World Cup: Brazil beat Chile 3—2 on penalties

June 29, 2014

Belo Horizonte, Jun 29: Nervous Brazil beat Chile 3-2 on penalties to reach the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday after an epic battle that left Neymar and his teammates in tears.

Brazil beat Chile 3Two first half-goals and were all the teams managed in a fast-paced and tense 90 minutes and extra time in the Mineirao Stadium.

Gonzalo Jara missed the decisive penalty for Chile, crashing his shot against the post and across the face of the goal, to continue his country's record of World Cup misery against Brazil.

Willian and Hulk both missed from the spot for Brazil. But David Luiz, Marcelo and Neymar all kept their cool to score while Julio Cesar made crucial saves from Mauricio Pinilla and Alexis Sanchez.

Neymar sank to his knees in disbelief afterwards amid widespread tears of joy. Some of the Chilean players hid their weeping under their shirts as they left the field.

Earlier on a hot afternoon in Belo Horizonte, Sanchez pounced on poor Brazlian defending to equalise for Chile in the 32nd minute, cancelling out an 18th-minute opener for the hosts that appeared to be an own-goal by Jara but was awarded by FIFA to David Luiz.

Brazil had the majority of the chances, but were overcome by nerves in the second half and were hugely lucky to survive at the end of extra time when substitute Pinilla lashed a shot against the bar from the edge of the area.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's side now look forward to a quarter-final against either Uruguay or Colombia in Fortaleza, while Chile contemplate a last-16 exit at the hands of Brazil, just as they suffered in 1998 and 2010.

As in all of their group games, Brazil started frantically amid a backdrop of deafening noise from the crowd of almost 60,000.

Chile were subjected to the sort of high and energetic pressing game they normally inflict upon others and Marcelo shot narrowly wide before English referee Howard Webb rejected loud appeals for a penalty when Hulk went down in the area after coming together with Mauricio Isla.

Brazil and their fans celebrated in the 18th minute, however. Neymar swung in a corner from the left and Thiago Silva headed the ball on towards the back post, went into the net off Jara who was under pressure from David Luiz.

Chile, who also lost to Brazil in the 1962 semi-finals, faced a huge challenge to come from behind, but Brazil allowed them to control possession and gifted them an equaliser.

Hulk made a careless pass, allowing Eduardo Vargas to pounce and set up Sanchez, who had hardly been involved in the game but came alive to coolly beat Julio Cesar in goal.

Handball denies Hulk

Jorge Sampaoli's side were then forced to weather a storm into half-time that saw a Neymar header deflected past the post and Claudio Bravo tip a powerful 30-yard drive from Daniel Alves over the bar.

Chile looked more comfortable after the restart, even if they had a let-off 10 minutes into the second half when Hulk succeeded in turning the ball into the net with his knee and wheeled away in celebration.

Hulk thought he had redeemed himself for his error in Chile's equaliser, but the referee ruled that he had controlled the ball with his arm and brandished a yellow card to the burly forward.

As nerves took hold, Brazil needed Cesar to come to the rescue with a fine reaction save from an Aranguiz shot, while Neymar, so often the hosts' source of genuine inspiration, faded from the game.

Instead Hulk came to the forefront. He delivered a glorious cross from the left that Jo, on in place of Fred, could not convert and then stung the palms of Bravo after accelerating into the box.

In the first period of extra time, Hulk produced another trademark thunderbolt from 30 yards that was blocked by Bravo.

Chile, meanwhile, seemed happy to take their chances in the lottery of a penalty shoot-out. Pinilla almost won it right at the last, only for the woodwork to rescue Brazil, as it did again from Jara's crucial penalty.

DPA adds:

Brazil won their third out of four shoot—outs at a World Cup, losing the first one in the 1986 quarters against France before succeeding from the spot in the 1994 final against Italy and the 1998 semis against the Netherlands.

The shoot—out against Chile went as following, with Brazil starting:

1—0 David Luiz beats Claudio Bravo into the left corner

1—0 Mauricio Pinilla aims straight at Julio Cesar

1—0 Substitute Willian sends Bravo into wrong corner but aims wide left

1—0 Alexis Sanchez aims low left but Cesar dives to stop the ball for his second save

2—0 Marcelo aims mid—high left to beat Bravo

2—1 Charles Aranguiz smashes the ball into the roof of the net to revive Chile’s hopes

2—1 Hulk aims right at Bravo

2—2 Marcelo Diaz sends Cesar diving to his left and scores into the middle of the goal to level matters after four penalties each

3—2 Neymar keeps his cool and beats Bravo into the low left corner

3—2 Gonzalo Jara is denied by the right post which gives Brazil victory

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News Network
February 14,2020

Los Angeles, Feb 14: Tributes to the late Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers legend who died last month in a helicopter crash, will play a major role in Sunday's 69th NBA All-Star Game.

This year's annual showcase of league talent will be played in Chicago and feature numerous nods to Bryant, a five-time NBA champion who also matched a league record with four NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player awards.

Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star, died at age 41 on January 26 in a crash near Los Angeles that also took the life of his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.

