You can probably look at Kim Jong Un's crossing of the South Korea border during Trump's admin
You have that back-to-front It was Trump who crossed the border, not Kim. As far as I remember, Kim Jong Un briefly stepped in to South Korea, after the RoK president urged him to do so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IyLMz4buesThis one happened back in 2018, when Kim Jong Un of DPRK and Moon-Jae-in of Republic of Korea met each other in Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). But things went bad after that and the relations between these two countries are now at a new low. Moon-Jae-in himself benefited greatly from improved relations back in 2018, and his party managed to win the parliamentary elections in 2020. |
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South Africa vs Australia is going to be interesting. I would have rated Australia as one of the favorites to win the world cup this time, but in the first match they just meekly surrendered to India. On the other hand, South Africa just smothered Sri Lanka in their opening match, by compiling a gigantic total of 428/5. Their batsmen are in superb form, especially Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram. However the poor form of their bowlers (both spinners, as well as pacers) should be a concern for them.
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Any comments about the Asian Games cricket competition? This time India won both the gold medals - for men, as well as for women. During the previous editions (2010 and 2014), they had refused to send the teams. This time, a total of 14 teams took part in the men's competition, while 8 teams took part in the women's competition. Originally 18 teams were scheduled to take part in the men's event, but some of them (such as Bahrain) withdrew. Now there are rumors that cricket will be included for the 2028 Olympic Games, which will be held at Los Angeles. More details here: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/confirmed-cricket-to-return-in-la-olympics-in-2028-1402174 |
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Among the weaker teams, I believe that Afghanistan has performed the worst so far in the world cup (in the first match, they were bowled out for 156 runs by the Bangladeshis). Others like Netherlands and Bangladesh have so far performed much better than them. But there is enough time for them to bounce back, as each team will be playing 9 matches each in the group phase. For Afghanistan, the next match is going to be against England, where we have once again the possibility of a lop-sided contest.
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I think he's a better negotiator than Biden so he may be right about no wars right now if he was still the POTUS. You can probably look at Kim Jong Un's crossing of the South Korea border during Trump's admin and normalization of relations in the middle east as an example. He may still continue the US influence or presence in other countries but I doubt he would escalate things. He understands that it would cost more for the American people if wars actually broke out.
Trump, by no means is a pacifist. But being a businessman, he understands the costs being involved in waging a war and his argument is that the amount should be better spent at home helping the needy families. That is diametrically opposite to the policies from Biden, who has restarted the American military interventions in third world countries ever since he took over the presidency. Till now, the United States have provided $44 billion worth of financial and military aid to Ukraine (ever since the war began). Now compare that to the $82 billion military budget of Russia. |
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Yes, it could very well happen when we see his name on the coaching staff list for his country. Age does not lie, even though he is still able to play, his contrbution to the game will not be the same as when he was younger and that cannot be denied. And even at his age, it's amazing that he can still contribute to the club he's playing for.
The next World Cup is the stage for the young players of today, and I'm sure there will be many new players who will get a lot of attention and then become a target for the big clubs.
The fact that he has moved out of European league tells that the retirement is very near. Usually star players devote the last 2-3 years of their career to get a good deal from some of the American or Asian clubs, so they can retire with enough savings. The same has happened with Lionel Messi, who has moved to Inter-Miami in Major League Soccer (MLS). The level of competition in MLS will obviously much lower than that in different European leagues. And this will be taken into account, when Argentina announces their squad for 2026 World Cup. |
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If I understand correctly, taking into account the fact that Spain and Norway will have a head-to-head meeting in the penultimate round, there is simply no chance that both Spain and Norway will overtake Scotland. Impressive result from Scotland, but it's a shame that Norway (it's unlikely that Spain will fall that low) will go to play in the tournament for the losers, I don't think it will be easy there, so we may see the Euros without Haaland.
