SWITZERLAND COMEBACK FROM BEHIND AGAINST SERBIA

Switzerland came back from trailing to an early goal to collect all three points against Serbia from their 2018 FIFA World Cup Group E match played at the Kaliningrad Stadium in Kaliningrad.

Photo courtesy of www.fifa.com

The Serbs had a dream start when striker, Alekxandar Mitrović headed home a cross from Dušan Tadić in the fifth minute. The Newcastle United player had an earlier effort saved by Swiss goalkeeper, Yann Sommer.

Just before halftime, his opposite number, Vladimir Stojković denied Switzerland the equaliser when he managed to push away a Blerim Džemaili effort which was on target.

However, Switzerland only needed seven minutes into the second half to pull level when Granit Xhaka hit a first timer from outside the penalty box after the initial shot by Xherdan Shaqiri was blocked.

Then just around the hour mark, Shaqiri saw his effort hit the Serbs’ crossbar as Valdimir Petković’s boys grew in confidence. 

Both teams were going for the winner but it was The Swiss who  managed to get it when from a quick break in the last minute of regulation time.

Shaqiri latched onto a pass by Xhaka before holding off the challenge from Duško Tošić before slotting the ball past Stojković to seal all three points for Switzerland which moved to second place with the place in the knockout phase seemed almost certain.

MUSA BRACE GAVE NIGERIA VICTORY OVER ICELAND

Ahmad Musa scored a brace as Nigeria came alive in the second half in their 2018 FIFA World Cup match against Iceland played at the Volgograd Arena in Volgograd.

Photo courtesy of www.fifa.com

After their defeat against Croatia on their opener Nigeria needed to get the points on board in order to qualify for the next round. Having held the much favoured Argentina to a draw on their first ever World Cup finals match, Iceland took the field with high confidence.

Despite that there were not many chances created by both sides in the first 45 minutes with Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick for Iceland that was saved by goalkeeper, Francis Ozuho the closest moment to come to a goal.

However the match came alive in the second. Musa in his attempt to control a pass from Victor Moses lifted the ball up and allowed it to come down before hitting a half-volley past Iceland goalkeeper, Hannes Halldorssón four minutes after the restart.

Iceland tried to make a comeback but Musa struck again fifteen minutes from time when his pace brought him past defender, Kári Árnason and after taking it past Halldorssón picked his spot to slot home his second goal of the match.

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) came into play when Björn Sigurdarson was deemed to have brought been brought down by defender, Kenneth Omeruo in the penalty area. However Sigurdsson could not keep his spot-kick down despite Ozuho going the wrong way.

At the final whistle, Nigeria registered their first win and this would set up nicely for the final group matches when they face Argentina while Iceland take on the already qualified Croatia.

STOPPAGE TIME HEARTBREAK FOR COSTA RICA

Heartbreak for Costa Rica tonight when they went down 2-0 to Brazil after holding their fort intact for the full ninety minutes of their 2018 Fifa World Cup match.

Photo courtesy of www.fifa.com

The Central American side put out a resolute performance to held Neymar & co. at bay and even survive a penalty decision when Dutch referee, Bjorn Kuipers had judged that Neymar had been pulled down in the penalty area by a Costa Rica defender.

However it was later rescinded by the referee after watching the replay of the incident on video at the review area and instead awarded a free kick to Óscar Ramírez’s side.

Real Madrid goalkeeper, Keylor Navas was inevitably the busier goalkeeper as Brazil peppered his goal with shots from the first whistle.

Having drawn their opening match against Switzerland, Brazil needed to win and they went all out to ensure all three points would come their way. 

However, they came up against a Costa Rica side determined not to go home early, having lost their opening match against Serbia 1-0 in a match played at the Cosmos Arena in Samara. 

Navas did what was required and he and his team-mates were six minutes away from picking up their first point as the match entered stoppage time.

A cross from Marcelo into the box was headed down by Roberto Firmino and Neymar tried to control it. However, Philippe Coutinho made a darting run into the box and slotted it between Navas legs much to the delight of all Brazillians around the world.

Then as the stoppage time entered it’s seventh minute, Gabriel Jesus who had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half laid the ball for Neymar to score his first goal of the tournament and seal all three points for the South Americans side.

THT DEFEAT THUNDERBOLTS TO REACH ALAGENDRA CUP FINAL

Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) reached their second successive Alagendra Cup final after brushing aside TNB Thunderbolts challenge in their semi-final match today.

Sarjit Singh’s men will face Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) in tomorrow’s final as they look to defend the title they won last season against Maybank.

Against The Thunderbolts, THT took the lead inside the first minute when their Argentine guest player, Gonzalo Peillat converted a penalty corner.

However, a strong performance by The Thunderbolts defence saw the score being kept at 1-0 until the end of the first quarter.

Then in the first minute of the second quarter, they sprung a surprise by equalising through Azril Misron's field goal. However, the situation did not last long as another guest player for THT, Joaqin Menini restored his side lead two minutes later.

Peillat then made the holders’ place in the final safe when he converted another penalty corner nine minutes from time to make the final score 3-1 in favour of THT.

In another semi-final, KLHC knocked out Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) to enter their first Alagendra Cup final, also with a 3-1 scoreline.

It will be a good opportunity for KLHC to avenge their 7-2 trashing at the hands of THT in last season’s semi-final especially with former THT topscorer, Jang Jong-Hyun playing for the city side.

The Korean scored twice in the fourth quarter, helping his new side to the win against UniKL after Joshua Pollard had already opened the scoring in the first.

UniKL cancelled out Pollard’s goal through Faridzul Afiq’s field goal in the second quarter.

