Tag Futebol

Despite some splendid bowling by former Indian off spinner AashishKapoor, Tamil Nadu were badly placed at stumps on the third day oftheir Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Baroda at the Gujarat StateFertilizer Corporation ground in Baroda on

Staff Reporter24-Mar-2001Despite some splendid bowling by former Indian off spinner AashishKapoor, Tamil Nadu were badly placed at stumps on the third day oftheir Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Baroda at the Gujarat StateFertilizer Corporation ground in Baroda on Saturday. After conceding afirst innings lead of 139, Tamil Nadu did well to dismiss Baroda for184 in their second innings thanks in the main to Kapoor who finishedwith seven for 59 off 23 overs. However, requiring 324 for a win,Tamil Nadu at stumps were facing defeat having made but 50 for threewickets.An action packed day started with Tamil Nadu medium pacers Mahesh andShrinivas dismissing Satyajit Parab (0) and Himanshu Jadhav (2).Opener Connor Williams, who was in an aggressive mood, was finallystumped by Reuben Paul off Kapoor for 47. Williams faced 70 balls andhit nine of the to the ropes. Kapoor then took wickets at regularintervals and Baroda at one stage were 90 for seven. However Indianstumper Nayan Mongia held firm and he and Rakesh Patel (39) shared avital stand of 66 runs for the eighth wicket which came off 15 overs.Patel was finally caught by Vidyut off Kapoor after facing 55 ballsand hitting five fours and a six. The end of the innings came shortlyafterwards but Mongia remained unbeaten with a fighting 61. He faced97 balls and hit six fours and a six.Tamil Nadu started their tough task on a wrong footing with SBadrinath falling leg before to Patel off the first ball of theinnings. Skipper Sridharan Sriram (25) and Hemanth Kumar (18 not out)added 35 careful runs off 17.3 overs but then Ajit Bhoite struck twoblows in quick succession to have the visitors reeling. First, he hadSriram caught by Patel and then he had prolific run getter Sharathcaught by Mongia for one. Hemanth Kumar and T Kumaran (3) played outthe remaining overs till stumps but Tamil Nadu, still needing 274 runsfor victory with seven wickets intact, face a herculean task tomorrow.

Some Norwich City supporters have been reacting to the news that Emiliano Buendia will join Aston Villa in a big-money move.

The Canaries cruised to Championship tile glory last season, booking their place back in the Premier League at the first time of asking. Daniel Farke’s side will now aim to go one better than their last effort in the top flight, when they finished rock bottom on 21 points a couple of seasons ago, perhaps replicating Leeds United’s efforts and even pushing for a mid-table finish.

Norwich are going to have to do it without Buendia, however, and he has been a hugely influential presence at Carrow Road, scoring 24 goals and registering 42 assists in 121 appearances.

On Monday, it was confirmed that Villa have reached an agreement to sign the 24-year-old in a deal thought to be worth £33m. It is unquestionably bad news for Norwich, given Buendia’s influence for the Canaries, although they will at least now have plenty of funds for summer transfer business.

Norwich fans react to Buendia exit

Alas, these Canaries fans on Twitter didn’t see it that way, with some predicting a troubled 2021/22 season without the Argentine maestro and another saying that the news has already “ruined” their week.

“Ruined my weekend and now ruined the start of my week, cheers Norwich”

Credit: @Alex_Philpott

“This hurts. Good luck @EM10Buendia”

Credit: @Luke_Mannion

“We are actually finished if we don’t get his replacement in”

Credit: @ncfcjoee

“There may be trouble and dissent ahead…”

Credit: @Beerlightweight

“Best player we’ve ever seen in a Norwich shirt. Heartbreaking to see him go”

Credit: @nathandinho_

“And that’s us favourites to head back down to the Championship”

Credit: @andrewgwilt089

In other news, a pundit believes a current ‘big six’ player would be a good fit for Norwich this summer. Find out who it is here.

