Tag: World Cup

  • The significance behind the black cape Lionel Messi wore at the FIFA world cup ceremony

    The significance behind the black cape Lionel Messi wore at the FIFA world cup ceremony

    The most significant part of the FIFA world cup ceremony was when Messi had been invited to the stage to receive the trophy, the King of Qatar had given him a black cape to wear before he lifted up the world cup to celebrate with his team members.

    Since yesterday social media users, mostly people in the West, were mostly expressing disappointment about Messi’s pictures being ruined by a black cape and even saying that it had ruined a significant moment for the football player. Many Arab critics and journalists were quick to highlight the racism in the media coverage of the West, and its overt disregard for Eastern culture and tradition.

    As Eastern journalists and critics had shared, every time the FIFA world cup would take place in different countries, the winner would be crowned according to the traditions of the host. For instance in 2004 when the Olympics were hosted in Athens, the winners were crowned with an olive wreathe. But the negative coverage over Messi wearing the bisht is proof of how racism in the Western media will remain an unresolved issue

    The black cape that Messi had worn on the final ceremony is called the bisht and historically, it holds a lot of significance within Arabic culture. The bisht is worn by Arabian warriors after a victory. At the ceremony, when the King of Qatar had given Messi the cloak, it was giving someone the highest form of respect and signified him as the King of Football.

  • ‘What a nail-biting economic situation of Pakistan under your government’: Pakistanis react to PM’s tweet congratulating Argentina

    ‘What a nail-biting economic situation of Pakistan under your government’: Pakistanis react to PM’s tweet congratulating Argentina

    Tweeting about the “nailbiting” final, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised Messi for his performance. The PM also added that the “upsets” by Saudi Arabia and Morocco are the highlights of the tournament for him.

    It is worth noting that Saudi Arabia defeated World Cup winner Argentina early in the tournament, and Morocco shocked everyone as they finished fourth, defeating the likes of Spain, Belgium, Portugal, and Canada in the tournament.

    Pakistan’s PM added, “Congratulations to Qatar for successfully holding the mega event…Upsets by Saudi Arabia and Morocco remain highlights of the tournament for me.”

    Following his post, a number of users began to say that he should focus on the situation of the country instead of enjoying sports. Some recommended that he concentrate on the economy, while others advised him to pay attention to what was happening in Bannu.

  • Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani sentenced to death for supporting women’s rights and ‘basic freedom’

    Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani sentenced to death for supporting women’s rights and ‘basic freedom’

    Iranian footballer Amir Reza Nasr Azadani has been sentenced to death after he was arrested last month for participating in worldwide protests against the country’s clerical establishment.

    Azadani was arrested in connection to the deaths of three security personnel during protests in Isfahan and accused of waging war against God, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.

    The 26-year-old Iranian league footballer is among at least 27 other Iranians facing death sentences in connection to the protests that have engulfed the country for almost three months.

    Two of those men — Majidreza Rahnavard and Mohsen Shekari, both 23 years old — were publicly hanged this month.

    The world union of professional footballers, FIFPRO, said it was “shocked and sickened” by Azadani’s sentencing “after campaigning for women’s rights and basic freedom in his country.”

    “We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment,” the organisation wrote on Twitter.

    Prominent current and former footballers expressed solidarity and called for executions to end.

    Former Iranian international star Ali Karimi and Iran’s World Cup team goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand used their social media platforms to call for the sentence to be revoked and an end to executions.

    Asadollah Jafari, the judiciary chief of Isfahan, was quoted by local media as saying that Mr Azadani was a member of an “armed group that operated in a networked and organised manner with the intent of fighting the basis of the Islamic Republic establishment.”

  • 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.

  • 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:

  • Federal Minister Hina Rabbani likely to attend FIFA World Cup

    Federal Minister Hina Rabbani likely to attend FIFA World Cup

    Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar, is expected to attend the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in Qatar in the first week of December.

    According to The News, the dates for her trip are still being finalised. Earlier this week, Ambassador of Qatar in Islamabad Saoud Abdulrahman Al-Thani called on Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to extend an invitation from his Qatari counterpart to watch the World Cup.

    Pakistan’s Foreign Office had received the invitations before the World Cup started with the inauguration being attended by world leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

    According to the newspaper, it is important for Pakistan to show solidarity with a fellow Muslim state which was the first to hold the World Cup and which is being attacked by the West over alleged human rights records.

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif showed solidarity with Qatar in the face of western media onslaught, tweeting, “Unfortunate that Qatar is being subjected to a barrage of propaganda as host of FIFA World Cup. It should be rather commended for wonderful arrangements for the mega event and being a promoter of global peace and development. Pakistan stands in solidarity with HH Emir and the people of Qatar.”

  • T20 Women’s Cricket Tournament to begin in Lahore on Nov 26

    T20 Women’s Cricket Tournament to begin in Lahore on Nov 26

    The T20 Women’s Cricket Tournament, comprising of 13 matches, will begin in Lahore on November 26.

    In order to incentivise domestic performers, the best player of every match will get Rs.20,000 while the player of the tournament will bag Rs.50,000. The winning team will receive Rs.1 million, while the runner-up will get half a million rupees.

    The competition gives athletes a chance to adjust to the T20 format, and will help coaches and the selection committee in choosing squads for the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s World Cup and ICC T20 Women’s World Cup, both of which will be held in South Africa in next year.

