Daily Sports Headlines December 13, 2022

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Hello everyone, welcome to daily sports Headlines.

FIFA World Cup 2022: Croatia vs Argentina Semifinal: Lionel Messi’s fate to feature in the FIFA World Cup semifinals still hangs in balance.
But it is not clear if FIFA disciplinary committee will announce its verdict today on the Argentine captain. Should FIFA uphold their decision, then Messi will have to sit out the semifinal match against Croatia.
FIFA gave no timetable for verdicts, which have typically not been published before a team’s next game at this World Cup. Argentina faces Croatia in the semifinals on Tuesday.



Mark Wood grabbed four Pakistan wickets to give England a hard-fought 26-run win Monday in the second Test in Multan and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The fast bowler finished with 4-65 as Pakistan were dismissed for 328 about 50 minutes after lunch on day four, having been set a challenging 355-run target. Wood, who missed England’s 74-run win in the first Test in Rawalpindi with a hip injury, turned the match in England’s favour with the wickets of Mohammad Nawaz (45) and Saud Shakeel (94) in the space of 12 balls and one run.



Match 11 of the Lanka Premier League 2022 will see a clash between Dambulla Aura and Kandy Falcons at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. The two sides currently stand on the opposite ends of the spectrum. While Kandy Falcons are on top of the table with three wins from four games, Dambulla are at the bottom of the table having lost all their three fixtures thus far. Speaking about their head-to-head records in the last four outings, the Dambulla franchise has got the better of Kandy, winning three games while Kandy registering just one win in the contests.



According to L’Equipe, Tchouameni and Upamecano picked up slight injuries in his side’s win over England in the quarter-finals on Saturday. The absence of the pair in training will certainly have attracted the interest of Morocco players and coaching staff. But the report further indicates that the duo are is not expected to be ruled out of the game against the Atlas Lions at the Al Bayt Stadium. Didier Deschamps and his technical handlers are not worried about Tchouameni and Upamecano’s situation and hope they pass a late fitness test for the next game. Tchouameni notched a stunning goal for France in their 2-1 triumph over England in their quarter-final tie.



On the occasion of Yuvraj Singh’s birthday on December 12, wishes flew from all corners of the country. However, one birthday wish that hasn’t gone down too well with fans is from Gautam Gambhir. The former India opener, who played crucial knocks in the 2007 T20 World Cup final and the 2011 World Cup final, in a tweet, called Yuvraj ‘the best white-ball cricketer India has produced’, and while it is a wonderful compliment, certain fans took exception to it and did not agree with Gambhir’s take.



After these two defeats against England, do Pakistan have any chance of making it to the WTC final?
The two home defeats have badly dented Pakistan’s hopes of qualifying for the final. With only three Tests left in this cycle (one against England in Karachi and two home games against New Zealand), the maximum that they can finish on is 54.76%. It is very likely that at least two teams will finish with higher percentages.
For example, Australia, currently table-toppers on 75%, need only 20 points from their remaining seven Tests to ensure that they end up higher than 54.76; they can get those points with a win and two draws. India, who are on 52.08% with six Tests to play, need 44 more points, which they can get with three wins and two draws.



The Qatar World Cup will witness different match balls from the semifinals onwards. FIFA has introduced “Al Hilm”, the official ball to be used in the semifinal and the finals of the Qatar World Cup. Croatia take on Argentina in the first semifinal, while Morocco take on France in the second semifinal slated later this week. The last four teams will not only fight for the biggest prize in world football, but will also become a part of history. Croatia, Argentina, Morocco and France will become the first teams that will get to play with the special edition match ball.



Ronaldo Nazario, Brazilian football legend, has called for psychological support on a continuous basis to the footballers like Neymar and co. He also had his say on Kaka’s statement that described how Brazilians view him: ‘Ronaldo is just another fat guy walking on the street!” But first, let’s hear what Ronaldo had to say about Neymar and the current Brazilian team. Ronaldo says that when he read Neymar’s social media post about how he was “psychologically destroyed” after the quarter-final loss to Croatia. “That broke my heart in a way that I was also psychologically destroyed and I wanted to find some way I could help him,” Ronaldo told Folha De S.Paulo. “I understand the moment everyone is going through, especially Neymar.


International Esports Federation (IESF) has partnered with Bollywood producer Madhu Mantena and banker and entrepreneur Ravneet Gill-owned Big Bang Media Ventures to launch the inaugural Asia Open Esports Championship (Asia Open) from 30 January to 15 March, 2023. The championship will see participation of close to 40 countries across Asia and the Middle East, providing gamers with a platform to compete and build communities internationally. We are delighted to partner with Big Bang Media Ventures,” said Vlad Marinescu, president, IESF.



The Dubai-based sports firm had acquired marketing rights from Impress-Mattra Consortium, the on-ground rights holder of all Bangladesh cricket team’s home series. 27th Sports, backed by US-based investment firm 27th Investments, has signed on branded apparel manufacturers Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (KKCL), makers of the ‘Killer Jeans’ brand, as the title sponsor for the Indian cricket team’s two-match test series against Bangladesh in December. The series will be played out at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram near Dhaka.



Tennis star Iga Swiatek was chosen for the player of the year award by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) for the first time after her incredible run in 2022 that also saw her get to the summit of women’s singles ranking. Swiatek, who was named Newcomer of the Year in 2020, had an exceptional season in 2022, leading the way in terms of finals appearances, awards won and matches won. She was crowned winner at eight tournaments, including six in a row and a 37-match winning streak.



Golf legend Tiger Woods has slammed the revamped world rankings system, calling it “flawed” and hoped that it would be “fixed” soon. The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), which was revamped in August to make it more equitable, has been criticised by top golfers such as Jon Rahm, who termed it “laughable”. Woods, a 15-time Major winner, said there is a need to re-look at the rankings system. “Yeah, OWGR, it’s a flawed system. That’s something we all here recognise,” the 46-year-old, who had pulled out of the Hero World Challenge due to a foot injury, said during the pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday.

That’s all for now. Thank you for your attention.