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Trinidad and Tobago wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin is hopeful that his strong showing on the domestic circuit will earn him a recall to the national side.”I have been working hard over the last couple of months,” Ramdin told the . “The selectors said that I haven’t been getting runs but so far I scored runs in the middle and I am just waiting for a call.”Ramdin was the third-highest run scorer for T&T in the Regional four-day competition, making 460 runs, at an average of 41.81 with one century from eight games. He was also the leading wicketkeeper in the competition with 27 dismissals.”Any player [who gets dropped] will want to go out there and look to prove himself. I went out there and did it with the gloves. I tried to score 500-600 runs; I fell short by a bit. I think the break was good for me. I came back home and I did a lot of fitness work.”Ramdin, who has played 42 Tests, 81 ODIs and 22 Twenty20 games for West Indies, last featured for them during the home series against South Africa in May-June 2010. He had a disappointing run in that series making 34 runs from five ODIs and 63 runs in three Tests. Ramdin lost his place to Carlton Baugh for West Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka later that year and was also cut from the West Indies’ central contract list. This prompted the T&T board to arrange for Ramdin to work with former West Indies batsman Gordon Greenidge.Ramdin said he had viewed his batting footage from when he was in form and was working on a few things that had helped him. “I am missing it a bit [playing for the West Indies], but I am just waiting and using my time wisely and when I get the opportunity, hopefully, I can play for the next seven or eight years straight.”Ramdin received support from T&T Cricket Board president Azim Bassarath who questioned the wicketkeeper’s exclusion from the national squad despite his strong showing on the domestic circuit. “What more must Denesh Ramdin do to attract the attention of the regional selectors? What more must a cricketer do to show he is able, fit, ready and in form?” Bassarath said during the press launch of the TTCB Premiership Twenty20 Cricket Festival at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain.

Muttiah Muralitharan has signed a two-year deal with Gloucestershire exclusively for Twenty20 cricket. Muralitharan will be free of international commitments for the period, since he is set to call time on his international career at the World Cup. He retired from Test cricket last year with an unprecedented 800 wickets, and is the leading wicket-taker in one-dayers as well, with 517 dismissals. Following his international retirement, his time is likely to be divided between Twenty20 leagues, including the IPL, a potential guest spin-coach role in Australia, and the Gloucestershire assignment.”I am really looking forward to playing for Gloucestershire,” Muralitharan said. “It is a young exciting team and I hope I can add some experience to the mix. The last time I played at Bristol I took five wickets and I look forward to an exciting t20 competition with the Gladiators.”Announcing the news on the GCCC website, Gloucestershire chief Tom Richardson said: “Signing Muttiah Muralitharan has given everybody in the club a great boost and there is a real buzz about the place. He is someone who can add huge value and we are all very much looking forward to working with him.”The club’s director of cricket, John Bracewell, and team captain Alex Gidman echoed Richardson’s views. “This is an exciting, and once in a lifetime opportunity to work and play with one of the greatest cricketers in the history of the game,” Bracewell said. “Whenever I have watched and observed Murali he has always had and shown an infectious love for the game of cricket. This is something that I personally am looking forward to working with.”I can’t wait to meet and to play with Muttiah Muralitharan. From the players’ point of view, it will be a great experience and I am sure we will learn a huge amount from him. This has given us a huge boost going into the 2011 season.”In addition to Muralitharan, Gloucerstershire are actively pursuing an overseas player to stay for the whole season.

Sunderland secured their place in the League One play-off final against Wycombe as they beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 on aggregate.

The Black Cats won the first leg 1-0 as Ross Stewart pounced on a defensive mistake to convert one-on-one against the goalkeeper.

Wednesday came out firing at Hillsborough in the second leg and eventually found their equaliser in the tie as Lee Gregory put them ahead on the night. However, Alex Neil’s team dug in deep and sent the away fans into raptures as Patrick Roberts scored the goal to send them to Wembley in the 93rd minute.

Whilst the ex-Manchester City gem will take plaudits because of his tie-winning contribution at the end of the match, Sunderland’s real play-off hero was central defender Bailey Wright.

The Australian enforcer was sublime at the heart of the backline as he put in an almost faultless display full of character and quality.

Roker Report writer Philip West showered the former Bristol City tank with praise, tweeting: “Bailey Wright, what a warrior. Bloodstained shirt, blood trickling down his face, but he was an absolute rock tonight. That’s what playing for this club is about. Heart of a lion.”

