The World Cup Diaries; Russia In Scope

Profiling Of The Stadia Cont’d

Nizhny Novgorod Stadium

 

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Located at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Oka, the stadium is designed to resemble the waters surrounding it and has a striking patch of  blue and white mosaic patterns at the roofing. Still yet to be completed, construction should be finished this year but there was a setback in October last year when a fire broke out after a welding spark ignited some polystyrene debris.The organisers insist the fire won’t affect construction schedules. The 45,000 seater edifice would therefore be ready in time to host the tournament. Matches to be played in this stadium are;

18 June 2018 15:00 – Sweden vs Korea Republic – Group F
21 June 2018 21:00 – Argentina vs Croatia – Group D
24 June 2018 15:00 – England vs Panama – Group G
27 June 2018 21:00 – Switzerland vs Costa Rica – Group E
1 July 2018 21:00 –  Round of 16
6 July 2018 17:00  – Quarter Final

 

 

Spartak Stadium, Moscow

 

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Also a 43,000 seater, the Spartak Arena, the other stadium located in Russia’s capital was opened in 2014 and is home to Moscow club, Spartak Moscow. The statue of the Thracian gladiator Spartacus, situated in front of the stadium, will be the most fascinating sight for visitors here. The arena’s exterior is a strikingly diamond-patterned in Spartak’s red and white making it a beautiful sight to behold. The stadium was one of a few that was used in the Confederations cup. The Stadium would play host to these games;

16 June 2018 16:00 – Argentina vs Iceland – Group D
19 June 2018 15:00 – Poland vs Senegal – Group H
23 June 2018 15:00 – Belgium vs Tunisia – Group B
26 June 2018 17:00 – Serbia vs Brazil – Group C
3 July 2018 21:00 – Round of 16

 

Kaliningrad Stadium

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Built in the heart of Kaliningrad on an Island called Oktyabrysky, squeezed in between Poland and Lithuania, with an impressive stadium whose concept was originally based on the Allianz Arena. It is the smallest venue in terms of seating capacity with just a little over 35,000 seats. The stadium is also one that is a little behind schedule but authorities have said that the edifice would be ready in time for the showpiece in June. Matches to be played here are;

16 June 2018 21:00 – Croatia vs Nigeria – Group D
22 June 2018 20:00 – Serbia vs Switzerland – Group E
25 June 2018 20:00 – Spain vs Morocco – Group B
28 June 2018 20:00 – England vs Belgium – Group G

Rostov Arena

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Situated on the banks of the River Don, this is another brand new facility and one that – like several of its peers – has suffered a few false starts.  Home to local football club, FC Rostov, the stadium is designed also to accommodate over 45,000 fans. The plans for Rostov Arena were downsized after original projections were judged to have overreached. It was originally designed to be a modern, teardrop-shaped venue that promised to be unique. Eventually spiralling costs cut short the investments allocated to the Rostov Arena. However, the downgraded version is fine but will have little to really distinguish it from the rest apart from the fact that its roof was designed to resemble the wavy surface of a flowing river. Matches to be played at this Arena are;

17 June 2018 21:00 – Brazil vs Switzerland – Group E
20 June 2018 18:00 – Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia – Group A
23 June 2018 21:00 – Korea Republic vs Mexico – Group F
26 June 2018 21:00 – Iceland vs Croatia – Group D
2 July 2018 21:00 – Round of 16

 

 

Samara Arena

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Located in Samara, a town proud of its history as the primary hub for the Soviet space program. Also a 45,000 seater, the Samara stadium has been riddled with delays, while costs have soared and by mid-2015 it was already more than €40m over its original budget. That contributed to a change of constructor in early 2016. A number of tweaks to the original plan – including a downscaling of the dome, intended to be 80m high – had to be made to cut costs and prevent it falling further behind schedule. Again, work is in earnest and the project almost done. Matches to be played here are;

17 June 2018 16:00 – Costa Rica vs Serbia – Group E
21 June 2018 19:00 – Denmark vs Australia – Group C
25 June 2018 18:00 – Uruguay vs Russia – Group A
28 June 2018 18:00 – Senegal vs Colombia – Group H
2 July 2018 18:00 – Round of 16
7 July 2018 18:00 – Quarter Final

 

