Cristiano Ronaldo-Less Real Madrid Net Record 16th Straight Win

September 19, 2016

Madrid, Sep 19: Real Madrid shrugged off the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale to record a club record 16th consecutive league win 2-0 at Espanyol to stay top of La Liga on Sunday.

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James Rodriguez made the most of a rare start to open the scoring in first-half stoppage time before Karim Benzema sealed all three points 20 minutes from time.

Victory restores Real's three-point lead over Barcelona and Las Palmas and equals Barca's La Liga record of 16 straight wins under Pep Guardiola in 2010/11.

"I am happy not just with the goals of James and Karim but with their performance in general," said Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane.

"They have talent that can make the difference, but the most important thing is that they work as hard as they did together."

Without the ill Ronaldo and injured Bale, Madrid took their time to get going and captain Sergio Ramos was lucky to escape an early sending-off when he handled Hernan Perez's shot after picking up a booking inside two minutes.

Espanyol have now lost their last nine meetings with Real, but had a great chance to go in front when poor defending from Pepe gifted the ball to Leo Baptistao inside the area only for the Brazilian to fire straight at Kiko Casilla.

Rodriguez was making his first start in 133 days after shining in Madrid's miraculous late come from behind win against Sporting Lisbon in midweek.

And the Colombian made his case for a more regular spot in Zidane's midfield when he nutmegged Pape Diop just before the break and planted a fine left-footed effort into the bottom corner.

"It has always been my dream to play here," Rodriguez told BeIN Sports on his reasoning for not forcing through a move away from the Bernabeu during the recently closed transfer window.

"I am just one more player, but if I can score and create goals then all the better."

Once in front Zidane's men controlled the game in the second period.

Former Real goalkeeper Diego Lopez made a stunning save to prevent Benzema's volley on the turn extending the visitors lead and then also turned away a decent effort from outside the box by the Frenchman.

However, Benzema wasn't to be denied a third time when he swept home Lucas Vazquez's low cross at the near post.

Elsewhere, Valencia sank to the bottom of the table as the only side without a point this season as Los Che surrendered an early 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 at Athletic Bilbao.

"I have to think about how to turn this situation around," said under-fire Valencia coach Pako Ayestaran.

Nani set up Alvaro Medran to put the visitors in front after just two minutes.

However, Benat Etxebarria teed up Aritz Aduriz for his first two goals of the season to turn the game around before half-time and condemn Valencia to their worst start in 17 years.

"When a team has gone on a run of three defeats and receive a blow that they don't expect, it affects them," added Ayestaran.

"We forgot how to play. The team are distraught."

At the other end of the table, Villarreal moved up to sixth with their third win in a week as Nicola Sansone's first-half double earned a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad.

Celta Vigo moved off the bottom with their first point of the season in a 0-0 draw at Osasuna.

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June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

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June 20,2020

Melbourne, Jun 20: If 15 teams can be allowed to enter Australia for the T20 World Cup then fans will not be stopped from watching live action from the stadiums, Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley said on Saturday.

Hockley replaced under-fire Kevin Roberts, who recently got the boot from Cricket Australia, which is grappling with financial woes.

Different possibilities are being worked out for the T20 World to go ahead as scheduled later this year and one of them is to host the tournament before empty stands in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Hockley said crowds will be allowed, though, hosting 15 teams with players, officials and support staff is "complex" as of now, hinting that probably the ICC flagship event could be pushed back.

"The reality is, and we've got much more understanding about this in recent weeks, is crowds are most likely to come back before international travel. Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country," Hockley told cricket.com.au when asked if he would like to see the World Cup proceed without fans.

"If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise."

When specifically asked whether crowds would be permitted by the time borders have opened to the point that 15 teams will be allowed to travel to Australia, Hockley replied in an affirmative.

"That's the current thinking, yes."

Hockley said it came as a shock when he was asked by Cricket Australia to replace Roberts.

"I've had very mixed emotions. I was very shocked to be asked. I didn't see it coming at all, so I probably haven't had time yet to process it. I feel very sad for Kev (Roberts). On the other hand, I feel this is a massive privilege to be asked, it's a massive responsibility and a massive opportunity even if it's only for the next few months," he said.

Hockey did not commit when asked if he would like to assume the role full time, but he did say that he would quit as CEO of the T20 World Cup Organising Committee.

"My approach throughout my entire career has been to focus on doing the best job I can with what I've been tasked with, and the future will look after itself. And I'll continue the same approach.

"That's (T20 World Cup) been a real priority over the last 48 hours. We're reasonably well progressed and we will be appointing an interim because you just can't do both," he said.

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April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: It was on April 2, 2011, when the Men in Blue went on to win their second 50-over World Cup title.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 and then had to wait for 28 years to again lift the title.
Going into the 2011 tournament, India went in as the clear favourites as the competition was to be played in the sub-continent.

Under MS Dhoni's leadership, India lost just one match in the competition against South Africa.
India had defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-final to set up a summit clash with Sri Lanka.

In the finals, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. Mahela Jayawardene top-scored for Sri Lanka as he struck a century to take the team's score to 274/6.

India in their chase got off to a bad start as the side lost Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag with just 31 runs on the board.

But Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni stepped up and stitched a match-winning 109-run partnership.

Gambhir perished after playing a knock of 97 runs, but in the end, Dhoni and Yuvraj took the team over the line by six wickets.

The winning six struck by Dhoni is still viewed as one of the most exciting moments in India's sporting history. 

As the winning six was hit, Ravi Shastri was doing commentary then, and he famously remarked, "Dhoni, finishes it off in style, India lifts the World Cup after 28 years".
As soon as the match-winning shot was hit, Tendulkar erupted with joy and had tears to see his dream finally being fulfilled.

Earlier this year, former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the 2011 World Cup win, titled 'Carried On the Shoulders Of A Nation', was voted the greatest Laureus Sporting Moment of the last twenty years.

The lap after the World Cup is still edged into everyone's hearts.

Playing in his last mega 50-over tournament, it was the last chance for Tendulkar to lift the coveted trophy.

Before the 2011 World Cup, Tendulkar had played five tournaments (1992,1996,1999,2003 and 2007), and he fell short every time.

The closest he came to winning the trophy was in 2003 as India made the finals under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.

But the Men in Blue fell short in the finals against Australia.

Then in 2007, the biggest setback was in store for the legend has India bowed out of the tournament in the group stages.

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