Category Archives: Sports News
North Korea canceled the richest marathon in the country
The DPRK canceled the marathon in Pyongyang (Pyongyang Marathon) – the nation’s largest tourism revenue event of the year – out of concern about the new strain of Corona virus (COVID-19).
The information canceling marathon in North Korea was confirmed by the travel company on 21.2. Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based company that organizes tours to North Korea and the official partner of the marathon, said it had received official confirmation that the 2020 Pyongyang Marathon was canceled.
This was due to the closure of the North Korean border and the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in China, Koryo Tours added. Young Pioneer Tours, a company similar to Koryo Tours, also made a similar statement. The annual marathon was held in April as part of the birthday celebration of the founder Kim Il Sung’s birthday in 1912 and attracted curious foreigners who want to run through the streets of the city.
According to organizers, nearly 1,000 Westerners took part in the competition last year and had to pay up to $ 150 to enter. Earlier, North Korea had put itself in isolation to protect itself from the outbreak of COVID-19 in neighboring China, which infected more than 75,000 people and left more than 2,200 dead. Pyongyang has suspended flights, banned tourists and imposed a 30-day quarantine period for permanent residents.
Some analysts say North Korea is subject to international sanctions on ballistic and nuclear missile programs, while medical infrastructure is weak, and there is a shortage of drugs and equipment. chronic. Therefore, given the complicated situation of COVID-19, the North Korean actions taken are understandable.
The country has taken similar measures before banning tourists for more than four months from October 2014 to prevent the spread of Ebola virus, although no cases in Asia have been infected. North Korea has also been “closed” for 6 months during the outbreak of the Acute Severe Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) between 2002 and 2003, killing nearly 650 people across China and Hong Kong.
Everton rise to the top 4 in the Premier League
Tonight February 8, when nearly half of the other clubs are going on winter vacation, Everton are still playing in the English Premier League round 26. Accordingly, the army of coach Carlo Ancelotti won 3-1 against Crystal Palace to climb to the top 4.
Under the guidance of experienced coach Ancelotti from December 21 to the present year, Everton has gradually revived when the group from the bottom of the table has climbed to the top half of the table with a record of 5 wins, 3 draws and losing only 1.
With 36 points after 26 matches, Everton is still 5 points behind the fourth-ranked team Chelsea, but playing more than 1 match. After this victory, Everton was equal to Sheffield United and 1 point behind Tottenham, but temporarily surpassed Manchester United and Wolverhampton.
It is undeniable that coach Ancelotti has created steel in Everton to get the current results. What this Merseyside team lacks in the first half of this season despite having recruited many outstanding stars like Alex Iwobi or Fabian Delph and the squad already has stars Richarlison, Theo Walcott or Calvert-Lewin.
As at the Crystal Palace win on the evening of February 8, Everton showed a strong personality that makes the current top rivals like Chelsea or Tottenham have to be afraid.
After a smooth start with Bernard’s opening goal scoring the 18th minute from Walcott’s assist, Everton suddenly found themselves in a difficult position when they could not impose the game. Partly because of Walcott after an assist to leave the field due to injury.
At the beginning of the second half, Everton had to pay the price when Crystal Palace held many attacks and equalized 1-1 by Christian Benteke, after the mistake of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, wrongly judged the situation for the ball to go into the net.
Facing the situation of being divided points, coach Ancelotti has made reasonable adjustments in terms of tactics that are reorganizing the defence and increasing the counter-attacks faster.
One of them, 58 minutes Richarlison striker had a beautiful solo phase from the assist of Calvert-Lewin to suddenly help Everton in the forced position led 2-1.
It was this goal that helped Everton up the spirit and at the end of the match, Calvert-Lewin scored the goal that always won 3-1 for the host team Goodison Park.
The defeat brought Crystal Palace back into the spiral of the relegation group with 30 points and only 6 points behind West Ham (in the group of 3 relegated teams).
Can US-Iran tensions devastate the 2022 World Cup?
The US-Iran tensions have raised security concerns in Asia’s second qualifying round and the 2022 World Cup finals.
Earlier, tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated after a drone attack at Baghdad airport (Iraq) that killed Quds task force commander Qassem Soleimani. However, the attack on Tuesday not only caused tensions in politics, but sports were more or less affected after the death of the Iranian general.
Tensions then escalated as Iran fired a series of ballistic missiles at a military base in Iraq, where US troops were stationed. The Iranian side also warned of threats to attack some allies and US military bases that have raised widespread fears of conflict in the Middle East, of which Qatar is no exception.
The real political confrontation has affected sports, including football. Previously, due to security concerns, the US men’s team on Wednesday decided to cancel the training tour in Doha (Qatar) in preparation for the 2022 World Cup qualifying for North Central America and the Caribbean.
Most recently, US defender Sergio Dest has asked permission to return home from the Ajax club training camp in Qatar because of concerns about rising tension between his country and Iran.
Ajax said Dest had made a request to leave the training camp in Qatar, where teammates were preparing for the remainder of the Dutch top division after the winter break. Sergio Dest is a US-Dutch national, but the player chose to play for the United States.
