Supreme Spain sinks Italy 4-0 for Euro title

July 2, 2012

italy

Kiev, July 2: Spain rediscovered their magic on Sunday to beat ailing Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final and with it became the first nation to win three big football titles in a row.

David Silva (14th), Jordi Alba (41st), Fernando Torres (84th) and Juan Mata (88th) were on target as Barcelona midfielders Xavi and Andres Iniesta pulled the strings in midfield in their usual commanding style after some slightly below-par performances earlier in the tournament.

Spain became the first team to get a big event hat-trick following titles at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup with the biggest winning margin in a final, are the first to win back-to-back Euro titles and matched Germany’s record three continental titles, the first being in 1964.

Italy, who had held Spain 1-1 in their opening group match and made a surprise run to the final with a 2-1 victory over Germany in the semis, failed to end a 44-year drought since their only Euro trophy in 1968.

The Azzurri were down to 10 men for the final half hour as Thiago Motta was stretchered off injured four minutes after coming on and coach Cesare Prandelli had already made all three substitutions.

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque fielded a line-up without a recognised striker, with Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas in a strengthened midfield just as in the group game with Italy on June 10.

Italy saw Ignazio Abate back from injury at right-back in place of Federico Balzaretti for the final, which started after a short closing ceremony in front of 64,000 fans in Kiev — with Spain’s crown prince Felipe in attendance along with the Prime Ministers from both finalist countries, Mariano Rajoy and Mario Monti, and President Bronislaw Komorowski from Euro co-hosts Poland.

Spain’s famed passing game swiftly shaped up, and they took the lead in the 14th minute after Sergio Ramos and Xavi had aimed high.

Iniesta sent a surgical pass into the back of the Italian defence into the path of Fabregas, who shook off Giorgio Chiellini and crossed shortly before the touchline for Silva to send a thumping header into the roof of the net.


italy2Italy responded with a series of corner kicks to their first deficit of the tournament but their mood didn’t get better when Chiellini had to limp out injured in the 20th and was replaced by Balzaretti.

Spain sat back a little bit and Iker Casillas just got his hand on a cross with Mario Balotelli lurking right behind him. The keeper was also on his guard against two shots from Antonio Cassano as Italy forced their way back into the game.

But just as Italy and their playmaker Andrea Pirlo semed to have found their rhythm Spain struck again in the 41st. The left-back Alba fed Xaxi in midfield, raced down the pitch and got a perfect pass back to beat Gianluigi Buffon with a deft left-footer. Prandelli brought Antonio di Natale for Cassano in the second-half and the Udinese captain headed inches high less than a minute after the restart.

Fabregas came close twice on the other end and Spain appealed in vain to Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca for a penalty in the 48th when replays showed that Leonardo Bonucci clearly handled the ball off Ramos’ header.

Prandelli tried to contain Spain with Thiago Motta in midfield for Riccardo Montolivo but the idea was shortlived, as Motta seemingly injured his hamstring and had to be taken off on a stretcher.

With Pirlo and Balotelli, the two-goal hero against Germany, well marked, and being one man up, Spain had no further trouble seeing out the game, which now lacked the class and flair of its first hour.

But there was time for two more goals, in the 84th when Torres, on for Fabregas, put away another super pass from Xavi, and Torres then fed the final substitute Mata in the 88th as Spain also got the biggest winning margin in a Euro final — beating West Germany’s 3-0 over the Soviet Union from 1972.


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Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6: The BCCI on Thursday suspended the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for the event's upcoming edition amid heightened tensions in Sino-India diplomatic ties.

The BCCI sent out a one-line statement, without giving details, saying that Vivo would not be associated with the IPL this year. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vivo released its own statement saying that the two entities "have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season".

Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.

The two parties are now working out a plan in which Vivo might come back for a fresh three-year period starting 2021 on revised terms.

However, a top BCCI official offered a different view. "Here we are talking about diplomatic tensions and you expect that after November, when IPL ends and before the next IPL starts in April 2021, there would be no anti-China sentiment? Are we serious?" a veteran BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties.

The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycotts of Chinese companies and products.