These comments illustrate the commitment shown by Wright throughout the game as he put his body on the line for his team. He was throwing himself in the firing line to block shots and made sure that he was the first to react when balls were sent into the penalty box.

As you can see from these statistics, via SofaScore, the defender was superb out of possession. He dominated the opposition as he won the majority of his physical battles, which backs up West’s praise of his performance on Monday night.

On the ball, the Australian completed five of his 11 long pass attempts and had 45 touches throughout the match. Wright spent the bulk of his time defending his own goal rather than being in possession for the Black Cats and, as such, his statistics are not overly impressive on this front.

However, his defending was enough to get the job done for Sunderland, and the fans will surely have enjoyed his passion and commitment at the back. They will want to see their players leaving everything out on the pitch, and that is what the 29-year-old did against Sheffield Wednesday.

AND in other news, Neil can blow SAFC supporters away with £3.4k-p/w gem who was made “in a laboratory”…

Celtic enjoyed a comfortable afternoon in the Premiership as they strolled to a routine 2-0 win on Sunday to send them six points clear at the top of the table.

Kyogo Furuhashsi opened the scoring in the first half and then Jota, who set up the first goal, sealed the three points with an 87th-minute strike.

The Hoops dominated the match as they ended the game with 74% of the ball and 22 efforts on goal, with Ross County fortunate that they only conceded twice.

Whilst Jota scored and assisted a goal in the match, the real star of the show for Ange Postecoglou was central defender Cameron Carter-Vickers.

It is easy to point at the attackers and praise them for scoring the goals to win the match but all of their work is built on the back of a strong platform. The solid defence allows the likes of Jota and Kyogo to go and do what they want to do without worrying about constantly needing to drop deep to win the ball back – allowing the opposition to press up on them.

Carter-Vickers was outstanding in central defence as he stood strong at the back and was reliable in possession. He played a major role in Celtic’s dominance throughout the game and the forwards should be thanking him for making their lives easier.

As per SofaScore, he won 85.7% (6/7) of his individual duels and made five clearances, one interception and one block to help his side to a clean sheet. This shows that he was superb defensively as he won the vast majority of his battles with Ross County players and did not allow himself to be beaten by the opposition – keeping them away from Joe Hart’s goal.

On the ball, he completed 85% of his passes from 62 touches and created one chance from centre-back. He is not expected to do anything special in possession from his position but Postecoglou will be delighted with his assuredness on the ball.

The £20k-per-week defender continues to impress at the heart of the defence and fans will surely be wanting to see him back at Parkhead next season on a permanent basis.

In the Premiership this season, the on-loan Tottenham man has averaged a sublime SofaScore rating of 7.36 across 29 matches. Celtic have kept 16 clean sheets in those games and the latest one came with the help of his sublime display against Ross County on Sunday.

AND in other news, Source: Celtic on course to seal “immense” summer signing, Ange will be buzzing…

MS Dhoni has asked for Tests to be played at venues that have a history of supporting the format with big attendances, and has appreciated the support received from the Bangalore crowd during the course of India’s victory against Australia. Of India’s 10 Test venues – Hyderabad being the newest – Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Mohali and to an extent Delhi are known for their lukewarm response to Test cricket.”Maybe some of these centres where people come up to see Test matches can be given preference over some other centres where people don’t come in large numbers to watch Test matches,” Dhoni said. “After all, if taken in the right sense, we are the performers in the circus, but you need the circus to be full. It [this comment] should be taken in the right sense.”Dhoni and his men liked what they saw in Bangalore. Three of the days – the weekend and the final day – were almost sold out. “It really helps the players who are on the field,” Dhoni said. “Frankly speaking, in the 45th or 50th over, when the fast bowler comes for his second or third spell, it’s the crowd that gets him going, apart from the fact that he is supposed to do well for the team and the country. You need some kind of a motivation, and especially because we’re used to playing IPL and ODIs in front of 30000 or 40000 or 50000 people, you want that kind of a crowd.”Throughout the last five days, the spectators have been India’s 12th man. They cheered every special effort by the Indians, appealed when the bowler appealed, got off their seats when Sachin Tendulkar and other batsmen played good strokes, and appreciated every good effort by the fielders. Some of them booed the Australians, but many were appreciative.”It was a remarkable crowd,” Dhoni said. “Throughout the five days there were good crowds, and on the final day it was literally house full. You could see as many people in the stands as in a Twenty20 or ODI match. They supported good cricket more than anything else.”They did get their money’s worth. Not only did they watch their home side complete a clean sweep against Australia, they saw Tendulkar go level with Virender Sehwag as the Indian with the most double-centuries; they saw Cheteshwar Pujara, the debutant, play an innings he wouldn’t mind as his epitaph; they saw M Vijay, a stylish batsman, add substance to his game at Test level; they saw Ricky Ponting bat beautifully but fall disappointingly short; they saw Zaheer Khan and Ben Hilfenhaus create wickets on flat pitches. The Indian team thanked the crowd with a deserved lap of the ground.