    The second phase of the tournament will run from December 5 to December 9, while the squads of the four sides will be named in due course. The venue for the final of the tournament scheduled on 9 December will be named at a later date.
    All the matches will be played in Lahore.

  • Pakistan’s ‘true warriors’

    Pakistan’s ‘true warriors’

    Khan called his winning ‘92 World Cup team, the ‘cornered tigers’. For Babar, the team that came so very close are the ‘true warriors’. And we couldn’t agree more. Pakistan lost the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup today to England after only scoring 137 runs, a low total but one that was not easily defended by the English batters. Pakistani batters may have struggled but our bowlers made even a low total like 137 difficult to score for the English team despite England’s strong batting lineup. It was bad luck for Pakistan in many ways. Not only were we 20 runs short but the way Stokes had nine lives (or more) and Shaheen Afridi’s injury just before his two crucial overs at the end made the loss even more heartbreaking for our Boys in Green who went all-out to win the final at the MCG today.

    It was indeed a heartbreaking moment for Pakistanis across the world as we came quite close to lifting the trophy but at the same time, we should celebrate the fact that we reached the final despite all odds and performed brilliantly. Our batting strategy leaves much to be desired, especially when it comes to difficult pitches. On the bowling front, from Haris Rauf to Naseem to Shadab to Shaheen Afridi, our bowlers put in their hearts to win the game. Alas, we couldn’t but our players did all they could.

    The way that Pakistan managed to reach the semi-finals when they had been written off clearly shows that our boys have what it takes to be a world-class team. In today’s game, we lost a toss that went in England’s favour. A World Cup final also comes with its pressure but our team did not show any jitters and were ready to defend a small total. Our batters did not perform as well as they could have and hit unnecessary shots to lose wickets when we shouldn’t have. To rely solely on the bowlers without giving them a defendable total may have been a bit much to ask but our bowlers did not disappoint and played splendidly well. They tried their best and got early wickets but luck favoured the English today. Known for playing a clinical game, the English seemed worried when our bowlers hit the right line and length.

    England was always going to be a tough team to play against given their performance throughout the tournament. And England did not disappoint. They bowled well and restricted Pakistan to a small total. But we can say that the best team — Pakistan — outperformed in the end. Even then, Babar Azam’s Playing XI has made the entire nation proud for playing almost till the last over. Pakistan cricket united the country in cheering for our cricket team at a time when we need unity the most.

  • Shadab Khan is ‘sorry’ for letting Pakistanis down, says will ‘come back even stronger’

    Shadab Khan is ‘sorry’ for letting Pakistanis down, says will ‘come back even stronger’

    Pakistan lost to England in the final of the T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after posting up a meagre total.
    England chased down Pakistan’s 137-8 with five wickets in hand and six balls to spare.

    The defeat has left many Pakistanis heartbroken, who were looking for a replay of the 1992 final. Soon after the match ended, Pakistani fast bowler Shadab Khan took to twitter to apologise to Pakistanis.

    “Thank you to all the fans of Pakistan for your constant support. We gave it our all but couldn’t win the trophy for you. Sorry to let you down. We will try to improve as a team and come back even stronger. Never stop believing, your belief makes us stronger,” the 24-year- old bowler wrote in the tweet.

    Pakistani Skipper Babar Azam offered congratulations to the English side in the post- match ceremony. “Congratulations to the England team, we felt like everyone came here to support us, thank you so much,” said Azam, addressing fans.

    “The way the team has gone in the last four matches [was] incredible. I told the boys to play their natural game, with freedom.

    “We were 20 runs short [in the final] but to fight to the last over was unbelievable. Our bowling is one of the best but unfortunately Shaheen’s injury cost us a different result, but that’s part of the game,” he concluded.

  • Pakistani Twitter defends PM Shehbaz against former Irfan Pathan’s remarks

    Pakistani Twitter defends PM Shehbaz against former Irfan Pathan’s remarks

    Former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan continues his Twitter tirade against Pakistan cricket fans after he turned his guns towards Pakistani Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif.

    After the England team crushed Indians in the T20 World Cup semi-finals, the premier wrote an interesting tweet, writing, “So, this Sunday, it’s: 152/0 vs 170/0″, he said in reference to the scores of Pakistan and England against Indian cricket team in T20 World Cups of 2021 and 2022, respectively. Both teams defeated India without losing a single wicket.

    But the premier’s tweet didn’t sit well with Indian cricket fans. Replying to PM Shehbaz’s tweet, on the eve of World Cup final, Pathan said, “Aap mein or hum mein fark yehi hai. Hum apni khushi se khush or aap dusre ke taklif se. Is liye khud ke mulk ko behtar karne pe dhyan nahi hai.” (This is the difference between you and us. We are satisfied with our happiness, while you look for happiness when others are in trouble. That is why you are not concentrating on your country’s well-being).

    Pathan, who has criticised Pakistan’s cricket team and fans in the past, was taken to task by Twitterati with many of them calling him a “hypocrite”.

    https://twitter.com/WrathOfTatars/status/1591373147408068608?s=20&t=iSuBHNZdXjRwT_dg_I5PQA

    Earlier, the Indian bowler came under fire after he cracked a joke at the expense of the Pakistani cricket team during the ongoing T20 World Cup taking place in Australia.

    On Wednesday, when Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets and booked a place for themselves in the final of the tournament, Pathan tweeted that while Pakistan won the match, they still have no “grace”.

    After receiving the backlash, Irfan tweeted again and clarified that his comment was not meant for Pakistani players.