The BCCI is now likely to float a tender for new IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on Sept. 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

The new development is in stark contrast to what came out of Sunday's IPL's Governing Council meeting, where it was decided that Vivo, along with all the other sponsors, will remain on board.

This was after the BCCI had announced in June that all sponsorship deals pertaining to IPL will be reviewed in the aftermath of the clash in the Galwan Valley.

However, after Sunday's meeting, there was a huge backlash on social media about the BCCI holding on to Vivo.

Both parties then began thrashing out an amicable separation plan, at least for this season.

However, the end of this deal could spell losses for the franchises as they get a substantial share from the sponsorship pool. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises, which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.

"As of now, it will be very difficult for the BCCI to match the sponsorship amount at such short notice. Therefore, both BCCI and the franchises should be prepared to lose out on some money -- BCCI more but each franchise from Vivo's exit will potentially lose 15 crore," the official said.

"This year will be difficult for everyone but the show must go on," the official said.

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News Network
July 3,2020

Karachi, Jul 3: Pakistan limited overs captain Babar Azam is tired of his constant comparisons with India skipper Virat Kohli and says he would rather be compared to the greats at home.

Babar, six years younger to Kohli, has a long way to go in getting close to Kohli's staggering numbers across formats. The India skipper has 70 hundreds to his name and averages more than 50 in all three formats.

"I would be more happy if you compare to me say a Javed Miandad, Muhammad Yousuf or Younis Khan. Why compare me to Kohli or any Indian player?" asked the 25-year-old, who is in England with the national team, said in an online media interaction on Thursday.

Babar has scored 16 international hundreds and averages more than 50 in ODIs and T20s. In 26 Tests, he has scored 1850 runs at 45.12.

He also said that he is not targeting any English bowler for the series next month.

"I don’t see who the bowler is or his reputation. I just try to play each ball on merit. England no doubt has a top bowling attack and they have advantage of playing at home but this is a challenge I want to score runs in," he said.

Before the squad’s departure for England, Pakistan batting coach Younis Khan said that pacer Joffra Archer will be a handful for the Pakistani batsmen.

Babar said that he would try to play every English bowler on merit but conceded that after getting runs in Australia last year, he was keen to leave his footprint in the coming Test and T20 series in England.

Reminded that some former Test players had already written off Pakistan for the England series, Babar said they were entitled to their opinion.

"But we don’t have a bad team and already we have been enjoying our training. It is good to be back on the field after such a long lay-off. I think we have the bowlers to trouble them like Abbas, Naseem, Shaheen and others while we have some experience in our batting line-up."

Babar said he would love to get a triple century in a Test match.

"When you score a century, you naturally want to go on and convert that into a double or a triple century. This is something I would like to do during the Test series.

"I like to play my natural game but my selection of shots depends on the conditions and bowlers."

Babar also ruled out any problems in the Pakistan dressing room due to the presence of former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was sacked last year.

But he said that since Muhammad Rizwan had been playing in all formats for Pakistan in recent times, he would be the starting keeper in the Test series ahead of Sarfaraz.

"I think we first have to give Rizwan a proper chance and Sarfaraz is there as back up."

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News Network
April 12,2020

New Delhi, Apr 12: As devotees across the world celebrate Easter today, former Sri Lanka skipper and current Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) president Kumar Sangakkara on Sunday condoled the demise of people who lost their lives during last year's Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka and said someone must seek answers to the questions which still remain unresolved.

"A year on we all share the pain of the families grieving lives lost, we stand with you and for you. We remember. So many questions still unanswered, but answer them someone must," Sangakkara tweeted.

On April 21, 2019, multiple blasts ripped through Sri Lanka when the Christian community was celebrating Easter Sunday.
The explosions rattled churches and high-end hotels across the country, killing 258 people and injuring over 500.

A local terror group called National Thowheeth Jama'ath had claimed responsibility for the devastating attacks.

The island nation was put under a state of emergency for a period of four months from April to August.

The Sri Lankan police had then said that 293 suspects were arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday bombings in the island country in April.

This year, most of the devotees would be offering the prayers from their homes as mass gatherings have been suspended in most countries due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ following his crucifixion on Good Friday. It also marks the culmination of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and penance.

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