Since its release in 2020 VALORANT has been shaking up the esport industry. Riot’s shooter has the potential to overtake current FPS leader CS:GO.

Counter-Strike has had a long legacy as being the posterboy of the FPS genre in esports. No other game in the genre has come close to the global success Valve’s title has enjoyed over its many iterations. With VALORANT’s release last year Riot has issued a serious challenge to the current king CS:GO.Many experts believe that a bright future is ahead of VALORANT for various reasons.

1. Fresh look for established gameplay.

Back in development Riot already put down the foundations for their success with an easy formula: Give a known and uncomplicated game a fresh look. The developer did not reinvent the genre, instead they turned to CS:GO and Overwatch for inspiration.VALORANT features two teams of five players each facing off against each other. The attacking side needs to secure an objective to plant a “spike”, while the defenders need to stop them. A game mode that was made popular by Counter-Strike many years in the past. While Valve’s game involves a realistic setting with terrorists and counter-terrorists, Riot chose a more comic-oriented look with fictional agents – similar to Overwatch.Conclusively said VALORANT is a mix of tactical and hero-based shooter. It is this combination coupled with the familiar game mode that makes it so popular for players.

2.Pros Favour VALORANT

Not just average gamers enjoy VALORANT. During the closed beta in 2020 many professional players in other FPS titles also had a chance to give the game a shot and the majority gave plenty of positive feedback. Recognizing the potential of the new game, established teams like 100 Thieves, Fnatic, Sentinels and many more followed suit and signed VALORANT rosters.

Together with the struggles of the North American Counter-Strike scene many players switched to VALORANT. Names like hiko, nitr0, ScreaM or current superstar Tyson “TenZ” Ngo all had their roots in CS:GO before making the switch.All these players led to a lot of attention right from the beginning and established it as one of the games on the rise in esports.

3. Riot knows how to esport

Much of the credit has to go to Riot for that. They are certainly no strangers to esport as their flagship title League of Legends is still the largest esport by quite a margin. During Worlds millions of fans worldwide tune in to see the best of the best duke it out on the biggest stage of LoL.

Even the pandemic did not affect Riot’s esport scene too much. They were one of the first developers to return to LAN in protected environment and managed to maintain their professional standards in production despite the difficulties. VALORANT’s first larger tournaments have obviously profited from all their experience and expertise they gathered over the years.

Riot has given the teams plenty of time to familiarize themselves with the game and consciously decided against larger tournaments during 2020. Instead they hosted the Ignition series to work on their esport concept and vision for VALORANT. 2021 saw the kickoff of the Champions Tour, which offers an early and stable structure for the teams in the ecosystem. It will also host the large Champions event at the end of the season similar to Worlds in LoL.

4. Viewer numbers are skyrocketing Nuturing the esport scene is one thing, the other is to attract fans and viewers throughout the season. Riot has rightfully earned themselves a stellar reputation on that end as well. During the beta the company already pushed reach all throughout the gaming world with their system of distributing beta keys through watching streamers on Twitch.

Sowing the seeds of their future success the beta established a viewer base for VALORANT on Twitch at the same time as they built up a player base. According to Riot the beta saw daily player peaks at three million users.

Although the numbers went down again towards the tail end of 2020 as no large scale competitions were held, the Champions Tour saw the return of the audience with a vengeance. Up to 750,000 viewers followed the first interregional clash at the VALORANT Masters in Iceland. Some of that was also due to the Co-Streaming concept on Twitch, which enables popular streamers to watch the matches with their communities while still contributing to the viewer count.

5. Sponsors are taking note

Shooter games and sponsoring has always had a bit of a rocky relationship. The FPS genre is still subject of prejudice for many brands as mass shootings or terrorism are often unjustly linked to it. Many brands are afraid of interacting with the scene for those reasons, even knowing that shooters are part of the core esports community.

“Companies act afraid when dealing with shooters.”That was OG’s CEO, JMR Luna’s judgement during the BMW Esports Boost. Pia Schörner, Head of BMW Esports confirmed his statement, saying that “we are very careful in that regard”.

