India's national football coach Stephen Constantine on Friday anointed towering goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu as captain for Saturday's international friendly against higher-ranked Puerto Rico at the suburban Andheri Sports Complex ground in Mumbai. "Gurpreet Singh Sandhu will captain the team on Saturday against Puerto Rico," Constantine announced at the fag end of the pre-match media conference to give a huge boost to the 24-year-old, one of the youngest players to lead the national football team.
Monica Puig gave Puerto Rico its first ever Olympic gold after an a outstanding display of tennis to defeat Germany's Angelique Kerber to win the women's singles title at the Rio Games on Saturday.
The Indian football team jumped four places to be at 148th spot in the latest FIFA rankings released today, on the back of an impressive 4-1 win over higher-ranked Puerto Rico in Mumbai last week.
Masterminded superbly by ace striker Sunil Chhetri, a dominant India scripted a sensational 4-1 win over higher-ranked Puerto Rico in an international football friendly at the Andheri Sports Complex stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has assured the All India Football Federation of full government support to host India's biggest-ever international football fixture against five-time World Cup champions Brazil in Kolkata on October 3. This historic match will be India's first against a top-five FIFA-ranked nation, offering crucial exposure to the national team despite initial concerns over crowd management.
Following is India's schedule on Friday, Day 14 of competition at the Paris Games:
The Joy and Drama of Track and Field at the Olympics.
The Americans remain in the competition but the setback -- only their third loss in 112 Olympic matches spanning 72 years -- is a huge embarrassment.
The 68th Grammy Awards began at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia said not slotting international friendlies has got nothing to do with ISL dates. "We haven't slotted any international matches, and this has nothing to do with the ISL, nor are we giving importance to it. Instead, we had prioritized the national team to stay together for a one-month camp before they disperse to play ISL," Bhutia told reporters. Bhutia was in the city for the closing ceremony of Bhaichung Bhutia Champions Cup at Harvest International School.
Yadvinder Singh Bhamba was arrested for conspiring to send 400 people from India, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and other countries to the US.
Bajrang becomes 1st Indian to win 4 medals at world wrestling championships
Indian javelin thrower Annu Rani once again failed to impress on the global stage
American Masai Russell won the Olympic 100 metres hurdles title in a blanket finish on Saturday.
Playing in Norway for top division club Stabaek has helped him grow as a footballer, feels goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh, who wants more of his countrymen to follow in his footsteps to help India rise as a power in the sport. "My aim was to play in Norway, break into the first team and play in the first team. I have grown as a player in all aspects of the game. I will try to keep getting better. Playing in Europe is better for me," said the 24-year-old goalkeeper who has been called up for the international friendly against Puerto Rico at the Andheri Sports Complex stadium in Mumbai on September 3.
Mirza teamed up with Russian Anna Chakvetadze to beat Kristina Brandi of Puerto Rico and Nana Miyagi of Japan.
Check out how India's athletes fared on Day 13, Thursday, August 8.
The medal tally at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
They will be against Chinese Taipei in the final on Sunday.
Defending Olympic champion Andy Murray reached the semi-finals of the men's tennis on Friday after winning a third-set tiebreak to scrape through a testing encounter against American Steve Johnson.
President Donald Trump said he believes that owners of National Football League teams are afraid of their players, his latest criticism of NFL players kneeling during the US national anthem at games to protest racial disparities in the country.
Bajrang Punia banned, Phogat turns politician, WFI suspension, litigations, and lost medals: How Indian wrestling stagnated in 2024
Making a comeback after more than seven months, World No 3 Jyothi, who was sidelined in the Asian Games trial, is also in the hunt for an individual medal, having advanced into the semi-final.
Australia captain Steven Smith and his team have been warned about risks associated with the Zika virus ahead of their tour of the West Indies next month.
Leander Paes will kickstart his US Open campaign with Czech partner Radek Stepanek against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Dmitry Tursunov of Russia.
Zika virus outbreak in Brazil does not pose enough of a threat to warrant cancelling or putting off the Olympic Games set to be held in Rio de Janeiro in August, a leading US health official said.
This is India's best-ever FIFA Ranking since April 1996 when India were also ranked 100.
The Indian football team achieved its best-ever FIFA ranking in over two decades as it jumped to 101 in the latest list released on Thursday.
The Indian men's boxing team's final campaign at the 35th Boxam International Tournament in Castellon, Spain was derailed by a positive COVID-19 case in the side, resulting in three withdrawals from the summit clashes.
The Indian football team achieved their best FIFA ranking in over six years when the side leaped 11 places to be 137th in the list released on Thursday.
Grillot has been honoured by Time Magazine in the feature '5 Heroes Who Gave Us Hope in 2017'.
India jumped two places to finish 2016 at 135, their best in the last six years, in the FIFA rankings published on Thursday. This is India's six-year highest annual ranking after 2009 when India finished at 134. National coach Stephen Constantine attributed the upsurge to all his players and the staff. "It can't be achieved without the help of the players. We have an exceptional batch of players as we are in the process of building the team for the future," Constantine said.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Unlike earlier years, an Indian-American child did not win America's Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2021. 234 spellers, many of them Indian-American kids, will participate in the 2022 Bee, to be held from May 31 to June 2.
Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn capped a dazzling performance in the 100 metres hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics with a gold medal while Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece won the men's long jump title in an action packed Monday morning at the Olympic Stadium
Bajrang lost the bout to the American by technical superiority to go out of the gold medal race. Later he won a bronze medal, coming through repechage round.
Indian Super League franchise NorthEast United FC (NEUFC) co-owner John Abraham expressed optimism that the country's ranking in international football would go up to 'double digit' from the current 159th position in the next seven years.
