World Cup qualifier: Germany implodes to draw, Spain's winning run ends

October 17, 2012
olivier-giroud-blaise-matuidi


London, October 17: Spain's run of 24 consecutive qualifying wins was halted by France on Tuesday, while Germany spectacularly collapsed to let Sweden fight back from four goals down to draw 4-4 in the campaign to reach the 2014 World Cup.


It was also a frustrating night for Cristiano Ronaldo as his 100th Portugal appearance ended in a 1-1 draw with Northern Ireland.


England didn't even get a chance to play as a waterlogged pitch in Warsaw led to the match against Poland being postponed to Wednesday afternoon.


World and European champion Spain led through Sergio Ramos' header, but Cesc Fabregas had a penalty saved and Olivier Giroud clinched a 1-1 draw for France in the final attack.


Germany had been rampant against Sweden, storming 4-0 in front by the 55th minute, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic began Sweden's comeback seven minutes later and Rasmus Elm netted an unexpected equalizer in stoppage time.


Italy, though, beat Denmark 3-1 despite playing most of the second half with 10 men, while the Netherlands maintained its perfect qualifying start with a 4-1 victory over Romania.


In Madrid, Spain had looked like closing out a 25th consecutive win in qualifying stretching back to 2007.


But in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Juanfran Torres gave away possession in midfield. Franck Ribery then crossed to Giroud, who headed beyond goalkeeper Iker Casillas to cancel out Ramos' 25th-minute goal.


Spain is now only ahead of France on goal difference in Group I, with Belarus three points behind after beating Georgia 2-0.
In Berlin, Sweden coach Erik Hamren was celebrating an "historical" comeback that seemed implausible as Germany ripped through his team in the first half.


Miroslav Klose scored in the eighth and in the 15th minute, Per Mertesacker added another in the 39th and Mesut Oezil made it 4-0 in the 56th.


But Ibrahimovic, Mikael Lustig, and Johan Elmander scored in the second half, before Elm snatched the point with a goal two minutes into injury time.


Germany still leads Sweden by three points in Group C but its rival has played a game less.


"I don't know how to explain it," Germany coach Joachim Loew said. "Normally, we would not waste a four-goal lead. The problem seems to have been mental after 60 minutes. We became sloppy and lost our discipline."


In Bucharest, Jeremaine Lens headed the Netherlands in front in the ninth after goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu punched a ball to him, while Bruno Martins added a second from close range.


Ciprian Marica pulled one back for Romania after dribbling past three players, but Rafael van der Vaart netted from the penalty spot before half time and Robin van Persie added a late fourth.


The Dutch have a three-point lead in Group D over Romania and Hungary, which beat Turkey 3-1. Estonia claimed its first points by beating bottom-place Andorra 1-0.


In Milan, Mario Balotelli returned to the Italy side for the first time since Euro 2012 as he set up Riccardo Montolivo's opener and scored the third goal against Romania.


Denmark had threatened to make a comeback when William Kvist made it 2-1 in first-half stoppage time after Daniele De Rossi's second for Italy.


Italy forward Pablo Osvaldo was sent off 16 seconds into the second half for a reckless elbow into Denmark midfielder Nicolai Stokholm's face, but Balotelli made sure of the win that gave Italy a 4-point lead over Bulgaria in Group B.


Bulgaria was held to a 0-0 draw at the Czech Republic.


It's tight at the top of Group A, with Belgium only ahead of Croatia on goal difference.


Christian Benteke and Vincent Kompany scored twice in three minutes to give Belgium a 2-0 victory over Scotland, while Croatia beat Wales by the same score through goals from Mario Mandzukic and Eduardo.


In Group H, after the deluge in Warsaw forced Poland's game against England back a day, Montenegro joined the English on seven points at the top by winning 1-0 in Ukraine. Moldova beat San Marino 2-0.


Former England coach Fabio Capello's new team Russia made it four wins out of four in qualifying. Roman Shirokov's late penalty clinched a 1-0 victory over Azerbaijan to go five points clear of Israel in Group F.


Israel beat Luxembourg 3-0 to go ahead of Portugal on goal difference. It required a late equalizer by Helder Postiga for Portugal to cancel out Niall McGinn's first-half opener for Northern Ireland.