But VALORANT seems to be the great exception. Why?There are shooters and then there are shooters. Classic Red-blood shooters like CS:GO and Call of Duty exist but on the other side you have fantasy shooters without blood like VALORANT. We have seen a chance to enter the segment there.Just the different setting seems to make VALORANT the much more acceptable game to get involved with for brands. This will be the key factor for VALORANT’s further success in esports. As the entry barrier into VALORANT is lower for business we might see a pivot away from CS:GO towards VALORANT as investments flow towards the fantasy shooter.

CS:GO is handicapped due to its setting and might just be overtaken by VALORANT due to it.

Will VALORANT overtake CS:GO?

The second tournament of the Intel Extreme Masters series just ended. IEM Summer 2021 marked another victory for Gambit Esports, while many eminent teams performed quite poorly again. Esports Charts breaks down the failures of Fnatic and Astralis, notes the progress of OG and analyses the viewership statistics of the event.

Gambit has no competitors
The victory of Gambit Esports at IEM Summer 2021 confirmed the thesis that has already been voiced several times: at the moment, no team in the discipline is capable of competing with nafany and his teammates. The confidence with which the Russian squad played in the playoffs of Intel Extreme Masters leaves no doubt that this particular team will be the main favorite of the upcoming Major.In more than ten tournaments since the beginning of the year, Gambit has finished outside the top 4 only twice, and the biggest challenge to the team in recent months was Natus Vincere in the DreamHack Masters Spring final. The team plays well with all world leaders and at the same time does fail in matches with outsiders (which is often the case for many top teams in the online era of CS:GO).

HLTV.org named Ax1Le as an MVP of the tournaments; it’s his second medal in 2021. By the number of awards, he equaled Alexander s1mple Kostylev. It seems that this year only representatives of the CIS region will compete for the title of the best player.

Gambit continues to lead very confidently in all world ratings, and the victory at IEM only strengthened the positions of the Russian team. One could say that Gambit is now Astralis of the pre-pandemic period. And so far there is no reason to believe that something will change in the coming months.

The collapse of the once great teams
Tough times for Fnatic fans.

It’s scary to think, but the team has only won three matches since mid-February: and IEM Summer 2021 turned out to be another inglorious tournament for the once legendary Swedish team.

Now Fnatic is not even among the top 30 teams in the world rankings: the club fell that low only in the middle of 2016, when a massive reshuffle happened within the team (when JW, KRiMZ and flusha left Fnatic). The team fails both in teamplay and in the individual performance. It is very likely that the disband of the roster will take place soon: the team lost all qualifiers in which it participated, and the organization surely will take some radical measures to rectify the situation.The current form of the four-time world champions Astralis also raises a lot of questions. Of course, the situation in the Danish team is not as horrible as in Fnatic, but the 45% winrate over the past three months is clearly not what the best team in the world is counting on.

2021 is not easy for Astralis. After January’s final of BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020 (where the Danes lost to NAVI), the team never finished in the top 4, and it left IEM Summer 2021 already at the group stage: after being defeated by Gambit. Astralis is also left without its leader device, and finding a proper replacement for him is not an easy task. And it needs to be solved now, if Astralis wants to approach the major in optimal form.

OG wakes up after a spring reshuffle
By the beginning of the summer OG had gained a very good form: IEM Summer 2021 was the second final for the team in the last two weeks.Throughout the first half of the year, OG frankly suffered: the team could not get together at the bootcamp (all five team members were from different countries), experienced problems with connection from time to time (this mostly referred to ISSAA) and regularly failed in the group stages, although they usually played closed games with the rivals.After a string of failures, OG made two changes. First to leave was the veteran NBK-, and then ISSAA was also moved inactive. To replace them, the European team signed niko and flameZ: and finally, the reshuffle paid off.

At IEM Summer, the Aleksib team beat strong Ninjas in Pajamas, Virtus.pro, Evil Geniuses and Team Vitality, showing extremely confident play against the favorites. The one played that stood out was mantuu, who was also aiming for the MVP medal, and only because of the defeat in the final he lost the award to Ax1Le.So far, the summer is started very well for OG: first, the team won Spring Sweet Spring #2, and now it has reached the IEM Summer finals, where almost all the top teams of the scene played. The next challenge is ESL One Cologne which starts on July 6th.

