Vinicius Junior pays back Zidane’s faith

“He's 19 and we have to be patient with him. He must be ambitious. We have 25 players and when some of them are not in the squad it's because there are a lot of important players. All of those players should be playing more”:  Now this is what Zinedine Zidane said on Saturday, before omitting Vinicius for the match against Valladolid.

The Brazilian youngster arrived in Santiago Bernabeu with a lot of expectations. Whenever he had been given the opportunity, Vinicius impressed with his pace, agility and dribbling abilities, but in clubs like Real Madrid such things are not enough, but scoring goals and help in win matches matter more. But the Real Madrid coach Zidane is someone, who does not come to a conclusion so easily but wishes to invest more faith in his boys.

The next mission of Los Blancos was against Real Zaragoza in the Round of 16 of Copa del Ray. Zidane decided to give Vinicius another opportunity so that he could prove his worth.  In his first season in Spain, in three Copa games Vinicius managed two goals and four assists, but since then has only started in four out of 29 games played.

In Zidane’s rotation policy, Vinicius featured in last weekend's league game against Unionistas where he played full 90 minutes. The match against Zaragoza would be a stifling test for the young Brazilian. He needed a sparkling display to cement his place in the main XI.

Real Madrid won the match and advanced to the next round. Toni Kroos ran the show from the word go and the next player who impressed Zidane and Real Madrid officials alongside Raphael Varane and Lucas Vazquez was none but Vinicius Junior. He worked tirelessly throughout the match and apart from his usual pace and skill; his defensive prowess caught the attention of everyone. He completed 4 tackles and proved to be a continuous nuisance for Zaragoza full-back Delma. Now that shows, how determined the boy is to prove his worth.

Then he scored the third goal.

In the 71st minute, the 19-year old charged at Zaragoza’s defence before playing a tidy one-two with James Rodriguez, the Brazilian picked the ball back up in the box and effortlessly lobbed it over the keeper. It was a delicate finish and the one, which Vinicius needed to boost his confidence and payback Zidane’s faith.

Zidane was impressed and Vinicius has kept the hopes alive to receive another opportunity.   

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 30/01/2020 Vinicius Junior pays back Zidane’s faith

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Faisal Caesar

South Africa: A false dawn?

The fourth Test at Johannesburg was Vernon Philander’s last affair in white clothes. The mighty warrior from South Africa had been one of the most loved and adored cricketers across the country for more than a decade. He was a master both with the old and new ball – length ball, outswing, inswing, and late swing; all just came out one after another whenever the Proteas needed them. Most of the time, Big Vern came out as the ultimate winners despite the big boys like Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn around. He was the underrated legend among the legends in his team – but always more committed than some of the legends.  

Like all great cricketers, Philander wanted to finish his Test career on a winning note in front of his home crowd, but in the end, things did not go the way Big Vern wished for. Life is strange. Not all can have the privilege to taste such sweet moments. Big Vern might not have that slice of luck, but in the end, he would always be remembered as one of the best pace bowlers South Africa have ever produced.

Big Vern’s wish of a dream farewell could have been fulfilled if the South African batting line-up did not display a spineless effort with the bat. In the first Test, their batters and bowlers exhibited a lot of heart and hinted that a new sun of hope was rising above the Mountains of this Rainbow Nation. But suddenly, the victory seemed to be a false dawn. The Proteas unit gave us the impression that there are still of lot of hard work to be done to bring the train back on the right track.

Anrich Nortje remained the only bright spot amid a disastrous display. He bowled with extreme pace and always clocked around 140 km/hour throughout the four Tests.  Not only that, his ability to bowl in long-spells hinted he could exhibit the stamina when the chips are down. Moreover, his temperament with the bat also put some of the top-order batters in shame.  The intent to occupy the crease and solid defence against spin-bowling, only indicated that he is the future package, which South Africa would need.

But they would need more of them to bring back the golden days. The Test temperament is hugely missing. While England showed more patience with the bat under pressure, the South African batters melted easily – the tendency to execute false strokes at a higher rate totally undermined the whole unit. But as a matter of fact, South Africa have a very good if not the best batters around, who could have shined if they displayed a bit more intent – the intent to leave the ball and rotate the strike with composure. These are basics, which at times even the best tend to forget. The South African batters just need to work cash in and work on building up their patience.

Above all, the captain needs to lead from the front. The lean-patch of Faf du Plessis undermined the whole unit more. He seems to be losing his intent and thus, failed to deliver consistently. A third successive Test defeat is not what you expect from a legendary figure like Faf, but it happened, and surely, his time is coming to an end.    

In the end, England remain dominant in South Africa, while it was a series to forget for the Rainbow Nation. But this is not the end of the world. All seemed to be a false dawn, but better days might be around the corner. One needs to have patience and faith.  

