babbelfootball.blogspot.com: 03/14/20

sábado, 14 de março de 2020

First IPL, now football falls victim to coronavirus in India

All I-League matches suspended until March 31

New Delhi: All I-League matches from March 15 and other football activities, barring the Indian Super League (ISL) final scheduled to take place Saturday evening, have been suspended till March 31 due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said on Saturday.

“Adhering to the advisories issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and directives from several state governments, all footballing activities under the aegis of AIFF stay suspended until March 31, 2020,” said the AIFF in its statement.

“Furthermore, all Hero Second Division, Hero Youth Leagues, Golden Baby Leagues, as well as, National Competitions also stay suspended with immediate effect.”

Earlier on Saturday, the I-League match between Real Kashmir and TRAU FC which was scheduled to be held in Srinagar did not go through. The match was to be held behind closed doors.

On Wednesday, the government had cancelled all visas, except for a few official categories, until April 15 in the wake of the rapidly growing coronavirus cases in the country and across the world.

The Sports Ministry also followed this up by making it clear that all sporting events should be cancelled in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. And if it is unavoidable, the events should be held behind closed doors to avoid mass gatherings.

So far, over 80 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in India and two people have lost their lives due to the disease.

Arabian Gulf League: Al Nasr on the right path, says coach

Jurcic relieved with full points after slender win over Khor Fakkan in AGL

Dubai: Al Nasr coach Krunoslav Jurcic was relieved sighting a better future for his side especially against lower-placed teams in the Arabian Gulf League (AGL).

Now played behind closed doors, Al Nasr had to bank on a 64th-minute goal from Brazilian Glauber Sequeira Lima to pick up full points against the visiting Khor Fakkan late on Friday. Until that strike that goal, the visitors had matched Al Nasr, except for a bleak moment in the 57th minute when substitute Gabriel Valentini Da Silva was denied by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) after a handball inside the area.

But, Al Nasr kept possession – 64 per cent by the final whistle – and got a much-needed goal that handed them full points along with a belief that they can win against so-called weaker teams. This season, Al Nasr has seemingly struggled against such teams.

The men in blue have lost both their home and away encounters against Al Dhafra and Ajman, while also going down by a solitary goal against Bani Yas to stand sixth in the 14-team standings with 31 points. Coach Jurcic – a member of the Croatian national team that won third place at the 1998 Fifa World Cup in France – was aware of his team’s fragility against weaker sides.

“We were aware that this match against Khor Fakkan would be a difficult one for us, simply because we don’t play such opponents who defend stoutly near their box and then bounce on quick counter-attacks. But, tonight we proved we had the patience to wait for that elusive goal, and at the end we have three very important points,” Jurcic said.

“No doubt, we have a problem with this type of teams, and honestly we never had a solution on how to find a way past such a team till our win tonight. The important thing for us is that we have managed to break this trend and find a way to three points that we fully deserved,” he added.

Jurcic, who took over as the Al Nasr coach in mid-season in October last year, has seen his team play entertaining football while notching wins against the bigger teams such as Al Wahda, Al Jazira, and more recently, defending champions Sharjah.

“Patience was the key no doubt, and I am proud of my players as they waited for their chance. We found a way to get the three points and that’s a huge positive at the end of the day for the future,” Jurcic stressed.

Khor Fakkan coach Goran Tufegdzic was not too ruffled at having his team’s five-match unbeaten streak coming to an end. “The loss really doesn’t bother me too much as it is normal to lose a match. I am really happy with the way my players, especially the defence, responded. They showed a lot of discipline, and maybe we should have had a better result tonight,” Tufegdzic said.

“We need to target a better future while learning the lessons of tonight. The main aim, of course, is to remain in the league, and for this to happen, we need to follow this same route. We have another seven matches and that means we have another 21 points to play for. We will continue working towards our goal,” he promised.