كشف الدولي البلجيكي إيدين هازارد، عن المعاناة التي يتعرض لها في ريال مدريد، قبل الانضمام للشياطين الحمر استعدادًا لبطولة كأس العالم التي ستنطلق اليوم.

بلجيكا تتواجد في المجموعة السادسة مع كرواتيا والمغرب وكندا، وتبدأ أولى مبارياتها مع المنتخب المغربي يوم 27 نوفمبر الجاري.

وقال هازارد في تصريحات لصحيفة “ليكيب” الفرنسية: “لقد عشت سنوات فاشلة مع ريال مدريد، لم يكن من الطبيعي أن أتعرض لكثير من الإصابات ولم أتمكن أبدًا من إظهار ما يمكنني فعله”.

طالع أيضًا.. هازارد عن إصاباته المتكررة: شيء لا أستطيع شرحه.. لعبت 500 مباراة مع تشيلسي بدون مشاكل

وأضاف: “بالنسبة لي أنا لم أفز حقًا بـ دوري أبطال أوروبا، لقد لعبت بعض الدقائق، كما حدث في الدوري، لم يكن لدي أي تأثير، وكنت جيدًا قبل أن يرحل زيدان، لقد كان حزينًا بالنسبة لي رحيله، لأنني كنت أحبه كثيرًا”.

وعن علاقته بـ كارلو أنشيلوتي: “لم أتحدث كثيرًا مع أنشيلوتي، ربما مرة واحدة فقط، 5 دقائق في بداية الموسم، لكنني لست من اولئك الذين يذهبون للتحدث مع المدربين دائمًا لمعرفة ما يجب أن يحدث، هو مدرب ويرى كيف أتدرب وأريد المشاركة، لا يحتاج لتوجيه”.

وأردف: “لأكون صريحًا لم يعد لدي هذا المستوى الذي كنت عليه في مونديال 2018، ولا أخجل من قول ذلك، ربما كنت من بين العشرة الأفضل في العالم، ولكن الآن جسدي لم يسمح لي، ومع ذلك، لا يزال لدي القدرة”.

اختتم: “نحن أقل قوة كمنتخب من مونديال روسيا، ولكن لدينا شباب أقوى من جيل 2018 يمكن أن يصنعوا الفارق في المباريات الكبيرة، دائمًا ما تريد أن تظهر أفضل ما لديك، لدينا دي بروين وكورتوا ولوكاكو، وعدد كبير من أصحاب الخبرة”.

MatériaMais Notícias

Novo camisa 10 do Vasco após a saída de Nenê, Evander estreou com o pé direito na Libertadores, na noite desta quarta-feira, no Chile. Ele fez os dois primeiros gols do Cruz-Maltino na goleada de 4 a 0 sobre a Universidad Concepción, na casa do adversário. O garoto de apenas 19 anos disse que a atuação foi inesquecível.

-Nem nos meus melhores sonhos imaginava isso. Foi uma partida inesquecível.Sempre pensamos em jogar bem, hoje não foi diferente. Mas fazer esses dois gols fica marcado na minha vida – disse o atleta.

O jovem meia não mostrou-se intimidado com a pressão por comandar o setor de criação da equipe na partida contra os chilenos. Ele sonha em fazer história com a camisa 10 do Vasco.

-Time grande tem pressão desde pequeno. Entramos para jogar bola e conseguimos um grande resultado. Essa camisa tem um peso enorme, muitos jogadores já vestiram, e quero fazer a minha história – garantiu.

RelacionadasVascoBlog do Garone: Vasco iguala sua maior goleada na história da LibertadoresVasco31/01/2018VascoVasco passeia em Concepción e sai na frente para seguir na LibertadoresVasco31/01/2018

Newcastle United lost their third successive Premier League match on Sunday as they were hammered 5-1 by Tottenham away from home.

The Magpies failed to capitalise on their lead in the first half as Fabian Schar’s free-kick found a way past Hugo Lloris and into the bottom corner.

Ben Davies soon equalised for the hosts with a flicked header, before goals from Heung-Min Son, Matt Doherty, Emerson Royal and Steven Bergwijn sealed a fantastic win for Antonio Conte’s men.