You are forgetting the fact that Spain has 4 matches remaining. If they win all these 4 matches, then they will end up with 21 points. On the other hand, Scotland has 3 matches remaining and they are currently at 15 points. So I would say that there is a good chance that Spain will be able to overtake Scotland. That said, I don't have much hope for Norway. They are at 7 points after 5 matches. Even if they win all the remaining matches, they may not be able to qualify for the main tournament. Hard luck for quality players such as Erling Håland and Martin Ødegaard. |
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The Indian team reached the target of victory in just 35 overs. My guess is Hill will win in 40-41 overs. But with Rohit Sharma's brilliant batting, they reached the goal of victory very easily. He played a brilliant innings of 131 runs off just 84 balls. I thought he would do 150+. It would have been easy for Rohit Sharma to collect 150+ if he batted carefully and batted a bit slower. However, apart from Rohit Sharma, the performances of Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli and Iyer were quite good. Every player in the Indian top order is in very good form. And if they can maintain such form in the entire World Cup, then the Indian team has the possibility of becoming the world champion this time.
I just hope that Rohit will bat in a similar way against stronger teams, such as England, South Africa and New Zealand. We all saw what happened during the match against Australia, when they got reduced to 12/3. Even in pitches that offers hardly any support for the pace bowlers, the Indian top and middle order struggle against quality pacers. And some of the SENA pacers have plenty of experience of playing in Indian pitches, thanks to their role in the IPL. I am talking about bowlers such as Trent Boult, Mark Wood and Marco Jansen. |
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350 is enough, Nah at least 450 cause the batting depth of India is way down the order and everyone is great form since Asia cup so no matter how much Afghanistan scored it won't be enough compared to team India.
But I really appreciate the effort of AFG batting lineup today because they at least put up a decent total against team like India and few batsmen scored good runs too but the track suited for hitman batting style and he took away the match in the first 10 or 15 overs itself with the way he batted and no bowler gave any threat at all.
350 would have been difficult for India. Shubman Gill is out as a result of dengue fever, and the openers are not scoring enough runs for India (especially Ishan Kishan, as Rohit Sharma scored 131 against Afghanistan today). Then there is weakness in the middle order, with KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya not being consistent with the bat. BTW, Naveen-ul-Haq was the most economical bowler for Afghanistan today, going for 5-0-31-0. Almost everyone else went for more than 8 runs per over. The two opening bowlers (Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman) were terribly expensive. |
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Right now, Nigeria is leading the table by a lot of points difference. They currently have 14 points and they have not lost even one match out of the seven that they have played. And the second team on the table is Ghana, who has six points. So there is there big difference of eight points right now between them. And I definitely do not think that Ghana will be able to catch Nigeria.
In this match against Ghana, when Nigeria lost two wickets only for 12 runs, I thought they might lose. But they performed well after that.
Only two matches for each team remains now and it is almost confirmed that the final match will be played between Nigeria, and either Rwanda or Ghana. Nigeria has so far won all of their 7 matches. Now they have cemented their position as one of the strongest associate nations from Africa. Rwanda and Ghana are having 6 points each, and tomorrow there is a match between these two teams. The winner will proceed to the final. Apart from the final, there is a third-place playoff as well, which will be played by the 3rd and 4th placed teams. |
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Sierra Leone vs Rwanda
Sierra Leone won the toss and elected to bat first. Sierra Leone is close to all team out and they made 102 runs in 18.2 overs. 7 batsmans connot enter in double figures, four batsmans enter in double figures. John Bangura made 30 runs in 39 balls , Turay made 14 runs in 15 balls and Kpaka made 15 runs in 17 balls. From Rwanda bowlers, Zappy took 3 wickets by giving 32 runs in 4 overs. Martin took 3 wickets by giving 17 runs in 3.1 overs and Sebareme took 3 wickets by giving only 12 runs in 4 overs. Rwanda is performing very well and it is strongest side as comparison to Sierra Leone. So, Sierra Leone will win this match.
