Legendary Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff dies at 68 after cancer battle

March 25, 2016

Mar 25: Johan Cruyff, one of the greatest footballers in history, died on Thursday at the age of 68 from lung cancer, his family announced.

CruyffThe Dutchman "died peacefully in Barcelona, surrounded by his family after a hard-fought battle with cancer", said a statement on Cruyff`s official website.

"It`s with great sadness that we ask you to respect the family`s privacy during their time of grief."

Cruyff won three European Cups as a player with Ajax Amsterdam and Ballon d`Or titles in 1971 with Ajax and 1973 and 1974 with Barcelona, where he starred from 1973 to 1978.

Cruyff is considered one of the best four players in history alongside Pele of Brazil, Diego Maradona of Argentina and France`s Michel Platini.

With his precision passes, speed, technique and goalscoring ability, Cruyff set new standards as a player.

He was the incarnation of Total Football that took the Dutch team to the World Cup final in 1974. He inspired a new generation of footballers.

"Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is," he once said.

As a coach, Cruyff led Barcelona to their first European Cup title in 1992.

Cruyff was once a heavy smoker who gave up after heart bypass surgery in 1991. He started sucking lollipops on the touchline at Barcelona games.

Cruyff also appeared in a Catalan government advert, saying: "Football has given me everything in life, tobacco almost took it all away."

He revealed in October last year that he had lung cancer.

He said in February that he had received "very positive" results about his battle.

"Right now, I have the feeling that I am 2-0 up in the first half of a match that has not finished yet. But I am sure that I will end up winning," he added in a statement.

News of his death still came as a shock to the football world and tributes quickly flooded in.

"He was the best player of all time," French legend Michel Platini said.

"I have lost a friend, the world has lost a great man. I admired him," Platini added.

"The `14` will never be the same. RIP Johan Cruyff," said modern-day Spanish hero Xabi Alonso, now with Bayern Munich, on Twitter in a tribute referring to Cruyff`s number 14 shirt.

"Goodbye to one of the legends of the history of football," said Real Madrid`s Sergio Ramos.

While Cruyff made his name at Ajax, where he started at the age of 17, he made his football home in Barcelona.

"Barça soon began to reap the rewards as the Dutch magician helped Barça to the league title in his first season, and went on to win his second and third Ballon d`Or," the club said in a tribute.

"He quickly became an icon for Barça.

"His acrobatic strike against Atletico Madrid and the 5-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu (against Real Madrid) in 1974, among many other great moments, will live long in the memory of Barça fans."

Cruyff returned as manager in 1988. "He was in the dugout for eight seasons, during which time he led the club through its most successful ever period up until that point."

Barcelona won four consecutive league titles and their first ever European Cup in May 1992 at Wembley, beating Sampdoria of Italy 1-0.

Cruyff was named Europe`s player of the century in 1999.

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News Network
January 9,2020

Kuala Lampur, Jan 9: Saina Nehwal and reigning world champion P V Sindhu produced dominating performances to progress to the women's singles quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament here on Thursday.

Sixth seed Sindhu notched up a commanding 21-10 21-15 victory over Japan's Aya Ohori in a pre-quarterfinal match lasting just 34 minutes. It was Sindhu's ninth successive win over Ohori.

The 24-year-old Indian, who won the World Championships in Basel last year, will take on world number 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the quarterfinals after the Chinese Taipei shuttler got the better of South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun 21-18 16-21 21-10.

Saina, who had won the Indonesia Masters last year before going through a rough patch, dispatched eight seed An Se Young of South Korea 25-23 21-12 after a thrilling 39-minute contest to make the last eight.

This is Saina's first win over the South Korean, who got the better of the Indian in the quarterfinals of the French Open last year.

The two-time Commonwealth Games champion will next take on Olympic champion Carolina Marin.

Saina had defeated Lianne Tan of Belgium 21-15 21-17 in the opening round on Wednesday.

In the men's singles, India's challenge ended after both Sameer Verma and HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round.

While Verma lost to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia 19-21 20-22, Prannoy was shown the door by top seed Kento Momota of Japan 14-21 16-21.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wellington, Jan 31: A nervous New Zealand threw it away yet again as a perseverant India prevailed in the Super Over for the second successive time to take a 4-0 lead in the T20 International series on Friday.

