28-02-2021

SUnDAY, FeBrUArY 28, 2021
9
tiger Woods of the U.S. on the 18th hole during the second round.
photo: reuters
Tuchel reveals Man Utd defeat
left him in a ‘dark place’
Tiger Woods recovering, in
'good spirits' after follow-up
procedures-tweet
SportS DeSk
Fifteen-time major winner Tiger Woods is
recovering and in "good spirits" after he
received successful follow-up procedures
on injuries sustained this week in a car
accident, according to a statement posted
to his Twitter account on Friday, reports
BSS.
Woods, considered one of the greatest
golfers of his generation, was being treated
at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los
Angeles following the crash on Tuesday,
which left him with a fractured right leg
and shattered ankle.
"Tiger and his family want to thank you
all for the wonderful support and
messages they have received over the past
few days," the statement read. "We will not
have any further updates at this time."
Woods, 45, who overcame numerous
surgeries to break an 11-year major
drought and win the 2019 Masters, had
hoped to compete at Augusta in April.
The accident stunned the world of
professional sport and prompted an
outpouring of support from fellow athletes
as well as former US Presidents Donald
Trump and Barack Obama.
We want this to end as soon as
possible: Taskin on isolation
in New Zealand
SportS DeSk
The Bangladesh national cricket
team reached Christchurch, New
Zealand on Wednesday afternoon to
play three ODIs and three T20Is
against New Zealand later next
month. They stayed in isolation
upon reaching there and pacer
Taskin Ahmed has hailed this as a
'whole new experience' for the team.
The team stayed 48 hours in
isolation after reaching
Christchurch. Each player remained
in their own room and wasn't
allowed to get out and meet others,
until Friday as their first corona test
came negative.
The players and support staff met
each other after two long days and
walked keeping a 2-meter distance
from each other today. Taskin
mentioned this is a whole new
experience for the team and they
want this to finish as soon as
possible.
"We never spent 48 hours like this
before. We got a chance to see
everyone after our first corona test
came negative and walked keeping a
2-meter distance among each other
today," Taskin said via a video
message.
"It still felt good. It felt like we
have been caged for the past two
days."
"Overall this has been a different
experience, but we want this to end
as soon as possible," Taskin added.
The players are mainly spending
their time by talking to their families
and watching movies. They are also
exercising in their own rooms
following the programs BCB set for
them.
The series will begin with ODIs on
March 20 at Dunedin.
SportS DeSk
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has
revealed he was left in a "dark place"
after Manchester United knocked
Paris Saint Germain out of the
Champions League during his time in
charge of the French club.
Tuchel has a chance to avenge that
painful loss against United when Ole
Gunnar Solskjaer's side visits
Stamford Bridge in a crucial Premier
League clash on Sunday, reports AP.
That will be the fifth time in just
over two years that Tuchel has faced
United.
The 47-year-old still has the mental
scars from PSG's 2019 meltdown
against United.
After a 2-0 victory at Old Trafford,
PSG were left stunned at Parc des
Princes three weeks later when they
conceded a penalty in stoppage-time
to suffer a 3-1 defeat and exit the last
16 on away goals.
"I can be very honest, after that
match I was two days in a very dark
place and I can tell you I was not able
to speak to anybody and to think
about anything else than this defeat,"
Tuchel said.
"That maybe was the worst defeat
that I experienced because it came from
nowhere. It was, in a way, in the
circumstances that it arrived. I was for
two days in a dark place for a coach to
be at."
It remains the only time the former
Borussia Dortmund boss has felt that
low after a result but he admitted it
proved a crucial learning experience.
PSG were able to bounce back and
win the Ligue 1 title before Tuchel led
them to a Champions League final
defeat against Bayern Munich last
season.
"I didn't experience anything like
this ever again or before," Tuchel
said.
"It was in the circumstances, this
game, how we arrived there, the
pressure around the club concerning
the round of 16, the history before
and the result of the first match and
the way the second match went with
the VAR decision in the last minute.
"It was like it came from absolutely
nowhere and that's why this hit was
hard to take. But, like I said, I was two
days in a dark place but then we gave
the players two days off and I think
that was the best for everybody.
"After that, it's like this in sports, it
can teach you that you have to stand
up and accept that a defeat is
sometimes necessary to grow and
develop and to ask yourself decisive
questions.
"That can hurt and the reward was
one year later, it was almost the
perfect reward when we arrived in the
final and we came a long way for that.
It was through adversity and it's often
said that it makes you stronger."
Chelsea, unbeaten since Tuchel
replaced the sacked Frank Lampard
in January, must beat United to keep
in touch in the top four race, while the
visitors need a win to maintain their
faint hopes of catching leaders
Manchester City.
the players and support staff met each other after two long days and walked keeping a 2-meter distance
from each other.
photo: BCB
Tanvir's five wickets put
Bangladesh Emerging on top
"I can be very honest, after that match I was two days in a very dark place and I can tell you I was not
able to speak to anybody and to think about anything else than this defeat," tuchel said. photo: Ap
US investors bet on ‘sleeping giant’
Serie A's return to glory days
SportS DeSk
Parma and Spezia have become the
most recent Italian clubs to pass into
US ownership with more than a
quarter of Serie A outfits now in the
hands of north American owners,
reports BSS.