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 28/01/2020 South Africa: A false dawn?  

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Faisal Caesar 

Gabriel Martinelli is making his presence felt in Premier League

On September 8, 2018, at the age of 17, the boy from Sao Paolo, Gabriel Martinelli scored his first ever senior goal against Taboão da Serra for the year’s Copa Paulista. He was promoted to the senior side for the Compenato Paulista he following year and smashed six goals to become the club’s top scorer.  Martinelli started his career in 2010, playing for Corinthians' futsal team. After making the breakthrough in football fields, he moved to Ituano in 2015, having subsequent trials at Manchester United and Barcelona.

The scouts of top European clubs were tracking him because of his eye for goal, brilliance in the air and the ability to create individual moments, when the chips are down. In the end, Martinelli a long term contract with Premier League club Arsenal on July 2, 2019. He scored a goal on his non-competitive debut, in a 3–0 pre-season victory against the Colorado Rapids.

Martinelli made his Premier League debut on 11 August 2019 against Newcastle United, coming on in the 84th minute as a substitute for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

On 24 September, Martinelli scored a brace on his first competitive start for the club in a 5–0 victory over Championship side Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup. Martinelli opened and closed the scoring. He made his second start for Arsenal in a 4–0 home win over Standard Liege in the UEFA Europa League, in which he scored another brace.  Martinelli also created his first assist of the season by setting up Arsenal's fourth goal, which was scored by Dani Ceballos.  Martinelli kept up his goal-scoring form, netting the equalizer in a 3–2 home win over Vitória Guimarães, with yet another header.

In the League Cup’s fourth round, Martinelli registered yet another brace in a thrilling 5–5 draw with Liverpool. Martinelli also scored his penalty in the penalty shootout, which Arsenal eventually lost. As a result, Martinelli became the highest-scoring teenager for a top-five European league club, netting 7 goals in 7 appearances in all competitions. He also became the first player to score 4 times in his first four starts since Ian Wright.  Martinelli's performance received praise from Liverpool manager Jürgen Jurgen Klopp, who labeled him 'talent of the century'.

When someone like Klopp praises you then certainly, you need to think how special Martinelli could be. Klopp would be delighted to witness Martinelli’s performance against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last night.

How about that equalizer in the 63rd minute?

The Blues were leading by 1-0 and the Gunners needed a charismatic moment to come back into the game. Martinelli picked the ball from outside the penalty area of Arsenal and started off a solo-run to unleash the memories of Diego Maradona, Said Al Owairan and Roberto Baggio solo-goals. The defenders of Blues were outclassed one after another and the last man, who was beaten had been one of the best defensive midfielders in world – N’golo Kante. Martinelli kept on running until he beat Kepa and leveled the score.

In the end, a 10-men Arsenal held on to a draw against Chelsea, but Martinelli is the talk of the town. The teenager hit double figure for the season – the first teenager since the French talent Nicolas Anelka.

The Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had been in all praise for the Brazilian kid.

“He’s an 18-year-old kid with all the enthusiasm but as well, he’s so brave to make decisions, to threaten the opponent every time”.

“The fact he hasn’t played 90 minutes for a while – since his injury – but is still in the way he went about every single action is impressive.”

Even his teammate, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang took to Twitter to praise Martinelli, while Ian Wright referenced his movement, sharpness and ability in the box.

An 80-yard magical run ended in style!

It was a mind-blowing goal, which redefined greatness. The forecast of an upcoming talent, which looks bright for Gunners and Brazil. For a long time, Brazil are searching for such a center-forward, who could be versatile in creating opportunities and scoring goals – most importantly, gifting moments of individual brilliance, which Brazil are in ned right now. 

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 22/01/2020 Gabriel Martinelli is making his presence felt in Premier League

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Faisal Caesar

Top order batsmen let South Africa down

Once upon a time the Bangladesh cricket team’s tail-enders used to fight better than the top-order. It was during those days when Bangladesh were awarded a premature Test status. Their inexperienced top-order batters succumbed easily, but surprisingly, the lower-order, despite being novices in Test arena, fought better to earn the accolades. All of a sudden, one could find a similarity between that Bangladesh batting line-up and this South African batting line-up at Port Elizabeth. 

Since that inspiring victory in the first Test, suddenly, South Africa are experiencing a bad-patch and shutting the doors of hope – the hope of a come back strongly. Maybe it s too early to give up on the new set up, but the prognosis has not been that good in the last two Tests and that is where frustrations creep in.

In the first and second innings, the South African top-order surrendered to the spin bowling of Dom Bess and Joe Root respectively. Dom Bess is a good bowler, who can be better, but still, he is not that customer to create havoc in a batting line-up. Neither Joe Root is that sort of a bowler. But it was the lack of trust in defence, which led to their downfall.