A number of players failed to showcase the best of their talents in the drubbing and one man who struggled badly was centre-forward Chris Wood.

The attacker, who scored five goals in four games for his country over the break, has not been able to hit his best form since making the switch to St. James’ Park in January. He has scored once in 11 Premier League matches for the Toon since the club paid £25m to sign him from relegation rivals Burnley in the winter window.

Frank McAvennie said earlier this year that the New Zealand international is “struggling” and his performance against Spurs was in line with that comment. He caught the eye in the wrong way as it was noticeable how anonymous he was throughout the match at the top end of the pitch.

Off the ball, he did very little. As per SofaScore, he did not win a single ground duel and failed to make any clearances, tackles, interceptions or blocks. This shows that he did not successfully press from the front to force Tottenham players into making mistakes, putting more pressure on the Magpies defence as their striker was not leading the defensive effort.

In possession, he was useless. As per SofaScore, he only completed six passes in his 70 minutes on the field, completing 60% of his attempts to find a teammate. He had one shot, that was off target, and did not complete any dribbles, key passes, long balls or crosses as he lost the ball six times from 15 touches.

This shows that he offered nothing to the team as an offensive threat. He did not make himself enough of a nuisance to the opposition defence and failed to get himself involved in the game. Instead of forcing the issue and trying to impose himself on Spurs, he struggled to get a touch of the ball.

The Magpies flop had fewer touches (15) than Martin Dubravka (38) and Howe will surely be hoping for more involvement from his number nine, irrespective of how the match went. It was a disappointing showing and his struggles continue…

AND in other news, PIF set to “lead the race” to sign forward for NUFC who will be a “joy to watch”…

Everton have been one of the most active Premier League clubs during the transfer window, and with good reason.

The Toffees are in desperate need to turn their season around after a disappointing first half to the campaign. In order to rectify that situation, they have made three signings already in the first two weeks of January, and Rafael Benitez and co may not be finished yet.

What’s the word?

The Everton manager took to his press conference ahead of today’s match against Norwich to give an update on the club’s next steps in the winter transfer window, teasing the potential of more signings to come.

Benitez revealed: “We are always looking to strengthen the squad. The reality is we’ve balanced the books, which I think is a positive. We are open to any good option.”

“At the moment we’re happy with the three we’ve brought. But we are open-minded.”

This week has been a busy one at Goodison Park, with fan favourite Lucas Digne sold to Aston Villa after three-and-a-half years with the Merseyside club, and Anwar El Ghazi signing on loan until the end of the season, and Benitez isn’t ruling out further business yet.

Fans will be buzzing

Everton fans haven’t had an easy ride supporting their team this season, and many have definitely made no secret of their disappointment over poor performances, walking out of matches at Goodison Park and planning protests against the owners and the manager.

This transfer window has provided Benitez with the opportunity to change the trajectory of the club by signing new players and freshening up the squad, in the hope that a fresh perspective will help the Toffees climb back into the top half of the table, where they are expected to finish this season.

It is important that Everton start to pick up results, as they have a run of winnable games against bottom half teams such as Leeds United, Brentford, Aston Villa and Newcastle coming up over the next few weeks. That should give them the ideal opportunity to ascend to a much more comfortable position in the Premier League if they can capitalise.

For now, the manager’s claim that the Toffees are “open” to making further additions this month should bring some overdue happiness to the Goodison Park fan base, as the current squad just haven’t been delivering the goods.

In other news: Alan Myers makes January transfer window prediction regarding Everton

لا يريد كارلو أنشيلوتي أن يقع ريال مدريد أو غرفة الملابس في النشوة، وهذا هو السبب في أنه أوضح أنهم ليسوا مثاليين ولا يقهرون.

في الواقع، أوضح أنهم على المستوى الجماعي ينظرون كثيرًا في المرآة، على الرغم من أنه على المستوى الفردي شكر والدي لاعبي كرة القدم لجلبهم الكثير من المواهب إلى العالم.

ويلتقي ريال مدريد مع إشبيلية غدًا السبت في منافسات الدوري الإسباني، وظهر أنشيلوتي في مؤتمر صحفي خاص بالمباراة. 

وقال في تصريحاته التي نشرتها صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية: “الفريق بخير، في ديناميكية رائعة، كل مباراة لها قصتها، وإشبيلية يحاول الخروج من لحظة صعبة، إنهم يظهرون الالتزام والسلوك وسيكلفنا ذلك، لا توجد مباريات سهلة”.