Who will pay for washing the Indian cricketers’ linen

29-May-2001Who will pay for washing the Indian cricketers’ linen?An SOS on this issue has gone all the way from Mutare to Chennai.The laundry bills are a source of bother for the Indian cricketers whohave just begun a 45-day tour of Zimbabwe.Some of the players have made millions from the game but their dailyallowance on this tour is 32 dollars (approx 2,000 Zimbabweandollars). Laundering one set of clothes will cost about one-sixth ofthat allowance, leaving very little for food and other expenses.When the Zimbabwean team toured India last winter, the Indian CricketBoard provided for free laundry of six clothes a day for them.Now the Indian cricketers, who have yet to receive any payment fromtheir Board on this tour, want the Zimbabweans to reciprocate.The tour management has now sent a letter to Board President ACMuthiah requesting him to take up the matter with the Zimbabwe CricketUnion.After all, the team wants to turn out smartly. The ball is now in theBoard’s court.The popular team is flooded with invitations to dinners, felicitationsand shop openings from the local Indians in Zimbabwe. That distractsfrom their basic mission of preparing for the series but they wouldn’twant to disappoint the local fans.So, in a compromise of sorts, the team has decided to selectivelyaccept such invitations without the players turning up en masse.”We have made a decision before we embarked on this tour,” said vicecaptain Rahul Dravid. “The visit to these functions is optional andnot everyone has to turn up and show his face. It is important for usto satisfy the desire of a billion back home rather than cater to thedesire of a hundred on an overseas tour,” he said.”We understand their feelings but we have the job of winning in frontof us and we want to be well-prepared for every match,” Dravid said.Sure enough, there was a function by the Indian community here onMonday evening and very few from the team attended it. Coach JohnWright, captain Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar were among thosewho preferred to stay in their hotel rooms and mentally prepare forthe next day’s play.Despite a big hundred earlier in the day and niggling pain in hisright thigh muscle, Dravid did make it to the function to cheer up theexpatriates who had come in from as far as Harare and other parts ofZimbabwe.”You would notice it on this tour – we will keep (attending) suchfunctions to the minimum,” Dravid said.After all, the team has the job of reversing the trend of not winninga series abroad in the last 15 years. In its seven decades of Testcricket history, India has won only five series abroad – two rubbersin England, one each in West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. It hasyet to win a series in South Africa, Australia and Pakistan.Zimbabwe presents an excellent opportunity to reverse the currenttrend and there is little doubt the team wants to do it badly.The Indian Cricket Board, it seems, is finding it difficult to keeppace with the new-found professionalism of its cricketers and thepresent squad must be the cleanest to have left the Indian shores inthe last decade – if not on laundry then at least on the match-fixingaccount.Board secretary Jaywant Lele visited Zimbabwe earlier this month toinspect facilities, wickets and thrash out small details with ZCU.If he, or the Board he was representing, had taken care to discuss itwith the cricketers before finalising things, Lele would have heard aresounding no on the hosts’ plan to have 105 overs a day for the twofirst-class games preceding the first Test.This was an experiment which the South Africans had carried outagainst the Indians during the tour of 1997 and it had been roundlydisapproved.The Indian cricketers were again unhappy at the extra hour they weremade to play against Zimbabwe A here yesterday. The odd thing is,whatever overs are short for the day will be added to the next day.

أكد جمال حمزة لاعب الزمالك السابق، أن الفريق الحالي يمتلك المقومات التي تؤهله إلى حصد بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا، والحفاظ على لقب الدوري المصري لثلاثة سنوات قادمة.

وقال جمال حمزة خلال مداخلة ببرنامج “وان تو” عبر إذاعة “أون سبورت إف إم”: “الزمالك تغير ورغبته في الفوز منذ مباراة فيوتشر أصبحت واضحة، الروح كانت غائبة في الفترة الماضية، ولكن مع قدوم فيريرا وشعور اللاعبين بأن مجلس الإدارة يفعل كل شيء متاح، فلم يعد أمامهم سوى التركيز في الملعب، اللاعبون يشعرون هذه الفترة بأهميتها وأهمية المباريات المتلاحقة سواء في الدوري أو دوري أبطال إفريقيا”.

وتابع: “في مباراة الزمالك والجونة أمس هناك قرارات تحكيمية لا أريد التعليق عليها، ولكن هناك أمور لا أفهمها، بعض الكرات يتم احتسابها في مباريات ومباريات أخرى لا، وهناك بعض الألعاب تقنية الفار تتأخر في حسمها وأخرى لا تستغرق 10 ثواني”.

طالع أيضا.. طارق السيد: من يرحل عن الزمالك “خاسر”.. وأتمنى ضم رمضان صبحي

وأتم: “لاعبو الزمالك يمتلكون امكانيات كبيرة، وحرام ألا يحصلوا على بطولة إفريقيا، والحفاظ على لقب الدوري لثلاثة سنوات قادمة، عليهم فقط تنفيذ تعليمات فيريرا، هو مدرب كبير بالتأكيد وإدارة النادي نجحت في التعاقد معه، رغم أنه لم يتوقع أحد عودته مرة أخرى”.

