The Goat and The CR7 Were Defeated on the Same Evening in World Cup 2018

 

A night that witnessed a total of 10 goals in the match between France v Argentina (7) and Portugal v Uruguay (3) in the Round of 16, also bid goodbye to the gods of the game with the exit of Argentina and Portugal.

When France v Argentina match was announced, it was expected to be a tough collision with Messi’s retirement rumours.  The evening took a turn for the worst for Argentina camp after Griezmann scored the first goal in just 13 minutes into the game. Argentina enjoyed the possession and had most of the passes done accurately but they had to wait till the 41st minute for the equaliser from Di Maria. A beautiful shot from a distance.

Just 3 minutes in to the second half, Mecardo gave Argentina hope with a lead at 48th minute. But It didn’t last long as Pavard earned a goal for France at the 57th minute. Argentina while trying to get ahead, committed errors that costed them with two consecutive goals from Mbappe at 64th and 68th minute. With a two score lead, the game went to full time but a grace time of 6 minutes was awarded. Messi’s men charged and Ageuro gave a beautiful header that lead to 3 goals in Argentina bag.

The goal was followed by heated arguments between the two teams on field and the referee settled the scene with a booking for Otamendi and Giroud. The final whistle was blow at 90+6 minute, with any hope of Argentina going forward to the Quarter-finals blown away. The players and the fans were devastated.

Now the attention was diverted to the second game of the evening, Portugal v Uruguay. With the reigning champions out in the group stage and Messi’s magic faded in the Round of 16, football fans expected that Rocket Ronaldo will make it through.

Instead, the night had a story of its own to say as Cavani gave the lead to Uruguay by scoring at the 7th minute. Uruguay’s defence was top-notch with the lead going un-challenged throughout the first half.  Portugal has as many as 20 shots in the full game time but only one shot succeed at the 55th minute. A header by Pepe in response to the corner kick. It was an unexpected goal.

Cavani did not spare much time with a beautiful assist from Suarez, he scored a lead at 62nd minute. The match saw desperate attempts by Portugal side and a missed free kick from Ronaldo. The game night ended with 7 minutes of added time, during which a yellow card was awarded to Ronaldo who lost his cool.

As the game night ended, the football fraternity was taken by shock as the gods of the game had fallen on the same night. The next day, saw the exit of the 2010 World Cup champions as Spain was defeated by Russia in penalty shootout with 3-4 score.

What is to see is if Brazil, who is considered to be the most promising team in World Cup 2018, makes it to the Quarter-finals or will it be defeated like the other big teams previously.

 

FIFA Ballon d'Or Ceremony- Date, Time and Live channels

FIFA Headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland will host the grand ceremony today with the participation of former and current players of the footballing world. To bestow upon players awards based on their contribution to the sport. Including the biggest accolade of Ballon d'Or to the best player of the year. Here are the timings and the official channels of Live telecast of the event.

Ballon d'Or Gala begins at-
17:30 UK Time
12:30 ET
16:00 GMT
9:30 IST

Live Broadcast on-
Euro Sports (European Countries & UK)
Fox Sports (USA)
Sky Sports 1 HD (UK)
Star Sports 4, HD (Asian countries)
FIFA Official Youtube channel- https://www.youtube.com/fifa

The three nominees for Ballon d'Or were announced in November itself. As usual the dynamic duo's rivalry continues, since both Messi and Ronaldo have been nominated. While a new entry to the list was made by the 23 year old Brazilian, Neymar Jr.

Messi and Neymar, who are part of the formidable Barcelona front alongside Luis Suarez have had a splendid year with the club winning five big titles in the very year of 2015. The Argentine contributing 48 goals will the witty Brazilian forward making his mark with 41 goals.

On the other hand, Ronaldo had a rather unsteady year with Real Madrid slagging behind their arch-nemesis Barcelona. But the score sheet of this Portuguese forward makes him a very strong contender with a total of 54 goals.

Even though varying rumors have been making rounds that Messi will be the winner, it is only time that could tell.

Will it be Ronaldo's yelp?

Or Messi's magic suit?

Or a new rule will be set by the young & charismatic Neymar?



 

A Sweet Victory For FC Barcelona, One That Would Leave A Sour Taste For Real Madrid

FC Barcelona's 4-0 victory over La Liga rival Real Madrid during the El Clasico on Saturday was quite entertaining and the social media had it's fun with it.

A minute silence was observed in memory of the Paris attacks

On Saturday, at Santiago Bernabeu, the home team got thrashed by the visitors as Luis Suarez scored twice and Neymar and Iniesta also added goals.


Los Blanco's strategy fell apart when Suarez scored in the 10th minute. Their defences were weak and goalkeeper Keylor Navas was left helpless.

Along with Suarez, Neymar and Iniesta added to the scoreboard

Barcelona dominated the possession throughout the game. The Brazilian Forward Neymar who has had an outstanding performance in absence of Messi was the second to score at 38th minute.

The second half was inaugurated by the Benitez band with multiple attemps to get the game back, but Barca goalkeeper Claudio Bravo did a splendid job in tackling those shots. The Spanish midfielder Andres Iniesta was the next to score at 53rd minute.

The Uruguayan then put the game out of R.Madrid's reach by gaining a goal at the 73 minute. With this victory the Catalonian club has a 6-points lead over the Los Merengues.

FC Barcelona Coach Luis Enrique and Real Madrid Coach Rafa Benitez post match

Lossing the game against their eternal rivals has now opened rumors of Coach Rafa Benitez possibly getting sacked. Whether it was his tactics that failed the team or the lack of team effort is still a matter of speculation.

Barca forward Lionel Messi being defended by the French defender Raphael Varane 

Another highlight of the night was that Barca forward Lionel Messi though began the game on bench was brought in at 57th minute.

The last few minutes Real Madrid had to play with ten men as midfielder Isco got sent away for a bad tackle on Neymar.

Chilean goalkeeper gets Ronaldo's classic shot to the face

The hero of the night was undoubtedly the Chilean goalkeeper Bravo who was stretch and pushed to his limits yet came out unfathomed.

WATCH HIGHLIGHTS:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvuzdgyo0GQ

Post match the fans had their fun by trolling Real Madrid on Twitter and other social media site, they are kind of brutal. Some of the images are displayed below.