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

October 17, 2012
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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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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
June 29,2020

Jun 29: The West Indies cricketers will sport a 'Black Lives Matter' logo on the collars of their shirts during the upcoming three-Test series against England to protest against racism in sports.

Skipper Jason Holder, who has voiced his support to the cause that has once again come to the forefront after the killing of American George Floyd, said in a statement on Sunday: "We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness."

The ICC-approved logo, designed by Alisha Hosannah, will be the one which featured in the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport's resumption earlier this month.

"This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team," Holder was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. "As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for a generation to come."

Holder, who wants racism to be treated at par with doping and corruption, said they arrived at the decision to wear the logo after much thought.

"We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop," he said.

"We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background."

The West Indies players are likely to wear the shirts for the first time in this week's four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Monday.

The opening Test of the series, which will mark the resumption of international cricket after the coronavirus-forced hiatus, will get underway at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on July 8.

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were buried in a private funeral service in Southern California last week, multiple outlets reported late Tuesday.

Citing Kobe Bryant's death certificate, Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV reported the remains of the former Lakers star and his daughter were transferred to Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary in Corona del Mar. Kobe and Brianna were laid to rest in a private ceremony there last Friday.

According to KTTV, the death certificate cited Kobe's cause of death as "blunt trauma" sustained in a "commercial helicopter crash." It also said his death was "rapid."

Corona del Mar is a community within Newport Beach, where the Bryant family lives.

Kobe, 41, and Gianna, 13, were among nine people killed when the helicopter they were in crashed on a hillside in Calabasas, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles, on Jan. 26. Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, 56; his wife, Keri; and their daughter Alyssa, 14 -- who played on the same club basketball team as Gianna Bryant -- also were killed. Christina Mauser, a 38-year-old who was the top assistant coach of the Mamba girls basketball team, was also killed in the accident, as were Sarah Chester, 45; her daughter Payton Chester, 13; and pilot Ara Zobayan, 50.

A public memorial service for the Bryants will be held Feb. 24 at Staples Center, beginning at 10 a.m. PT.

While the date -- 2/24 -- conveniently falls between two Lakers' home games, it still could have been chosen symbolically. Gianna -- one Kobe and Vanessa' four daughters -- wore No. 2 on her basketball jersey while Kobe was No. 24 for part of his 20-year-tenure with the Lakers, and his retired jerseys -- he also wore No. 8 -- hang at Staples Center.

The Los Angeles Times reported that "entry is expected to be severely restricted" at the venue despite Staples Center's capacity of about 20,000.

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