Author: Soorya G

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is reportedly on top of the list to replace former Brazil boss Tite, who recently resigned after his side were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup in the quarterfinals The Selecao, billed as the favourites to win the World Cup, crashed out in the quarterfinals, losing on penalties to 2018 finalists Croatia. Tite, who had been head coach for six and a half years, resigned shortly after the game. Credit: Getty Images The Brazilian football federation intends to contact Guardiola in order to learn more about his future plans. CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues, who is in charge…

Defending champions France will take on surprise package Morocco in what will definitely be a very interesting semifinal encounter. Les Bleus have been fantastic in the competition thus far and have played what is very close to a perfect game thus far, barring one game against Tunisia in the group stages, where Didier Deschamps tested his bench strength after securing qualification in the first two games. Front men Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappe have been fantastic for France, scoring a total of nine goals between them, with Mbappe even registering two assists. Antoine Griezmann has also had an outstanding tournament, where he has been able to…

Portuguese coach Fernando Santos has said that he has absolutely no regrets with regard to his decision to bench legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo for the 2022 World Cup quarterfinal clash against Morocco.  The 2016 European champions lost the match 1-0 as Youssef En-Nesyri scored a towering header to give his side the decisive lead. Santos chose instead to start SL Benfica centre-forward Goncalo Ramos, who scored a splendid hat-trick in the previous game against Switzerland in addition to registering an assist. Credit: Getty Images Ramos could not have the same effect against Morocco, and as a result, Portugal crashed out of the tournament while Walid Regragui’s men marched into the semifinal,…

Coming off a tense victory against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, Argentina will face off against finalists from the previous edition, Croatia, who managed to edge Brazil in a dramatic encounter. Zlatko Dalic’s side did a fantastic job of fending off the mighty Brazilians for two long hours, primarily due to their midfield trio of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic. The Croatian midfield was able to impose themselves in the middle of the park and not allow the supply to the forwards. Their passing was immaculate as well, as they got out of some tricky situations with an intricate series of short passes. After…

To to improve in the bowling department, Bangladesh’s stand-in captain Litton Das believes his team should bowl more frequently on good batting surfaces. The side has recently generally played on rank turners and bouncy surfaces at home. On such fields, they have defeated the likes of Australia and New Zealand. They recently got the better of the Indians by winning both matches at the Sher-e Bangla Stadium in Dhaka, where batting proved difficult. They finished second by a long way in the third ODI at Chattogram on Saturday, with Ishan Kishan and Virat Kohli plundering runs to help India to 409/8 in 50 overs.…

Following Portugal’s loss to Morocco in the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals, star midfielder Bruno Fernandes has come out in criticism of referee Facundo Tello. Cristiano Ronaldo began the game from the bench for his side, with hat-trick hero Goncalo Ramos spearheading the attack. In the 42nd minute of the game, Youssef En-Nesyri gave the African side the lead. The Sevilla centre-forward towered over Ruben Dias and Diogo Costa inside the Portuguese penalty area, as he scored with a spectacular header. Ronaldo entered the game in the 51st minute as a substitute. But Morocco was not an option. Despite several players suffering from weariness and injuries, Walid Regragui’s team held on to…

Five-time champions Brazil, favourites heading into the World Cup in Qatar, were knocked out by a resilient Croatia in a staggering quarterfinal game, which went right down to the wire. The first ninety minutes of the game did not see too many goal-threatening chances from either side, except in the last ten minutes, when the Selecao desperately put numbers forward in search of a decisive goal. However, the 2018 runners-up were able to resist the Brazilian attacks, as the game headed into extra time. Towards the end of the first period of extra time, a magnificent piece of close control…

Gary Ballance, 33, has signed a two-year contract with Zimbabwe Cricket, which would see him play international cricket for his native land, five years after appearing in the last of his 23 Tests and 16 ODIs for England. The player was released from his contract with Yorkshire earlier this week on the condition that he not play for another English county in the 2023 season after asking a fresh start in his career following the humiliating disclosures that emerged during the club’s racism crisis last year. “I’m thrilled to be joining Zimbabwe Cricket and can’t wait to start work with some great…

The 2016 European champions are said to have reluctantly agreed to PSG’s request to send the duo back for rehab. After a ruthless 6-1 defeat of Switzerland in the round of 16 clash of the ongoing World Cup, the Portuguese will take on the Atlas Lions at the Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday for a spot in the semifinals. Prior to their quarterfinal matchup against Morocco, Portugal has been dealt a blow due to the injury of Pereira. Mendes, who was also sidelined last week due to an injury, has suffered the same fate as Pereira and will depart Portugal’s training camp…

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has launched a new attack on former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, arguing that the Portugal national team would be better off without the 37-year-old. Ronaldo, who was criticised heavily during his time at Manchester United, was defended by the Red Devils veteran, who even at one point called him ‘the best of all time’. However, Cristiano did not seem to take kindly to Neville’s words shortly before his exit, when he felt that leaving the club would be the best decision for all parties involved. Ronaldo launched an attack against the veteran right-back who was…