FIFA WC: Belgium's 94th-minute winner breaks Japanese hearts

Agencies
July 3, 2018

Rostov-on-Don, Jul 3: World No. 3 Belgium edged past Japan in the dying moments of a five-goal thriller at the Rostov Arena, completing a comeback from a two-goal deficit in the round-of-16 of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2018.

Substitute Nacer Chadli scored in the 94th minute of injury time to overturn yet another upset in the World Cup, after the Red Devils had nullified Japan's two-goal lead through Jan Vertonghen and Marouane Fellaini, becoming the first team to come from two goals down in a World Cup knockout game since West Germany knocked out England in 1970.

The first half of the match was hardly an indicator for what was to come, with a blocked Axel Witsel effort and a stray Vincent Kompany shot from a Kevin de Bruyne cross the only meaningful chances Belgium managed to create.

The first real scare for Belgium in the goalless first half arrived just before the interval when goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois spilt a tame Yuya Osako effort, although he managed to gather it before it trickled past the goal line.

The second half saw Japan coming out all guns blazing, scoring two brilliant goals within seven minutes of the restart to give them a real chance of making it to their first-ever World Cup quarter-finals.

The first Japanese goals came from a rapid counter-attack that was initiated from the edge of their box after a Belgian attack broke down, with Genki Haraguchi latching onto a Gaku Shibasaki pass and emphatically driving his shot past Courtois.

Belgium almost equalised immediately with Chelsea star Eden Hazard, found by Dries Mertens inside the box, striking his effort against the post.

Japan managed to double their lead in the 52nd minute, as a Shinji Kagawa pass was collected by Takashi Inui just outside the Belgian box, who unleashed a magnificent curler into the bottom right-hand corner beyond an outstretched Courtois.

Romelu Lukaku soon squandered his best chance of the night to draw level with English striker Harry Kane in the race for the Golden Boot, as he headed a Thomas Meunier cross wide from point-blank range.

The Belgians soon initiated their comeback in the 69th minute through Vertonghen, who looped a header from an uncleared corner beyond Eiji Kawashima in goal.

Five minutes later, a dangerous Eden Hazard cross into the box was met by substitute Fellaini, who nodded past Kawashima.

The Japanese keeper then made a string of brilliant saves, with the most noteworthy of them being a double save he pulled off at the 85-minute mark, keeping out headers from Meunier and Lukaku in succession.

However, he was breached in the final minute of stoppage time with a deadly counterattack, started by Courtois after he claimed a Japanese corner.

Kevin de Bruyne slipped in Meunier with a terrific pass, whose low cross was first dummied by Lukaku for substitute Chadli to prod in for the winner.

With the win, Belgium will face tournament favourites Brazil in the quarterfinals on July 6 in Kazan Arena.

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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
March 23,2020

Colombo, Mar 23: Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has said he is currently in self-quarantine, following his government's guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authorities are concerned over people returning from the most-affected COVID-19 countries in Europe not registering with the police and practising isolation.

"I have no symptoms or anything like that, but I'm following government guidelines," Sangakkara told News First.

"I arrived from London over a week ago and the first thing was there was a news bulletin saying that anyone who had travelled from within March 1 to 15 should register themselves with the police and undergo self-quarantine. I registered myself with the police."

The former captain said this even as the government confirmed there have been at least three cases of recent returnees attempting to hide the novel coronavirus symptoms from authorities.

Both Sangakkara and his former teammate Mahela Jayawardene have been active on social media, urging Sri Lankans to avoid panic and to exercise proper social distancing, as the country went into curfew on Friday evening.

Sri Lanka has so far reported more than 80 active COVID-19 positive cases in the country.

Across the world, the number of infected has crossed three lakh besides a death toll of more than 14,000 people.

Meanwhile, former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie has also gone into a two-week isolation after returning from the United Kingdom.

Gillespie, who is the head coach at Sussex, had been in Cape Town with the team for a pre-season tour, which was cut short as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

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Agencies
March 14,2020

Sydney, Mar 14: New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson has been placed under 24-hour isolation amid the fears of coronavirus after he reported a sore throat following the first ODI of the ongoing three-match series against Australia in Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) which the hosts won by 71 runs.

"In accordance with recommended health protocols, Lockie Ferguson has been placed in isolation at the team hotel for the next 24 hours after reporting a sore throat at the end of the first ODI," said New Zealand Cricket in a statement.

"Once the test results are received and diagnosed, his return to the team can be determined," it added.

The first ODI of the Chappell-Hadlee series was played in front of empty stands as the spectators were not allowed to be at SCG as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier, Australian fast bowler, Kane Richardson was also tested for the coronavirus, after suffering from a sore throat on Thursday. That saw him left out of the squad for Friday's game but the test was negative.

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