FIFA WORLD CUP 2014 (BRAZIL) - The Football Carnival Begins! - Match 1 - "Brazil Vs Croatia"

So, the biggest Football carnival begun last night in "Brazil", The FIFA WORLD CUP 2014. With the lavish opening ceremony in which we saw many aspects of environment of "Brazil", concluded with "Jennifer Lopez", "Pitbull" & "Claudia" singing the World Cup song. But, all were waiting for the "Kick-Off", it was the home team "Brazil" against the dark horses "Croatia". At the end, it was "Brazil" defeating "Croatia" in the opening match of the World Cup 3-1, which was a big relief after they were lagging behind in the first 22 minutes of the play.

"Brazil" scored three straight after conceding conceding an own goal which was a very unusual start to open the goal account in the World Cup. Defying all odds, "Croatia" took the lead in the 11th minute with the most unusual & shocking way possible, with an own goal from "Marcelo" who netted the ball through his own net. Croatia attacked from up the left side with low cross that Marcelo accidentally just knocked past the goal keeper, Julio Cesar.


( Game's first goal - Own Goal by "Marcelo")


It took a time of 29 minutes for the "Brazil" team to equalize, with "Neymar Jr" producing a low but powerful shot to the far post, which relieved "Marcelo" & most importantly "Brazil" fans.


( "Neymar Jr" (10) celebrates the equalizer with "Dani Alves" (2))


Later the match was in the hands of "Brazil" with the team attacking the "Croatian" side in every minute, but got 2nd success when they were awarded a penalty in the 71st minute, which was a controversial one with many saying that, it should not have been a penalty. But, "Neymar Jr" netted the ball through the Croatian goal & Brazil took the lead with 2-1, in the 71st minute.


( "Neymar Jr" taking a penalty shoot out in 71st minute)


After the 90 minutes being played, it was in the extra time, when "Brazil" again got a goal to extend their lead, with "Oscar" getting the goal which he surely deserved for the excellent game he had. He just went past the Croatian defence & finished low with outside of the foot.


( "Oscar" taking the shot)


THIS IS HOW THE OPENING MATCH OF "FIFA WORLD CUP 2014" HAPPENED! WITH BRAZIL DRAWING THE FIRST BLOOD! THE HOSTS NOW HAS 3 POINTS.

TODAY'S MATCHES - 

MEXICO vs CAMEROON

SPAIN vs NETHERLANDS

CHILE vs AUSTRALIA

"The Ashes" - 1st Test Analysis, Gabba, Brisbane- "Australia Draws First Blood"

The Ashes saga continues as England are on their way to create a new history in sporting history's oldest rivalry. The first test has been won by the host, Australia, with a whopping 381 run victory over the englishmen. The Ashes will be a long series with customary 5-Test match series 7 it is going to be a hard fought summer to defend or earn the ashes.

Day 1

The visitors did not had to wait to draw the first blood as Chris Rogers got caught at gully in the 4th over of the first test match. Warner & Watson did well to remain not-out against the very good English attack. Warner tried to take on the bowling attack, played some very awesome shots & they crossed their 50 run partnership. Just some minutes away from Lunch, Australia lost their 2nd wicket as Watson was caught by Swann at 2nd slip, bowled by Stuart Broad. At 1st day, Lunch, Australia ended up with 71 for 2. The morning session was evenly balanced. Just coming out of lunch, Australia lost their captain Michael Clarke, with ball aimed at his ribs, he couldn't keep it down. With, 100 on board for Australia, they lost their half side. Mitchell Johnson & Brad Haddin played the remaining overs & brought Australia to 153 for 6. As they went for tea. All thought, now England would finish Australia's inning really fast, but it was too soon to say that. Mitchell Johnson & Brad Haddin came to the rescue & build a 114 run partnership for 7th wicket. Broad knocked out Johnson's middle stump to get his 5th wicket in this innings. Haddin started dealing in boundaries after Johnson's wicket. Australia ended the Day 1, with 273 for 8. England bowlers did a marvellous job.