Australian bowlers held their nerves to come up trumps against the genius of Virat Kohli, stalling an Indian clean-sweep with a 12-run victory in the third and final T20 International here on Tuesday.While India won the shortest format 2-1, it was overall an even result for the two teams which won three white-ball games each. Tuesday’s loss ended the visitors’ 10-match winning streak in the format.Kohli got as many as four reprieves and cashed in well enough to smash his way to 85 off 61 balls but India could only reach as far as 174/7 in their pursuit of 187 in 20 overs.It was a slash drive off Andrew Tye in the penultimate over which was plucked inches off the ground by Daniel Sams, who compensated for a forgettable day with the ball.An over before that Hardik Pandya’s swagger was checked by Adam Zampa (1/21 in 3 overs). Zampa’s leg-break turned enough to force the ‘Baroda Bomber’ to hit one against the turn and be caught at short third-man.Once Pandya was gone, there was too much pressure on Kohli and this was one rare occasion when he failed to take the team home.While he hit four fours and three sixes, Kohli did lead a charmed life as Steve Smith missed a dolly at deep mid-wicket fence when he gave Maxwell the charge.Then Sean Abbott failed to get his hands on a tough return catch while another slipped through Tye’s palms. During the fag end, Matthew Wade missed an easy stumping.The Indian captain scored his third half-century of the tour and an effortless six off Abbott after the completion of the milestone gave much-needed relief to the Indian dug-out. This was after Mitchell Swepson’s (3/23) innocuous leg-breaks reduced them to 100 for 4.Swepson would be the first to admit that he was lucky to dismiss Shikhar Dhawan (28 off 21 balls) with a half-tracker and ever unreliable Sanju Samson (10) with a low full-toss.The only wicket-taking delivery he bowled was the one that got Shreyas Iyer out for a first-ball duck.While Pandya (20 off 13 balls) initially took time, Kohli decided to take matters in his own hands as he first deposited Sams into the mid-wicket stands and then guided a rising delivery behind square.Zampa dismissing Pandya turned out to be the turning point.

Earlier, Wade’s second consecutive half-century was well-complemented by Maxwell’s blazing strokeplay as Australia posted a competitive 186 for 5 after being put into bat.Wade, who has played all his big T20 knocks against India, smashed his way to 80 off 53 balls with the help seven fours and two sixes.Maxwell, who struggled with his timing initially, also got into the act during the last six overs with a 35-ball-54 and a third-wicket stand of 90 runs in 8.4 overs with Wade.India’s bowling heroes were Washington Sundar (2/34 in 4 overs) and Thangarasu Natarajan (1/33 in 4 overs). Natarajan, despite a few boundaries conceded in the final over, was pretty impressive.The Australian innings largely dominated by Wade’s power-hitting after Sundar got rid of Aaron Finch (0) very cheaply.The wicketkeeper-batsman was quick to bring out his pull-shot and the whipped flick whenever anything was pitched in the arc.He was the dominant partner during the 65-run stand with a scratchy Steve Smith (24) but played the second fiddle once Maxwell got his touch back.For Maxwell, the 15th over by Chahal was the one that changed the course. Once he got the reprieve, he deposited Chahal for a straight six and followed it with another into the mid-wicket stands.Riding on his luck, he got another life in the 17th over when a mis-hit was dropped by Deepak Chahar running in from deep point.Between overs 13th to 18th, Australia racked up 68 runs.

In the final two overs Shardul Thakur (1/43) and Natarajan dismissed the two set batsmen and final two overs went for only 18 runs.

” Thanks. Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.” by posting this Former Indian Captain MS Dhoni bid farewell to International cricket. He last played for India in the 2019 50- over World Cup. Mahi is the most successful captain of India. He is the only cricketer to win all the ICC tournaments as captain. Dhoni led India to victory in the inaugural T-20 World Cup in his first-ever tournament as captain in 2007. He then guided India to their second world cup title in 2011 and won Champions Trophy in 2013.
But he couldn’t win an ICC tournament as a player. Along with him, Suresh Raina, India’s stalwart in T-20i and ODI cricket, also decided to follow his captain’s shoes.