Along with the downing of a Ukrainian plane in Iran, the moves were more or less disturbing to the organization of the 2022 World Cup, the event hosted by Qatar. Earlier, according to Al Jazeera, Washington had sent nearly 3,000 troops to the Middle East amid growing threats to US forces in the region. Qatar has about 10,000 US military personnel at the Al Udeid base. It is one of the most important US military bases abroad and operates throughout the Middle East.
So, while it is not yet possible to predict the impact on Qatar’s hosting, the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia resumed in March is becoming a topic of discussion if the tension is over. straight US – Iran does not cool down. Notably, Iran will play at home against Hong Kong in Group C on schedule on March 26. Then, on June 4, Iran and Iraq received respectively Bahrain and Cambodia. These will be matches where the public is very concerned about security if the conflict in the Middle East continues.
In addition, in the second round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia, there will be many home matches from Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, Palestine and UAE.
US sports plans to boycott Russian athletes on the podium
US athletes are said to be planning a rally at next summer’s Olympics in Tokyo (Japan) if Russian athletes compete in a neutral way to win a medal at the event.
According to Russian TV channel RT, the move is expected to occur from the disagreement of US athletes over the decision of the World Doping Prevention Agency (WADA) about allowing clean Russian athletes to compete in international sporting events under the neutral flag.
Earlier this week, the WADA executive committee unanimously voted to issue a four-year ban on Russian sports participating in and organizing international sporting events for allegedly manipulating doping data from the laboratory in Moscow. With the above penalty, Russian athletes will not be able to compete in the Summer and Winter Olympics, the 2022 World Cup…, events are prohibited during the period.
However, the new sanctions will only allow Russian athletes to be clean (meaning they can prove that they are not part of the state doping sponsorship system and have never been involved in a stimulant scandal) compete as a neutral athlete, which many American athletes and athletes are dissatisfied with.
Last week, the head of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) Travis Tygart called for a ban on all Russian athletes in Tokyo 2020, including those who are clean with doping. According to RT, it is not yet known how the US athletes plan to counter Russian counterparts in the summer, as the protests are strictly prohibited according to the rules of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The above rule prohibits advertising/promotion activities or any form of protest or relating to political, religious and racial propaganda… In July, the Australian fisherman Mack Horton was caught by the National Swimming Federation. FINA fined for refusing to stand in the same podium with his opponent Sun Yang (China), who was always suspected of violating the doping rule, at the World Championship.
PSG still engulfed Marseille in the football derby
Couple Mauro Icardi and Kylian Mbappe scored a brace to help Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) engulf rivals Marseille with a score of 4-0 in the French football derby in Round 11 of Ligue 1.
Welcoming Marseille without Neymar, Icardi – who was loaned by Inter Milan, once again took advantage of the opportunity to play when he made a double after 26 minutes. With 7 goals in the last 5 matches for PSG, the Argentine striker is gradually forgetting the presence of Neymar and waiting for Edinson Cavani to recover from the injury at Parc des Princes.
However, what makes coach Thomas Tuchel most excited is the young talent Kylian Mbappe regained his instinct to hunt after recovering from an injury. The 20-year-old striker followed Icardi with a brace to help PSG lead 4 goals in the first half, ending the famous army coach Andre Villas-Boas.
In the middle of last week, Mbappe also scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 victory at Club Brugge in the Champions League group stage and was also the 6th in the last 3 matches for the capital Paris. Winning in the French football derby once again confirms PSG’s dominant position in Ligue 1 as they hold the top of the table with a 9-point gap compared to the team behind Nantes (27 versus 19). With this development, another championship in Ligue 1 awaits Coach Tuchel.
Meanwhile, the failure in Paris again shows that Marseille does not seem to be able to maintain the status of the rival of PSG as in the 1990s. After 8 years with 20 confrontations that did not win against the opponent, Marseille simply It is impossible to compete with PSG’s huge potential since the French capital team received the investment from Qatar.
The only consolation of Marseille in this match is that they have succeeded in stopping PSG to score more goals in the second half. Moreover, losing to PSG is no longer a disaster for the successful team. French port city by Marseille still maintains hope in the goal of gaining a place in the top 4 when the distance is only 1 point less.
Spain no longer depends on Barca
Barcelona is still one of La Liga’s strong teams, but this does not mean that Spain is depending on the players from the Nou Camp.
It is true that times have changed when Spain won the 2010 World Cup, there were 7 Barcelona players on the list and 6 starting players in the final. In February 2013, Barcelona set a record with nine players on the list of friendly matches between Spain and Uruguay.
However, up to 2 matches against Norway and Sweden, La Roja has only 1 Barcelona player. It was Sergio Busquets, the midfielder would probably bid farewell to both the team and Barcelona.
In fact, today, the first team of Barcelona is no longer many mature players from La Masia oven. Exactly, in the starting line-up of the Nou Camp team, only 4 players are eligible to wear Spain, Busquets, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto and Gerard Pique.
Of these, Alba is 30 years old and has just returned from an injury. Sergi Roberto was originally a midfielder but was played as a right-back and did not have an official position in either Barcelona or the team. And Pique ended his international career after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
With Busquets, the opportunity for this midfielder will be less when Barcelona are having Arthur, Arturo Vidal and Frenkie de Jong in the middle of the pitch. And at 31, he will have to accept that he is no longer the number one choice.