Switzerland remains three points in front of Norway at the top of Group E after second-half goals from Tranquillo Barnetta and Mario Gavranovic clinched a 2-0 win in Iceland. Norway won 3-1 in Cyprus, while Albania beat Slovenia 1-0.


The Group G lead is shared by Bosnia-Herzegovina, which beat Lithuania 3-0, and Greece, which won 1-0 in Slovakia.



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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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News Network
January 7,2020

Indore, Jan 7: With the first T20I being washed out, India and Sri Lanka will now hope that rain gods stay away from the Holkar Stadium when the two teams face each other in the second match of the ongoing three-game series on Tuesday.

Only toss could take place on Sunday at Guwahati`s Barsapara Cricket Ground before rain gods came in and left damp spots on the pitch thus forcing the game to be called off without a ball being bowled.

Hairdryers were used to dry the pitch after water seeped in through leaking covers at the Barsapara Stadium, a sight which is not usually seen in international cricket. And that hasn`t gone down well with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which now awaits chief curator Ashish Bhowmick`s report on the same.

The Men in Blue, who enjoyed a brief break, are coming into the series on the back of T20I series victories against Bangladesh and West Indies respectively and thus would be the more confident side out of the two.

Just like Guwahati, the team management and other Indian cricket fans would focus on comeback man Jasprit Bumrah who is making his return to international cricket. Bumrah has been out of action after India`s tour of the West Indies in July-August due to a stress fracture on his back and thus would be rearing to go and perform for the team.

Dhawan, like Bumrah, was not part of the West Indies series after he hurt his knee during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The left-handed opener was not at his absolute best in the T20I series against Bangladesh and faced criticism from several quarters.

While Bumrah will grab more eyeballs during the remaining two matches, the series is also important for left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan, making a comeback into the team post knee injury.

However, recently, he scored a century in the Ranji Trophy and showed glimpses of returning to form.

In the bowling department, the team management would be checking out how the likes Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur react to pressure situations in death overs alongside Bumrah in the absence of frontline speedsters Mohammed Shami Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Young-off spinner Washington Sundar would like to put up performances to ensure that he gets to be part of the squad travelling to Australia for the World T20 in October.

Shivam Dube would also like to perform better - both with bat and ball - till Hardik Pandya is fully fit and back in action.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant - like recent times - will once again be watched with careful eyes. Pant knows that he cannot take things lightly and need to perform as Sanju Samson as already warmed the benches for six straight T20Is.

For Sri Lanka, the remaining two matches of the series would be about giving match practice to the likes of Angelo Mathews who is returning to the national side having last played a T20I against South Africa in August 2018

In their last T20I series, Sri Lanka suffered a 0-3 rout in Australia as all their three departments failed to put in a commanding performance.

India and Sri Lanka have faced each other in 17 T20Is, out of which India have won 11 -- joint most for them against all opponents faced in shortest format.

With the three-match series now effectively turning into a two-game affair, both India and Sri Lanka would want to win in Indore to make sure they can`t lose the series. Also, Sri Lanka have never beaten India in a bilateral T20I series, a record which they would desperately like to change in the remaining two games.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson.

Sri Lanka: Lasith Malinga (c), Dhanushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya De Silva, Isuru Udana, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Oshada Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Kusal Mendis, Lakshan Sandakan, Kasun Rajitha.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Columbo, Jan 28: The Sri Lanka Cricket Board on Monday announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Women`s T20 World Cup, slated to commence from February 21. The board also announced five standby players for the ensuing tournament.

The squad members are -- Chamari Atapattu (captain), Harshitha Madavi (vice captain), Anushka Sanjeewani, Hansima Karunaratne, Shashikala Siriwardene, Nilakshi De Silva, Ama Kanchana, Kavisha Dilhari, Udeshika Probodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Hasini Perera, Sathya Sandeepani, Umesha Thimashini, Sugandika Kumari, Dilani Manodara.

The standby players are -- Sachini Nisansala, Prasadani Weerakkody, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Tharika Sewwandi, Inoka Ranaweera.

Sri Lanka will take on New Zealand in their opening encounter on February 22.

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