Meanwhile, the likes of Nortje, Keshav Maharaj and Dane Peterson showed how to bat on the Port Elizabeth deck. The Port Elizabeth track would get tougher to bat on with the progress of the day, but surely, the possibility of turning into a Mumbai or Galle was less. If a batsman show resilience, he would be able to script a long innings. Sadly, the Proteas top-order batters were too poor technically and temperamentally. It cost them the Test. England won’t mind though. The World Champions in ODI cricket are celebrating the back-to-back victories despite a poor start.  

Note: This post has been published at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 20/01/2020 Top order batsmen let South Africa down

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Faisal Caesar

Real Madrid outweigh Atletico Madrid, yet again

When the occasion big and Atletico Madrid are the opposition, Real Madrid just can’t let the trophy slip away. Even if few minutes are remaining for the final whistle, Real would make a dramatic comeback to sink Diego Simeone’s men. Of Course the big man, Zinedine Zidane cannot lose trophies, but he is habituated to win those - his first trophy since the 2017-18 Champions League and his boss hope it's the first of many more.

This was the first title of Zidane's second stint as Madrid boss - the first returning three straight Champions League wins - but Perez is confident the Frenchman is ready to deliver further success.

Florentino Perez said, “[Zidane] has plenty of trophies and we're very happy for him. I hope that he wins more trophies. Zidane has a loving relationship with Real Madrid. He decided to rest for a year and now he's returned with renewed energy. Zidane is a blessing from heaven”.

Real Madrid came to Saudi Arabia with some of their best players: Eden Hazard, Karim Benzema, and Gareth Bale and thus, it was a tough ask for the Frenchman to get the team going in right direction despite the absence of those players, especially Benzema, who has been a goal-scoring machine for the last two seasons for Los Blancos.

Zidane opted to go for five midfielders, which would be an ideal blend of youth and experience and in each match, it turned out that Casemiro and Fede Valverde were providing the much-needed fuel to the engine from the back. Last night, Fede Valverde displayed his masterclass and hinted why is he rated so highly by the critics! Atleti packed the spaces and still, Valverde created spaces to trigger some offensive plays.

Atleti were a hard nut to crack. They noticed in the match against Valencia, how Casemiro and Kroos motored the ship from midfield and thus pressed them more and, which ultimately halted Real’s action from midfield to counter when Atleti advanced – Real failed to enter into the final third phase. Luka Modric provided some space to breathe, but it was still not enough.

Zidane wanted more dynamism. He brought on Rodrygo Goes and it aided Real to enter the final third better than the first half - Rodrygo was more prevalent around Atletico’s penalty area, and it was his through-ball to Jovic which ultimately led to Fede missing a sitter. Rodrygo was effective during the transition. But the goals were not coming and the game went into extra-time. Zidane brought on Vinicius Junior, but like his Brazilian teammate, his fresh legs failed to create an impact.

Thibaut Courtois misjudged a corner kick, the ball fell to Morata, whose bicycle kick was saved by Courtois – a close-shave.In the 110th minute, Modric found Mariano on a through-ball. Mariano then cut it back to Modric, whose shot was saved by Oblak. The ball fell to Mariano again on the rebound — but his shot was saved by Oblak. A big chance went begging.

Real Madrid took a telling blow when Valverde was sent off in the 115th minute. Morata found space. Just as he was about to take his chance, Fede lunges in from behind and took Morata’s legs out. Red card. It was an ugly tackle and the decision was right.

The boy was playing so well and the way Simeone’s boys stranglehold Real throughout the match, Valverede’s sent off was like a danger sign as in the last minutes, Atleti’s counter specialists could hit the nail on the head against a 10-men Real Madrid. As a matter of fact, Fede had nothing to do at that point, but went for that tackle. Otherwise, Morata could have ended the match at that point of time.

But the game went to a penalty shootout and it was time for Thibaut Courtois to showcase his masterclass.

Throughout the match, Courtois and Jan Oblak had been brilliant to weather the storm – in set-pieces they were unbeatable. Courtois has saved 9 of the 11 shots on target he has faced in the 2020 Supercopa, including one in the penalty shoot-out.

 During the spot-kicks, it was Courtois, who triumphed. Courtois saved one penalty while Saul hit the post on another. Carvajal, Rodrygo, Modric, and Ramos all scored their penalties — eliminating the need for a fifth penalty kick.

 At the start of this season, huge question marks hung over Courtois, who was even dropped for reserve Alphonse Areola earlier in the campaign. But now, Courtois has been a fundamental part of Madrid’s swing in form.

Real start the year with a trophy and such a triumph hinting of better times in the future.

Note: This article has been posted in Cricketsoccer on 13/01/2020 Real Madrid outweigh Atletico Madrid, yet again 

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Faisal Caesar