Mordovia Arena

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The Mordovia Arena is located in Saransk- a small city in the Mordovia region- the smallest among the host cities. It was a surprising choice of venue particularly when a football-loving city such as Krasnodar, located south-west of the Mordovia region, will have an outstanding facility sitting idle next year. Also a little under 45,000 seats, the Mordovia Arena is also slightly behind schedule but will be ready in time as the finishing touches are being applied to the structure. The Arena will host the following matches;

16 June 2018 19:00 – Peru vs Denmark – Group C
19 June 2018 18:00 – Colombia vs Japan – Group H
25 June 2018 21:00 – Iran vs Portugal – Group B
28 June 2018 21:00 – Panama vs Tunisia – Group G

 

Volgograd Stadium

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Newly constructed, but the site on which the stadium stands has a proud history. Here used to stand the Central Stadium, home to Rotor Volgograd (now a 3rd tier club in Russia) and venue for the goalless first leg of their famous UEFA Cup win over Manchester United in 1995.Built with an eye-catching design, it will have a lattice exterior, while the roof is meant to resemble the spokes of a bicycle wheel.It is being built at the foot of the Mamayev Kurgan war memorial, the city’s most iconic landmark. The Stadium will host largely group games just like the Mordovia Arena. The matches the Arena will host are;

18 June 2018 21:00 – Tunisia vs England – Group G
22 June 2018 18:00 – Nigeria vs Iceland – Group D
25 June 2018 17:00 – Saudi Arabia vs Egypt – Group A
28 June 2018 17:00 – Japan vs Poland – Group H

Kazan Arena

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Kazan considers itself Russia’s “sporting capital” and the Kazan Arena is one of an impressive array of stylish and  modern sporting facilities to have sprung up there in recent years. Designed by the same architectural firm that is credited with designing England’s Wembley Stadium and the Emirates stadium in London; home of Arsenal football club, the edifice was designed to fit seamlessly into the environment. An aerial view of the stadium depicts a water lily on the banks of the adjacent Kazanka River. The front of the stadium is dominated by a high definition screen with a total surface area of 3,700 metres, the largest of its kind in the world. The 45,000 seater stadium also hosted the Confederations Cup last summer and passed the trial test gracefully without any hitches. The stadium will host the following matches;

16 June 2018 13:00 – France vs Australia – Group C
20 June 2018 21:00 – Iran vs Spain – Group B
24 June 2018 21:00 – Poland vs Colombia – Group H
27 June 2018 17:00 – Korea Republic vs Germany – Group F
30 June 2018 17:00 –  Round of 16
6 July 2018 21:00 – Quarter Final

 

We begin an in depth preview of all the world cup groups in the next episode of the Russia World Cup diaries.

 

 

 

The World Cup Dairies; Russia In Scope.

Geography and Demographics

Russia(officially known as the Russian Federation) expands across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms.. It is the largest country in the world—slightly less than 1.8 times the size of the United States, with a total area of 17,075,200 sq km (6,592,771 sq mi). Russia shares boundaries with the Arctic Ocean on the North , northern Pacific Ocean on the West , China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia on the South , and the Black Sea, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, Finland on the East with a total land boundary of 19,990 km (12,421 mi) and a coastline of 37,653 km (23,396 mi).

Russia is the ninth most populous country in the world, with over 144 million people as at the end of December 2017.The European western part of the country is much more populated and urbanised than the eastern; about 77% of the population live in European Russia. Russia has 20 cities and boast of large amounts of oil and gas reserves giving them the right to be called a ‘world power’.Russia’s capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world; other major urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod.

Russian is the main official language used in the country. Russia’s 160 ethnic groups speak about 100 languages. According to the 2002 Census, 142.6 million people speak Russian, followed by Tatar with 5.3 million and Ukrainian with 1.8 million speakers. Russian is the only official state language, but the Constitution gives the individual republics the right to establish their own state languages in addition to Russian.