ويستعد الزمالك لمواجهة نظيره الوداد المغربي، يوم الجمعة المُقبل، الموافق 11 من مارس الجاري، على أرضية ملعب استاد القاهرة، ضمن منافسات بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

Former Tottenham Hotspur star Graham Roberts has told Football FanCast that Scott Parker is not yet ready to manage the club as they continue their search for Jose Mourinho’s replacement.

Chairman Daniel Levy is attempting to appoint a new manager after sacking Jose Mourinho last month.

The Portuguese was let go after the club fell to seventh in the Premier League.

They were also eliminated from the Europa League in humiliating fashion after a 3-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia.

Ryan Mason is in interim charge of the team, but reports suggest that there are a number of managers being considered for the role, including Brendan Rodgers and Gareth Southgate.

Julian Nagelsmann, who had been touted as the frontrunner, is set to join Bayern Munich, leaving Spurs at square one.

Parker has been suggested as the next appointment by ex-defender Michael Dawson after impressing at Fulham, even though the club are in serious danger of being relegated straight back to the Championship as things stand.

Roberts was asked if Parker was ready, or if the job was too early for him, and he believes that the ex-Spurs and West Ham United midfielder should stay where he is for the foreseeable future.

Speaking to FFC, he said: “I think he will do well to stay at Fulham and learn his trade even more and bring them back up again.

“I think early in the season, they were getting beat week in, week out. But I think he’s learned as he’s gone on. He’s done a brilliant job there but I do think it’s another level, Tottenham is one, two, or three levels higher, there is a lot more pressure on winning every week and entertaining but he’s done a great job at Fulham.

“For me, I think it’ll be two or three years too early.”

Ralph Hasenhuttl has shared his anger with Moussa Djenepo and Kyle Walker-Peters after Southampton’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham.

Hasenhuttl livid at Saints duo

The Saints were on the losing end of the result against Spurs on Wednesday despite taking the lead through Danny Ings in the first half. £11.7m-valued Djenepo (Transfermarkt) and £16.2m-valued Walker-Peters were both heavily involved for the two Spurs goals for all the wrong reasons.

Speaking after the match, Hasenhuttl shared his anger. He said (via Hampshire Live):

“The way we give games away, it is hard to understand to be honest.

“We are looking for ways to stop it but it is always the problem

“We stop pressing high, we stop winning the ball, we stop playing hard football, then we come under pressure and we make mistakes at the moment.

“We are unlucky but the final clearance of the ball is not there.

“It is an absolute disaster how we gave this away.

“With the second goal, Kyle can clear the ball and then Moussa makes a stupid tackle.

“I am not sure it was a penalty. He didn’t really touch him but yes, okay. They decided it was a foul. This is how it is.”

Mistakes regularly costing Saints

Once again, mistakes are costing Southampton points on a regular basis. To be 1-0 up and fail to even get a draw from the game is quite simply not good enough for the St. Mary’s Stadium outfit. It now means the Saints have won just two of their last 15 Premier League matches (Sky Sports), a truly abysmal record.

With a nine-point cushion over 18th place in the table with just six games left to play, Southampton should be safe this year in the top flight. However, given they started relatively well, this season has not been good enough and they could find themselves in a genuine fight for survival next term if this form continues.

Hasenhuttl is now under real pressure and, if he wants to keep his job on the south coast, he must help eradicate these ‘stupid’ mistakes as soon as possible.

In other news, Southampton eye this Serie A midfielder.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Everton striker Marcus Bent has warned defender Michael Keane that his mistakes could cost him his place in Carlo Ancelotti’s Toffees side.

The England centre-back has started all-but three games in the Premier League, but has been guilty of making some costly errors in recent weeks.

£65,000-a-week man Keane was caught out of position for Michy Batshuayi’s late equaliser during the draw with Crystal Palace earlier this month, which cost his side two points, although worse was yet to come in the draw with Tottenham.

His early misplaced header allowed Harry Kane to put Spurs ahead before Keane was involved in a mix-up with Mason Holgate which saw the England captain hammer home and rescue a point.

Keane has performed consistently under Carlo Ancelotti, epitomised by the fact he’s played more minutes than any other Everton player in the Premier League, but Bent told Football FanCast his place could come under threat.

“You’ve got Holgate, Mina and Godfrey. He’s good enough, but if he keeps making mistakes and isn’t consistent then those players will come in and take his place.

“We’ve got a good squad of young players and experienced, too.”

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has tipped Jack Grealish to go on and become one of the greatest Premier League players of all time.

Grealish has been in stunning form this season, helping fire Villa into European contention.

