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  • Lionel Messi determined to win football’s greatest prize as Argentina reaches the World Cup final

    Lionel Messi determined to win football’s greatest prize as Argentina reaches the World Cup final

    Lionel Messi’s lifelong dream of leading Argentina to World Cup will remain alive until the last day of Qatar 2022, as the South American powerhouse outclassed a weary-looking Croatia in a 3-0 victory in Tuesday’s semifinal.

    Argentina has made its eighth appearance in a World Cup semifinal (defeating the USA in 1930, Belgium in 1986, Italy in 1990, and the Netherlands in 2014). It has additionally made the final six times. The last time Argentina won the World Cup was in 1986.

    According to CNN, Argentina and Croatia both played conservatively at the beginning of the game in an effort to avoid making a mistake. But after a half-hour, Argentina took charge and never looked back.

    When Julián Álvarez and Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livaković faced off in the 32nd minute, Livaković knocked Álvarez down, earning a penalty kick. Then Lionel Messi, a star for Argentina, took the initiative and did what he seemingly usually does. He struck the ball high and to the right with calm and composure, giving his team a 1-0 lead.

    Álvarez had not finished. He led a counterattack in the 39th minute and dribbled all the way from midfield, racing through three Croatian defenders before lofting the ball past Livakovi to put Argentina ahead 2-0 at the break.

    In goal, Livaković excelled during the competition. However, a relentless Argentina onslaught and a few defensive mistakes by Croatia proved to be too much.

    Against Croatia, Messi and Álvarez had one more brilliant moment as a team. Messi displayed incredible ball control in the 69th minute against Croatian goalkeeper Joko Gvardiol on the right side of the net. Then Messi connected with Álvarez, who scored to make it 3-0. Only two of Croatia’s twelve shots on goal were successful.

    Only one of their previous 41 international games had Argentina lost, coming into this encounter (28 wins, 12 draws). Croatia, who finished second in the 2018 tournament, had only dropped one of their previous 12 World Cup games.

    Messi moved slightly ahead of Kylian Mbappé of France (five goals and two assists) for the lead in the Golden Boot competition with his fifth goal of the tournament (and third assist). In the championship game, Messi plans to smash another record. In terms of overall FIFA appearances, he now has 25 World Cup games under his belt and is tied with Lothar Matthäus.

    On Sunday, Argentina will take on the winner of the semifinal match between France and Morocco on Wednesday. The World Cup competition for Croatia is still ongoing. It will compete against the loser of tomorrow’s semifinal in the third-place game on Saturday.

  • England beat Pakistan by 26 runs to win second Test

    England beat Pakistan by 26 runs to win second Test

    On their first tour since 2005, England defeated Pakistan in the Test series, winning the second Test match in Multan by a score of 26 runs. Since winning a Test series in Pakistan in 2000, England hadn’t won a Test series in the country in 22 years.

    This marks the third Test series victory for England against Pakistan.

    The England team led by Nasser Hussain defeated Pakistan 1-0 over the course of a three-match series in 2000. Pakistan eventually defeated England 2-0 in the subsequent Test series there in 2005.

    Since then, Pakistan has played its home games in the United Arab Emirates, where they have never lost to England in two Test tours in 2012 and 2015.

    Pakistan lost the first two games of the three-match series because they had no response against a powerful English team. Despite a valiant effort on the part of Saud Shakeel, Imam-ul-Haq, and Mohammad Nawaz, the Men in Green were unable to successfully chase down a target of 355 runs during the Multan Test.

    As they held Pakistan to 328 in the last innings of the second Test, English bowlers struck frequently. When the two teams square off in the final Test match at Karachi on December 17, the Three Lions will be looking to sweep the series.

  • Ronaldo a ‘gift from god’, Virat Kohli expresses love after football legend leaves in tears

    Ronaldo a ‘gift from god’, Virat Kohli expresses love after football legend leaves in tears

    Former India Cricket team captain Virat Kohli has come out in support of star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo after his Portugal side exited the ongoing FIFA World Cup on Saturday.

    Ronaldo is now more likely to complete his career without a World Cup trophy as a result of Portugal’s elimination from the competition. The popular Portuguese player, who is now 37, was seen crying on Saturday and was warmly embraced by the crowd.

