Sport News And Update

Archive for January, 2010

The 18th World Cup was enjoyable. Behind the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup is the second most universal event. The world unites every four year when the Olympics air, while the world divides every four years when the soccer World Cup airs.

It’s all about pride, glory, and bragging rights as nations compete in the most universal sport. It can be insulting when people from other countries brag about how their country’s team defeated yours! Pride and a love for sport has sparked me to write this as I saw my beloved Australian Socceroos bow out of the World Cup after their best ever result.

Since the World Cup started in 1930 at Uruguay, Australia qualified for the event in 1974 where they lost every match remaining goalless the entire event. Early in 2006, Australia’s streets were empty and there was silence through out the nation as they versed Uruguay for a place in the 2006 World Cup. We qualified for the second time in history after defeating Uruguay in a chair-gripping penalty shoot-out. The silence was shattered as every patriot, sport-loving Aussie, roared in happiness.

Tim Cahill broke Australia’s goalless World Cup history when he scored a double against Japan to lead his country to their first victory in the event. On top of the world, the Socceroos versed Brazil and were defeated 0-2 in what well known sport commentators referred to as a match Australia outplayed the number one soccer nation. After drawing with Croatia and moving into the second round of the World Cup, Australia faced soccer giants Italy.

The second round match kicked off and remained goalless for 92 minutes. In the 92nd minute and 50th second, with 10 seconds remaining in the game, Italian Fabio Grosso dribbled the ball into the penalty box. Australian Lucas Neill went to the ground as he tried to tackle the Italian, but a second later Fabio tripped (or FELL!) over the Australian defender. The referee, who shall remain nameless to preserve what little safety he has left, awarded the free kick. Francesco Totti then made a lovely penalty shot to qualify Italy into the quarter-finals and to remove every Australian’s dream of a World Cup quarter-final birth.

So why have I lectured you on a nation’s soccer history you probably don’t care at all about?

A few days after experiencing my nation’s dramatic soccer loss, I felt hopeless, empty, with a tonne of frustration and anger. I take my international sporting events seriously.

I know I’m being overly expressive about it all, but there are vital life lessons that you need to learn. I was aware of these lessons before experiencing my ‘soccer outburst’ but everyone needs to be frequently reminded of them.

Life, or soccer in my case, gets the better of us most of the time. We let past experiences attach onto our backs and into our minds pulling our current actions and thoughts backwards. Our past experiences hold us back.

What I’m talking about is ‘letting go’ or ‘moving on’.

It is often either a control issue: something bad happened that negatively affects your life and you desire to influence it. You live in a false sense of hope and control wishing or thinking you could have changed the problem.
Or
It is problem focused: the problem persists in your mind causing lingering pain simply because you focus on the problem and it remains until you are able to let it go and move on.

My beloved Socceroos would have faced the control issue. In the last 10 seconds in what has taken over 76 years to happen, a harsh call was made and they were removed from the competition. 39 972 106 minutes had passed since the first World Cup and the last 10 seconds determined the end result. The last 10 seconds! I’d calculated the time since the first World Cup to the penalty shoot because this is essentially the opportunity the Socceroos have had for World Cup success.

Whether the call was right or not is beyond my point here. It is a harsh world. I couldn’t agree more with “the worst thing, will happen at the worst time”. The Socceroos, namely Lucas Neill, would be asking themselves “what if… what if this happened? What if another referee was in the game? What if I had done this?” I guarantee they would have been living in a false sense of control thinking about what they could have done to prevent the loss from occurring by not letting go of history. They are after all, only humans.

I on the other hand, was problem focused. The Socceroos had a superb World Cup and gained the respect as a soccer nation. But no! I complained and whinged for days, unable to move on. Argh! The game was 0-0 until the last 10 seconds! You can learn not only from my focus on the bad result, but also the pain I endured because I did not let go of the past.

Even if you think it’s funny because I take the World Cup seriously, try and relate to how you dwell on bad results and don’t let go of the past.

There’s no way Australia is going into the quarter-finals so why have a little sulk about it? Remember the saying “there’s no point crying over spilt milk”? I’m sure you would have heard of the saying before but we let our emotions overpower our logic, dominating our commonsense that history cannot be changed. Heck, I know this well and truly yet Australia bowing out of the World Cup infuriated me for days. We all need to be frequently reminded that history is exactly history. Nothing can be done about the past.

What you do need to take from the past is the lessons you learn. It would be foolish to make a mistake, endure the pain, and learn nothing from it to prevent the same problem from occurring again. I’m sure the Socceroos and all other soccer nations have learned from their World Cup experience.

What you don’t need is to take the past with you by not letting go. An examples is not forgiving someone for the pain they’ve caused you. You are willing to cling onto the unhappiness and pain of a past problem by not forgiving the person that hurt you.

