If Australia’s World Cup warmup against Ecuador in London in March is anything to go by, their opening Group B clash with Chile at the Pantanal Arena today could be a thriller.
Australia, who took a shock three-goal lead against the Ecuadoreans before being overrun in the second half and losing 4-3, like to hit opponents with fast breaks and if they are to do anything of note in Brazil, they must beat Chile.
Chile like to play in their opponents’ half with a fast and furious pressing game based on as much possession as possible.
The South Americans, third in their region’s qualifying group, are favorites against an Australia team in transition, with next year’s Asian Cup a far more realistic goal.
Chile have a more talented squad than Australia, with Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez and Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal major players at top European clubs.
The Chilean squad has the lowest average height in the tournament and will need to counter the Australians’ strengths in the air, particularly from veteran midfielder Tim Cahill.
Cahill became Australia’s all-time top scorer with two headed goals against Ecuador and now has 32 in 68 internationals, having also scored against South Africa in their last warmup match.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later