Euro 2012: Italy beat England on penalties, advance to semi final

June 25, 2012
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Kiev, June 25: England's penalty curse struck again here Sunday as Italy advanced to the semi-finals of Euro 2012 with victory in a shoot-out after a tense quarter-final duel finished 0-0 following extra-time.

The Italians will face Germany in the semi-finals in Warsaw on Thursday after England's campaign came to a bitterly familiar end with their sixth defeat in a penalty shoot-out in seven attempts since 1990.

Italy clinched a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win after Ashley Young sent his spot-kick against the bar and Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon saved from Ashley Cole to seal England's fate.

The winning penalty was struck by substitute Alessandro Diamanti to leave England desolate once more at Kiev's Olympic Stadium.

England had taken a 2-1 lead in the shoot-out after Riccardo Montolivo hit his spot-kick wide but Young ceded England's advantage when he crashed his penalty off the bar.

Antonio Nocerino scored to restore Italy's advantage and when Buffon saved from Cole, Diamanti stepped up to clinch victory.

The defeat extended England's poor record of never having won a knockout game on foreign soil against a top-level football nation.

But England could have few complaints after being comprehensively outplayed over the 120 minutes of normal and extra-time, Italy with 35 attempts to England's 9 while enjoying 64 percent of possession.

The tone for a surprisingly open first half had been set after only three minutes, when Daniele De Rossi rattled the woodwork with a thumping shot from 25 yards that had Joe Hart beaten.

England responded immediately and squandered a golden chance to take the lead when Glen Johnson's effort was superbly saved by Buffon.

With their confidence lifted England enjoyed their best spell of the match and a curling Johnson cross saw Wayne Rooney's diving header fly over with the Manchester United striker under pressure from Ignazio Abate.

But having soaked up the early English pressure, Italy soon got into their stride with man-of-the-match Andrea Pirlo springing England's offside trap to send Mario Balotelli racing clear on 25 minutes.

The Manchester City striker took just a fraction too long, however, and John Terry was able to snuff out the danger with a fine cover tackle.

Italy finished the half the stronger of the two sides, Antonio Cassano testing Hart with a long-range effort which was parried wide.

Cassano then turned provider when he headed back across goal for Balotelli, only for Joleon Lescott to get a vital touch ahead of his City team-mate.

Italy's dominance stretched into the second half, and England continued to live dangerously.

De Rossi wasted a golden chance to put his side ahead when he hooked wide after Claudio Marchisio headed Hart's punched clearance into the box.

Hart then rescued England with a fine double double-save, parrying De Rossi's long-range effort before blocking Balotelli's follow-up. Montolivo shot over the bar but England breathed again.

Hodgson made a positive double substitution on the hour-mark, bringing on Andy Carroll for Danny Welbeck and replacing James Milner with Theo Walcott.

The changes had little effect, however, with England unable to exploit Walcott's pace, leaving the Arsenal winger a frustrated spectator.

Prandelli meanwhile rang the changes for Italy, bringing on Diamanti for Cassano and Nocerino for De Rossi.

Diamanti was soon into the action testing Hart with a firm low shot. Nocerino also had a chance to snatch victory two minutes from time, latching onto Marchisio's lovely pass only for Johnson to block.

Rooney sent a late overhead kick flying wide before the game went into extra-time.

Italy again dominated in extra-time, Diamanti's curling cross eluding the entire English defence and hitting the post.

Then with five minutes remaining Nocerino had the ball in the net from Diamanti's across only to be correctly ruled off-side.



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News Network
April 12,2020

Mumbai, Apr 12: Always eager to share his vast knowledge and experience, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has interacted with 12,000 doctors on sports injuries.

In his over two decade long illustrious career, Tendulkar suffered many health issues, the most prominent being the tennis elbow injury.

The veteran of 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, got to know through one Dr Sudhir Warrier, an orthopaedic surgeon, that several young doctors across the country were utilising the lockdown time to effectively gain knowledge on sports injuries through live webinars.

A session on sports injuries was held on Saturday and Tendulkar, knowing that his experiences will help these doctors, volunteered to be a part of it.

Tendulkar, accordingly, interacted with around 12,000 doctors, who attended the session.

It is reliably leanrt that the 46-year-old legend said he was grateful to the medical fraternity for their service.

During the session, the young orthopaedic doctors got to know how the requirements and treatment outcomes of athletes are different from regular patients, sources said.

Dr Warrier moderated the session with Dr Nitin Patel, physiotherapist, who has worked with Indian cricket team and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday extended wishes to the "most prolific batsman of all time" Sachin Tendulkar on his 47th birthday.

ICC took to Twitter and wrote: "Happy birthday to Sachin Tendulkar, the most prolific batsman of all time! To celebrate, we will give you the opportunity to vote for his top ODI innings in a bracket challenge! Stay tuned to join the celebrations."

The Maharashtra-born player had an illustrious career in the game, creating several records.
Tendulkar made his debut in Test cricket on November 15, 1989. In the same year on December 18, he played his first ODI match.

The legendary cricketer has the most number of runs in the longest format of the game, amassing 15,921 runs. Along the way, Tendulkar scored 51 Test centuries, most by any player.

Things are no different in ODI cricket as Tendulkar atop the list of most runs in this format as well. He has accumulated 18,426 runs in ODI which includes 49 tons.

Tendulkar represented the country in six World Cups during his career that lasted for 24 years. He was the part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad.

This year, Master Blaster decided not to celebrate his birthday due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country.

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

Chappell also said captains should agree on one way of working up the ball which will encourage swing bowling, even as the ICC is considering the use of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of sweat and saliva in post-COVID-19 scenario.

"The new lbw law should simply say: 'Any delivery that strikes the pad without first hitting the bat and, in the umpire's opinion, would go on to hit the stumps is out regardless of whether or not a shot is attempted'," he wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.

"Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it's going to hit the stumps, it's out."

The 76-year-old said the change in lbw law would attract expected criticism from the batsmen but it would make the game more fair.

"There will be screams of horror - particularly from pampered batsmen - but there are numerous positives this change would bring to the game. Most important is fairness.

"If a bowler is prepared to attack the stumps regularly, the batsman should only be able to protect his wicket with the bat. The pads are there to save the batsman from injury not dismissal.

"It would also force batsmen to seek an attacking method to combat a wristspinner pitching in the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump," said Chappell.

He cited Sachin Tendulkar's example on how he negotiated Shane Warne's round the wicket tactic during the 1997-98 Test series in India.

"Contrast Sachin Tendulkar's aggressive and successful approach to Shane Warne coming round the wicket in Chennai in 1997-98 with a batsman who kicks away deliveries pitching in the rough and turning in toward the stumps. Which would you rather watch?

"The current law encourages "pad play" to balls pitching outside leg while this change would force them to use their bat. The change would reward bowlers who attack the stumps and decrease the need for negative wide deliveries to a packed off-side field," he said.

Chappell said his proposed change to the lbw law would also cut down "frivolous" DRS challenges.

"This change to the lbw law would also simplify umpiring and result in fewer frivolous DRS challenges. Consequently, it would speed up a game that has slowed drastically in recent times.

"It would also make four-day Tests an even more viable proposition as mind-numbing huge first-innings totals would be virtually non-existent."

On the substitute of shining the ball without sweat and saliva, Chappell said international captains should find out a way of working up the ball.

"With ball-tampering always a hot topic, in the past I've suggested that administrators ask international captains to construct a list (i.e. the use of natural substances) detailing the things bowlers feel will help them to swing the ball.

"From this list, the administrators should deem one method to be legal with all others being punishable as illegal," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

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