FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019: US win it for the fourth time

When a World Cup novice is faced with a foe as experienced and ruthless as USWNT, the outcome is almost inevitable and so it was a muggy afternoon in Lyon when the reigning world champion defended its title with a comfortable 2-0 win over the Netherlands.

Competing in its first World Cup final, few gave the Dutch hope. The reigning European champion it may be, but it had not yet come up against the best team in the world, the dominant force of its generation.

The Netherlands held on for over an hour but two goals within eight minutes sealed the underdog's fate. In a tournament where she has transcended her sport, Megan Rapinoe coolly drilled home a penalty before a Rose Lavelle thunderbolt made sure of a second successive title for the US.

This is the World Cup where it became apparent that the USWNT is being rapidly pursued by those European countries whose men's national teams have long since been a force. Leading the chase is the Netherlands, European champion and a finalist in just its second World Cup, which is part of a pack, but all challengers have been vanquished. Thailand, Chile, Sweden, Spain, France, England and now the Netherlands have all swept aside by a team which is now unbeaten in 17 World Cup matches.

Women’s Basketball World Cup: USA secures 10th Title

A World Championship three-peat has landed the US women’s basketball team a spot at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Team USA defeated Australia 73-56 in the Championship game of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Spain. In doing so, six-time defending Olympic champ Americans also became the first to qualify for Tokyo Olympic Games.

Brittney Griner, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, scored a game-high 15 points for the U.S. Four-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi added 13 points and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Breanna Stewart had 10 points and a team-high 8 rebounds. Should the U.S. win Olympic gold in Tokyo it would tie the U.S. men’s record of seven straight from 1936-1968.

The win over Australia finished a six-game unbeaten run through the tournament for Team USA, which now has 10 World Cup titles and three in a row. Since 1996, Team USA has won 100 of 101 games and is now 18-0 against Australia in World Cup and Olympic matches. This was the first time these two teams had met since the 2014 World Cup semifinals where the U.S. 82-70. The U.S. has also won six of the last seven World Cup tournaments (the event was previously called the FIBA World Championship for Women).

Team USA featured a balanced squad, led by veterans and four-time Olympic gold medalists Sue Bird and Taurasi. Bird is the first U.S. player to appear in five World Cups and is now the only person in history with five FIBA World Cup medals. Bird, who had a game-high five assists, celebrated with her teammates on the bench in the closing minutes of Sunday’s game. The team huddled on the court after the game and applauded in the direction of the U.S. fans who were in Santiago Martin Arena.

Sachin Tendulkar vs Shane Warne

One can take champions out of cricket but one cannot take cricket out of champions. This seems to be true in case of Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne who are all set to renew their rivalry in the Cricket All Stars series that starts in New York.

Right from Sydney in January 1992, when Warne made his Test debut in the third match of the series in which Tendulkar smashed an unbeaten 148, to the numerous T20 Matches in the Indian Premier League, the two greatest cricketers of the past two decades have fought enduring battles on the pitch which have become part of cricket folklore.

The draw for the teams was conducted at the Times Square garden in New York and 27 players were assigned randomly to Sachin Blasters and Warne Warriors. The two greatest batsman of their generation Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, were drawn on the same team. Australian big hitters like Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, and Andrew Symonds ended up with Warne. Sachin Blasters will also have swashbuckling Virender Sehwag, the wristy VVS Laxman, and the enigmatic Saurav Ganguly.

It will be surely be a sight for the eyes when these batsmen take guard against a bowling attack comprising Warne, Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald and Wasim Akram. Tendulkar bowling attack will have Muttiah Muralitharan and great pacers Curtly Ambrose, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Pollock and Shoaib Akhtar. Apart from these legends Blasters will also have Mahela Jayawardene, Carl Hooper, Lance Klusener, Moin Khan, and Graeme Swann.

Michael Vaughan, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Jonty Rhodes, Saqlain Mushtaq, Daniel Vettori and Ajit Agarkar complete the team of warriors. These ICC sanctioned matches will be played on drop in pitches at major baseball fields in New York, Houston, and Los Angeles.

CONCACAF Gold Cup 2015

CONCACAF Gold Cup is the main association football competition of the men’s national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the regional champion of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The tournament is won by Mexico this year beating Jamaica by 3-1 in the final. This was the tenth time Mexico won this title.

The Gold cup is held every two years. Beginning in 2015, the winners of two successive gold cups will face each other in a playoff to determine the CONCACAF entrant to the next Confederations Cup. If the same team has won the Gold Cup on both relevant occasions, there will be no playoff and that team will automatically qualify for the Confederations Cup. This time playoff will be played between 2013 champion USA and 2015 champion Mexico.

Mexico scored the maximum 16 goals in the tournament. Clint Dempsey from USA remained top scorer of the tournament with 7 goals. In 1990, CONCACAF renamed the CONCACAF championship as the CONCACAF Gold Cup, with the USA hosting the first competition in 1991. The host country was the inaugural champion of the eight team tournament. Mexico dominated the remainder of the decade winning three consecutive CONCACAF Gold cup titles in 1993, 1996 and 1998.

Since the formation of the Gold Cup in 1991, the CONCACAF Championship has been won seven times by Mexico, five times by United States, and once by Canada. Runners-up include Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, and Jamaica. 

2015 FIFA Women World Cup

The 2015 FIFA Women World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women World Cup. In March 2011, Canada won the right to host the event; the first Canada had hosted the event and third time in North America. United States won the FIFA Women World Cup over Japan by 5:2. In this World Cup, teams were expanded to 24 from 16 in 2011. Canada team received direct entry from the host.

Carli Lloyd hat-trick apparently was not enough. Team USA wanted more as they scored four goals in the first 16 minutes of the FIFA World Cup to an overwhelming victory over Japan. Carli Lloyd also became the first women to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final. The United States, winners in 1991 and 1999, became the first nation to win the crown three times and avenged their loss to Japan on penalties in the 2011 Final.

Lloyd scored her first goal after just three minutes with the second coming two minutes later and the third after 16 minutes. Lauren Holiday and Tobin Heath also found the net for the Stars and Stripes. Yuki Ogimi got one back on 27 minutes for the Asian champions with their second coming thanks to a 52^nd minute own goal by US defender Julie Johnson.

It was the third meeting between the two teams in a major championship with the Americans winning the Olympic gold ahead of Japan in 2012, when Lloyd scored both goals in a 2-1 win. Lloyd also won the Golden Ball Award as the tournament best player. England finishes off third in the tournament while Germany was placed fourth.

Golden Ball Award was given to Carli Lloyd, Amandine Henry and Aya Miyama. Golden Boot Award was given to Celia Sasic, Carli Lloyd, and Anja Mittag. Golden Glove award was given to Hope Solo. Kadeisha Buchanan from Canada got the Hyundai young player award. At last, Fair play award was given to France. The next FIFA Women World Cup will held in 2019 in France.