The enormous structured global advertising machinery that surrounds every football game on the planet today? Pele was perhaps single-handedly responsible for all of it. By just being brilliant, captivating crowds, and behaving like a being from the future, doing things that STILL provoke oohs and aahs from watchers. Vaibhav Raghunandan salutes the Incomparable Pele.
Juan Mata hailed George Best "a genius forever" as an injury-hit Manchester United aim to mark the 10th anniversary of the Northern Irishman's death with a Champions League victory against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday.
Pele, the legendary Brazilian soccer player who rose from barefoot poverty to become one of the greatest and best-known athletes in modern history, died on Thursday at the age of 82.
'...Now, we are dominating because we have the right facilities. We have the IPL, the richest board is India and India is the powerhouse'.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's tactical genius has played a big part in CSK reaching their 10th IPL final.
Richard Giusti, who played with Maradona at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, said it was impossible to compare him to Messi, who with his goal in the 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia became the first Argentine to score at four different World Cups.
800 gets so lost in celebrating its grand subject that it forgets something pretty elementary: Cricket is a team sport!, notes Sreehari Nair.
Tendulkar's sterling performances, his fascinating duels for supremacy with contemporaries -- Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Inzamam-ul Haq, Jacques Kallis among batsmen; Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Wasim Akram among bowlers -- embellished modern cricket and globalised the game, asserts Ayaz Memon who has observed the cricketing colossus from the day he made his Test debut in November 1989.
Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios does not require a coach but someone like Sigmund Freud to sort out his problems as tennis needs the Australian maverick, seven-times major winner John McEnroe said.
Richarlison is a rarity among the overindulged footballing elite. In a World Cup which has been overshadowed by social issues, Brazil's latest football sensation is championing more than just one cause, observes Deepti Patwardhan.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Will India extend their run to make it 8-0? Or will Pakistan be able to snap the streak?
The Qatar World Cup has delivered a rich feast of soccer for the past month
With immense pressure on him to match the late great Diego Maradona and send the trophy back to Buenos Aires, Lionel Messi has lit up the Qatar tournament while others in the superstar stratum - Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo - have underwhelmed and gone home.
Iconic composer Ilaiyaraaja, celebrated athlete PT Usha, philanthropist Veerendra Heggade and screenwriter V Vijayendra Prasad Garu were nominated to Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
It was Dalmiya's decision to open sports broadcasting to private channels in the country. Until the late 1990s, Doordarshan held sole rights to broadcasting BCCI events in India. Dalmiya along with IS Bindra, another cricket administrator, took on the state and fought for air waves to be opened up in cricket broadcasting.
He finished 11th in the standings with 19 points with the top eight going through to the knockout phase at the ongoing Airthings Masters.
23-times Grand Slam winner Serena Williams said she is a Roger Federer 'superfan'.
Indians will forever remember Akram as the scary phenomenon with the soft smile, the man who rattled through the Indian batting order, but was rarely as hated as Waqar or Shoaib Akhtar, observes Vaibhav Raghunandan.
GFA shoots down AFC claim, says no evidence
Such is Argentina's passion for soccer, that the World Cup remains a priority for some, despite a sluggish economy, painful inflation estimated to hit 100% this year and currency controls that push up the price of travelling overseas.
When SRH retained Umran -- along with Skipper Kane Williamson and Abdul Samad -- for Rs 4 crore before the IPL auction, many were surprised. No longer.
Lionel Messi said on Wednesday he was delighted to have signed for French club Paris St Germain and that he is ready to help the team clinch their first ever Champions League title.
Eight years is a long time in the life of an athlete. But just like Messi, Di Maria has preserved and persisted towards his childhood dream, points out Deepti Patwardhan.
'He wants to do something significant and leave a legacy and impact on Test cricket and he is getting there.'
Denied for 86 minutes, Chhetri put India ahead with a brilliant free-kick from just over 20 yards, taking only a couple of steps before unleashing his shot straight into the right corner of the net beating Afghanistan's goalkeeper.
Argentina look set to keep Julian Alvarez in attack for Sunday's World Cup final
The ludicrous combination of better bats and smaller boundaries is reducing bowlers to virtual bowling machines, says the legendary Australian Ian Chappell.
Batting great Gundappa Viswanath recalls his memories of Salim Durani.
Russia are the overwhelming favourites when they host Argentina in this weekend's Davis Cup final.
Umran was a net bowler during India's last World T20 campaign in the UAE.
Will Smith, who had once portrayed the irreverent Muhammad Ali with such aplomb, brings the character of Richard Williams alive. The accent, the dialect, the body-language and the ever-present chip on the shoulder, observes Deepti Patwardhan.
An impressive performance from the returning Arjen Robben helped Netherlands to a comfortable 2-1 win over Slovakia on Monday and put them into the World Cup quarter-finals.
In 2019, World Champion Magnus Carlsen was asked to guess the nationality of the reigning world champion in 2050. He responded: 'India will have had many by then!'
Sports world expressed shock and agony over Warne's sudden demise. Here are some reactions:
Things may not always look bright, but the sun won't stay out forever is a running theme conveyed across its short films about people from various walks of life in all their varying moods and musings, applauds Sukanya Verma.
Emotional crowds bid soccer legend Pele a final farewell on Tuesday
Like life, elite sports can at the same time be cruel as well demanding. Virat Kohli had faced that for the past three years when he faced the run drought.
Maradona was worshipped like a god for his genius with the ball.
'He builds confidence in players. He has the knack of motivating people.' 'A few good words from Ravi and that player will be an altogether different player in minutes.'
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