Sierra Leone defeated Rwanda by 2 runs. Rwanda scored 107/8 in 20 overs and lost match by two runs. Wilson Niyitange is out by 6 from 23 balls lbw by George Sesay, Didier Ndikubwimana is out by 7 from 19 balls wickets taken by Raymond Coker. Eric Dusingizimana was brilliant batting and out 22 score from 19 balls with striker rate of 115 wickets taken by Miniru Kpaka and Hamza Khan Is out by Scoring 38(30) with high striker rate 126.67 wicket taken by Raymond Coker. Sierra Leone bowlers Miniru Kpaka took brilliant bowling spell 4-21-2, and Raymond Coker 4-12-3 bowling Brilliant and won by 2 runs. First win for Sierra Leone in this competition. Nigeria has remained at the top, with 6 wins from 6 matches. The performance from Rwanda has been disappointing. They used to be one of the strongest associate sides from Africa, but now they have lost to Sierra Leone as well. They are at the 3rd position, with just 2 wins from 6 matches. Sierra Leone is at the bottom, with just 1 win from 6 matches. Each team will be playing 2 matches each from now, and hopefully Rwanda will be overtake Ghana and reach the 2nd position. |
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England beats Bangladesh by 137 Runs and secures their first World Cup 2023 victory after a shaky start against New Zealand. England's third-highest score 364/9 in 50 Over World Cups. England got a huge victory against Bangladesh, and healed their NRR a bit. I think its very bad performance with the bat for the Bangladeshis, like most of the matches, they failed to bat 50 overs once again on a pure batting surface. Mushfiqur Rahim played a fighting fifty 51(64) against England in Dharamsala. Mahedi Hasan has done well 8-74-4 towards the end took wickets of Malan, Brook, Curran and Rashid
LOL. after their heavy defeat against New Zealand, now they have something to cheer about. The main issue with England is that they don't have a quality spinner in their team. Adil Rashid is not up to a level, where he can create difficulty to world class batsmen. And without a good spinner, they can't win matches on Indian pitches. Anyway, since they won against Bangladesh, now they have the momentum with them. So we can expect them to perform well in the remaining matches. For them, the next match is going to be against Afghanistan. |
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That's because the market is afraid that this conflict will turn into some kind of a regional war. Countries like Lebanon, Iran and Egypt can be easily dragged into this conflict any moment. The price of oil is already surging, and I really hope we won't see the price quadruple because of this conflict like in the 1970ies. Out of the countries that you have listed, only Iran is a major producer of crude oil. And as far as I have heard, Israel may refrain from directly attacking Iran. That is not the case with Lebanon, as there is a good chance that the Israeli military will conduct a few incursions into that country to destroy the Hezbollah. One risk factor that I can foresee is Iranian backed Houthi rebels attacking the oil installations within Saudi Arabia. Any such attack would immediately push the Brent crude to three digit levels, worsening the inflation issue around the globe. |
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India's second match today. They will be playing against Afghanistan, at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi. Afghanistan is currently at 9th position in points table, and with the spinners (Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman) completely out of form, I don't think that they stand a chance against India. I am curious to know whether Suryakumar Yadav will be included in the playing XI for today's match. In that case, Shreyas Iyer will be warming the bench. There should be no other changes, with Bumrah-Siraj-Pandya leading the pace attack and Jadeja-Ashwin-Kuldeep handling the spin department.
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Early announcement will give the chance to try few combinations and keep the best for the World Cup. Popular players prefer to play until they're fit enough. For now he's good with his fitness, so they don't make announcement on taking rest without playing. The Qualifiers matches seems to be the right choice to understand teams, so that new combinations will easily get connected. Recently Ronaldo also made a twist on a question. Will you be seen in 2026 World Cup, he had said I can't project myself that far. Further added anything can happen, and now the focus is on Euro and later we'll see what happens.
