Volley

Eh… well that was awkward. Two hundred and forty minutes of football for three scrappy goals and a load of penalties. If ever there was proof that God has an offbeat sense of humour, it may lie in the fact that today’s stodgy fare was played on the only Sunday …

So, farewell to the G.O.A.T and the Goatee. The Russia 2018 World Cup will make do without football’s MVP trophy-grabbing duopoly of Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, after the pair were eliminated on the first day of the Round of 16 today. Messi’s return ticket was booked at …

For the final minutes of Japan’s Group H contest, the “Samurai Blue”—despite trailing Poland 1-0—opted to play the ball around in their own defence with no attempt to enter into the opposing half of the field. In the other match being played simultaneously, Senegal, who were also down a solitary …

In the city of Brasilia, fireworks went off, residents jumped up and down at malls and drivers honked their car horns. And the Brazil team had not even stepped on to the field yet! The Germans call it schadenfreude, which roughly translates to the enjoyment of another’s misfortune. And not …

Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) director of football, Muhammad Isa, is warded at the San Fernando General Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU), after being admitted to the facility over the weekend. A release from the TTFA Media revealed that Isa suffered from “stomach complications”. Isa’s daughter, Althea Reefer, said …

Somewhere in St Petersburg tonight, a dazed looking Argentine in a number 14 shirt might be heard asking medical staff: Did we win? Did we win? On another electric evening in the Russia 2018 World Cup, La Albiceleste squeezed into the Round of 16 at the death as they narrowly …

Argentina’s Diego Maradona put his stamp on the 1986 World Cup, the Brazil duo of Romario and Ronaldo had 1994 and 2002 respectively while France’s Zinedine Zidane cast a long shadow over 2006. But 2018? So far, it has been the tournament of VAR; and Morocco wing back Nordin Ambarat …

Panama’s Canal was left in all sorts of disarray this morning, as England racked up their highest ever goal tally in a 6-1 mauling of the Concacaf minnows at Nizhny Nivgorod in Group G action. Panama coach Hernán Dario Gómez admitted that he was scared at halftime with his team …

It started off with a little rumble and, by the end, the ground was shaking and families were looking for sturdy tables to dash under. No, it was not another earthquake—just German fans sprinting back to the bandwagon, as midfielder Toni Kroos revived the defending World Cup champions with a …

Pre-tournament favourites, Brazil, secured their first win of the Russia 2018 World Cup this afternoon and there was a goal for gifted talisman, Neymar, too, as the South American giants shot down Costa Rica 2-0 in St Petersburg. The result left the “Samba Boys” requiring only a draw against Serbia …

Corporal punishment, evidently, is not illegal in Russia. Lionel Messi’s Argentina endured a hell of a caning in Nizhny Nivgorod this evening, as Croatia dismantled the South American hopefuls 3-0 in La Albiceleste’s worst World Cup group stage loss in 60 years. How bad was it? Mr Live Wire thinks …

“If you think of it like tennis, we had one match point today,” said Iran coach Carlos Quieroz, “and we will have another against Portugal [next Monday]…” It is just as well that Quieroz found an analogy for his team’s fate in another sport today, as there was precious little …