Needing just 11 runs off the last two overs with seven wickets in hand, New Zealand dug a hole for themselves yet again, taking the game to a Super Over two nights after doing the same in Hamilton.

New Zealand managed 13 runs in six balls and India got there effortlessly.

KL Rahul smashed 10 runs off the first two balls before he was caught. Then, a fired-up Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson finished the game in style.

Earlier, Manish Pandey proved his value to the team with an unbeaten 50 off 35 balls, taking India to 165 for eight from 88 for six in the 12th over.

India's total wasn't enough considering the batting-friendly conditions but the hosts made life a lot tougher for themselves from a commanding position before succumbing to pressure.

The entertaining knocks from Colin Munro (64 off 47) and Time Seifert went in vain (57 off 39).

Mohammed Shami, who was rested on Friday, had bowled a brilliant 20th over on Wednesday and man of the match Shardul Thakur was up to the task this time, conceding just six runs when the opposition needed seven for victory.

With the series already in the bag, India gave opportunity to Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini for the first time in the five-match series, resting Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shami. However, none of them was able to make an impact in the game.

Chasing 165, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill early. But Munro and Seifert put on 74 runs for the second wicket to put themselves on track.

Munro scored a half-century of 38 deliveries, inclusive of six fours and three sixes. He was out against the run of play as Kohli's direct hit surprisingly found the target after a relay throw from the deep.

It was the turning point as New Zealand lost regular wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Tom Bruce (0), but Seifert found a partner in Ross Taylor as they pushed the score past 150 in the 18th over.

Seifert scored a half-century off 32 balls, including four fours and three sixes. But the great choke was yet to come again. Needing 18 off 18, the Black Caps lost four wickets in the last over bowled by Thakur.

Taylor holed out of the first ball, while Seifert was run out two balls later. Daryl Mitchell (4) was caught next and Mitchell Santner (2) couldn't steal two runs off the last ball as the sides engaged in a tie-breaker for the second game running.

This was after New Zealand won a fourth consecutive toss and opted to field. Kane Williamson didn't take part in the match owing to a shoulder niggle.

Tim Southee was the stand-in skipper, with the Black Caps making two changes.

Put in to bat, the visitors were struggling at 88-6 at one stage before Pandey's lonesome rescue act took them to a respectable total. KL Rahul contributed 39 runs off 26 balls, inclusive of three sixes and two fours.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi got into the act and ran through India's batting order. First to go was Shreyas Iyer (1) and then Shivam Dube (12) was caught at mid-wicket.

Sodhi finished with 3-26 while Santner dismissed Sundar for nought as the New Zealand spinners rounded up a good outing with 4-54 in eight overs.

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News Network
July 26,2020

Chennai, Jul 26: Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand suffered his fifth straight defeat in the USD 150,000 Legends of Chess online tournament, going down 2-3 to Peter Leko of Hungry.

The former world champion got off to a good start and won the first game of the best-of-four contest. The next two games were drawn before Leko levelled by winning the fourth.

The Hungarian then claimed the Armageddon (a tie-breaker) to ensure Anand remain winless and at the bottom of the points table.

Anand, who is making his maiden appearance on the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, had earlier lost to Peter Svidler, Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik and Anish Giri.

World no. 1 Carlsen bounced back strongly to avoid an upset, beating veteran Vasyl Ivanchuk 3-2 to stay on top.

Legends of Chess is a unique event where Carlsen, Liren, Nepomniachtchi and Giri, semifinalists at the Chessable Masters (part of the Magnus Carlsen Tour), received an automatic invite and are up against six legends aged 40-52, who have been at the top of world chess at various points in their career.

The tournament is part of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. The winner of this event will qualify for the USD 300,000 Grand Final scheduled from August 9 to 20.

Results of Round 5: Peter Leko beat Viswanathan Anand 3-2; Magnus Carlsen beat Vasyl Ivanchuk 3-2: Vladmir Kramnik beat Ding Liren 2.5-1.5; Anish Giri beat Boris Gelfand 2.5-1.5; Ian Nepominiachtchi beat Peter Svidler 3-1. 

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