You live in truth and happiness by accepting what you can currently control through living in the present and letting go of the past. Nothing good happens with an unhealthy bondage to past negative events.

It’s time to let go of the past that’s been holding you back from living a full and happy life. Don’t be afraid or lazy to comeback and read this as you’re guaranteed to let your emotions dominate your logic and let the past control your happiness again and again. Let go of the past and live in happiness.

I’m now happy for Italy and congratulate them in qualifying for the quarter-finals. The worst possible call from an Aussie’s point of view was made at the worst time. The Socceroos didn’t make it and I accept that. Well done Italy.

History has always had the capacity to fascinate people with numerous breathtaking and awesome moments. Cricket world cup history is no exception to this and contains an illustrious past about the origin of the game, about those golden moments on the field and also about brilliant performances by players with the bat, ball or both.

World cup cricket history has been a witness to so many momentous cricketing occasions on the field, and going over all these again gives one a wonderful feeling. Fans who follow the game seriously know what it means to be able to relive those golden moments and cherish those wonderful moments.

Till date eight world cup events has been held and almost all these events have thrown up surprises. One can know about this by taking a peek to the world cup history. World cup is one of the most important events held in the cricket world. And it this coveted title that each team aims to win during the course of the tournament.

World cup history informs 1975 as the year when the first world cup was played. The game was played in England and a total of 8 teams participated in that event. Then, East Africa and Sri Lanka were the qualifiers, who were also known as minnows in cricketing terms. West Indies were the winners for the first even world cup recorded in world cup history. They defeated Australia by a small margin of 17 runs in the final played at Lords.

The next world cup recorded in world cup history took place in the year 1979 and again the event was hosted by England. This time also eight teams took part in the tournament and this time the minnow teams were Canada and Sri Lanka. The format which was in place for the tournament for the first world cup was followed here also. West Indies won the event for the second time in row. This time they best hosts England in the finals at Lords.

In 1983, England hosted the world cup tournament once again. This is the only instance in world cup history where the event was hosted by one country three times in a row. Till date, this has never happened again in world cup history. This time there was a surprise winner and for the first time in world cup history West Indies were defeated in the finals yet again played at Lords. In a low scoring game, they were defeated by the Indian team led by Kapil Dev. In India’s cricket and world cup history, this victory is considered as one of the major landmarks.

In 1987, for the first time in the history of the world cup, the vent was held outside England, the event was jointly hosted by India and Pakistan. This time it was Australia who won this event and the West India dominance we beginning to decline little by little. The next world cup in the year 1992 was jointly hosted by New Zealand and Australia. Pakistan beat England in the finals at MCC by 22 runs to win the title. Never in world cup history have England won the title, despite being known as the land where cricket first originated.

The 1996 world cup was jointly hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This time Sri Lanka was the surprise winners as they beat Australia in the finals. This was the first instance in world cup history when a team batting second won the trophy. Subsequent world cup were held in England and South Africa in the year 2000 and 2003 respectively. In 2000 Australia won the event for a second time by beating Pakistan in the finals. Again 2003, Australia won the world cup finals, this time by beating India in the finals by a whooping margin of 125 runs. For the first time in world cup history a team had won the world cup thrice.

The next world cup is scheduled to be held in West Indies in the year 2007. As usual, cricket pundits and critics have started predicting who will win and who will not. Australia would love to score a hatrick by winning the tournament three times in a row. However, only time will tell who will emerge as champions and who will not?

Cricket score is all the more important for cricket fans, as it tells them the exact and the updated situation of a particular team that is playing. The knowledge of something is quite important and if it is related to the world cup, then it is even more necessary for cricket enthusiasts. World cup is one of the biggest tournaments in the field of cricket. Every cricketer would dream of winning the world cup trophy and for this, they really sweat out on the net practice sessions. World cup is one such tournament that is the main aim of every team and the fans have an eye on the performance of their favorites.

Since the importance of world cup is high on the cards, World Cup cricket Score has the same value. Everyone does not have the chance of catching the live action of world cup. It is at this point of time that world cup cricket score is being checked out. World cup cricket score is mandatory to know the ongoing situation of a match. Just think that you are not being updated on the performance of batsman or bowler. This would become really intolerable that you are not kept abreast of world cup cricket score. It is quite obvious that if you are an ardent cricket fan, then you won’t be at ease if you are not able to know the world cup cricket score.

There are many aspects of the cricket field that you can get to know with world cup cricket score. With world cup cricket score you get to know the runs that have been scored by the batsmen. Well, knowing about the runs is important for the cricket fanatics because like this they will be able to know that the level on which their favorite player is standing. Apart from this, you will also be able to know the number of balls that have been bowled. It is necessary to know all these things because you will be able to analyze the proper side of the ongoing match.