In 22 Premier League appearances, the 25-year-old attacking midfielder has scored six goals and provided 10 assists, firmly establishing himself as the team’s chief playmaker.

He has certainly kicked on from the last campaign, where he also posted some pretty decent numbers, and Hendrie is now backing him to reach the summit of English football in the future.

In an exclusive interview with FFC, the ex-Villa player said:

“I’ve spoken to Jack many times, you know, quite pally with him and good friends with his dad as well. I haven’t spoken to him quite recently, but I often enough send him a message, compliment him on how he’s played and things like that. Yeah, there’s always been that comparison and likeness with me and Jack.”

Discussing Grealish further, Hendrie went on to say:

“I’ve had conversations with Jack, that he could go on and be the next best thing. It’s all down to him, and I feel that he believes that himself as well. I just think he’s at a stage now where, you know, lots of clubs are talking about him, the international scene, and I just feel that he is an immense talent that certainly can go on and be one of the best Premier League players of all time, I really do.

“He’s got that individual brilliance that not many have. I’ve always said to Jack, ‘you just keep doing that sort of thing’.”

Next up for Villa in the Premier League is a clash against relegation candidates Fulham, a fixture manager Dean Smith will be hoping to have Grealish back for following his recent absence. The England international has missed his side’s last six games due to injury, and his return will undoubtedly come as a huge boost to the team.

In a recent interview, former defender Alan Hutton has backed Glasgow Rangers to land Joseph Okumu this summer.

So far this season, Okumu has highly impressed over his 24 Allsvenskan appearances for IF Elfsborg, with the centre-back helping his side keep six clean sheets, as well as making an average of 2.7 interceptions, 1.3 tackles and 4.7 clearances per game, culminating in an average SofaScore match rating of 7.20 – ranking him as the club’s third-best performer in the Swedish top flight.

And, according to Football Insider, Steven Gerrard’s side have made an approach to sign the £1.08 million-rated 23-year-old this summer, something which Hutton, in a recent interview with the same website, threw his backing behind, suggesting that Okumu could be the latest gem that the Gers scouting team have unearthed.

He said: “You could go through the Rangers team and list off the gems. You would say the scouting team is working. We all believe in it. They’ve done enough over the previous years for us to trust in them. If they’ve been scouting a player, they haven’t just done it like, ‘We’ll just go and watch that player for a couple of days.’

“They’ve been meticulous in everything that they do; watching games, watching footage, what kind of character he is. I think they like to go into depth with all the players and all the signings. Therefore, I would 100 per cent put my trust in them.”

Transfer Tavern Take

With Filip Helander being linked with an exit from Ibrox this summer, as both Leicester City and Aston Villa thought to be keen on the Gers defender, it would appear a very real possibility that Gerrard will have to replace the Swede in the upcoming transfer window.

And, judging from his displays for Elfsborg so far this season, it would certainly appear as if the 6 foot 3 Okumu is a prime candidate to do so, and, if Rangers do manage to get a deal over the line for the 23-year-old, perhaps he could be the latest gem the Gers scouting team have unearthed, as Hutton suggests.

In other news: this ‘superb’ £6.2k-p/w star lifted the lid on talks with the Rangers hierarchy – find out more here!

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur recently had a bid rejected for AS Roma centre-back Roger Ibanez.

The report by Voce Giallorossa (via Sport Witness) claims that Ilario Di Giovambattista revealed both Tottenham and Leicester City made recent offers of €30m (£25.7m) for Ibanez, who just signed a permanent deal with Roma having initially been on loan from fellow Italian outfit Atalanta.

According to Di Giovambattista, both Jose Mourinho and Brendan Rodgers have been tracking the £18m-rated centre-back for some time and will continue to do so despite the 22-year-old officially becoming a Roma player in recent weeks.

Transfer Tavern Take

Considering that Ibanez has impressed over his 22 Serie A appearances for Paulo Fonseca’s side this season, with the defender’s average WhoScored match rating of 6.92 ranking him as the club’s sixth-best performer in the Italian top flight, the claim that Spurs have been keeping tabs on the Brazilian is not overly surprising, considering Mourinho’s desire to sign a new centre-back last summer.

However, it is more difficult to believe that the club would have offered a large sum of money for Ibanez in the January transfer window, as the Tottenham manager himself stated the club would not likely be doing any business in the winter market.

Indeed, Sport Witness suggested that Di Giovambattista’s claims could well be an attempt to make Roma’s business appear in a better light with the club’s supporters, which seems a much more plausible scenario.

In other news: Tottenham are also monitoring this attacker, find out more here.