FAIZAL HITS FIVE AS THT CRUISE PAST UiTM

Holders Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) opened their title defence of the Alagendra Cup with a 9-0 trashing of UiTM in their quarter-final match held at the National Hockey Stadium.

National player, Faizal Saari who led the team out today helped himself to five goals today with Argentine duo, Lopez Barreiros and Gonzalo Peilat shared three strikes between them. Another goal for THT was scored by Sufi Ismat.

It took only six minutes for Sarjit Singh’s men to break the deadlock with Barreiros sounding the board with a field goal before Sufi made it 2-0 a minute before the end of the first quarter.

Faizal then opened his account for the new season with another field goal in the 24th minute before making it 4-0 for THT  in the third quarter.

Argentine Olympic gold medalist, Peilat then opened his goal account in Malaysia with his trade-mark penalty corner goal making it 5-0 for THT at the end of the quarter.

Faizal completed his hattrick with a strike from a penalty corner in the 49th minute before adding a couple more goals in a space of two minutes each before Peilat completed UiTM’s misery with another penalty corner goal in the last minute.

THT which received a bye in the round of sixteen will take on TNB Thunderbolts in the last four while Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) face Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL). 

Both matches will be played at the National Hockey Stadium on Saturday.


Photo: Malaysian Hockey Confederation

AZREEN NABILA REWRITES 100 METRES RECORD

Terengganu sprinter, Azreen Nabila Alias broke the Girls Under 18, 100 metres record last night when she crossed the finishing line in a time of 12.02s, rewriting the old record of 12.07s registered by Johor, Chiew Hui Lian in 2010 at the 58th Malaysian Schools Sports Council Track & Field Championship held at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Kuala Nerus.

The Terengganu Sports School student said she was expecting to win but did not expect to break the games record but was glad in doing so to repay the faith that was put in her by her coach Mohamad Nizam Yusop.

Elice Grenggori@Gregory of Sabah finished as the runners-up with a time of 12.58s while Selangor, Hee Xio Yee bagged the bronze medal with a time of 12.70s.

Negeri Sembilan Muhammad Haiqal Hanafi bagged the Boys Under 18 100 metres sprint gold when he pipped home favourite, Muhammad Zulfiqar Ismail to the finishing line. Haiqal clocked 10.66s just 0.11s faster than Zulfiqar's time of 10.77s.

There was also another heartbreak for the home fans when Muhammad Shahriey Haazwanie Mohamad Shukri was pipped to the gold medal by Sarawak Audray MacShaquille Henry Jugah by 0.01s in the Boys Under 12 100 metres category.

Audray clocked a time of 12.37s with Shahriey recording 12.38s. Mohamad Idham Aqasha Mohamad Sabri of Pahang took the bronze with a time of 12.40s.

However Terengganu collected their second gold medal from the tracks in the 400 metres Girls Under 15 category when Noor Faizatul Nathasha Mohamad Bakri finished first with a time of 61.91s. Sabah Erlyn Yoong collected the silver with a time of 62.40s with Nur Ezrina Sofia Emylin Rosmizam took the bronze with a time of 63.57s.

Kedah Mohamad Anaqi Fitri Sobri registered a jump of 14.58m to win the gold in the Boys Under 18 triple jump while Ng Yu Jie of Pahang excelled in the Girls Under 18 category with a distance of 11.78m.

LimHow Sieng broke the championship record in the Boys Under 15 Discus event with a throw of 54.49m to win the gold for Sarawak with team-mate, Yong Shie Liang collecting the silver with a throw of 52.69m.

Another Sarawakian athlete, Grace Wong Xiu Mei also rewrote the record in the Girls hammer throw with a distance of 52.70m, bettering her own record of 50.74m registered last year.

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TERENGGANU OPEN CAMPAIGN WITH A WIN OVER PENANG

Terengganu opened their 2016 Super League campaign with a hard fought win over Penang at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak last night.

Despite a fifth minute penalty miss by their Canadian international, Issey Nakajima Terengganu managed to breach the Penang defence in the 25th minute when a low shot by playmaker, Gustavo Lopez managed to beat goalkeeper, Sani Anuar.

The visitors adopted an aggressive approach in containing Terengganu players which saw a number of fouls committed by them, especially on Joseph Kalang Tie, Lopez and Nakajima.

However, match referee Naffez Abdul Wahab did not see any of them warranted any caution and only brandished the yellow card on the hour mark to Azrul Ahmad who still tried to plead his innocence despite fouling Lopez for the umpteenth time.

In the 34th minute, a long shot from midfield saw Penang coming closest to equalise but the ball hit the bar with Sharbinee Allawee completely beaten. The rebound hit the goalkeeper's back but luckily for Terengganu, Sharbinee managed to grab it before any further damage could be inflicted.

Lopez was denied a second goal when his freekick two minutes before the interval was on it's way in before Sani managed to claw it back out. The loose ball then fell to Norshahrul Idlan Talaha and he unleashed a stiff shot but once again Sani managed to palm it away.

Sharbinee had to be alert again in added time when Penang skipper, Mohamad Rafiuddin managed to break free on the left before unleashing a stiff shot, which much to the delight of the home supporters, the goalkeeper palmed away for a harmless corner.

The second half saw the post denying Terengganu from increasing their lead when Norshahrul who managed to find space on the left fired in a low shot which had Sani completely beaten but much to the forward's dismay, hit the post and rebounded to safety.

Terengganu fourth foreign player, Juan Morales was introduced in the 74th minute but he did not bring much impact to the attack.

Penang pressed hard to level the score but the tiring Terengganu players managed to hold on to their lead until the final whistle to ensure their season started with a win.