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SPORTS
IMPHAL WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2014
Indian Super League
Mary Kom hopes to be back
Elano misses a penalty as Chennai draw Pune at 1-1 in 2 months time from injury
PUNE, Nov 11
FC Pune City and Chennaiyin
FC played out a pulsating 1-1
draw at the Shree Shiv
Chhatrapati Sports Complex
Stadium, Pune on Tuesday
evening.
Kostas Katsouranis put the
home side into the lead which
was cancelled out by a John
Mendoza goal in the second
half which saw the two sides
share the spoils and thereby,
fail to capitalize on their game
in-hand to go top of the Indian Super League (ISL)
table. Pune City made one
change with Ivan Palacios
Bolado taking the place of the
injured John Goossens.
Chennaiyin were without
Bernard Mendy nor Jeje
Lalpekhlua, who was dropped
to the bench. They were replaced, and ably too, by
Bojan Djordjic and Balwant
Singh respectively.
The first chance fell in the
very first minute to the visitors as Djordjic’s long
hopeful ball was chased down
by the industrious Mendoza.
His smart cutback was met at
the near post by Balwant who
made Arindam keep the ball
out with a covering save.
Arindam was called into
action
again
in
the
fifth minute as he kept out a
low pile driver from Mendoza
on a Chennai counter.
Pune countered right back,
with a brilliant through ball to
Dudu Omagbeni who raced
clear of the Chennaiyin
defense, but was met by a
strong Bracigliano, who kept
the Nigerian at bay by charging out.
Chennaiyin were then dealt
a hammer blow as Israil
Gurung twisted Mikael
Silvestre on the right before
looping in a brilliant left
FC Pune City and Chennaiyin FC players in action
footed cross to an onrushing
Kostas Katsouranis, who
made no mistake volleying
brilliantly into the net to make
it 1-0 in the ninth minute.
A brilliant over the top ball
again took the Chennaiyin
defense by surprise as they
struggled to keep Dudu in
check. This time though, facing only the keeper, the
Nigerian honked it wide.
Arindam then made a
spectacular save, preventing
goal for certain as he kept out
a header from Balwant from a
brilliantly sent in Elano freekick.
A
moment
of
controversy erupted when the
visitors were handed a penalty as Davide Magliocchetti
was deemed to have fouled
Balwant in the box.
The Brazilian maestro fired
wide, handing Pune another
lifeline. Pune City then had
the post to thank, as lady luck
smiled on the home team,
denying Mendoza, whose
twisting and weaving run
smacked a low shot that beat
Arindam, but couldn’t beat
the post rebounding out into
play.
Chennaiyin FC were all
over FC Pune City and in the
28th minute, Bruno Cirillo
quite bluntly brought down
Mendoza in the ‘Elano Zone’.
The former Manchester City
midfielder was once again
unlucky however, as his
blooming free-kick hit the
underside of the cross bar and
gathered graciously by the
keeper. Gurung then missed
the chance of the match from
open play, as Dudu quite brilliantly charged down the left
before slapping in a low left
footed pass which found the
winger, who only had to tap
it in. However, Gurung
somehow managed to miss an
open goal, firing it wide.
Pune were taking advantage of some spectacular play
down the wings, as Palacios’
ball found Kostas who
spanked straight at keeper
Bracigliano. The rebound
however, fell to Davide
Colomba who unfortunately
hit it over and above with an
open net to aim for.
As the half drew to a close,
Dudu found room in the box
and after sending Silvestre the
wrong way, only to smack it
horribly wide. Mendoza then
was sent through on goal,
only for another splendid save
from Bhattacharya in goal.
The second half got
underway with Chennaiyin
building up the pressure
slowly, and a Mendoza shot
then nearly found the top
corner as he took aim from
range.
The home team were ultimately let down by school
boy defending. A long ball
from Elano wasn’t dealt with
aptly and after an array of
failed tackles by Dharmaraj
Ravanan and Cirillo. Balwant
passed to an unmarked and
free in front of goal, Mendoza
who smacked it past Arindam
this time finding the back of
the net, to level it on the night
in the 58th minute..
Dudu was guilty of missing what could have been a
golden chance for the home
team as he sprayed his shot
wide despite Bolado and
Gurung in the clear.
Kostas then volleyed over
as Chennaiyin were again
susceptible to the long ball
with Dudu up front for the
Orange and Purple. Elano and
Balwant combined brilliantly
to see the Brazilian go clear
on the left. He however,
opted to tee up Balwant and
in the process found the ball
blocked and heaved out by
the Pune defense in the 74th
minute.
In the 81st minute from
the counter, Gurung sprang
wide and fast down the wing
as a golden opportunity glistened in front of the home
team. He selfishly smacked it
straight at the keeper instead
of passing it to Dudu.
The score line remained the
same until the end as
Chennaiyin have 12 points
from seven matches but stay
second due to an inferior goal
difference as compared to
Atletico
de
Kolkata.
