Saturday, June 16, 2018

#WorldCup : Crazy Ronaldo hat-trick as Portugal and Spain draw 3-3 - Unbelievable match

Crazy draw as Cristiano Ronaldo becomes oldest to score World Cup hat trick
This means, of course, that Iran is in first place in Group B

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a dramatic hat-trick against Spain on Friday, bringing Portugal level at 3-3 in the dying minutes of their Group B clash in Sochi.

The Real Madrid forward opened his account with an early penalty before scoring again just before half-time. He completed his hat-trick with a magnificent strike from a free-kick in the 88th minute.

It was one of the most talked about matchups of the group stage. And we got one of the most entertaining World Cup matches in recent memory. In Group B, Spain and Portugal played out a wild six-goal thriller, with the teams drawing 3-3. Spain overcame a 2-1 deficit to take the lead in the second half before Cristiano Ronaldo completed his hat trick with a crazy late free-kick goal.  

Here's how it went down. 

Just four minutes into the game, Ronaldo tricked the referee into awarding a penalty kick on a non-foul from Nacho, and he put it away:


He draws the penalty and buries it to give Portugal an early 1-0 lead against Spain. #PORESP


Then 20 minutes later, Spain drew level with an absolutely wonderful goal from Diego Costa, who made some moves and found some space for a low rifle:


Then again, 20 minutes later, it was Ronaldo again, who put a shot on frame that David De Gea could not handle, with the first major goalkeeper blunder of the World Cup:


But again Spain had an answer. Ten minutes into the second half, it was Costa again, finishing off a beautifully-executed set piece in front of goal:

Spain's training-ground free kick ends up in the back of the net thanks to Busquets and Costa. 👏👏

Then, another quick punch. As Spain was dominating, it got another goal from Nacho who produced a delicious hit into the corner off the post three minutes later:



The defender makes up for his early mistake with a beauty to put Spain ahead 3-2.

But the last laugh would go to Ronaldo. Becoming the oldest player to score a hat trick in World Cup history, the 33-year-old got the equalizer in the 87th minute with an out-of-this-world free kick that left De Gea frozen:


Iran is in first place in Group B with three points. What a world. And so far, what a World Cup.

Friday, June 15, 2018

#WorldCup : Iran stun Morocco with late goal in a rare World Cup victory

MOSCOW, Russia — Iran was gifted a late 1-0 victory over Morocco in their opening World Cup match on Friday when Aziz Bouhaddouz headed into his own net five minutes into injury time.



The Group match B in Saint Petersburg had been heading for a goalless draw until Bouhaddouz's unfortunate intervention as he tried to clear Ehsan Haji Safi's cross but only directed it past his own goalkeeper.

Iran started with Sardar Azmoun in place of injured striker Mehdi Taremi for the opening Group B match against Morocco in St Petersburg.

Up front for Morocco was Ayoub El Kaabi, who only made his international debut in March but has forced his way into Herve Renard's starting lineup.

Morocco: Achraf Hakimi, Mehdi Benatia, Romain Saiss, Hakim Ziyech, Karim El Ahmadi, Ayoub El Kaabi, Younes Belhanda, Monir El Kajoui, Mbark Boussoufa, Noureddine Amrabat, Amine Harit

Iran: Ali Beiranvand, Ehsan Hajisafi, Roozbeh Cheshmi, Masoud Shojaei, Morteza Pouraliganji, Omid Ebrahimi, Karim Ansarifard, Vahid Amiri, Alieza Jahanbakhsh, Sardar Azmoun, Ramin Rezaeian.

#WorldCup : Uruguay strike late to beat fighting Egypt as Salah sits out match


Jose Gimenez was the unlikely 89th-minute match winner as Uruguay defeated an Egypt side shorn of star man Mohamed Salah 1-0 in their World Cup opener today.

Uruguay's deserved last-gasp victory leaves them and Russia in early control in Group A after the hosts' 5-0 mauling of Saudi Arabia in the tournament opener on Thursday.
A poor game looked likely to end in stalemate but with Uruguay cranking up the pressure late on, defender Gimenez rose to power a header into the top corner and break Egypt hearts.

Aside from Liverpool ace Salah failing to get off the bench with his shoulder injury, another major talking point was also off the pitch – large portions of empty seats in one main stand at the Yekaterinburg Arena were an embarrassing sight for FIFA and local organisers.

Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani had a couple of half-chances for Uruguay in the first half, the best made by himself when he juggled the ball and lashed it on the volley from outside the box, but it was deflected over.