Winning the Bid

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As early as 2009, Russia declared its intention to host either the 2018 tournament or the 2022 tournament and President, Vladmir Putin threw all his weight behind the Russian cause ordering the sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who also served that time as President of the Russian Football Union (RFU), to prepare a bid to host of the tournament. Therefore, bids for the 2018 World Cup included England, Russia, a joint bid from Belgium and Netherlands, and a joint bid from Portugal and Spain. Bids for the 2022 World Cup came from Australia, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, and the United States. Indonesia’s bid was disqualified due to lack of governmental support, and Mexico withdrew its bid for financial reasons.Over the course of the bidding, all non-European bids for the 2018 event were withdrawn, resulting in the exclusion of all European bids from consideration for the 2022 edition. The bidding process involved several controversies. Two members of the FIFA Executive Committee had their voting rights suspended following allegations that they would accept money in exchange for votes. England and Russia’s respective 2018 bids also were subject to controversy after England filed a complaint against a Russian official’s comment, though the complaint was withdrawn following Russia’s apology. More allegations of vote buying arose after Qatar’s win was announced. However, on On 2 December 2010, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced the winning bids at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich. Russia was chosen to host the 2018 World Cup, and Qatar was chosen to host the 2022 World Cup.

Preparations

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Preparations are in earnest towards football’s most prestigious competition.Russia has increased spending on the World Cup by $326 million, state media reported last month, bringing the total cost of hosting the event to over $10 billion. It is $5 billion less than the cost of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and considerably cheaper than the $50 billion it cost to host the Winter Olympics in Sochi. A minimum of twelve 40,000 capacity stadiums in 11 cities are needed to host the tournament, with the final to take place in a stadium seating no less than 80,000. For the first time, Russia will open its borders to foreigners without inspecting a visa especially for World Cup ticket holders. Large fan bases would be cited in each of the 11 host cities to stir up the excitement of the football festivities. A lot of money has been invested into transport, security and accommodation. Most of the stadia are almost complete and Russia look to be on course to host the tournament successfully after hosting the Confederations cup  last year with great success.

The Stadia

As many as ten new stadiums are being built for the football world championships in 2018 bringing the total number of stadia to be used to be 11 hosted in 12 different cities. Kaliningrad, Kazan, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Saransk, Sochi, Volgograd and Ekaterinburg are the eleven cities that will host the football matches come June this year.

 

Saint Petersburg Stadium

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Putin’s hometown stadium is a spectacular edifice  with  a capacity of about 67,000. The cost of the infrastructure is rumoured to be 1.5 billion dollars. After a few delays, the stadium was finally completed in April last year. The stadium is equipped with a retractable roof and a sliding pitch and has a feature which regulates temperatures inside the stadium. Matches to be played in this stadium are;

15 June 2018 17:00 – Morocco vs Iran – Group B
19 June 2018 21:00 – Russia vs Egypt – Group A
22 June 2018 15:00 – Brazil vs Costa Rica – Group E
26 June 2018 21:00 – Nigeria vs Argentina – Group D
3 July 2018 17:00 –  Round of 16
10 July 2018 21:00  – Semi Final
14 July 2018 17:00 –  Third Place

Moscow Arena.

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The Luzhniki Stadium, located in the country’s capital has been around since 1956 and has a long, eventful history that includes hosting the 1980 Olympics, the 1999 Uefa Cup final, the 2008 Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea, and the 2013 World Athletics Championships. The stadium is one of  the stadium that was not built from the scratch but has been refurbished, preserving its historical nature and removing the athletics tracks. Has a capacity of about 80,000 and will host the prestigious final game of the tournament. Matches scheduled to be played here are;

14 June 2018 18:00 – Russia vs Saudi Arabia – Group A
17 June 2018 18:00 – Germany vs Mexico – Group F
20 June 2018 15:00 – Portugal vs Morocco – Group B
26 June 2018 17:00 – Denmark vs France – Group C
1 July 2018 17:00 – Round of 16
11 July 2018 21:00  – Semi Final
15 July 2018 18:00 –  Final

Sochi- Fisht Stadium

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Named after Mount Fisht, the Arena’s roof was designed to resemble a snow capped summit. The 48,000 seater was opened in 2013 and was part of the stadia used in the confederations cup  last year. The matches to be played here would be;

15 June 2018 21:00 – Portugal vs Spain – Group B
18 June 2018 18:00 – Belgium vs Panama – Group G
23 June 2018 18:00 – Germany vs Sweden – Group F
26 June 2018 17:00 – Australia vs Peru – Group C
30 June 2018 21:00 –  Round of 16
7 July 2018 21:00 – Quarter Final

Ekaterinburg Arena.