All-Star teams guided by LeBron James of the Lakers and Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks will compete to win each of the first three quarters, which will all start 0-0 and last 12 minutes.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the clock will be turned off and a final target score will be established by taking the leading club's cumulative score through the first three quarters and adding 24 points -- the number representing the jersey number worn by Bryant for the final 10 seasons of his NBA career.

The first team to reach the cumulative target score will win the NBA All-Star Game.

All-Star Game jerseys will also honor Bryant and his daughter.

Team Giannis players will wear jersey number 24 in tribute to Kobe while Team LeBron players will wear jersey number two, the number his daughter wore when playing youth basketball.

Both teams will wear jersey patches displaying nine stars, representing the nine people who were killed in the crash.

Academy Award-winning actress and Grammy Award-winning singer Jennifer Hudson, a Chicago native, will perform a special tribute to Bryant, his daughter and the others who were killed in the crash. Her performance will begin the night ahead of the player introductions.

James and Antetokounmpo each chose their squads from available starters and reserves voted and selected to the All-Star contest.

Team LeBron starters will include James, his Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, NBA scoring leader James Harden of Houston, Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers and Slovenian guard Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.

Team Giannis starters include the Greek big man, Cameroon stars Joel Embiid of Philadelphia and Pascal Siakam of Toronto and guards Kemba Walker of Boston and Trae Young of Atlanta.

A record eight All-Star Game players from outside the United States also include Frenchman Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz on Team Giannis and Team LeBron reserves Ben Simmons of Australia and the Philadelphia 76ers, Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis of Indiana and Serbian Nikola Jokic of Denver.

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News Network
January 18,2020

Hobart, Jan 18: In a dream start to her second innings after a two-year break, Sania Mirza lifted the WTA Hobart International trophy with partner Nadiia Kichenok after edging out Shaui Peng and Shuai Zhang in the final, here on Saturday.

The unseeded Indo-Ukrainian pair pipped the second seed Chinese team 6-4, 6-4 in one hour 21 minutes.

Playing her first tournament after giving birth to son Izhaan, the 33-year-old Sania has begun well in the Olympic year as she warmed up for the Australian Open in style.

It is Sania's 42nd WTA doubles title and first since Brisbane International trophy in 2007 with American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Sania did not compete on the WTA circuit in the entire 2018 and 2019 seasons to start a family with Pakistani cricketer husband Shoaib Malik.

Sania and Nadiia began by breaking the Chinese players in the very first game of the match but only to drop serve in the next.

The two pairs played close games towards the end and at 4-4, 40-all, Sania and Nadiia got the crucial break, earning the opportunity to serve out the set.

There was no twist in 10th game with Sania and Nadiia comfortably pocketing the first set.

The second set could not have started better for them as they broke the Chinese rivals to take early lead and consolidated the break with an easy hold.

The game of the Chinese was falling apart as they dropped serve again in the third but broke back immediately to repair some damage.

Sania and Nadiia were now feeling the heat at 0-30 in the sixth game but Peng and Zhang let them hold serve for a 4-2 lead. The Chinese though kept fighting and made it 4-4 with another break in the eighth game.

The Indo-Ukraine team raised its game when it mattered as it broke Peng and Zhang for one final time in the ninth and served out the match in the next game.

Sania and Nadiia split USD 13580 as prize money and eared 280 ranking points each for their winning effort.

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News Network
February 17,2020

Hamilton, Feb 17: Mayank Agarwal found form on his birthday and Rishabh Pant mixed caution with his customary aggression as India’s warm-up fixture against New Zealand XI ended in a draw here on Sunday.

The match was called off an hour after lunch with India reaching 252 for four just 48 overs into their second innings.

Agarwal, who had gone through a wretched period since the second Test against Bangladesh, retired on 81 off 99 balls with 10 fours and three sixes to his name.

To the relief of the Indian team management, Pant played in his customary manner to reach 70 off 65 balls, but also showed discretion when the opposition bowlers were in the midst of a good spell. There were four sixes -- two each off leg-spinner Ish Sodhi and off-spinner Henry Cooper.

While Sodhi was hit down the ground, Cooper was dispatched over extra cover on a couple of occasions. He didn’t curb his aggression, though, there were times when he was ready defend the spinners and also leave some of the deliveries.

Even though Pant is considered a better batsman than Wriddhiman Saha, the innings might have come too late in the day considering that the latter is a better keeper and possibly a more responsible batsman in pressure situations.

The biggest positive to have emerged from the New Zealand second innings is Agarwal’s poor run coming to an end. The Seddon Park track easing out was definitely a factor but Agarwal’s footwork was more assured as he played some glorious on-drives and pull-shots off fast bowlers.

Before this game, Agarwal had played 10 competitive games including first-class, ODIs and List A matches and couldn’t cross the 40-run mark in 11 completed innings. He even bagged a pair against New Zealand A in an unofficial Test match.

Once he had got his form back, he didn’t come out to bat after lunch giving Saha an opportunity to score an unbeaten 30, his runs coming mostly against non-regular bowlers.

The Agarwal-Pant pair added 100 runs in 14.3 overs and it also helped that part-timers like Cooper was introduced into the action.

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