Attacking partner Luis Suarez – in his first World Cup appearance since his biting ban of 2014 – was largely quiet in an unremarkable first period, doing his best work when he drifted between the lines of Egypt's defence and midfield.
Marwan Mohsen played as a lone forward for Egypt, but with Salah missing and

Uruguay skipper Diego Godin imperious, he hardly had a sniff.
One of the biggest cheers came after 30 minutes when the stadium screens showed Salah happily chatting away on the bench but that is where the birthday boy – who turned 26 on Friday – remained.

With Egypt coach Hector Cuper saying on the eve of the clash that Salah had recovered from the injury sustained three weeks ago in the Champions League final, Egyptians will be desperately hoping their talisman is back for the game with Russia on Tuesday, now a must-win.

The north Africans, contesting their first World Cup since 1990, were for the main part fairly comfortable in defence and Arsenal's Mohamed Elneny was a constant presence at the base of Egypt's midfield.

Suarez, who had a frustrating afternoon, forced goalkeeper Mohamed Elshenawy into a decent stop straight after half-time, the Barcelona striker slamming his boot into an advertising board in anger.

He thumped the turf on 73 minutes when Elshenawy smothered at his feet, and seven minutes from the end the stopper was at it again, palming Cavani's drive over.

Cavani then struck a post with a free-kick as Egypt held on with increasing desperation, before Gimenez's dramatic late intervention.

#WorldCup : Hosts Russia thrash Saudi Arabia 5-0 in opening match in a goal spree

Russia 5-0 Saudi Arabia: World Cup hosts start the party with convincing win led by a pair of subs
Russia made easy work of Saudi Arabia in the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow.

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Host nation Russia thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the opening match of the World Cup to start their tournament in style in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on Thursday.

Iury Gazinsky opened the scoring with a header after 12 minutes, Denis Cheryshev added a second before Artem Dzyuba got the third in the 71st minute.

Cheryshev added a fourth with a superb finish before Golovin curled in a superb free-kick in injury time as President Vladimir Putin watched on in delight.

Russia (4-2-3-1)

Igor Akinfeev (capt); Mario Fernandes, Ilya Kupetov, Sergey Ignashevich, Yury Zhirkov; Iury Gazinsky, Roman Zobnin; Alan Dzagoev, Aleksandr Golovin, Alexander Samedov; Fedor Smolov
Coach: Stanislav Cherchesov (RUS)

Saudi Arabia (4-5-1)

Abdullah Al-Muaiouf; Osama Hawsawi (capt), Omar Hawsawi, Mohammed Al-Burayk, Yasser Al-Shahrani; Salman Al-Faraj, Yahia Al-Shehri, Abdullah Otayf, Taiseer Al-Jassam, Salem Al-Dawsari; Mohammed Al-Sahlawi
Coach: Juan Antonio Pizzi (ESP)
Referee: Nestor Pitana (ARG)

Monday, January 22, 2018

FIFA WORLD CUP TROPHY TOUR BY COCA-COLA #Russia2018

WHAT IS THE FIFA WORLD CUP TROPHY TOUR BY COCA-COLA AND WHERE IS IT GOING?



by Goal 

Over the next few months the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola will visit no less than 91 cities across 51 countries and six continents
It’s the trophy we all want more than any other.

The entire world wants to witness their country claim it for themselves. And every player in the history of the game has spent countless night dreaming of one day rising it above their heads.

But the truth is, few of us will ever even get to see it, let alone win it or lift it triumphantly.

At least that was the case before Coca-Cola took on the momentous task of bringing it to the world.

Coca-Cola WC Trophy Tour 7

The trophy has now begun its globetrot in earnest, with Monday’s official opening ceremony seeing former winners provide it a fitting goodbye.

England 1966 hero Sir Geoff Hurst and Italy 2006 star Andrea Pirlo joined Goal in London to climb aboard the plane before it departed on its epic journey.

WHAT IS THE FIFA WORLD CUP TROPHY TOUR BY COCA-COLA?
The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola is a global journey that will deliver the most coveted trophy in all of sports to every corner of the globe, before returning to Russia in June for World Cup 2018.

“The Trophy Tour will give fans everywhere a taste of the excitement that’s to come, not to mention a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the Trophy for themselves,"said Ricardo Fort, Vice President of Global Sports Partnerships at The Coca-Cola Company.

HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON?
2018 is the fourth time long-standing World Cup sponsor Coca-Cola have joined forces with FIFA to take the trophy to fans across the world. 

This year it will attend a number of nations for the first time, including Iceland and Mongolia, and looks set to be bigger and better than ever.

“Following the success of the first phase of the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour, which gave more than 220,000 people across Russia the chance to see the FIFA World Cup Trophy with their own eyes, we are very excited to now offer this unforgettable opportunity to football fans around the world," said Phillipe Le Floc’h, Chief Commercial Officer at FIFA.