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It is a year younger than the national stadium in Moscow, dating back to 1957, and is the long-term home of Soviet league stalwarts Uralmash – these days known as FC Ural. The stadium is the other structure among the stadia not to have been built from the scratch. With an honourable 45,000 capacity, the stadium was supposed to have been completed in late 2017 but the delay in designing an appropriate renovation plan without damaging the history of the stadium has cost organizers a lot of time and the stadium is still under construction. Temporary stands have been erected on the opposite sides if the stadium, behind the goal to increase the capacity which used to be a meagre 23,000 and will be taken down after the tournament before FC Ural reclaims its home grounds. Matches to be played here are;

15 June 2018 17:00 – Egypt vs Uruguay – Group A
21 June 2018 17:00 – France vs Peru – Group C
24 June 2018 20:00 – Japan vs Senegal – Group H
27 June 2018 19:00 – Mexico vs Sweden – Group F

 

 

Next week we profile the Kazan Arena, The Nizhny Novgorod Arena, The Rostov Arena, The Samara Arena, The Mordovia Arena in Saransk, The Volgorad stadium and the Spartak stadium in Moscow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mourinho deserves praise, Juventus go top of Serie A, Ronaldo, Bayern, more.

I was very critical of Jose at Anfield last October when he decided to ‘play for a point’ rather than being brave and having a go,and rightly so. This wasn’t entirely the case for the Saturday lunch time clash with Liverpool .United had a very disciplined approach and contained Liverpool for most parts of the game. Liverpool had the lion’s share in possession(no surprises there) but it’s worth noting that Liverpool’s last shot on target in the game came in the 31st minute. These are the games where you need your coaches to put on their thinking caps and earn their money, while counting on the players to show some fight and desire with the little matter of ‘getting one over an old rival’ enough motivation for the men on the pitch. Jose Mourinho has proven beyond doubt in past years that when it comes to reading his opponent (big games especially) and coming up with a way to nullify their threats, he is heads above many in the game and he proved just that on Saturday. Everything in the game showed he knew his opponent very well and it was clear he had an answer to every tactical move the reds had in their books. The sheer similarities in Rashford’s two goals is by no means a fluke and smartly defines a clear attacking plan a coach picked for a game. From the long ball from the goal kick, to Lukaku smartly picking up a challenge against Lovren – rather than the much stronger centre back, Virgil Van Dijk- to Marcus Rashford reacting way faster than young Alexander -Arnold isn’t something that happens coincidentally. Ashley Young, the unsung hero on the day, had the league’s top scorer Mohammed Salah very well under control, with Eric Bailly not allowing anything past him in defence (except that unfortunate error, of course) .Salah in particular had a rather quiet afternoon as The Egyptian was totally shut out and had no impact whatsoever on the game. United were more defensive in the second half (not surprising given they were 2-0 up) and basically asked Liverpool to come at them. Maybe that was the only thing close to a negative in the game and Jose perfectly explained that in his post match conference saying, ” In the first half, we played as the game required of us, scored two goals and in the second half,we adapted to what the game presented”. Coming up against the second best attack in the league with a front three who have scored 66 goals in all competitions this season ,a feat that will require eight United players to match seemed a daunting task but yet again Jose Mourinho sailed through with a plan for the day. Just like a fortnight ago against Chelsea, Jurgen Klopp’s men may argue and feel they didn’t deserve to lose pointing to a few controversial decisions that didn’t go their way. Maybe on another day, they would have got it but there was only one winner in the tactical battle between the two managers and it certainly wasn’t the German.

Juventus go back on top of SERIE A

Paulo Dybala’s double gave Juventus a very important win against Udinese to take them top of SERIE A for the first time since August. Napoli’s 0-0 draw on Saturday meant Juve lead the pack with a point and also a game in hand. It has been a really tough season for Juventus as they struggled to get into full gear but when they did, there was no stopping them. They are yet to concede a league goal since the turn of the year and are now in pole position to go all the way. The character they’ve shown in this period is remarkable against a very strong contender in Napoli who had been top of the table since December. You would also commend their ability to take full advantage of the slips in the last two weeks from Napoli which has seen them grind results to now top the table. Juventus are in for their seventh straight SERIE A title and and you just can’t see it slipping away.

Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo’s brace was enough to see Real Madrid past Eibar in La Liga on Saturday. That was Ronaldo’s 33rd goal in all competitions this season. Two behind Harry Kane and one behind Ciro Immobile, the only two players to have a better goalscoring record this season. With 13 goals in his last 6 games, he looks to be stepping up again at the business end of the season and prove his few silly doubters wrong again. La Liga is all but lost for Madrid now, and the clear priority is the UCL and with the kind of form he is in, you will be naive not to consider them favourites for the trophy and if helped by a good world cup, maybe another Ballon d’or might be on the cards.

Bayern 2 win away from Bundesliga title.

Bayern Munich are two games away from their sixth straight Bundesliga title. A 6-0 win against Hamburg on Saturday saw Bayern edge closer to the title. The season started with Carlo Ancelloti struggling to get them going and eventually falling out with certain key members of his squad. There were moments where everything was way beyond steady in the Bayern camp but it seems whatever problems Bayern could not be compared to the shortcomings of their major challengers as they failed to take advantage. Then Jupp Heynckes came in for his fourth spell with the club and everything returned to normal. Congratulations are in order as two wins in their remaining 8 fixtures is all they need to be crowned champions.

Bonus

The Jamie Carragher Saga

Jamie Carragher has been in the news over the weekend for a rather nasty incident. Carragher, a pundit for skysports on his way from the Old trafford after watching his team endure a frustrating loss to Manchester United, spat in the face of a United fan and her dad. The liverpool legend was caught on camera aiming a mouthful of spittle into the car of the United fan after both cars seemed to be moving side by side. The dad of the girl who recorded the scene on cam stated that Carragher responded to his banter by spitting into the car and into his daughter’s face. The ex liverpool legend has since apologized on phone and both the girl and her dad have accepted the apology duly. Sky sports have not taken it lightly though as they have suspended the ex footballer, now pundit after he was called to the Sky headquarters to explain his actions. Carragher has since apologized in a written statement to the girl and her dad,football fans and his employers.

City getting closer, Arsenal crisis, Deontay, Wilder than ever,more..

5 more wins and City will be crowned champions, 6 more and they break the record for most points recorded in a single premier league season. Pep Guardiola’s men have been head and shoulders above every other team this season and it’s now a question of ‘when’ not ‘if’ they will win the league title. It’s the sort of beautiful, orchestrated and fantastic football that this side is going to be remembered for, with the phrase ‘poetry in motion’ being used many at times to describe the cityzens. However, on Sunday afternoon, it was more of a dominant and controlling display as City bullied Chelsea on the field of play and totally embarrassed them with the football they were playing. The only thing not embarrassing on the day for Chelsea was the scoreline(1-0) and to which Chelsea coach, Antonio Conte surprisingly but honestly admitted, his strategic setup for this game was more of a damage limitation than ‘going for it’. Kante being missing due to illness was a massive blow and City are that good a team to take full advantage of that situation. Chelsea struggled to win the ball in midfield and when they did, City’s defensive organisation and high press coupled with Chelsea’s poor attacking impetus ( mostly due to the bizzare decision to go for a false 9 all game instead of a target man) meant there was no way back for them at all. In the end, City completed 902 passes, which is the most in a premier league game since Opta started recording statistics in 2003 ,with Gundogan also having a record number of 179 passes for a player.

The defeat leaves Chelsea in 5th place, 5 points behind Tottenham Hotspur in 4th place as the race for top 4 and Champions league football intensifies. For City however, it’s onwards and upwards as they march on to a 3rd league title in the last 6 years.

Arsenal Crisis

It keeps getting worse at Arsenal as the gunners once again slumped to another embarrassing defeat. Their third in a week, this time at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion. Anytime you think you have seen the lowest point of the club, they prove you wrong and outdo themselves in that department. The manner in which the defeat came was as embarrassing as the explanation and excuses given by Arsene Wenger in his post match interview. The ‘naked scenario’ excuse was in itself a new low for a man who is gifted in the art of making up extraneous excuses. What this only shows is that, in addition to his poor tactics, archaic strategies and woeful man management of his players, he has also lost his touch on giving ‘brilliant’ excuses. People often hold discussions on ‘What Wenger has/is doing wrong’ but it’s time the topic changed to What he is doing right because at the moment, he looks to be doing practically everything wrong. He has lost the dressing room, The players no longer seem to play for him anymore, the board doesn’t look like they believe in him and even his trusted fans who once were delusional enough to defended him have now turned on him. It has never been about the defeats but the manner of defeats and the lifeless and gutless displays sometimes shown by the team.