Day 2

Australia starts the day with 273 for 8. England had their tails up & Australia were looking forward to score as many as possible. Broad didn't let the Australia enjoy the batting for too long as he picked up the wicket of Ryan Harris, really quick at the starting of Day 2. Brad Haddin continued to play his natural game & started finding the boundary ropes as he entered in the 90's, he ran for 2 runs but was caught short of crease & got out. England wrapped up the Australian innings with modest total of 295. In came the England's captain Cook with Carberry. Ryan Harries, started the proceedings for Australia & he didn't disappoint his captain, Cook got dismissed with a splendid delivery by Harris with just 28 on the board. Trott came in with Carberry. Johnson came steaming up with his fast & good deliveries & Harris with his orthodox style of bowling. But, just before lunch, Johnson & Australia sneaked in a wicket, with Trott getting out cheaply. At Lunch, England ended up with 55 for 2. With, Australia coming out pumped up after the lunch, it was not so late they striked again, this time it was Pietersen, England was 82 for 3. Clarke inroduced spin into the match & what we saw next was VINTAGE AUSTRALIA!! A Major Defying Moment In The Match With 6 Wickets in Just 9 Runs, It was 82 for 3 & after 9 runs it was 91 for 8. Broad again came up to the scene but this time with the bat & England ended up on TEA with 94 for 8. After, only 19 run partnership, Tremlett got caught out, now score 110 for 9. Anderson & Broad added 26 more runs, as England ended their innings of a poor total of 136, giving the home team a massive lead of 159 runs. Australia again came out to bat, now who would have thought that, with 65 for 0, Australia ended up the day with a lead of 224 runs.



Day 3

All England needed was wickets with Australia having a lead of 224 runs with no wickets lost. And England bowlers responded with an awesome counter attack with Broad taking Roger's wicket in the 2nd over of the day. Anderson & Broad kept bowling tight & in the right areas & batsmen did well not to get under them. As Tremlett, came into attack Watson tried to unshackle himself & scored a boundary on the 1st ball Tremlett's first over as before that he only scored 2 runs off 24 balls. But, with a short ball he got his man, Watson. Clarke came in & play 2 superb shots off Broad's bowling as Rain interrupted the play meanwhile Warner completed his 50. after a slight delay, the match started. Australia ended up with 145 for 2 at lunch, with a lead of 304 runs. Warner on 83 & Clarke on 33. 2nd session, the session which changed the course of the match on Day 2. The post lunch session was a fun to watch as both Warner & Clarke completed their centuries. On 124, Warner got out edging up the ball with Broad picking up his 8th wicket of the match. Tremlett sent Smith packing up on a duck with a super beautiful delivery. Clarke got out on 113 as he attempted to play a slog on the leg side. Australia ended up with 299 for 5, at TEA. The play resumed with Bailey on 33 & Haddin on 1. England started on the right note & Swann picked up the wicket of Bailey & also his 250th Test wicket. Haddin & Johnson, again took up to the Australian bowling attack & stroke the ball in all the corners of the park & took the lead to a mammoth 500. Tremlett ended their 95 run partnership by getting the wicket of Haddin. Australia declared their innings with 406, with the lead of 561 runs. Now, England needing 561 runs to win, with 2 days left & 15 overs remaining on Day 3. England, ended up with  24 for 2 on Day 3, with Pietersen & Cook at the crease.



