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DHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, July 8, 2014 DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, June 16, 2014
13 Germany gets tips to beat Brazil
14 Krul unapologetic on gamesmanship
Sport
15 Joachim Loew’s big Brazil test
A bolt from the blue for Shakib al Hasan n Mazhar Uddin It was rather a tense day for Shakib al Hasan as the main agenda at the board meeting which took place at the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) headquarters yesterday centred around recent controversies stirred by the star cricketer. Just when BCB supremo Nazmul Hasan was about to brief the media, Shakib received a phone call at the dressing room and within a fraction of a second, the brightness drained from his face. Following the announcement of the six-month ban, the news had gone viral and the media was looking for the controversial star for his instant reaction as the national side had just finished their gym session at the home of cricket. It was learned that Shakib did not talk with any of his teammates at the dressing room and was busy packing his training bag. The dejected 27-year old cricketer did not even come out of the dressing room like the other national players.
Shakib was sitting all alone as most of the waiting journalists left the premises after some time. Finally Shakib exited the dressing room and headed towards his car where some of the journalists tried to talk with him but he waved away the requests saying he did not want to make any comment. However, he did not appear sad. According to his close friends, Shakib did not expect such punishment against him and was heavily shocked as he was anticipating a potentially heavy fine after meeting with the board president earlier yesterday. The premier Bangladesh all-rounder was suspended from all types of cricket for six months and he will not obtain any No-Objection Certificate till December 31, 2015. Shakib will be missing the next two international series against the Windies at their background and against Zimbabwe at home along with the Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 in the West Indies, the Big Bash T20 in Australia, the Indian Premier League and the Friends Life T20 in England.l
SIX MONTHS OF SHAKIB’S ANTICS December 26, 2013 Caught collar of a spectator at Sylhet Divisional Stadium during a Twenty20 cricket tournament. February 29, 2014 Lewd gesture on national television during an international game, resulting in a three-match suspension. June 16, 2014 Altercation with a spectator during the first ODI against India at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. July 4, 2014 BCB orders him to return to Dhaka for not taking No-Objection Certificate for the Caribbean Premier League Twenty20. It was also revealed that he had misbehaved with national head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and threatened to quit Tests and ODIs for Bangladesh.
Brazil’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari (C) speaks with his team as they take part in a training session at the Granja Comary training complex in Teresopolis yesterday AFP
Di Stefano dies aged 88 n AFP, Madrid
Prescience in Oranje The demise of conventional wisdom 1. Ever since the last quarter final, and what horribly boring affairs both the games that night were, we have been hearing ad nauseam about how Louis Van Gaal is the greatest footballing genius to have walked the Earth since Sir Alex Ferguson. As you can guess, most of these encomiums have been composed by Manchester United fans. The Dutch themselves don’t seem to be all that impressed by their soon to be ex-coach. However, while it appalls me to agree with anything Red Devil rooters say, write, do, or eat, I find myself unable to differ regarding the tall oranje gaffer. The three people who read my column know that I have grown a certain fondness for lists recently. Among other things, these lists obviate the need for cohesive and engaging paragraph construction, which is always my greatest challenge. And though too much of a good thing is often bad, I cannot resist making one final list. So here are my top-seven reasons why Louis Van Gaal is the most brilliant footballing mind since Zeus.