    “No trophy or any title can take anything away from what you’ve done in this sport and for sports fans around the world. No title can explain the impact you’ve had on people and what I and so many around the world feel when we watch you play. That’s a gift from god. A real blessing to a man who plays his heart out every single time and is the epitome of hard work and dedication and a true inspiration for any sportsperson. You are for me the greatest of all time,” Virat posted on Twitter on Monday.

    According to India Times, Ronaldo’s elimination from the competition means that he will likely miss out on winning the World Cup because the following time it is held in the USA, in 2026, he would be 41. The five-time Champions League champion was a substitute in all of his team’s knockout stage games as Fernando Santos decided against starting him.

    While the great player has been struggling with his form, Virat has thrived in his position. On Saturday against Bangladesh, he was seen enjoying his 72nd ODI century. Virat moved up to second place in the list of players with the most hundreds at the international level with the tonne, passing Ricky Ponting, who had 71 hundred to his credit.

    Similar to Ronaldo, the former captain of India might play in his final World Cup in the ODI format the following year as India gets ready for the major tournament. Contrary to Ronaldo, Virat did win the World Cup in 2011 when India defeated Sri Lanka in the championship game.

    Lionel Messi is quietly going about his job as his Argentina team, who is in the final four and will play Croatia on Tuesday night, while all eyes are on Cristiano Ronaldo’s disappointment. Harry Kane, a close friend of Virat’s and the England captain, also experienced a disappointing departure when the English team fell to France.

  • ‘Dream debut’: Adam Gilchrist, other cricket legends love Abrar Ahmed

    Debutant Abrar Ahmed has stunned the cricketing word with figures of 7 for 114 in 22 overs in a sensational fast-forwarded second Test in Multan between Pakistan and England.

    Ahmed became the 13th Pakistan bowler to take five or more wickets in an innings on debut.

    Have a look at the tweets:

    https://twitter.com/iShaheenAfridi/status/1601143551479279621?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1601143551479279621%7Ctwgr%5E07834f19e05cd521afcd0c429512387c329b6047%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpropakistani.pk%2F2022%2F12%2F09%2Finternational-superstars-in-awe-of-abrar-ahmeds-talent-after-dream-debut%2F

    Pakistan are 1-0 down in the three-match series after losing the first Test in Rawalpindi.

  • Pakistani journalist goes viral explaining why we shouldn’t feel sorry for Germany’s World Cup exit

    Pakistani journalist goes viral explaining why we shouldn’t feel sorry for Germany’s World Cup exit

    Germany kicked out of the World Cup in the group stages for the second successive tournament, they’re missing a standout goalscorer and they’re very much a side in transition.

    However, according to Pakistani journalist Ahmer Naqvi, we absolutely should not be feeling sorry for them.

    After analysing Germany’s recent elimination from the competition in great detail, Naqvi gained widespread attention.

    The German team is the “angel of death” of football, according to Naqvi, as they have crushed more nation’s World Cup hopes than any other team.

    He begins by outlining all the great footballing nations that were eliminated from the World Cup after falling to Germany by saying, “I’ll take us back in history a bit, right.”

    He starts off with the great Hungary side of 1954 alongside Ferenc Puskas. They were defeated by West Germany despite being “one of the finest sides of all time.”

    The journalist then discussed Johan Cruyff’s legendary 1974 Netherlands team, which is renowned for introducing the idea of complete football. They were eliminated once more by West Germany.

    He continued by talking about France’s “golden square” team from 1982, which was defeated by Germany in the semi-final and was famed for playing with four in midfield. Germany and Austria also made sure Algeria was eliminated from the same event, ending the first-ever opportunity for an African team to go to the next round.

    He also mentioned West Germany’s victories over Diego Maradona’s Argentina in 1990, the demise of South Korea in 2002, the defeat of England’s “golden generation” in 2010, and their resounding 7-1 victory over Brazil in 2014.

    “Don’t have any sympathy for this team… If football was a video game, [Germany] would be the final boss… I will bring out the world’s smallest violin,” he adds.

    The clip went down a storm with social media users, with one commenting: “I couldn’t give a monkeys about football but this is absolute solid gold entertainment and storytelling.”

