FIFA World Cup 2018: England End Penalty Jinx to Edge Past Colombia in Shootout

Agencies
July 4, 2018

Moscow, Jul 4: England edged Colombia 4-3 on penalties to halt a run of five successive shootout defeats at major tournaments and book a quarter-final clash against Sweden at the World Cup.

Harry Kane fired England ahead with his tournament-leading sixth goal just before the hour in Moscow, converting a penalty after he was hauled down by Carlos Sanchez at a corner.

Gareth Southgate's team looked to be heading into the last eight in regulation time until Yerry Mina equalised with a 93rd-minute header as the giant Colombian defender scored for the third game in a row.

Neither team could find an advantage in extra-time and so a bad-tempered match went to a nailbiting penalty shootout.

David Ospina dived superbly to his left to repel Jordan Henderson's third penalty for England, but Manuel Uribe hit the crossbar before Jordan Pickford saved from Carlos Bacca.

Eric Dier drilled home the decisive spot-kick as England won for just the second time in eight penalty shootouts and reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.

James Rodriguez blow

Colombia were dealt a huge blow before kick-off as James Rodriguez failed to shake off a calf injury, the Bayern Munich midfielder not even fit enough for a place on the bench.

The 26-year-old was the Golden Boot winner with six goals in Brazil four years ago, when Colombia reached the quarter-finals for the first time.

Kane, Raheem Sterling and Dele Alli were among nine players recalled for England after Gareth Southgate rested the majority of his first-choice side for their final group game against Belgium.

Kane scored a combined five goals in the wins over Tunisia and Panama, and the Tottenham striker went close when his looping header back across goal landed on the roof of the net.

Sterling then did well to spin past the imposing Davinson Sanchez although his left-footed strike was charged down, while Kieran Trippier curled wide from a free-kick.

Wilmar Barrios was booked for leaning his head into the chest of Jordan Henderson as the game grew into an increasingly fiesty affair.

Pickford made his first save from a fizzing long-range effort from Juan Fernado Quintero, while Jesse Lingard sliced over after Colombia half-cleared a cross.

A member of the Colombia coaching staff appeared to deliberately barge Sterling as the Manchester City player headed towards the half-time at the interval, escaping with just a telling-off.

Kane made the breakthrough on 57 minutes after he was wrestled to the ground at a corner by Carlos Sanchez, the same player who was shown the first red card of the tournament in a 2-1 loss to Japan.

The England captain faced a lengthy wait as several Colombia players protested to the referee but he kept his nerve to beat north London rival Ospina, lifting his penalty just over the Arsenal goalkeeper's outstretched leg.

Alli nearly added a second when his diving header at the far post flashed over the bar, with Lingard appealing for another spot-kick after he was caught by Davinson Sanchez.

Juan Cuadrado blazed over with 10 minutes to play, and it appeared Colombia's hopes were up when Pickford made a terrific save to turn behind Manuel Uribe's spectacular long-range strike.

But Mina rose powerfully to meet the resulting corner, with Trippier only able to help the ball in via the underside of the crossbar in the third minute of added-on time.

Substitute Danny Rose almost struck an extra-time winner when his angled shot whistled beyond the far post, and Eric Dier headed over unmarked at a corner before England's luck deserted them again in all too familiar fashion.

Then, unlike so many times before, luck finally smiled on them in the shootout.

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News Network
February 3,2020

New Delhi, Feb 3: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels there are a lot of similarities between the Virat Kohli-led Team India and the Pakistan team when Imran Khan had led it as both captains instill strong self-belief in their respective teams.

Manjrekar also said that Pakistan under Imran had found different ways of winning matches even when it seemed all was lost.

"India under Virat in NZ reminds me of Pakistan under Imran. Strong self belief as a team. Pakistan under Imran found different ways of winning matches, often from losing positions. That only happens when the self belief is strong," Manjrekar tweeted.

The cricketer turned commentator expressed his opinion after India completed a rare 5-0 whitewash with a seven-run victory over New Zealand in the final T20 International in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Manjrekar also lauded KL Rahul, now also shouldering wicket-keeping duty, for his impressive showing in recent times.

"Samson & Pant... the next batting brigade of India obviously have the skill & the power game they just need to infuse a small dose of Virat's batting 'smarts' (mind) into their game," Manjrekar wrote.

The victory at the Bay Oval saw India stretch their record for most successive T20I wins.

This was their eighth win in a row, bettering the previous three instances when they won seven successive matches.

Kohli is the most successful Test captain in Indian cricket history, winning 11 consecutive series at home and are on top of the ICC rankings.

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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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News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

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