“Joe Root has been absolutely brilliant in Sri Lanka and looked assured on his technique and temperament. He made Galle his run-scoring party ground”

All is not well in the United Kingdom. At first, the COVID-19 devastated them and now the fears of the new strain in the UK consistently haunting the British. And in between the UK strain and the previous COVID-19 — the South African strain is all set to trigger the panic button. …

“There were a lot of good things and some mistakes around the goals. If you want to win here you have to be absolutely top and we were not.”

“For the first goal we had no protection, we wanted it too much. Things like this should not happen but they can happen. We had too many players in a receiving position.”

“We can take things out of this game; we try to learn from every game.”

That’s what the Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said after the match against arch-rivals Manchester United, who knocked them out of the FA Cup last night at Old Trafford. Before the clash at Old Trafford, Klopp and the Reds experienced bitterness against Burnley at Anfield and dropped points against the Red Devils at the same venue in the Premier League. …

After a frustrating week, which includes defeat against a third-tier side, the roster against Deportivo Alaves seemed an uphill task. But thankfully, the outcome was brilliant as Real Madrid smashed 4 goals after 18 matches at the Estadio Mendizorrotza in Vitoria.

Los Blancos shook off their three-match winless streak, which included defeats in the Supercopa de Espana and Copa del Rey, with one of their best performances of the season, led by Karim Benzema, who scored a pair of goals.

Joining the veteran striker on the scoresheet was Casemiro and Eden Hazard to help Real Madrid collect a badly-needed three points to remain second in the La Liga Santander table. …

In 1987, the young Australian team of Allan Border and Bob Simpson astonished everyone by lifting the Reliance World Cup in front of a jam-packed crowd at the Eden Gardens. The Australians landed on the subcontinent as the no-hopers, but as the tournament progressed they were seen upsetting the hot-favorites India and Pakistan and then arch-rivals England in the final. The City of Joy embraced them as one of their own, but despite being the World Champions, that Australian unit was still a project under development.

In the following season, they were beaten by Pakistan away and West Indies at home and losing at Brisbane, and Melbourne was still thought to be normal back then. Then, things started to change. The 90s and 2000s witnessed Brisbane becoming a fortress while it was hard for anyone to beat Australia in a Boxing Day Test. The baton of aura of invincibility was passed to Australia from West Indies in 1995 at Jamaica. …

Talents are God gifted. They dazzle with their charisma, but there are groups who work the hardest and beat the talent to reach the pinnacle of glory. Cristiano Ronaldo falls to that category — a genuine hard worker blessed with enormous mental strength. His journey in football is an inspiration for many and courtesy of his sheer hard work; the big man has bagged records after records.

Back on August 16, 2003, an 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo made his Manchester United bow and started his reign of terror upon English defences. Ronaldo made his debut as a second-half substitute during a 4–0 victory over Bolton Wanderers. …

If you are a supporter of Real Madrid then this is not the best time to be in — The Copa del Rey elimination of the Los Blancos comes as a blow to Zinedine Zidane’s 2020–21 projects, and one that is potentially fatal. The loss against Segunda B side Alcoyano is another setback after the exit from the Spanish Super Cup, with Real Madrid ending the night with Fede Valverde, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Eden Hazard, Marco Asensio, and Karim Benzema on the pitch.

In just six days, Real Madrid have seen their chances of two different trophies slip away, following their Supercopa de Espana semi-final loss to Athletic Club. …

There was a time when the Sri Lankans were a different kettle of fish in their own backyard. Even the best of the teams found it tougher against the Lankans. But those were the days when Sri Lanka played with a lot of passion and they were a bunch of fitness freaks. Right now, even a gentle breeze would topple their batting and bowling unit because this team lacks the spirit and passion of their predecessors.

After the meek surrender in South Africa, the next challenge for the Lankans was England and it was in Galle, where, they hardly lost any Test matches. …

The Sunday was supposed to be enthralling in the Premier League — Liverpool and Manchester United would face each other and there is always a bit of something extra in this razor-edged derby. Jurgen Klopp has prepared his team during this Pandemic to fight it out because the problems of injuries, hectic schedule, and COVID-19 infected cases are haunting every team and those who can still find a way to get through can breathe easy.

The teams during this Pandemic require a conviction in front of the goal and balance at the back. Klopp seems to be finding the going tough because his frontline is lacking conviction big time and the Reds are suffering for this. At the end of the match, they shared points, which meant a lot for Ole Gunnar Solskjær at Anfield and not for his counterpart. …