Ronaldo is being too extreme. He is close to 39 and even now he want to represent Portugal in 2024 Euro Cup, and most possibly in 2026 FIFA world cup. One of the reasons maybe that he wants to play with his son in the national team. Cristiano Ronaldo Jr is making a lot of waves in age-level football, but to expect him (at this point aged 13) to play in FIFA World Cup of 2026 will be pushing a bit too far. Currently he is training at the Mahd Academy in Saudi Arabia, and may not actively play for Portugal age group teams anymore. |
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Did anyone noticed that Leus du Plooy (big star in Hundred, possible inclusion to England squad in the future) is playing for the Hungary national team? AFAIK, his mother is from Hungary and therefore he possess Hungarian passport. He was included to the Hungarian squad a few days ago, and immediately started things with a bang by scoring 163 from 40 balls against Turkey (Hungary ended up at 220/1 after 10 overs). Before that he made 93 from 27 balls against the hapless Finland. His brother Ximus du Plooy is also playing for Hungary.
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Some matches create a lot of excitement among everyone. Many will remember todays' match for a long time. Looking at Sri Lanka's score today, I thought 90 percent Sri Lanka will win this match. When Pakistan lost two wickets against Sri Lanka's target of 344 runs, i see that 14 percent chance of winning in the TV screen as prediction. However, the regret of the Sri Lankan team was that they could not beat the Pakistan team in the World Cup. Had great chances today but they failed too. I saw several negative sites of the Sri Lankan team which I did not come across in this type of tournament. Sri Lanka conceded an extra 26 runs in this match which could be a great reason for the team's loss. The team was also behind due to some miss fielding. On the other hand, Pakistan proved to be an unpredictable team.
In Indian pitches, even a total of 350 is not enough to guarantee a win. And Sri Lanka is without Hasaranga, and they are considerably weakened without him. Pathirana and Theekshana seems to be out of form. Still, this was a match that should have been won by Sri Lanka. They had made such a decent total (344/9). And in return, they had Pakistan down at 37/2. But no one really expected Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Rizwan to come up with such a solid 3rd wicket partnership. And in the end, Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed finished the game. |
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Norway and Wales have players of average quality, apart from a few talented players, but I think we remember how well Wales has achieved in recent tournaments. Even though Norway may not be completely successful, I think they can achieve this in future tournaments.
I would still consider Wales as one-man army led by Gareth Bale. But that doesn't matter anymore, as he retired immediately after the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. I don't have any hope with Wales now. They do have some good players like Kieffer Moore and Daniel James, but these players are nowhere near Bale in terms of skills. Some of the young players are coming up, such as Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur). But I don't know whether they will ever get a player who can be matched with Bale in terms of quality. |
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I think Trump has a real possibility to become president again in the next elections.
The people in the US are getting extremely polarized and they don't seem happy with the current situation.
At least around half of the people said they would vote for Trump, so that's something that will make it very close on election day.
13 months to go for the next elections and let's also not forget the fact that the GOP has underperformed in recent polls (especially during the 2022 midterms). RCP aggregate polls show 1% lead for Trump over Biden. Although I would consider this as significant, I would have expected more, considering the backlash that Biden is facing from various sections of the society. It looks to me that the recent demographic changes in the American society has strengthened the Democrats. There are more Asian and Hispanic voters, and less white voters. |
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Yes, but I think it is time to leave the space so that other promising younger player get the chance to play.
If Messi goes to the world cup, then they will definitely put him on the team, leaving the younger players with less experience.
I think it's his time to retire at the peak.
The only thing that I would say at this point is that Lionel Messi should take the decision without much delay. If he doesn't want to participate in North America 2026 (as a player), then he should inform this to the Argentine management at least by 2024, so that they have time to prepare. The coach (Lionel Scaloni) can try out a few combinations during the ongoing CONMEBOL qualifiers and that will give these younger players some real match experience rather than directly putting them to the line of fire during the 2026 tournament. |
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