Meanwhile, FC Pune City
amassed 11 points from
seven games. –– Agencies
Christiano Ronaldo nearly sent to Barca by United
LONDON, Nov 11
Former Real Madrid president
Ramon Calderon has made a
major revelation during an
interview
with
Sky
Sports where he spoke
candidly about Cristiano
Ronaldo’s transfer to Real
Madrid in 2009.
Calderon, who was at the
helms of the club before current President Florentino
Perez succeeded him, revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo
was not wanted by Perez who
was close to breaking all the
negotiation because of the
hefty price of •94 million that
Manchester United were demanding. “When Florentino
became president and came to
the club, he wanted to break
[negotiations]. He thought it
was very expensive,” Calderon
said. “He knew he was a good
player but thought he wasn’t
worth that amount of money.
That was a problem he had at
the beginning with Cristiano,
who knew that.”
Manchester United didn’t
want to sell Ronaldo
Despite the price-tag, Manchester United and their
manager Sir Alex Ferguson
were not very keen on the idea
of selling their brightest asset
to Real Madrid
“It was a tough moment. In
the time that we were negotiating that contract I spoke to
[former Manchester United
chief executive] David Gill
about selling the player but he
said ‘no’,” he adds. “They said
‘we are not selling Cristiano,
we don’t want him to go’
which is normal. But the player
wanted to leave.”
“We were negotiating for
two years,” he continued.
“Ferguson is obsessed with
Real Madrid, he doesn’t like us
very much. He said ‘no,
Cristiano is going to leave but
not to Real Madrid.’”
Cristiano
Ronaldo
wanted Real Madrid and
nothing else
Calderon also spoke about
how persistent Ronaldo was
to join his dream club.
“He was going to come in
2008-09,” he said. “He phoned
me saying ‘president I am so
File: Christiano Ronaldo
sorry, but I can’t go this year,
I have a commitment with Sir
Alex Ferguson who is like my
father professionally. Don’t
worry I’ll go next year’. He
negotiated with Manchester
United to leave for •94 million.” Barcelona were also one
of the clubs who were being
offered the option to sign
Cristiano Ronaldo after
Fergusons unwillingness to let
Ronaldo join Real Madrid.
“They offered him to Barcelona among other clubs.
Barcelona said ‘okay, we are
prepared to pay what you are
asking’. The important thing
is that the player said ‘no, Real
Madrid or nothing’,” he
added. Ronaldo eventually
signed for Real Madrid, becoming the world’s most
expensive player in a deal
worth £80 million. (Agencies)
KOLKATA, Nov 11
Olympic medallist MC Mary
Kom on Tuesday said she
would take around two months
time to recover from the
hamstring injury, that has kept
her out of the Women’s World
Boxing Championship at Jeju,
South Korea, to be held from
November 13 to 25.
The injury has robbed
Mary Kom a chance to win
her sixth medal at the
event. ”I’m happy skipping
the meet as I’m not fully fit.
There’s no point going there
and return empty-handed. I
want to win a medal for the
country in whatever competition I take part,” the London
Games 2012 bronze medallist
told reporters on the sidelines
of a felicitation programme
here.
On her recovery, she said:
“I’m taking it slowly and
hopefully I would return in
two months time. My next
target is to qualify for Rio
Olympics in 2016.” Pinki
Rani has replaced the injured
Mary Kom, while Priyanka
Choudhary came in for the
suspended Sarita Dev in the
10-member Indian squad.
“Hopefully they would do
well and return with medals,”
Mary Kom said.
The Manipuri flyweight
boxer, who won a gold medal
at the recently concluded
Incheon Asian Games, further said she would become a
full time coach after hanging
her gloves.
“I’ve an academy but I’m
not able to devote full time.
However, I will give my 100
per cent and coach the
upcoming boxers after retirement,” she said. Mary Kom
File: Mary Kom
was felicitated along with
three other Asian Games
bronze medallists — Heena
Sidhu (25m air pistol), Dipika
Pallikal (squash), and H N
Girisha
(paralympic high
jumper) — by their sponsors,
Herbalife. –– PTI
'North East United supporters
are the best fans in the ISL'
Nort East United FC supporters pose for the camera
GUWAHATI, Nov 11
NorthEast United FC stand
unrivalled in their home support
and have the strongest fan base
amongst all 8 participating teams
of the Hero Indian Super League.
The home ground for NEUFC at
Indira Gandhi Stadium in
Guwahati sees a 100% sold out
ticket sale each home game that
the NEUFC has played. The
loyalty of the fans has picked up
momentum now that the league is
past third week mark.
The Book My Show staff
selling tickets for the matches
in Guwahati were recently
faced by a disappointed group
of fans and faced difficulty
explaining the unavailability of
tickets for the upcoming home
games.
The NEUFC also had a
huge support base each away
city they visited. The players
were humbled by the love they
felt each away game that they
played in the ISL. Beginning
with their first away game in
Mumbai, the team received a
pleasant surprise when almost
a hundred students from the
Kuki Students Organisations
excitedly awaited them at the
Mumbai airport with banners
and placards.
