Новости за 01.07.2018

There are not many teams in world football who boast an even moderately successful record against five-time World Cup winners Brazil but in recent years Mexico have proved they have what it takes to upstage the yellow-shirted powerhouse.

He upstaged an Olympic champion on the comeback trail but one of India's most accomplished swimmers, Virdhawal Khade, says he had all but "forgotten" how to perform at the big stage owing to the mundanity of a job and injury setbacks.

Ivan Zamorano still draws a sizeable crowd. A little on the stockier side these days, the lethal Chilean striker was gleefully holding court at the Kazan Arena on Friday ahead of Argentina’s clash with France.

For a team that is still regarded as the best in World Cup history and best embodied the ideals of jogo bonito, it’s a bit paradoxical that the icing on the cake of Brazil’s 1970 triumph was provided by a defender.

In the days since the very fragile performance against Morocco, Fernando Hierro’s mind has been hardening, as he makes his final decisions on the Spanish side for the last-16 match against hosts Russia. Koke is set to return to the starting line-up, in place of Thiago Alcantara, Marco Asensio may come in — and David De Gea will definitively stay in goal.

Spain have weathered the early storm and now they take on Russia on Sunday for a place in the quarterfinals. Former Spanish and Real Madrid star Fernando Morientes feels the initial flutter was par for the course and now La Roja should do well.

David de Gea came under fire the moment he slipped on Cristiano Ronaldo’s innocuous shot in Spain’s opening game against Portugal in Sochi. It was early days in the tournament but the Spanish goalkeeper’s error suggested that reputations of many more stars were on the line in Russia.

With Messi Argentina and Ronaldo’s Portugal eliminated from the tournament in close encounters, MAradona feels that the knockout action on day two will be an easier affair with Croatia and Spain looking favourites to advance to the quarterfinals.

France’s individuals were allowed to shine against Argentina who made it easy for solo players to influence the game.

The war was over. The ruins of Argentinian dreams lay strewn across the Kazan Arena where new songs were being sung in the name of Kylian Mbappe.

All you could hear after 68 minutes in the Argentina-France clash inside the Kazan Stadium here on Saturday was the loud, lusty singing of the La Marseillaise.