Their bet? Growth in TV rights and
the modernisation of ageing stadiums
fuelling a new era of Italian football.
Two top flight games this weekend
will be derbies between US-owned
teams - Roma versus AC Milan and
Spezia against Parma.
If foreign investment has long been
part of the Premier League with only
four clubs still British-owned, the
phenomenon is more recent in Italy.
The harsh economic reality of the
coronavirus pandemic has made clubs
more open to potential investors,
experts told AP.
Roma's US-era began a decade ago
with James Pallotta, who sold on to
another American businessman Dan
Friedkin last summer.
Former European giants AC Milan
are also flying the US flag since
passing into the hands of the Elliott
Management group in 2018 after the
club's Chinese owners defaulted on a
debt to the hedge fund.
Fiorentina have been owned by
Italian-born US businessman Rocco
Commisso since 2019, while this
season the Krause group became the
the majority shareholder in Parma,
and financier Robert Platek and his
family purchased promoted Spezia in
February. Canadian Joey Saputo has
owned Bologna since 2014.
This North American interest is
based on an economic bet, the
awakening of the "sleeping giant" that
would be Serie A, according to Patrick
Massey of Portas Consulting, a British
firm which specialises in sport.
Italy were the centre of the football
planet in the 1980s and 1990s, in the
days when Argentina great Diego
Maradona played at Napoli.
The sum paid for Spezia, a reported
25 million euros ($30 million), is a
"good example" of the current
devaluation of Italian football,
compared to other European or MLS
clubs, according to Jordan Gardner,
an American investor who has worked
with several European clubs, and now
owns Danish side FC Helsingor.
Andrea Sartori, head of the sport
sector at audit firm KPMG believes
investors are counting on a future
increase in television rights for the
Italian league which are "very far from
those of the Premier League or La
Liga, in particular internationally".
The allocation of rights for the next
three seasons is underway in Italy.
Liga Serie A expect a certain stability
for broadcasting in Italy, 970 million
euros per year currently, but hopes for
an increase overseas (370 million
euros).
The other expected growth area is
the country's outdated stadiums, with
just a few in the ownership of their
club such as Juventus, Udinese,
Sassuolo and Atalanta.
This dream of renovated or even
new sports facilities, to increase ticket
sales and generate additional income,
seems to be shared by all clubs under
the American banner.
In Milan as in Rome, the project of a
new stadium has existed for years.
In Florence, Commisso has been
talking about a completely restored
stadium since arriving, despite
recently stating he has given up
because of administrative
difficulties.
SportS DeSk
Tanvir Islam was the star
of the show on day one of
the four-day match
between the Bangladesh
Emerging team and
Ireland A, reports BSS.
The left-arm offspinner
took five wickets
for 55 runs to do the bulk
of the damage and
restrict the visitors to
just 151 runs ar the
Zahur Ahmed
Chowdhury Stadium in
Chattogram.
In reply, Bangladesh
were 81/1 with opener
Tanzid Hasan looking
solid in an innings of 41
from 39 balls before
being dismissed.
Having won the toss,
Ireland A decided to bat
first and got off to a
steady start as their
openers James
McCollum and Jeremy
Lawlor saw off the
opening bowlers Khaled
Ahmed and Ebadot
Hossain without losing a
wicket.
It was when captain
Saif Hassan decided to
bring on Tanvir, that the
first wicket of McCollum
fell in the last ball of the
15th over as the opener
was out lbw for 19 with
the team score at 34.
Khaled was brought
back by his skipper for a
second spell and he
bowled with pace and
fire to dismiss the other
opener Lawlor.
In the 22nd over as he
was caught by Yasir Ali
after scoring 13 and with
the team's score on 42.
Two balls later, the
Ireland captain Harry
Tector was got for a
golden duck and it was
Tanvir who caught the
edge as it went into the
tanvir Islam leads the way after taking five wickets.
safe hands of the
wicketkeeper Akbar Ali.
The first session ended
with another wicket for
Bangladesh as pacer
Ebadat uprooted the
stumps of Stephen
Doheny after he scored
14 runs with Ireland in
dire straits at 62/4.
The visitors then
started the second
session a lot better as
Curtis Campher and
Lorcan Tucker formed a
partnership to take the
team past 100.
But this time it was the
captain who brought
himself onto the attack
with his part-time offspin
and got the
breakthrough by
dismissing Tucker for 20
as Ireland's score read
111/5.
Tanvir Islam then
struck again to claim his
third scalp, the wicket of
Mark Adair for 9 runs
but Campher was a
happy camper, scoring
runs on the other end.
With Camper on 39,
Saif once again got the
breakthrough as
Mahmudul Hasan Joy
took a neat catch and peg
Ireland further back at
127/7.
Two more wickets fell
in quick succession as
Tanvir had his fourth
wicket - that of Gareth
Delany (4) - and Ebadot
had his second as he
clean-bowled Jonathan
Garth for a duck.
Peter Chase, the last
batsman, played some
shots to stay not out on
14 and take his team past
150, but Tanvir had the
last laugh, taking his fifth
wicket, that of Graham
Hume for 10.
photo: BCB