Day 4

With a massive 561 runs to win for England, they wanted & needed to recreate the magic of 2009, again. They started with the day with 24 for 2. Peter Siddle started the proceedings on Day 4 & Pietersen started England's inning with a single on the leg side. Nathan Lyon comes into the attack from around the wicket but couldn't provide any wicket & Pietersen & Cook were going strongly. With Lyon continue to bowl, he finally tasted success as Pietersen trying to sweep him gets the edge & gets caught on 26. After the wicket, England plays sensibely, with Cook & Bell, play with carrying on their good forms. Cook completed his 50 with a boundary. Then, Siddle comes back to attack & gets the wicket of Bell on 26, England are now 130 for 4. After some play, the villain again came in the match, i.e., RAIN, interrupted the play with England on 142 for 4. Cook on 65 & Root on 6. The play resumes after RAIN & Australians are pumped up, Lyon comes in the attack takes the wicket of  Cook, who attempts for the cut but gets an edge & gets caught. It was no long as England began to stumble as Lyon picks up another wicket, this time its Prior. England is 150 for 6. As Johnson comes into the attack, the first ball Broad faces, he edges up to keeper & Haddin takes a simple catch to send Broad to the pavilion. But, that was not all, Swann the new man who came in only faced 2 balls & edged up to the keeper & also got caught behind the stumps on a duck. England, 152 for 8. Now, its a matter of time for Australia to win the match. With Root & Tremlett, showing some resistance & scoring some boundaries, Tremlett falls to a bouncer from Harris & gives a simple catch to Haddin. Johnson comes back in the attack & Root welcomes him with a super boundary through mid-wicket. But, it was not too late, as Anderson hits one back to the bowler & Johnson Catches it.



That was It..!! Australia Won The First Ashes Test Comfortably & Dominating In Every Aspect Of The Game..!! They DESERVE It..!! England need to work much harder then they thought..!! Now, We should See What Happens In The 2nd Test Match..!! Till Then, Enjoy..!!  :)

First Day, First Stormbreakers - Champions League Day 1 - FOOTBALL

So, the Champions League has started & the first day brought joy for the football lovers..!! Manchester United, Manchester City, Real Madrid & Bayern Munich, started their journey with great wins. Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick for Real Madrid started an opening night goals fiesta as one of the leading contender for winning the Champions League started their journey with a win in the group stage match with a bang on Tuesday. Total of 30 goals were scored on the opening night of the competition, with Real Madrid defeating Galatasaray 6-1 in Istanbul. The defending champions Bayern Munich started their competition with a 3-0 victory over CSKA & Manchester United netted 4 goals to win thier game against Bayer Leverkusen at Old Trafford.

Ronaldo's reign as the world's most expensive footballer ended this month when Real Madrid paid 100 million euros for Gareth Bale to Tottenham Hotspur but he underlined his role as an assister in the goals. Less than 4 months after Arjen Robben's last minute goal secured the trophy for Bayern Munich, they registered the 1st goal of this season after only 4 minutes of starting of the game, with a superb free kick from David Alba. Guardiola who twice conquered Europe during his glittering reign at Barcelona, started his Champions League journey without any bumpers. Wayne Rooney, scored twice for Manchester United in their 4-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at the Old Trafford, as they began their 1st European venture without Sir Alex Ferguson.


(Cristiano Ronaldo happy after scoring the goal)

Here are the Results from the Day 1:


Man United               4      -      Leverkusen         2
             

Real Sociedad           0      -    Shakhtar              2


Galatasaray               1     -       Real Madrid       6


Fc Copenhagen         1      -       Juventus             1


Benfica                      2      -       Anderlecht          0


Olympiakos               1      -       PSG                     4


Bayern Munich         3      -       CSKA                  0


Viktoria Pilsen          0      -        Man City            3

Big Names Finding Their Way To Brazil 2014 Fifa World Cup..!!

All the Football fans are getting a treat nowadays, as EPL is going hard, Champions League starting from next week, World Cup Qualifiers going on, the fans are chanting their favourite team's name to go on to the biggest stage of them all, 2014 Brasil Fifa World Cup. Italy & Netherlands are the first European Teams to qualify for next year's World Cup. United States, Argentina & Costa Rica also grabbed place in the tournament. Giorgio Chiellini scored in the 51st minute & Mario Balotelli converted a penalty in the 54th minute, giving Italy a 2-1 victory, coming from behind aginst Czech Republic. Italian goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon made his 136th international appearance, coming equal to Fabio Cannavaro's record. Robin Van Persie's goals in 49th & 53rd minutes took Netherlands to a 2-0 win. They joined host Brazil, Australia, Iran, Japan & South Korea in the 32-team field for the World Cup, that kicks off June 12, 2014.