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Wesley Sneijder. Lesser minds think that the Dutch number 10’s last minute strike against Mexico was a miraculous jailbreak. They could not be more wrong. Louis Van Gaal had conceived this tactical coup de tat back in 1985, while watching Rocky 3. Van Gaal realized from Rocky’s victory against Klubber Lange that if you suddenly punch back very late in the game, a superior opponent gets discombobulated and loses the plot. So he deliberately told Wesley to hold off on scoring till all seemed lost. An earlier equalizer might have left time for a Mexico win. Arjen Robben. Conventional wisdom is that if you dive a lot then referees are unlikely to be sympathetic to your case. Van Gaal, on the other hand, realized that Robben’s flailing fish out of water dives are so darn ugly that if he kept diving the referee would ultimately reward a penalty just to make him stop. Mile Jedinak and Tim Cahill. Australia’s two goals against the Netherlands was pure Van Gaal magic. There is a saying in Bengali that he who goes
Brazilians in search of Amarildo Mahmood from Belo n Raihan Horizonte, Brazil The streets of Belo Horizonte were busy with their typical businesses at the start of the week but the “Rodoviaria Centro” or the central bus station is buzzing with passengers as the Brazilian football fans have started to arrive in the city to witness the eagerly awaited World Cup semifinal against Germany today. Hotels near the bus station are already filled up with the latest arrivals going to different locations. The Brazilians are trying to draw inspiration from the 1962 and 2002 World Cups. In 1962 Pele was ruled out of the tournament while in 2002 Ronaldinho was suspended for the semifinals but on both occasions, Brazil ended their campaign as champions. The current situation more or less resembles with 1962. Pele was injured but a new face, Amarildo, took his place and played superbly helping Brazil to win the title.
The Brazilian fans are praying for more of the same in the semifinal against Germany. Willian will be hoping to emulate Amarildo as the midfielder has come on as a substitute in all of Brazil’s games so far with the exception of the quarterfinal against Colombia where he did not feature. Still, there are concerns as the 1962 team contained Garrincha and Didi with Garrincha playing as the frontman. Does this team have players of that caliber? Hotel Magnata manager Ricardo Pinheiro gives his opinion, “To be frank nobody is performing outstandingly apart from Neymar. He is not there now. I hope the occasion will produce the hero of the day.” The Brazilian players have the opportunity to draw energy from Neymar’s sacrifice. He has been tremendous for them in the last four years and they owe him a performance full of heart against Germany. l
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first gets eaten by the tiger, and Louis is clearly aware of this piece of South Asian wisdom. He therefore convinced the Australians to take the lead. Once Jedinak scored the second, an Australian defeat was a mere formality. Cesare Prandelli. I was completely confused as to why Prandelli had chosen to abandon the approach that worked so well against England and adopt a more defensive strategy against Costa Rica. Now I know that it was Van Gaal the master motivator who had convinced his fellow European coach to make the suicidal switch. He knew then that it would lead to the Dutch facing Costa Rica, who are much weaker with penalties, in the quarter finals. Grand Masters can visualize many moves ahead. Roy Hodgson. Contrary to popular belief it was not the Liverpool board but Louis Van Gaal who convinced Roy Hodgson to sign a three year contract with the Kop. The move resulted in Liverpool football being pushed back six years, which benefited Van Gaal’s future team, and more importantly Hodgson being sacked a year later. Four years ago Louis Van Gaal had
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figured out that if Hodgson became Liverpool manager, he would go on to coach England. In one fell swoop Louis took care of two potential opponents. Gonzalo Higuain. Only fools believe that Higuain’s goal against Belgium had anything to do with Messi and Sabella. Real pundits can clearly see that the whole point of the Argentine striker finally finding its feet was to give his team a false sense of security against the Netherlands. The SUBSTITUTION. Common sense dictates one to use all three substitutes well before the end of extra-time if his or her team isn’t winning, but then again common sense is a mortal’s resort. Sometime in the early 70s, Van Gaal realized that trying to win against a much weaker opponent during regulation time is a fool’s errand. You have to take the game to penalties, and right before the 120th minute substitute your regular goalkeeper with who has a poor record of penalty saves. You have to then make the latter act like an absolute jackass with opposition players. THAT is a guarantee of knock out round success. Luis Van Gaal, a deity indeed. l
Real Madrid legend Alfredo di Stefano, one of the greatest footballers in history, died in a Spanish hospital on Monday aged 88, the club said. The Argentine-born former striker and honorary president was “the best player of all time”, Real Madrid said. Di Stefano had been taken to hospital after suffering a heart attack on Saturday. Rescuers had battled for 18 minutes to revive the 88-year-old after his heart stopped following a restaurant lunch with his family near Real’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium. He had been taken in a serious condition to the Gregorio Maranon hospital which later said he was in a coma, had been sedated and was breathing with the help of a machine. “Alfredo Di Stefano died today at 5:15 pm” (1515 GMT) at the Gregorio Maranon hospital in the Spanish capital, Real Madrid said in a statement on Monday. “Real Madrid Football club’s president Florentino Perez and the club’s board of directors wish to express their deepest condolences and all their love and affection to his children, his family and friends,” it added. “Real Madrid extends its condolences to its fans around the world and to those who are feeling the emotion of losing the best player of all time.” On Saturday, newspaper El Pais said
Schweini confident of German win
German midfield enforcer Bastian Schweinsteiger, referred to by the Bayern Munich fans as “Fussballgott” or “Football God”, dearly wants to prove that God is not on Brazil’s side by winning the epic semifinal clash against the hosts today. The well-mannered Schweinsteiger was talking to the press at the Estadio Mineirao where he expressed cautious optimism about his team’s triumph. It is mentionable that it was his first appearance before the press since the World Cup kicked off.
