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Excellent storytelling by Shaun Pollock on team meetings and how it doesn't always help... Perhaps why MS Dhoni didn't believe much in them and at max had a minute or so before games!
Also, notice the quality of commentary here compared to what Indians are fed with! 🙏@abcsport
Awesome goal but it was Lamine himself who broke the press earlier in that move. His footballing IQ is off the charts.
On my Hacks rewatch, and this really is the perfect show. One of the best finales I've seen. My favorite since The Americans.
Spain have been blessed with a ton of supremely talented midfielders and Rodri belongs in the topmost tier. What a ridiculous player.
Argentina won't win this WC, but that moment where Messi dribbles around the defender (and sets up the Lautaro header) and still gets to the ball when it didn't look like he would, was unique 15 years ago and is still uniquely Messi. Just incomparable.
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For those of you who don’t know, he grew up in extreme poverty, used to practice with rocks, then at 17 left his nomadic family and ventured to Tehran alone (without his father’s support), was homeless camping outside one of the soccer team camps until someone gave him a chance.
What a man.
The first season of Kohrra was great, but the second season has gotten so much better. All because of the terrific Mona Singh. She's just so, so good. She did the same in Made in Heaven too. Comes in and instantly becomes the best part of the show. What an actress.
A title is a title, but my goodness that was close. Barca were so much better and they were hanging on for dear life at the end there. Just fragility all over.
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Lionel Messi is one of those rare athletes whose story transcends sport. His journey from a child fighting physical odds to a footballer who redefined excellence has moved millions across the world. As someone who has lived the life of an athlete, I hold profound respect and admiration for what he represents perseverance humility and an uncompromising pursuit of greatness.
Yet as his recent visit to India unfolded parts of it felt chaotic and left me quietly uneasy. It compelled me to pause and reflect not in judgment but in genuine concern about what we were really trying to achieve.
I fully understand the economics of sport. I understand commercial realities global branding and the magnetism of icons. I do not fault Messi in any way. He has earned every opportunity that comes his way and admiration for greatness is natural even beautiful.
But admiration must also invite introspection.
As a society are we building a culture of sport or are we simply celebrating individuals from afar.
Millions were spent for moments of proximity photographs and fleeting access to a legend. And yes it is people’s money earned honestly and theirs to spend as they choose. Still I can’t help but feel a quiet sadness wondering what might have been possible if even a fraction of that energy and investment had been directed toward the foundations of sport in our country.
Playgrounds where children can run freely. Coaches who can guide young talent. Grassroots programmes that give opportunity to those who may never otherwise be seen. Spaces where sport is not a spectacle but a daily habit a teacher and a source of dignity.
Great sporting nations are not built by moments they are built by systems. By patience. By belief in the ordinary child with an extraordinary dream.
Icons like Messi inspire us and that inspiration matters deeply. But inspiration must be met with intent. With long term commitment. With choices that reflect not just what excites us today but what will strengthen us tomorrow.
If we truly wish to honour legends like Messi the most meaningful way to do so is not through grand gestures but by ensuring that somewhere in India a young child has a field to play on a coach to believe in them and a chance to dream.
That is how sporting cultures are born. And that is how legacies endure.
This is increasingly looking like a write off season. Barca concede way too many chances and it's been happening for a while now. The press is not working, the high line is not working. Newcastle was a good performance because there was a measure of control. Nothing since.
Garcia-Cubarsi does not work. Either trust Araujo or buy a starting CB. There are multiple injuries, but it increasingly looks like Garcia/Cubarsi is the first choice and that's scary.
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BIASED JOURNALISM!
Santi Cazorla and Real Oviedo pull off the most romantic of returns to La Liga | Real Oviedo | The Guardian theguardian.com/football/202…