Suresh Raina and M.S.Dhoni, two legends of the game, together make an ominous pair of a batsmen. The two middle-order batsman, who have had a fair amount of success in the shorter formats of the game, played many match winning knocks whenever the team was in need. Raina and Dhoni have scored nearly 3500 runs at an astonishing average of 63 as a partnership in ODIs.
They have been playing together for nearly 12 years and share great chemistry on and off the field. In this article, we will look at five of the most destructive batting partnerships between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina which have left audiences stunned.

#5 England v India- 2014

India took on hosts England at Cardiff in 2014. Smiles came back on the faces of many Indian supporters who were disappointed with the start India got. India went on to win the match comfortably by 133 runs as a brave Suresh Raina stole the limelight, scoring 100 off just 75 balls. However, no credit can be taken away from the then skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who scored a valuable 52 runs and stitched together a 144 run partnership with the centurion, to help India post a match-winning total of 304.

M.S.Dhoni and Raina put on India’s 3rd century stand for the 5th wicket in England. Raina was the Man of the Match for his blistering knock to help India win. In the 2014 India tour of England, India lost the test series by a humiliating margin of 3-1, but bounced back well in the shorter format of the game to win the ODI series by a comfortable margin of 3-1. 

#4 India v Hong Kong- 2008

MS Dhoni and his men marked the 25th anniversary of India’s 1983 World Cup triumph with an emphatic win over minnows Hong Kong in Karachi. India rested the likes of Ishant Sharma and Yuvraj Singh, in the knowledge that the XI selected should have enough to beat the minnows.

Dhoni and Raina scored quick-fire centuries against Hong Kong. India’s innings revolved around two partnerships; the one between Sehwag and Gambhir and between Raina, who scored a quickfire century off just 66 balls and Dhoni, who was unbeaten on 101. Raina changed his gear in the death overs, and managed to score his second fifty in just 16 balls.

#3 India v England- 2011

India took on England at Lords, the Home of Cricket, in 2011. The Indians were in deep troubles having lost the top four. Graeme Swann was in great form, taking the wickets of Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid in a space of five deliveries. For a period between 22nd and 35th over, India added only 55 runs, but Dhoni and Raina were settling themselves for a strong assault in the closing overs

Raina broke the shackles and Dhoni followed soon. This match ended as a tie as Ravi Bopara scored a magnificent knock to help hosts avoid a loss. This series wasn’t a great outing for the visitors, as they didn’t manage to win a single match in the entire series.

#2 India v West Indies,2011

Unlike MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina did not have an extended stay in the Indian Test team. The Uttar Pradesh-based batsman made his Test debut in 2010 and played his last Test match against Australia in 2015. Still, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina managed to have a solid partnership in the whites as well.

Batting together in the final Test of an away Test against West Indies, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina hit a half-century each in the Indian team’s first innings to help the visiting team take a massive lead of 143 runs.

Raina and Dhoni joined hands when the team’s score was 172/5. They added 103 runs to the team’s total in 30.4 overs. The Test match ended in a draw, and India won the 3-match series 1-0.

#1 India v Zimbabwe- 2015

India took on Zimbabwe in the group stage of 2015 World Cup and elected to bowl first. India lost the openers early, chasing a Total of around 290. When Dhoni and Raina came together in Auckland, India still needed 196 runs in 27.2 overs. Everyone had the belief in two of the most experienced Indian batsman in Raina and Dhoni. This 196 stand is the highest stand for any wicket in a successful run chase in World Cups for India. 

Raina and Dhoni’s 196 run partnership helped India regain the top spot in their respective group. It is the best contribution between Dhoni and Raina we have seen to date.

On 1st June 2019, Liverpool won there sixth title,first since 2005. So here are the matches which will be always remembered in UCL history.

5. Manchester City 5-3 Monaco, 2016/17

A topsy-turvey thriller at the Etihad Stadium which ushered in the ‘arrival’ of Leonardo Jardim’s thrilling young side, despite defeat. It was a bizarrely open match – the first time eight goals had been scored in the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie. The Frenchmen raced into commanding 2-1 and 3-2 leads, but City came on strong with strikes via Sergio Aguero, John Stones and Leroy Sané.

Pep Guardiola’s boys thought they’d got away with it, until a 3-1 loss in the return leg sent them packing.

4. Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool, 2008/09

A time when all-English clashes were commonplace – but this was surely the best. Chelsea had won 3-1 at Anfield, but were in danger after a cheeky Fabio Aurelio free-kick and Xabi Alonso penalty had hauled the Reds level by half-time.

Goals from Didier Drogba, Alex and Frank Lampard put Chelsea firmly back in command after half-time, only for Lucas and Dirk Kuyt to quickly restore Liverpool’s lead on the night. But Lampard’s late strike settled nerves and ensured a semi-final showdown with Barcelona – and one troublesome Norwegian ref.

3. Chelsea 4-2 Barcelona, 2004/05

The birth of two rivalries – Chelsea vs Barcelona and Jose Mourinho vs football. After a 2-1 first-leg defeat at the Camp Nou where Didier Drogba was sent off, Mourinho accused Barça counterpart Frank Rijkaard of going into referee Anders Frisk’s room at half-time for a little chat. The Swede later received death threats and soon quit football.

But Chelsea made a fine start in the return leg, as Eidur Gudjohnsen, Frank Lampard and Damien Duff sent them 3-0 up after 20 minutes. Ronaldinho pulled one back 10 minutes later, then conjured the most magical moment of the tie.

Andres Iniesta shifted the ball to the Brazilian, then hurtled towards the box expecting to get it back. But Ronaldinho instead poked the ball beyond a hoard of players and Petr Cech into the bottom corner. Chelsea trailed on away goals, but a John Terry header sent the Blues through before chaos ensued with a Barça tunnel scrap.

2. Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United, 2010/11

Will a team ever play as well as this ever again? This was the pinnacle for Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, who dismantled Manchester United in the final with their unmatchable trademark style.

Pedro’s cool finish put the Catalans 1-0 up at Wembley, only for Wayne Rooney to steer in an equaliser. But then Barça cranked through the gears: Lionel Messi surged forward to regain the lead, before David Villa curled home a delightful third past Edwin van der Sar from distance. Breathtaking.

1. Barcelona 6-1 Paris Saint-Germain, 2016/17

“This is a sport for crazy people,” said Barça coach Luis Enrique. “I’d like to cry, but tears don’t come out.”

Bewilderment seemed the only fitting response after the most preposterous game in recent footballing memory. Barça were only playing for pride, really, having been devoured 4-0 in Paris three weeks earlier, but somehow they had a 3-0 lead within 50 minutes thanks to Luis Suarez, Layvin Kurzawa’s own goal and Lionel Messi spot-kick.

Hope was brutally punctured at the Camp Nou, however, when Edinson Cavani’s 62nd-minute strike left the Catalans needing three more to go through. Ludicrously, they somehow got them all in the last five minutes. Two Neymar goals and a late Sergi Roberto winner caused incredible scenes of delirium, capping a stunning, mental fixture.

Stay tuned for Part-2

The Spanish top flight will resume next month after the Prime Minister confirmed lockdown restrictions will be lifted.
La Liga will be able to resume from the week beginning June 8 after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez gave the green light for football to return.

The Spanish top flight has been suspended since March, but authorities have been exploring a way to conclude the campaign while the coronavirus pandemic continues.

La Liga officials have been looking to Friday, June 12 as the date on which they want the league to return, and they can now push towards that target.
Sanchez said in an address to the nation on Saturday: “Spain has done what it should and now new horizons are opening for everyone. The time has come to resume many daily activities. From June 8, La Liga will return to football.”
La Liga president Javier Tebas said earlier this week he was “excited” about the prospect of matches returning. He stressed they could only proceed with clearance from health authorities, but the go-ahead from Sanchez means Spanish football will soon be up and running once more.

Tebas expressed his joy following Sanchez’s announcement, tweeting: “We are very happy with the decision, it is the result of the great work of clubs, players, coaches.

“CSD [National Sports Council] and agents were involved. But it is very important to follow the sanitary precautions and respect the evolution of the pandemic, we cannot lower our guard.”

Spanish teams were allowed to return to training recently and have been working in groups of 10 this week, though they must continue to adhere to social distancing measures.

Games will likely be played without supporters present to minimise the risk of the disease spreading again – a development Spain coach Luis Enrique is not excited about.

“Playing behind closed doors is sadder than dancing with your own sister,” he said this week. 

“But you have to understand that football is a business – and it will help to pass the time during lockdown.”