The 29-year old midfielder started the presser on a funny note by saying all the German players have been naturally tanned since arriving in Brazil about a month ago. “After 30 days it is great to be in Brazil. You may notice that everyone is a little more tanned. But we are in a contest and I am very happy that we are still in contention. We have noticed that the Brazilian people have the joy of living. We are very happy with the way they are treating us. I had the chance to have contact with the people here (Santa Cruz Cabrália), Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro. We have always been treated very well. All the affection was so great that I wore some shirts of Brazilian clubs given to me such as Bahia, Flamengo and Gremio,” said Schweinsteiger. Schweini had his own answer as to why he attracted the nickname of Football God. “It is difficult to give an answer about me. I can only say that, in Munich, the madness of people is very great to me. It is something I cannot explain why, but it happened. Earlier, I saw the fans idolising former player Carsten Jancker and then it happened to me. The fans who are in the southern curve of the stadium always cry a lot. I think that’s way they love football and that’s what I can say about the love I am flood-
ed with in Germany,” explained Schweinsteiger. Unlike the previous editions of the World Cup where Schweinsteiger was virtually guaranteed a start in every game, he did not play against Portugal in the opening game and only entered the field as a substitute against Ghana in the second group game due to injury problems. “I always want to start every game but I’m experienced enough to understand that the player himself is not important here. What matters is the collective game. There are individual players who make up the team. I’m in good shape, playing 90 minutes in a competitive way,” said Schweinsteiger. Schweinsteiger said Germany are ready to beat the hosts and move to their first final in 12 years. “The team has grown up in terms of maturity. It is now more experienced than the 2010 team, players are more experienced. We have a bench of high quality. Anyone who enters can change the course of the game. There is no discontent or dissatisfaction. All players are fine. We are growing together. People here believe God will help them (Brazil) to win. But we believe our hard work will please Him as we win,” concluded the number-seven jersey holder confidently. l
Di Stefano had been eating with his family when he felt ill and sat down in his wheelchair. By the time an ambulance arrived he was in cardiorespiratory arrest. Di Stefano, who had previously been hospitalised for similar episodes, underwent emergency quadruple heart by-pass surgery after a heart attack in 2005. He was one of Real Madrid’s most celebrated players, having represented the club for 11 seasons between 1953 and 1964, winning five European Cups. Di Stefano was born in Buenos Aires and began his professional career with hometown club River Plate in 1945 before leaving for Colombian outfit Millonarios four years later after the Argentine league ground to a halt following a pay strike. Di Stefano won the Colombian title in his first season before adding the 1951 and 1952 titles to his list of honours but it was his individual displays that attracted the attention of a host of big-name European suitors. l
FIFA reject Brazil Silva plea, Neymar probe n AFP, RIO DE JANEIRO FIFA issued a double snub to World Cup hosts Brazil on Monday, rejecting an appeal for captain Thiago Silva’s semi-final suspension to be overturned and dismissing calls for retrospective action against Colombia defender Juan Camilo Zuniga. A statement from FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee said no action would be taken against Zuniga for his tackle which left Brazil striker Neymar with a tournament-ending back injury. Zuniga could not be punished because the incident had been seen by the match officials at the time, a statement said. A request by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) to rescind Brazil captain Thiago Silva’s yellow card was dismissed because there was “no legal basis” to grant the request, FIFA said. l
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