Second half goals by Eddie Johnson & Landon Donovan lifted the US to 2-0 home vitory over Mexico. The US secured its 7th straight World Cup appearance when, Honduras drew 2-2 against Panama. Two time champion Argentina got in with a 5-2 victory over Paraguay, sealing its spot with 2 games to spare in South american qualifying. Uruguay had a 2-0 home win over Colombia to move into 5th place behind the fourth placed Ecuador on goal difference. Three-time champion Germany won 3-0 through the gols by Per Merteswacker & Thomas Mueller around Ozil's penalty. Sweden is 2nd after winning 1-0 with Ibrahimovic scoring in the first minute. England drew 0-0 at Ukraine as Frank Lampard made his 100th international appearance.


(Italy  vs  Czech Republic)

Below are the results of the matches:

Bolivia     1       Ecuador     1                                    Costa Rica   1         Jamaica    1


Uruguay  2       Colombia   0                                     Italy              2         Czech Republic   1


Paraguay 2       Argentina  5                                     Faroe Islands  0       Germany  3


USA         2       Mexico      0                                     Andorra        0           Netherlands   2


Ukraine   0       England     0

WWE Pay-Per View: Night Of Champions (2013)

"Night Of Champions" is a professional wrestling pay-per view from WWE, which will take place on 15th September at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. It is the eight pay-per view in 2013 line-up. In this competition, all the championship will be defended. Following his win over John Cena in Summer Slam, Daniel Bryan lost the WWE Championship, when special guest referee & COO of wwe Triple H hit Bryan with a pedigree, which allowed Randy Orton to cash in Money In The Bank Fo WWE Championship contract to win the championship. This began a feud with Bryan, Orton, Triple H, and the McMahons, who stated that this was done because they did not feel Bryan "fit the mold" to be the face of the WWE. They named Orton as the new face of WWE. This was followed by an attack by The Shield and an RKO by Orton. Bryan tried to invoke his rematch clause on the August 23 edition of Smackdown, but Orton said the match would be fought at Night of Champions. Later in the show, Bryan defeated Wade Barrett in a steel cage match, and was again hit with an RKO by Orton. Three days later on Raw, Triple H presented Orton with a brand new Cadillac Escalade, and Bryan came out to insult the two. Because of this, he was put into a gauntlet match against the three members of The Shield. Later in the night, Orton defeated Christian in a non-title match, and Bryan appeared on the TitanTron to boast about winning at Night of Champions and to reveal that he trashed Orton's Cadillac by spray-painting "Yes!" all over it.
On the August 5 edition of Raw Rob Van DAm defeated World Heavyweight Champ Alberto Del Rio in non-title match after Ricardo Rodriguez's interference backfired. After the match, Del Rio viciously attacked Rodriguez. On August 19 edition of Raw Rodriguez returned and informed Del Rio that now he is representing Rob Van Dam, with the latter attacking Del Rio twice on Raw, and on the August 23 edition of SmackDown. On the August 26 edition of Raw, Rodriguez cost Del Rio a non-title match against Van Dam, allowing him to defeat Del Rio again. Brad Maddox announced because of Van Dam's victory, he earned a World Heavyweight Championship match at Night of Champions.
On the September 9, 2013 episode of Raw, it was announced that a Tag Team Turmoil Match to decide the #1 contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship would take place during the Night of Champions Kickoff, with the winners challenging champions The Shield (Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) later in the night.

