David Beckham shows mettle as PSG beat Marseille 2-0 in French Cup

February 28, 2013

David_Beckham

Paris, Feb 28: David Beckham showed his aging legs can still last the pace and Zlatan Ibrahimovic continued his prolific scoring as the two stars helped Paris Saint-Germain beat bitter rival Marseille 2-0 to reach the French Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Beckham had played a 15-minute cameo from the bench in last Sunday's 2-0 win against Marseille in the league, helping to set up the second goal for Ibrahimovic. The 37-year-old former England captain stood up to the test of a frenzied Cup game which saw him yellow-carded late on, shortly before going off in the 86th minute.

"I am very happy to last 86 minutes. I enjoyed it," Beckham said. "I felt good. I have been working hard for the last few weeks. It helps to have players around me who work the way they do and play the way they do."

Positioned just in front of the back four, Beckham kept PSG's midfield ticking over with some neat passing.

"He had a solid game and he showed he could last," PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "There are a lot of things he can show us — his experience, his passing, his aggression. I don't think he played like a 37-year-old tonight."

Ibrahimovic, meanwhile, appeared in little mood to share the spotlight, as he took his season's tally to 26 goals in all competitions, grabbing his first in the 34th minute before earning and converting a penalty in the 64th.

His goals came hours after UEFA announced a two-match ban for the Swedish forward, who will miss PSG's next Champions League match in the last 16 and also stands to miss the first leg of the quarterfinals if the team advances. The club will appeal against the sanction.

Beckham almost set up a second goal with a corner from the left in the 62nd but center half Zoumana Camara's header was cleared off the line. He was then involved in a standoff with Marseille forward

Jordan Ayew as Ayew squared up to him twice. After the first incident, Ayew was keen to continue the argument and they briefly leant their heads into each other before the referee intervened.

"It was spiky the whole game. It was like that at the weekend and it will be like that every PSG-Marseille game," Beckham said. "You always miss occasions like this. I had certain occasions like this in the U.S. Games like tonight are enjoyable," he said on Wednesday.

Beckham was booked and was taken off Ancelotti to chants of "Dav-eed Beckham, Dav-eed Beckham," at Parc des Princes.

"We didn't need to wait until tonight to know that he is a quality passer and that he is dangerous from free kicks," Marseille coach Elie Baup said.

Beckham sat very deep, just in front of the defense with Blaise Matuidi and Clement Chantome either side of him, and occasionally pushing up.

His clever pass released Gregory van der Wiel down the right in the 12th minute and his low cross reached Jeremy Menez, who shot straight at goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.

Beckham drew an 'Ole' from the Parc des Princes crowd and chants of "Beckham, Beckham" rang out after he showed superb skill to loft the ball over a Marseille player's head.

Marseille launched its first serious attack in the 28th when striker Andre-Pierre Gignac was sent scampering free down the right and his cross was intercepted by 'keeper Nicolas Douchez.

PSG broke up the other end and Ibrahimovic forced Mandanda into a low save, but the imposing Swede did not have long to wait to score.

Although Beckham is famed for his long passes, it was Chantome who picked out Ibrahimovic with a superb 40 meter pass and he shrugged off a challenge before planting the ball under Mandanda. Ibrahimovic has scored five goals in three games against Marseille this season — including three in the league.

Moments after the goal, players from both sides started pushing and shoving after midfielder Alaixys Romao clattered into Beckham, although he did not react to the challenge and even stepped in as a peacemaker as firecrackers were let off in an electric atmosphere.

Beckham was late trying to make a couple of tackles, his legs struggling to keep up with sprightly winger Mathieu Valbuena as he twice turned past him. By the 70th, he started to tire and placed his hands on his hips as he took a breather.

There was still time for a clash with Ayew, and even hothead midfielder Joey Barton briefly got involved as he appeared to reproach Beckham's involvement in the tussle, which led to staff members from both teams rushing off the bench to briefly join in as tempers frayed.

"I got an elbow from Joey. He explained it just after," Beckham said. "Joey does well for them and is a talented player. Good luck to him."

Earlier, UEFA said its disciplinary panel extended an automatic one-match sanction for Ibrahimovic's challenge on Valencia midfielder Andres Guardado in stoppage-time of a last-16, first-leg match earlier this month. The ban would rule the influential forward out of the quarterfinals, first leg if PSG advances.

Speaking after his team's win, Ancelotti said: "To get a two-match ban is incredible and I hope UEFA go back on their decision. I really hope they will reverse it because to get two games is incredible. Yes, we will appeal."

In other matches, Lorient, Bordeaux and Nancy advanced.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

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February 5,2020

Aukland, Feb 5: Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women's hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand in the last game of its five-match tour here on Wednesday.

Navneet found the net in the 45th and 58th minutes, while Sharmila scored a field goal in the 54th minute as India drew curtains on the New Zealand tour on a bright note.

After a goalless opening two quarters, Navneet finally broke the deadlock for India in the 45th minute.

Sharmila then doubled the lead when she struck a powerful shot past the New Zealand goalkeeper in the 54th minute. Navneet found the net again just two minutes from the final hooter with a beautiful field strike.

India began the tour by thrashing New Zealand Development squad 4-0 before suffering close 1-2 and 0-1 defeats to the home senior team.

In penultimate game of the tour, skipper Rani's lone strike handed India a 1-0 win over Great Britain.

"...I am happy we produced three goals against New Zealand in the last match. This tour gave us a good insight about where we need to improve and one of the things is to create faster play than we do now," said India's chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Commenting on his side's performance during the tour, Marijne said, "Sometimes we tend to keep the ball too long on the stick and then we create pressure. We need to avoid that by passing faster.

"On the defence side, we need to be a bit more calmer and need to improve our tackling. We will have a four week camp after a short break when we return home and we will be working on these points."

The Indian team will return home on February 7.

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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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