It is not just the bowling or batting aspects to the world cup cricket score, there is more to it. In fact, you will be able to know the average on which the runs are scored and the average on which the runs have been given per over. World cup cricket score is the face of the entire tournament and can raise certain topics of discussion. Say, if a bowler has bowled so well and have taken maximum wickets, then the world cup cricket score can raise a discussion over his performance and average. On the other side of the scene, even a poor performance of the batsman can raise questions over his place in the team.

Numerous cricket dedicated sites have been providing the latest and updated information on world cup cricket score. It is for those people, who are not lucky enough to catch the live action on television or at stadiums. It is not just a mere game for them, but a feeling that has got a touch of emotions too. Every other site has to be slightly cautious about this thing because they are catering to the interests of the special class of cricket fans and everything has to be updated.

Cricket world cup teams that are taking part in the world cup 2007 have a very tough task in hand. The world cup is one tournament that every test playing nation eagerly looks forward to win. After all, this is the chance for all cricket WorldCup Teams to prove to the rest of the world that they are the champions on the field. The cricket world cup teams participating in the event this year have been preparing for this event in their own unique ways.

Cricket as a game has a wide following among fans, and the numbers of fans are steadily increasing. The World Cup which will be held in the West Indies in 2007 is organized by ICC or International Cricket council. The event is held after every four years and the idea behind is to find out the team that is best in the world. Like all other sport, cricket too is a sport where one can find extremely good teams and also teams that are not so good. These teams are known as minnows.

The history of cricket WorldCup Teams that are participating in the world cup has been a witness to strong teams losing to the so called minnows. What many of the strong cricket world cup teams will have to take care is the fact that they are never caught unawares. The teams should treat each match as an import step towards their quest for wining the cup. They should play each match with a full strength team, unless they have some players with serious injuries.

All cricket WorldCup Teams have a lot at stake and this is the best platform for them to prove to their critics that they are the best. For certain players of cricket world cup teams; this will be their last world cup appearance. It is needless to say that they would like to finish their world cup campaign on a winning note and that too with a big bang. Some world cup teams have been trying various combinations in the matches that they are playing prior to the world cup, in the quest for getting the combo of those perfect eleven players.

Whatever experiments that the cricket world cup teams are doing must be accomplished rather quickly if they want to win the cup. The date for the West Indies World Cup 2007 is fast approaching and all team needs to settle everything before that. While some teams have plenty of talented players and are finding it difficult whom to choose and who to leave behind, some teams are also plagued with injury problems. They are not being able to select the best combination, due to injury concerns.

cricket WorldCup Teams must take care that they reach West Indies a few days before the tournament actually starts. Well, the players need to acclimatize to the conditions and the weather there if they want to have a realistic chance of being successful in the tournament and lifting the cricket world cup. After all, who does not like to be called world champions and prove to the world that they are indeed the best among all the cricket world cup teams?

There is different charm altogether of cricket world cup, after all this event happens after every four years. Being part of cricket world cup is most flourished desire of a cricket fan. What a wonderful thing it would be to a fan if this comes true. Fantasy cricket world cup is such a fantastic medium to fulfill dream of playing cricket by own will. For playing fantasy cricket world cup, you don’t need to go to any ground. You just require an internet-enabled computer and the desire to participate and play. Fantasy cricket world cup fills fans with the enthusiasm, action and emotion of a real world cup.

The websites providing fantasy cricket world cup are innumerable. You need to hunt those websites giving chance to play fantasy cricket world cup. After searching that website, you get yourself registered to become a member to play the game. Each websites has its own rules for fantasy cricket world cup . That attracts even non-cricket lover to play the game as the rules are easy and simple to follow.

There are certain rules followed for selection of players to take part and play fantasy cricket world cup. Points are allotted to players depending on their performances on the field. The points allocated to a player are determined by the contribution of performances in team. The points in the game are scored from actual performance of player in world cup. Fantasy cricket world cup is based on similar format on which the world cup takes place.

There are as many countries in fantasy cricket world cup as those participating in world cup. Each team will have 11 members comprising 5 batsman, 4 bowlers, one all rounder and a wicket keeper. The selection of players must be with the aim of balancing and maintaining the whole team. You have to select 11 cricketers from international cricket squads taking part in the world cup. Fantasy points are scored according to how the players in your team perform in real life.

The team, which accumulates the highest points, will be declared winner. The actual performance on the field will determine the fate of fantasy cricket world cup. There are good chances of wining massive prizes in game. You need to be cautious to select players. You should not be swayed by big names of cricketing world. That can prove a burden in your victory. You must concentrate choosing players of current form.

It can be a good experience for those fans who dream of selecting their own players to play on the field. They have full authority of selecting players from all the teams of the world. They can view it with full enthusiasm and see how their favorite stars are performing on the field. Fantasy cricket world cup takes fans on a ride of thrills and excitement. Being a part of fantasy cricket world cup will be a unique experience for fans. So fans must makes sure that they play the game at least one to get a feel of the real thing.