Benfica's Enzo Perez coming on.

Belgium seemed slightly inhibited, but after Kevin De Bruyne saw a 25-yard shot boxed away by Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero, Kevin Mirallas headed narrowly wide from a Vertonghen cross.

Belgium coach Marc Wilmots pushed Marouane Fellaini further forward in the second half, but Argentina continued to threaten.

Higuain twice came close to claiming a second goal, first seeing a shot deflected wide by Daniel Van Buyten and then neatly nutmegging Kompany, only for his shot to clip the bar.

Wilmots reacted by introducing Romelu Lukaku and Dries Mertens, before hooking the ineffective Hazard.

Belgium began to apply pressure, with Fellaini heading a Vertonghen cross over the bar and De Bruyne having a shot deflected wide.

Messi should have made it 2-0 on the counter-attack in stoppage time, only for Thibaut Courtois to rush out and save, but Argentina held on nonetheless to join Germany and eternal rivals Brazil in the last four.

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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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News Network
June 20,2020

Jun 20: Bengaluru FC (BFC) have signed Brazilian striker Cleiton Silva for a one-year deal, the ISL club said in a statement on Saturday.

As per the agreement, BFC have the option of extending Silva's contract for another year.

The 33-year-old, who started his career with Brazilian side Madureira, moved to Thailand where he spent the better part of the decade playing for Muangthong United and Suphanburi, apart from stints in Mexico and China.

Silva, who also operates on the wing, became the first foreign player to reach the 100-goal mark in Thailand and finished top scorer of the Thai League 1 for two seasons. He also tops the charts of the all-time leading scorers of the League.

His biggest success came at Muangthong where he racked up 57 goals in 79 appearances and won three major trophies in as many seasons at the club.

The Brazilian, who was in talks with the Blues last season before the deal didn't materialise, said he was glad to have finally made the move.

"I've signed with Bengaluru FC because I want to be a champion and this is a club that is always after titles. I have that opportunity once again at BFC. I want to make the club and its fans happy. I have been following the club for some time now because we were in talks a while ago. And I liked what I saw. I am looking forward to making my way to Bengaluru and am excited to meet my new teammates, the fans and embrace the city," said Silva.

Silva, thus, became BFC's first new foreign signing of the season after the club had handed extended deals with Juanan Gonzalez, Dimas Delgado and Erik Paartalu.

Bengaluru FC coach Carles Cuadrat said Silva's addition was an important one, given his penchant for scoring.

"Cleiton has a proven track record when it comes to scoring and this is an area we needed to strengthen on the squad. The goals aside, he even has an eye for a quality final pass and we're looking forward to working with him," he said.

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News Network
July 12,2020

New Delhi, Jul 12: Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to do away with 'umpire's call' whenever a team opts for a review regarding a leg-before wicket (LBW) decision.

The Master Blaster has also said that a batsman should be given out if the ball is hitting the stumps.

Whether more than 50 per cent of the ball is hitting the stumps or not should not be matter, he further stated.

"What per cent of the ball hits the stumps doesn't matter, if DRS shows us that the ball is hitting the stumps, it should be given out, regardless of the on-field call," Tendulkar tweeted.

With this tweet, the former India batsman also shared a video, in which he has a discussion with Brian Lara regarding the working of DRS.
"One thing I don't agree with, with the ICC, is the DRS they have been using for quite some time. It is the LBW decision where more than 50 per cent of the ball must be hitting the stumps for the on-field decision to be overturned," Tendulkar said in the video.

"The only reason they (the batsman or the bowler) have gone upstairs is that they are unhappy with the on-field decision, so when the decision goes to the third umpire, let the technology take over, just like in tennis, it's either in or out, there's nothing in between," he added.

This call for doing away with umpire's call has been recommended by many former players.
Whenever a verdict pops up as 'umpire's call, the decision of the on-field umpire is not changed, but the teams do not lose their review as well.

ICC recently introduced some changes to the game of cricket, and they gave all teams liberty of extra review as non-neutral umpires will be employed in Test matches due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, all teams will now have three reviews in every innings of a Test match. 

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