It is unbelievable that even a large rival of Barcelona like Real Madrid is also facing changes when Los Blancos has only two players, Sergio Ramos and Dan Carvajal in the team. This fact has opened up huge opportunities for other teams, in which Villarreal contributed 4 players.
Whether a Spain built not based on Barcelona, Real Madrid will succeed at EURO 2020, they are still waiting for the ticket of Group F after a 1-1 draw in Norway recently. Of course, La Roja will have tickets tonight if they don’t lose in Sweden or if Romania fail against Norway at the same time.
It seems that the real battle of Group F is only behind, with Sweden in 2nd place, 1 point ahead of Romania and 4 points against Norway. Romania and Sweden will meet in Bucharest on November 15, and both still have to play against Spain.
Liverpool will be the champion like Chelsea’s Mourinho?
A hard-fought victory over rookie Sheffield United in Round 7 of the Premier League helped Liverpool to do the proud thing that it has been 29 years before they achieved it.
In front of Jurgen Klopp’s teachers and students is a record that they are about to balance, even surpassing Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.
The trip to the newly promoted Sheffield United team in the earliest match in Liverpool’s Round 7 of the 2019/20 Premier League was not as easy as many people have imagined. The visitors needed to catch a volley close to the 16m50 line between Georginio Wijnaldum and especially the mistake of missing goalkeeper Dean Henderson on the opponent’s side to win 1-0 to leave Bramall Lane with 3 points entirety.
Although only lowering the rookie team with the minimum difference and unable to increase the gap by 5 points with the second team Man City (just won Everton 3-1) but the top team Liverpool can still be satisfied with the historic milestone that they just achieved.
The “Merseyside Red Brigade” has won its first 7 rounds in a season in the 2nd English league in history and the first time in 29 years since the 1990/91 season (that season, Liverpool even won in the first 8 matches in the season).
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool is only a record away from Chelsea’s record of exactly 2 wins. Earlier, in the 2005/2006 season, “The Blues” under the guidance of former coach Jose Mourinho had a series of 9 consecutive wins in the Premier League.
In the 2005/06 season, Chelsea won the Premier League, and was even crowned early in the hopeless pursuit of the runner-up team then MU. This year, Liverpool are expected to follow that “king’s way” of West London team to help them break the curse that has never ascended to the top of the English Premier League era (from 1992 to present).
Liverpool also won Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane for the first time. Previously, since August 2006, “The Kop” has never won in this field after 3 matches here.
Bramall Lane also became the 56th field that Liverpool marched to play here and won against their rivals in the English Premier League. Currently there are only 2 home yards of Premier League rivals that the “Merseyside Red Brigade” has never won are City Ground (Nottingham Forest, 5 matches) and Bloomfield Road (Blackpool, 1 game).
Defeat Liverpool is the affirmation of Napoli in Europe
In recent seasons, Napoli has always shown weakness in the Champions League, especially in decisive matches. Defeats to Shakhtar Donetsk under Maurizio Sarri 2017-18, or to Paris Saint-Germain and Red Star Belgrade last year showed that.
However, a convincing victory over defending champion Liverpool in the opening match of the Champions League this season showed another Napoli. A Napoli that changed the way of seeing the surname of the football experts and the fans of Partenopei himself. Napoli has shown they are no longer afraid to meet the big boys, a sign that Carlo Ancelotti finally infused the Champions League charm into his players.
The launch of an attacking squad also proves Ancelotti is willing to risk attacking, including in front of an opponent like Liverpool, and the positive thing is that Napoli did exactly what the former Milan coach asked. Only through the match against Liverpool in San Paolo yesterday morning, Ancelotti has shown that he is the most suitable person to take Napoli far in the Champions League. It is worth recalling that, in addition to winning the Champions League with Milan and Real Madrid three times, Ancelotti has beaten Liverpool 4 times with 4 different teams 4 times.
With the appropriate additions, Napoli finally got the squad depth needed to fight in both Serie A and the Champions League. In Ancelotti’s 4-4-2 diagram, the attacking duo Dries Mertens – Hirving Lozano moved very wide and flexible, enabling the two wingers Jose Callejon – Lorenzo Insigne to roam freely. Even when replacing Lozano with Fernando Llorente, Ancelotti’s Napoli still maintained the threat to Liverpool goal, and the 34-year-old veteran was the goalscorer who set up a 2-0 victory.
Llorente is the perfect backup plan to help Tottenham advance to the final last season and that is why Ancelotti brought the Spanish striker to San Paolo. Llorente possessed the instincts of an assassin, and although he was a substitute, he was still Ancelotti’s important card. Of course, when completely healed, Arkadiusz Milik is still No.1 striker of Napoli.
In the middle, rookie Eljif Elmas is also a strategic card for Ancelotti even just coming on from the bench. The 19-year-old Macedonian midfielder only played the last 15 minutes against Liverpool when replacing Allan but still showed a lot, especially the ability to pass the ball and reduce pressure on the midfield between Napoli.