The fault isn’t only his as it is very clear most of the players are not fit to wear the jersey of Arsenal football club. From a goalkeeper who is very well past his best, a defender who is an error waiting to happen and a defensive midfielder who cannot tackle. Sadly, the club who once assembled the best team ever in the premier league just 15 years ago, have gone from invincibility to vulnerability. This team that was once characterised as being the best in the country now constantly put up defenseless performances, week after week, game after game.

Everything proves we are nearing the end of the Wenger era as a Europa league victory doesn’t even look likely with a trip to Milan on Thursday looking like a mountain to climb. It’s dark times at the Emirates and even a new manager will struggle to get this side back to their best but it must all begin with one man letting go of his arrogance, ignorance and admitting that it’s time to go.

Barcelona Extend Lead at the Top

Lionel Messi scores his third freekick in as many games as Barcelona strolled to a 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid. He has mastered the art and is now a serial set piece taker along with the numerous qualities he possesses. The victory was important to give the Catalan side some breathing space over their Madrid rivals in second place. All ficus now turns to the champions league with the visit of Chelsea a week away.

The Italian Top 4 Showdown.

In Serie A this weekend, it was an absolutely lip smacking fixture list as the top four clashed in separate games. Leaders Napoli hosted Roma while Juventus faced a big test as they travelled to Lazio. The former was a goal fest in which Roma shocked league leaders, Napoli, after the hosts drew first blood. Roma turned on the heat and scored three goals with Dzeko grabing a brace before Napoli scored to make the score a more respectable one as the game came to an end. Napoli were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal after missing lots of chances. Maurro Sarri will feel dissapointed with his team’s performances and might feel if his team had taken all their chances they would have run away with all three points. Roma however were up for the task and deserved to win the game. The latter, a keenly contested game that saw Paulo Dybala net a dramatic late winner in added time. Lazio were tight at the back and in defence and Juventus barely got a sniff at goal all game with both goalkeepers on top of their game. Lazio were probably preparing to celebrate a hard earned point before Dybala turned his marker with a nutmeg before smashing home as he fell to the ground. Juventus would cherish that goal because it is the goal that heaps enormous pressure on league leaders Napoli, who slipped up against Roma. Juventus are now one point behind with a game in hand and hold a huge advantage over Napoli.

Wilder KOs Ortiz.

Deontay Wilder produced a marvelous display in the 10th round to knockout Luis Ortiz in defence of his WBC world heavyweight defence on Saturday in Brooklyn. Wilder was second best in some key rounds of the bout, especially in round 7 but took the opportunity when it came in the 10th round to knock out the Cuban. He had so much respect for his opponent and deservedly so as he gave him a tough run for his money. The next step is Joshua and when asked after the match, Wilder clearly put the ball in the court of Joshua’s camp as he said he has done all he can to make it happen and it was left with Joshua’s team to do their part. As Joshua himself defends his unified WBO and IBF titles against New Zealand international Joseph Parker later this month ,there is one fight Boxing fans want to see and it is the Joshua -Wilder fight and we can’t wait any longer.

BONUS: DAVIDE ASTORI

The footballing world was stunned yesterday by the news of the demise of Fiorentina Captain, Davide Astori. Fiorentina reported the sad event yesterday in the afternoon in a press release that said; “Fiorentina are profoundly shocked to have to announce the death of captain Davide Astori after a sudden illness” . The midfielder began his career at AC Milan and joined Cagliari in 2008. He spent 8 years at the club and had loan spells at Roma and Fiorentina before he joined the latter permanently in 2016. He made 58 appearances in total for the club. He was capped 14 times by the Italian national team. In view of this, the Sunday fixtures of the Serie A were called off and postponed to a later date to mourn the player. Everyone from the Green Turf Publications sends their condolences to the family, friends of Davide Astori and Eveyone linked with the Fiorentina fraternity.

Avot.