Wimbledon semifinals :Anderson vs Isner, what a match!!!

Anderson has been fighting since 2nd round,with this match going till 6 hr 36 min, pic says all. "It was a draw but unfortunately one of us had to go through, I know him since 14 years, he has helped me to push my limits  "- Anderson on Isner after the match. A reminder of Isner vs Mahut match , 8 years back, which went for more than 11 hours.

Brazil loses

Missed chances , own goal, brilliant Belgium defence except for few lapses at last+Courtois!! For Brazil Douglas Costa was superb, missed chances Neymar, Thiago Silva, Coutinho, lack lustre performance by Gabriel Jesus.

It's unfair to have Brazil, france , Belgium on same half, next match i.e. France vs Belgium is a virtual final.

Neymar, Coutinho, Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Douglas Costa, Paulinho... With such a fine team it's a pity Brazil is going home early. I wish Dani Alves was there..With Argentina, Germany, Spain already out, Brazil could have capitalised better this opportunity. Neymar misses a chance to get hold of Ballon d OR and world cup, which could have brought him little closer to Messi, Ronaldo, till nw except the match against Mexico he hasn't proved himself to be a match winner..

France vs Belgium, I think France will go through.

World Cup 2018

WC 2018 is eating my time, have been watching all high profile matches including Argentina-France, Portugal-Uruguay, but the time seems to be well spent as all the matches are going so close. Yesterday watched Croatia almost losing out to defiant Denmark (Denmark's goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel almost snatched the game), but thanks to our Barcelona man, Rakitic, Croatia survived. Sad to see Senegal out of tournament, inspite of brilliant performance(out because of fair play :p). I vivdly remember stellar performance of Senegal in 2002 World cup where they even beat defending champion France. The world cup fever had engulfed many in FRI, Dehradun and many kids including me had joined Soccer coaching.(I joined in 2006 too). 2002 world cup was the reason I started following soccer and eventually FC Barcelona all thanks  to  Ronaldinho. :)

I just hope this world cup doesn't become World Cup 2010 for me, where I wasted a lot of time and a crucial month of IIT JEE preparation. Final damage was done by 2011 Cricket world cup which was happening during my board exams, and still regret leaving the English exam early (in excitement I forgot to attempt a book which I found out after reaching home) to watch India vs South Africa match, to my shock when I reached home, I found out the match was the next day( which India lost). My performance in English killed my result and till date, which ever interview I go , I fear interviewer asking me about how I managed to go down from 95.4% in class 10th to 74% in 12th( has already happened in 4 interviews). Final nail in coffin was final India vs Sri Lanka, a week before IIT JEE 2011. This cummulation of errors was finally paid with below potential performance in IIT JEE and ruining my 2 years of painful hardwork ultimately costing me a year.

Watching a match is fine, but I analyzing it ,watching post match discussion is not fine, because it takes the focus away from real purpose, i.e. Civil services. I better mend my ways lest I pay a price in this year's mains, it will be dejavu experience.

                                            As cool as cucumber, Ivan Rakitic ☺☺

Why I love Lionel Messi?

Sacrifice
Skills
Team man
Fitness : In 15 years of career , hardly injured
Not egostic, relationships are more important than career goals: shares penalty with Neymar, Suarez
Patriotic: Chose to play for Argentina, could have easily been part of Spanish team(like Diego Costa) and won a world cup
Humble( never says he's the goat or anywhere near it)
Hunger to improve, each day i have to work to become best version of myself
Focus each day
Simple and disciplined life:  could have spent a extravagant life,  lives a low  profile life
Loyal:, married the 1st girl he dated, (dating a supermodel is not difficult when you are earning multi million euros), loyal to Barcelona, says the only club he will leave Barcelona for is Newell's Old Boys Club, his boyhood club
Motivates his team mates
Doesn't react to criticism, several people have raised questions on his leadership qualities and chided him for not getting a world cup for Argentina, people forget his contribution as a person who took the team to Copa Finals as well as World Cup final in 2014 where he was judged player of the tournament
Reliable: In his roughly 15 years at Barcelona , he has hardly missed a match
Duty is foremost: Took a match off(insignificant game) when he became father, but came back for the next match
Doesn't let his emotions take over him: Never cried when he got Ballon D ors, even in world cup loss he didn't display his pain through tears