Their second away game in
Delhi saw the Jawaharlal
Nehru Stadium in New Delhi
roar with the chant “GO
UNITED” as the NorthEast
fans
rooted
for
their
team. Moreover when the team
landed in Pune for their third
away game more supporters
crowded the team bus outside
the airport to welcome them for
their next challenge followed
by their fans coming in large
numbers for their game against
Chennaiyin FC on 8th November, 2014 at the Jawaharlal
Nehru Stadium in Chennai.
When the NEUFC senior
management was approached
about what alternative arrangements were being made to
overcome the unavailability of
tickets they stated, “We sin-
cerely regret the inconvenience
caused to our loyal supporters
who have been unable to acquire tickets to the upcoming
home games.”
“We are very grateful to
their undying support to our
boys, home and away and this
has been one of our biggest
strengths during the Hero ISL.
Best efforts are being made to
increase fan engagement and
bring all our NorthEast supporters together for this
phenomenon. We are trying to
counter the disappointment of
fans by making arrangements
for meet and greet activations
with players.”
Armed by the best fan following in the league, the
NEUFC return to their home
stadium in Guwahati and they
look forward to playing for
their beloved supporters as the
Indira Gandhi Stadium has already maxed out on its
audience for their game on 15th
November against FC Pune
City. –– Agencies
Old haunt, new start for Tevez andArgentina
LONDON, Nov 11
Carlos Tevez will end
his three-year international
exile in the familiar
surroundings of Upton Park
when World Cup runners-up
Argentina tackle Croatia in a
friendly in London on
Wednesday.
Tevez has not played for
Argentina
since
their
quarterfinal defeat on penalties by Uruguay on home
soil at the 2011 Copa
America, when he was the
only player to miss a spotkick.
Frozen out by former
coach Alejandro Sabella,
who stood down after steering Argentina to second
place at the World Cup,
Tevez has been recalled by
Sabella’s successor, Gerardo
Martino.
By happy coincidence,
the 30-year-old stands to
make his international return
at the east London home of
West Ham United, the club
he rescued from Premier
League relegation in 2007.
Tevez spent only one season
at
Upton
Park,
but
he
is
fondly
remembered there after scoring a winning goal at
Manchester United on the
season’s final day that
spared West Ham from slipping into the second tier.
He subsequently joined
Manchester United, winning
two league titles and the
Champions League, before
going on to enjoy comparable success at Manchester
City and his current club,
Juventus.
However, Sabella’s belief that he and Lionel Messi
could not be successfully accommodated in the same
team meant that Tevez’s international career slipped
A fie photo of Argentina's Carlos Tevez celebrating a goal
into limbo.
The squat, bustling
striker with the distinctive
neck scar demonstrated his
ability with a brace in
Juventus’s 7-0 rout of
Parma on Sunday, including
a thrilling solo goal that saw
him run from inside his own
half.
But with Messi having
developed a fruitful understanding with Gonzalo
Higuain and Sergio Aguero
during Tevez’s long absence, Martino has warned
that he may have to wait for
opportunities to add to his
64 caps and 13 international
goals.
“It’s a fact that Lionel
plays very well with
Higuain and Kun (Aguero),
and we forget that he
played with Tevez in a
previous
time,”
said
the
former
Barcelona
coach, whose team face
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in another friendly
game in Manchester next
week.
“I can’t guarantee he
will be in the 11 or on the
bench, but it will happen in
some moment of the games
that both (Messi and Tevez)
can be together on the
pitch.”
With World Cup defenders Marcos Rojo, Ezequiel
Garay
and
Federico
Fernandez all unavailable
due to injury, Martino
has added Sunderland’s
Santiago
Vergini
and
uncapped Sporting Lisbon
defender Jonathan Silva to
his squad.
Argentina have played
three
friendlies
since
their 1-0 extra-time loss
to Germany in the World
Cup final, gaining a
measure of revenge against
Joachim
Loew’s
side
with a 4-2 win in
Duesseldorf in September
before losing 2-0 to
Brazil
in
Beijing
and crushing Hong Kong
7-0.
Croatia failed to make it
past the group phase in Brazil, but they have hit the
ground running in qualifying for Euro 2016, winning
their first four games against
Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria and
Azerbaijan without conceding a goal.
They lead Italy on goal
difference at the top of
Group H and with a meeting
against Antonio Conte’s
side to follow in Milan on
Sunday, coach Niko Kovac
will field a second-string
team against Argentina.
First-team stars such as
Real Madrid’s Luka Modric
and Barcelona midfielder
Ivan Rakitic have been left
behind in Zagbreb, but
Kovac says his team will
not prove mere cannon fodder for Messi and co.
“I am not scared of anybody, so no, I am not
scared,” he said, in comments reported by the
Croatia Week website.
“Argentina represents a
challenge for our players, to
see who can cope with that
kind of opponent. If there is
not enough motivation in
them, they are in the wrong
business.”
–– AFP
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