All Matches Are :

1. Randy Orton (c)  v/s  Daniel Bryan  -  WWE Championship Mactch

2. Alberto Del Rio (c)  v/s  Rob Van Dam  -  World Heavyweight Championship Match

3. CM Punk  v/s  Curtis Axel & Paul Heyman  -  Elimination Handicap Match

4. AJ Lee (c) v/s  Natalya  v/s  Brie Bella  v/s Naomi  -  WWE Divas Championship (Fatal Fourway Match)

5. The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) v/s Tag Team Turmoil Winners -  WWE Tag Team Championship


In all these matches, we are in for a cracker of a show..!! Let's see what's in store for us..!!  :)

US OPEN 2013 Men's Final - Nadal Demolishes Word Number 1, Djokovic..!!

Hard to believe that this is the same Rafael Nadal who was sent packing in the first round of Wimbledon in June, losing agaisnst someone who is ranked 135th. Looking fit as can be & better than ever, the World number 2 pulled off an amazing victory from the World number 1, Novak Djokovic 6-2,3-6,6-4,6-1 on Monday for his 1th Grand slam title. They started in sunlight & finished at night, a 3-hour, 21-minute miniseries of cliffhangers & a pair of legends who inspired standing ovations in the middle of the games. This was their 37th match against each other, the most between any players in the open era & Nadal has won 22. It was also their 3rd head-to-head US OPEN final in last 4 years. Nadal beat Djokovic in 2010 & Djokovic beat Nadal in 2011. They know each other's game so well & played very similar styles, but in the end it was Nadal who was superior.

Nadal improved to 22-0, perfect record on hard courts & 60-3 overall in 2013 with 9 titles to his name, including French Open, which made him the first man with atleast 1 grand slam trophy in nine cosecutive seasons. The Spaniard's total of 13 major titles now ranks him 3rd in the history of tennis, behind only Roger Federer (17) & Pete Sampras (14). These are the same 2 who playedthe longest grand slam in the history, a nearly 6-hour struggle that left both meeding to sit in chairs during the ceremony after Djokovic;s victory at the 2012 Australian Open.


This time when it ended with a forehand into the net by Djokovic, Nadal dropped to his back on the court, having a standing ovation by the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd that included the Queen Of Spain. Nadal was relentless from shot to shot & yes, from point to point, too. But, what was really awesome to see that Rafa continued to show his calmness on the court & didn't do things in a hasty manner, His calm & composure & superb game made him the US OPEN Champion..!! RAFA you deserve it..  :)

US OPEN 2013 Big Blockbuster EPIC Final - Nadal vs Djokovic

The stakes are always high & encounters are always memorable & coming Tuesday we expect a memorable encounter again. While, the other 2 big names Federer & Murray, made exits from the competition, the other "BIG" two, Nadal & Djokovic made their way to the finals. They both have built the best rivalry in tennis on the mountain of big time matches, One they'll play in US OPEN 2013 FINAL. It will be the 37th meeting of their careers, the most number of matches in Open era any 2 players have played. Nadal will be playing or his 13th major title, Djokovic for his 7th. Djokovic is seeded #1 whereas Nadal is seeded #2. This will be their 3rd meeting in the last four years in the final in the Arthur Ashe stadium, as Nadal had to go out of the tournament last year with a knee injury. Nadal won the 1st match in 2010 & then Djokovic won the rematch in 2011.

Both players are seeking their 2nd major titles, Djokovic won the Australian Open & Nadal won the French Open. Nadal leads the over all series  21-15, But, Djokovic has the edge on hard court with 11-6. While Djokovic has the most wins on tour this year on hard courts, 31, while Nadal is undefeated with a perfect 21-0 record. It's an amazing statistic, specially for a man who has missed the game for more than 7 months due to knee problems between 2012 & 2013. He won the French Open on clay, his favourite surface, then made a shocking first-round exit at Wimbledon. The loss to 135th ranked, Steve Darcis, at the All England Club only marks the tournament of 2013 in which Nadal entered in which he didn't make the final. This will be their 6th meeting in a Grand Slam final.


We are in a for a cracking final on Tuesday..!! We can expect huge fireworks from the 2 of the most superb Tennis players in Modern era..! Let's hope the best man wins..!!  :)