Barcelona sit top of La Liga with a two-point lead over challengers Real Madrid with 11 games left to play. At the other end, bottom side Espanyol are six points from safety while Leganes and Mallorca are scrambling for a way out of the relegation zone.
German football has already resumed a week earlier than Premier League,while Serie A and PL look for June restart.

The two continents have dominated the game from the very beginning – but who came out on top when they met on the field?

Europe or South America: which continent is the true home of football?

That question has featured in countless debates since the game went truly global in the 1930s with the advent of the World Cup, which in turn was propelled into being by Uruguay staking claim to the title of world’s best with their back-to-back Olympic Games triumphs shortly before the Jules Rimet Trophy came into being.

In terms of titles, the regions are closely matched. Europe boasts 12 World Cup successes to South America’s nine, but no side east of the Atlantic Ocean can match Brazil‘s record of five wins. South American sides have also triumphed on no fewer than five occasions in tournament held outside the continent, while only Spain and Germany have managed the opposite. The latter remains the sole European country to have taken the trophy on South American soil.

A novel attempt to decide which powerhouse ruled the roost was held in 1973 when the best of each continent convened in a clash that showed off the best of the world’s talent. Barcelona‘s Camp Nou played host to Europe vs South America in a charity match arranged by FIFA and the star-studded line-ups did not disappoint as they played out a 4-4 thriller.

Coached by Barca’s Hungarian legend Laszlo Kubala, Europe’s first XI reads like a who’s who of the continent’s football idols of the 1970s. The near-unbeatable Netherlands side of that decade was represented by Johan Neeskens and new Blaugrana arrival Johan Cruyff, while in the shape of Benfica and Portugal wizard Eusebio and Malian hitman Salif Keita, one of the first African nationals to make a mark on European football, there was plenty of goalscoring potential.

With Inter stalwart Giacinto Facchetti standing at left-back and Valencia‘s Juan Cruz Sol inside, there was also plenty of steel to Kubala’s outfit. Across the pitch, however, and under the charge of Omar Sivori, a favourite at both River Plate and Juventus, South America also boasted household names in every position.

Three members of Brazil’s World Cup winning squad, Marco Antonio, Paulo Cezar and the brilliant Rivellino, were present in Sivori’s starting line-up; as were a trio of players who in 1975 would lead Peru to only their second Copa America in history. Teofilo Cubillas, Hugo Sotil and Hector Chumpitaz – the latter wearing the captain’s armband for South America – have gone down in history as three of the best players the Inca have ever produced and at Camp Nou they proved they were the equal of anything Europe could muster.

It was Sotil who fired the visiting South Americans into the lead, tucking away Paulo Cezar’s cross from close range after a delightful move down the right wing. Europe came roaring back, however, with Eusebio and Keita both netting to turn the tables; the former’s goal coming from a diving header to convert captain’s Cruyff’s pinpoint cross, a moment to treasure in the only game those two all-time greats played on the same side.

The score was levelled before half time by another Peruvian, this time Cubillas, and the pendulum continued to swing during a compelling second 45 minutes. Europe came close to taking the honour when Asensi and Austria‘s Kurt Jara fired them two goals ahead, but Miguel Brindisi of Argentina pulled his side back to within a single strike following incredible skill from Rivellino. Chumpitaz then levelled from the penalty spot to seal a 4-4 draw. In the ensuing shoot-out it was another Argentine, goalkeeper Daniel Carnevali, who came to the fore, saving three kicks to leave South America the winners of an enthralling friendly encounter.

Europe vs South America 2020

While football is the last thing on most people’s minds during this most difficult of times, the idea of the two continents’ greatest players getting together once again once the coronavirus pandemic is over, perhaps even for a charity match in which the proceeds would go to those affected by the outbreak, remains intriguing. And just like in 1973, picking just 22 players out of the hordes of modern superstars, let alone a winning team of the two, promises to be an extremely difficult prospect.

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has established himself as one of the world’s finest keepers in recent years, coming to the rescue of Barcelona on countless occasions with his agility and commanding presence between the posts. He just beats out Jan Oblak. Jordi Alba would bomb down the flanks and the evergreen Sergio Ramos partners Liverpool lynchpin Virgil van Dijk in the middle, while Trent Alexander-Arnold also takes a spot after establishing himself as arguably the world’s finest right-back in recent seasons.