وسُئل أنشيلوتي عن تجديد عقد لاعبه توني كروس وأجاب: “أعتقد أنه سيستمر، إنه أفضل من العام الماضي عندما واجه مشاكل في البداية، لقد تحدثت معه وهو هادئ للغاية”.

اقرأ أيضًا | بنزيما: حققت أحلام حياتي الثلاثة.. ولست فوق زيدان ورونالدو

وعن التوقف المحتمل للدوري، استطرد مدرب ريال مدريد: “أنا لا أعرف شيئًا عن هذا، لدي بالفعل أشياء أخرى لأفكر فيها وسأعطيك إجابة عندما أكون أكثر وعيًا”.

وعما إذا شعروا بأنهم لا يقهرون، رد أنشيلوتي: “لا، في التاريخ لم يكن هناك فريق لا يقهر، أي فريق يمكن أن يهزمك، لا يوجد فريق لا يقهر، هذا ما نشعر به، نريد أن نستمر في الأداء الجيد”.

وأكد أنشيلوتي عودة تيبو كورتوا بعد غياب حارس المرمى للإصابة في المباريات الماضية، وأوضح جاهزية لاعبيه: “عاد كورتوا، وخرج سيبايوس فقط، وتعافى الباقي، إذا أجريت بعض التغييرات، فسيكون من المفترض أن أتجنب المشاكل المستقبلية، لن أغير كثيرًا”.

وشدد مدرب ريال مدريد: “أنا لست قلقًا بشأن الهدوء الذي نعيشه، تأتي لحظات معقدة وليس لدينا شك في هذا، لا أعرف متى، لكنها ستأتي، وعلينا أن نكون مستعدين”.

وعن لاعبه أسينسيو، أفاد أنشيلوتي: “أسينسيو جيد جدًا، إنه يريد أن يلعب مثل أي شخص آخر، لقد أتم الدقائق القليلة التي قضاها وهو أحد اللاعبين الذين يمكنهم اللعب منذ بداية المباراة”.

وفيما يتعلق بتوقيت كأس العالم في نوفمبر المقبل وبالتالي إيقاف المسابقات لحين نهايته، أشار أنشيلوتي: “إنه عدو الجميع، كل مدرب لديه لاعبون يذهبون إلى كأس العالم، إنه شيء علينا جميعًا تقييمه”.

وأكمل: “سنقيمه عندما تنتهي كأس العالم، أعتقد أن هذا جزء من الموسم يساعد، اللاعبون جيدون لكأس العالم، كلهم ​​تقريباً في أفضل حالاتهم لأننا في أكتوبر”.

وامتدح أنشيلوتي لاعبه السابق سيرجيو راموس ومدافع باريس سان جيرمان الحالي قائلاً: “لا يزال أحد أقوى اللاعبين في العالم، هذا العام جيد، لدي لاعبون فازوا بدوري أبطال أوروبا مع 40 عامًا مثل مالديني، إذا اعتنوا بأنفسهم يمكنهم المضي قدمًا”.

وإذا كان سيرفع الرهان مع فالفيردي بشأن عدد أهدافه، رد المدرب: “لن أرفع الرهان لأنه يستطيع هزيمتي أيضًا، نحن سعداء من أجله لأنه شخص جيد”.

وتطرق المدرب للحديث عن عودة إيسكو الذي يلعب الآن في صفوف إشبيلية قائلاً: “أنا سعيد برؤيته يلعب ورؤيته غدًا، أنا مغرم به جدًا، لقد كان لاعب كرة قدم رائعًا في هذا النادي وشخص رائع بالنسبة لي”.

وسُئل أنشيلوتي ما الذي يمكن أن يحسن في ريال مدريد الحالي، وأجاب: “الاستمرارية هي لمسة يجب علينا دائمًا متابعتها، التزام جماعي قوي دائمًا، لكن في بعض الأحيان ننظر كثيرًا في المرآة، هناك العديد من الأشياء التي يمكن تحسينها على المستوى الجماعي، ولكن على على المستوى الفردي، لا يمكننا تحسين أي شيء’ علينا أن نشكر والدي اللاعبين، الذين قدموا لنا لاعبين ممتازين”.

وإذا كان سيمنح مزيدًا من الدقائق للاعبين مثل كامافينجا أو أسينسيو اللذين يلعبان في كأس العالم، أتم أنشيلوتي: “هذا صحيح، علينا تقييم الأمور الأخرى عند اتخاذ القرار”.