WHERE HAS IT BEEN SO FAR?
Before kicking it off the global leg of this remarkable tour, the trophy travelled all across World Cup 2018 host nation Russia.

So, it was just a small-scale domestic leg to warm up for what lies ahead? Not a chance!

The trophy travelled right across Russia over a three-month period, taking in 16 cities and racking up almost 10,000 miles.

WHERE WILL IT GO NEXT?
Where won't it go? Over the next few months the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola will visit no less than 91 cities across 51 countries and six continents before settling back in Russia for the tournament.

Next up is Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the tour will end in Vladivostok on May 1. See the full list of destinations below.



DESTINATION DATE
Colombo, Sri Lanka 23-24 January
Male, Maldives 24-25 January
Phuket, Thailand 26-27 January
Vientiane, Laos 28 January
Macau, China P.R 29 January
Nukualofa, Tonga 31 January
Honiara, Solomon Islands 1 February
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 1 February
Lahore, Pakistan 3 February
Almay, Kazakhstan 4 February
Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic 5 February
Dushanbe, Tajikistan 5 February
Tashkent, Uzbekistan 6 February
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 7 February
Yerevan, Armenia 7 February
Tblisi, Georgia 8 February
Baku, Azerbaijan 9 February
Valetta, Malta 10 February
Vienna, Austria 11 February
Minsk, Belarus 13 February
Sofia, Bulgaria 14 February
Tel Aviv, Israel 15 February
Larnaca, Cyprus 16 February
Ramallah, Palestine 17-19 February
Amman, Jordan 20 February
Dubai, United Arab Emirates 21 February
Khartoum, Sudan 22-23 February
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 24-25 February
Nairobi, Kenya 26-27 February
Maputo, Mozambique 28 February
Johannesburg, South africa 1-2 March
Cape Town, South Africa 3 March
Kampala, Uganda 5-6 March
Abuja, Nigeria 7-8 March
Lagos, Nigeria 9-10 March
Dakar, Senegal 11-12 March
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire 13-14 March
Cairo, Egypt 15-16 March
Naples, Italy 17-19 March
Paris, France 20-21 March
Cologne, Germany 22-23 March
Oslo, Norway 24 March
Torshavn, Faroe Islands 24-25 March
Reykjavik, Iceland 25 March
Tucuman, Argentina 27-28 March
Berazategui, Argentina 29 March
Buenos Aires 30-31 March
Rosario, Argentina 1-2 April
Bogota, Colombia 3-5 April
Panama City, Panama 6 April
San Jose, Costa Rica 7-8 April
Guadalajara, Mexico 9-10 April
Monterrey, Mexico 11-12 April
Mexico City, Mexico 13-15 April
New York, USA 16 April
Miami, USA 17 April
Los Angeles, USA 18-20 April
Frankfurt, Germany 22 April
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 23 April
Beijing, China P.R 25 April
Shanghai, China P.R 26 April
Tokyo, Japan 27-28 April
Osaka, Japan 29-30 April
Vladivostok, Russia 1 May

For more information on the Trophy Tour head to the official FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour Instagram or Facebook page

Friday, January 19, 2018

Russia’s 2018 FIFA World Cup infrastructure worth $8.5 Billion

Russia’s 2018 FIFA World Cup infrastructure worth $8.5 Billion


The infrastructure, which Russia is building to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, is worth 480 billion rubles ($8.5 billion), Local Organizing Committee Head Alexei Sorokin said at the Gaidar economic forum on Wednesday.

"The implementation of the infrastructural part is nearing completion and it is estimated at 480 billion rubles. All the facilities we are building will be useful for residents of those entities that will host World Cup matches," Sorokin said during the discussion on the 2018 FIFA World Cup’s long-term heritage.


"The overwhelming part of what we are building will serve the residents of regions. No one can reproach us that we are creating something that will not be needed," the Local Organizing Committee head stressed.

"We have reached the final straight with several months remaining," he pointed out.
"We are almost not causing the International Football Federation any worries and inconveniences and the preparations are in a stable state. We are completing the construction of the last batch of stadiums and this is the heart of the tournament," Sorokin said.



The countries that have hosted FIFA World Cups have seen a change in the investment climate, he noted.
"Russia will be no exception," he said.

"All the host countries have seen a positive effect [from FIFA World Cups] and this is what we will also experience," he said.

The Gaidar forum is an annual international scientific and practical conference on economic issues that has been held since 2010. It is organized by the Russian Presidential Academy of the National Economy and Public Administration, the Gaidar Economic Policy Institute and the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia. The TASS news agency is the Gaidar forum’s general information partner.

Source : Tass