With so many worthy options in midfield, striking a balance is possibly the most daunting task. For that reason the industry and tireless running of N’Golo Kante is put together with Kevin De Bruyne’s all-round talent and the dead-ball and passing ability of Toni Kroos to make a truly lethal trio. Further ahead our captain Cristiano Ronaldo will be ably assisted by Robert Lewandowski’s marksmanship, with Kylian Mbappe racing down the line out wide to put further pressure on the South America defence.

Luckily for the continent, it boasts a shot-stopper that can match even the best of Europe in Liverpool star Alisson. Ahead of him sits an uncompromising back three of Diego Godin, Jose Maria Gimenez and Thiago Silva, which will ensure that any attempt to break through will endure a rough ride before closing on the last line of defence.

Even at 36, Dani Alves proved in last year’s Copa America that he is still a player of the highest quality, sealing him a place on the right side of midfield. The middle will be bossed by Casemiro and Arturo Vidal, while slightly further up Philippe Coutinho will be tasked with providing the link with attack off the left wing and drifting off the flank into the final third.

Up front, meanwhile, is a near-perfect replica of Barca’s famous MSN all-South American trident, with one variation. Instead of Luis Suarez, compatriot Edinson Cavani gets the nod to line up alongside undisputed starters Lionel Messi and Neymar.

Anyone lucky enough to witness such a game would no doubt be in for a treat. Overall, however, Europe’s slight edge in defence and the engine room should prove enough to take the honours, as long as they manage to shackle that potent triple threat in the South America attack. A goal a piece for Messi and Neymar would not be quite enough, as Ronaldo nets twice and Lewandowski pops up in the final minutes to seal a 3-2 victory for the ‘old world’.

Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav delivered yet again with timely dismissals to lead India to a comfortable 18-run win over Bangladesh in their ICC Women’s T-20 World Cup match on Monday. Invited to bat , a substantial partnership eluded them after a fiery start but India still managed to post a competitive 142/6 at the W.A.C.A ground. India were off to a good start with opener Shafali Verma (39 of 17 balls) coming out all guns blazing in the Group A game. However the Indian innings never got the impetuous after the departure of the 16-year- old , who hit four sixes and two fours in her entertaining knock. Later , Veda Krishnamurthy(20 off 11) hit a few lusty blows to help India post a fighting total . Bangladesh fought through Murshida Khatun (30) and Nigar Sultana (35) but Poonam rattled the middle and lower order with her strikes.

In the end , Bangladesh could manage 124 for eight , giving India their second straight win in the tournament. “The way Shafali and Richa played , they showed how capable they are for the team . Veda’s innings was a turning point . We needed boundaries at that point and she did a great job,” India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said. Poonam who had helped India halt Australia’s chase in their opening game as well , was the top bowler again . She scalped Sanjida Islam (10) , Fahima Khatun (17) and Jahanara Alam to make it tough for Bangladesh. Bangladeah needed 49 runs from the last five overs but they failed to negotiate Poonam’s flighted deliveries. The Indian spinner had Fahima caught by Shafali in the first ball of the 16th over while Rajeshwari Gaekwad saw the back of well-set Nigar Sultana. Poonam then returned to dismiss Jahanara , who stepped out looking for a big hit only to be stumped by Taniya. The runs dried up and Bangladesh now needed 22 off the final over. Pacer Shikha Pandey clean bowled Rumana Ahmed with a perfect yorker and writing was clear on the wall. Earlier , Shafali punished the rival attack with her fluent stroke-making. Attempting a big ine , Shafali skied one off veteran Panna Ghosh and was dismissed , caught by wicket-keeper Shamima Sultana. This was after fellow opener Taniya Bhatia (2) was sent back by Salma Khathun. Shafali turned out to be the best scorer in India’s innings. Jemimah Rodriques played a sedate yet crucial 34-run knock since hard-hitting skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was already dismissed by Ghosh. With both Shafali and Harmanpreet cooling their heels back in the dugout , India’s run-rate took a dip. The slide continued with Deepti Sharma (11) running herself out following a mix up with Veda Krishnamurthy.