    Here are a few more reactions:

  • Ramiz adamant that Asia Cup will not be held on neutral venue

    Ramiz adamant that Asia Cup will not be held on neutral venue

    Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Ramiz Raja, has said that the Asia Cup will not be held at a neutral venue.

    “India is not coming, I can understand. But to take the Asia Cup away from us is not right. There’s no reason why India can’t c

    ome to Pakistan and Pakistan go to India,” he said.

    Raja also urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) and other top cricket nations to adopt a fair stance rather than staying quiet on important matters.

    “I think the ICC have got to think more out of the box. I’m not just looking at India and Pakistan, but the England Cricket Board and Australian Cricket Board, neutral boards who have held important positions who can be fair regarding an issue. But when they keep quiet it frustrates me completely,” he stated.

    “You have to be emotionally engaged in our concerns. If somebody crosses the line they need to be told and not brushed under the carpet,” he stressed.
    Earlier, Ramiz said Pakistan will boycott the ICC World Cup 2023 if India refuses to visit Pakistan for the upcoming Asia Cup.

  • Video: Babar Azam reveals his favouite batter, Hint: It isn’t Kohli

    Video: Babar Azam reveals his favouite batter, Hint: It isn’t Kohli

    Pakistani Skipper Babar Azam has revealed his favourite batter in an interview with former English captain Nasser Hussain. To our surprise, it isn’t Virat Kohli, who Babar has praised many times.

    “To be honest, my role model is AB de Villiers. I love him, especially with the way he plays his shots. So, when I saw him batting on television, the very next day I tried to play similar shots in the nets and on the ground. I try my best to copy and play like AB de Villiers because he is my idol.”
    “My father supported me a lot,” he said, adding that when he was a child, his father used to take him to the cricket ground. “He played a crucial role in my learning the game. He monitored my performance,” said Babar.

    In the interview Babar also discussed Pakistan’s preparations ahead of their Test series with England.

  • Rizwan gifted shoes to young player when he bowled him out

    Rizwan gifted shoes to young player when he bowled him out

    Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Muhammad Rizwan gifted his spiked shoes to a young player when he bowled him out during a practice session ahead of the Pakistan-England Test series.

    In a video —which has been trending on social media—the young man said that Rizwan told the younger players that whoever gets his wicket, will be given a gift.

    The man said that he got Rizwan’s wicket and was later gifted a pair of shoes by him.

    This is not the first time that Rizwan has been generous. Earlier, he gifted his jersey to an Indian doctor who cured him when his health deteriorated during T20 World Cup 2020.

    Last month, the wicketkeeper completed 2500 runs in T20Is and became only the third Pakistani after Muhammad Hafeez and Babar Azam to do so.

    Rizwan will be seen in action during Pakistan’s upcoming Test series against England in December. The first match of the series will be played in Rawalpindi.

  • Ben Stokes will donate match fee to Pakistan flood victims

    Ben Stokes will donate match fee to Pakistan flood victims

    The captain of England cricket team Ben Stokes has announced to donate his match fee for the three-match series against Pakistan.

    In his entire statement, the England Test captain said: “It is great to be in Pakistan for the first time for this historic series. To be back here after 17 years as a Test side is very exciting. There is a sense of responsibility amongst the playing and support group and to be there is special.”
    “The floods that devastated Pakistan earlier this year were very sad to see and have had a significant impact on the country and the people,” he added.

    England is currently on Pakistan’s tour for a test series. This is the first time in 17 years that England have toured Pakistan and the three-match series will be a part of the World Test Championship.

  • Neymar out of Brazil’s next World Cup match with ankle injury

    Neymar out of Brazil’s next World Cup match with ankle injury

    After suffering an ankle ligament injury in his team’s opening victory over Serbia, Neymar will miss Brazil’s next World Cup match against Switzerland, the team doctor announced on Friday.

    After being replaced during Thursday’s 2-0 victory over Serbia, the Paris Saint-Germain forward was spotted with a swollen ankle.

    he 30-year-old sustained “ligament damage,” according to the Brazilian Football Federation’s (CBF) physician Rodrigo Lasmar.

    Due to an ankle strain, Danilo, the right back for Brazil, will also miss Monday’s game against Switzerland.

    “We will not have these two players for our next match but they continue their treatment with the aim of recovering in time for the rest of the competition,” the doctor said in a video released by the CBF.