New Zealand defeated India by five wickets in the third and final ODI at the of the three-match series here at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday (February 11).

With this victory, the Blackcaps also registered a 3-0 whitewash over the Men In Blue in the three-match ODI series. This is also India’s first series loss in any format since March last year.

In chase of target score of 297 runs, Openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls gave the home side the perfect start and formed a 106-run stand for the first wicket.

Yuzvendra Chahal finally found the much-needed breakthrough for India in the 17th over and dismissed Guptill on 66.

Skipper Kane Williamson came in next formed a 53-run stand with before Chahal again came up with the required goods and sent Williamson (22) back to the dressing room in the 28th over, reducing New Zealand to 159/2.

Ross Taylor, the man in form, failed to deliver with the bat on the day as he was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja in the 32nd over for just 12 runs.

Soon after, Indian pacer Shardul Thakur removed Nicholls (80) with a claver delivery, reducing Kiwis to 189/4.

Jimmy Neesham and Tom Latham then formed a short 31-run stand for the fifth wicket, but Chahal again found the breakthrough for his side and dismissed Neesham (19) in the 40th over.

However, it was Colin de Grandhomme (58) and Latham (32) who guided the Blackcaps to victory in the end by five wickets with 17 balls to spare.

Earlier in the day, KL Rahul’s knock 112 runs boosted India to 296/7 in the allotted fifty overs.

Batting first, the Men In Blue got off to yet another poor start as they lost two early wickets in Mayank Agarwal (1) and Virat Kohli (9) with just 32 runs on the board.

Opener Prithvi Shaw played some flamboyant shots before he also perished via a run-out in the 13th over for 40, leaving India in a spot of bother at 62/3.

Shreyas Iyer and Rahul then knitted together a 100-run stand for the fourth wicket.

However, Kiwi pacer Neesham provided his side with the breakthrough that they were looking for in the 31st over and sent Iyer (62) back to the pavilion.

Manish Pandey then came in and played some aggressive shots with Rahul, who brought up his fourth ton in the 45th over of the innings.

Rahul (112) and Pandey (42) were soon dismissed in the 47th over, leaving India at 269/6

The New Zealand bowlers were in top form again as they managed to restrict India below the 300-run mark.

India skipper Virat Kohli blamed the team’s lack of composure while bowling and fielding as they lost the ODI series 0-3 to New Zealand after being defeated in the third and final match by five wickets.
“The games were not as bad as the scoreline suggests. Batsmen coming back from tough situations was a positive sign for us,but the way we bowled and fielded,the composure wasn’t enough for us to win the games.We didn’t deserve to be on the winning side at all in this series.” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony. ” We haven’t played so badly, but we didn’t grab the opportunities. It was a good experience for the new guys who came in. They are still finding their feet,” he added talking about the opening pair of Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal who played in the absence of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan who are out injured.
He also said India is now looking forward to the two match test series starting February 21 in Wellington.

India defends 233 against Australia, enters third straight U-19 WC semis. Pacer Kartik Tyagi blew away the Australian top-order with a sensational spell to power India into the semifinals of the ICC U-19 World Cup with a comfortable 74-run win on Tuesday.
Chasing a target of 234 runs, Australia witnessed a mundane start as they gave away three wickets in the very first over of innings. Jake Fraser-McGurk was run out on the first ball while Mackenzie Harvey and Lachlan Harne were dismissed by Tyagi. Again in the third over Tyagi took a wicket,this time sending Oliver Davies back to the pavilion. Sam Fanning was then joined by Patrick Rowe on the field and both played slow paced innings. Akash Singh handed India with the much-needed wicket of Fanning,who played a knock of 75 runs. After Fanning’s dismissal, Australia crumbled and were all out on 159 runs. In the end Singh finished with the figures of (3/30) and Tyagi with (4/24).
Invited to bat, India lacked a substantial partnership until Atharva and Ravi Bishnoi joined forces to raise a fighting 61-run stand for the seventh wicket. Atharva Ankolekar scored an unbeaten 55 off 54 balls which included 5 fours and a six,while Bishnoi made 30 off 31 balls. Earlier Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a steady 62 but lacked support from the other side.
India will now face the winners of second quarter final match which is played between West Indies and New Zealand.