Category: News

by Ben Ayuko

{image by mykhel}

contact info: gnrlspecific@gmail.com

England absolutely demolished USA in their last group game of the second group stage of the ICC T20 World Cup to set up a semi-final against India.

The USA, the host nation, batted first and could only muster up 115 runs before all 10 wickets were bowled out after 18.5 overs. The highlight of the round, and probably the weekend (if not the whole tournament) was definitely Chris Jordan, not only getting a hattrick of back-to-back-to-back wickets but getting USA’s last 3 wickets during their inning. Like respectfully digging the grave in which they were to be buried.

But that wasn’t the final nail in the coffin. No, that honour went to England Captain, Jos Buttler and fellow batsman, Phil Salt as they cruised through their innings without enduring a single stump. Jos Buttler ended on 83 runs with Salt finishing them off with a boundary which brought him up to 25 runs, after a mere 9.4 overs.

England won by 10 wickets.

Elsewhere, India got their revenge against Australia after beating them in their last group game by 20 runs to secure their passage through to the semi-final and set up a clash against England. South Africa and Afghanistan make up the remaining 2 spots for those vying for the ultimate title.

by Ben Ayuko

{image by Ken Browne (Olympics.com)}

Former 100m sprint world champion, Christian Coleman, narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2024 summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The American, who holds the record for the 60m indoor sprint word title, was one of the favourites to go through to represent the United States at the Olympics.

He had a strong semi-final performance, which he won comfortably in a time of 9.86sec, setting up yet another final showdown with his compatriot and current world champion, Noah Lyles (Who had won his own semi-final). He took his place on the starting blocks alongside a relatively quick field with every competitor having gone through with a sub-10sec sprint time, including the 18-year-old high schooler, Christian Miller.

As the gun fired, Coleman shot out the quickest and he was well clear of the track up to the 50m mark. However, this seems to have come at a cost as he appeared to gas out pretty early in the race giving the other competitors the opportunity to reel him in, which they did. First came, Noah Lyles in 9.80sec followed by Kenny Bednarek (9.87) and Fred Kerley (9.88). Coleman was next in 4th with a time of 9.93sec and misses out as only the top 3 athletes would qualify for the Olympic games. The 18-year-old, Christian Miller, was 5th with a time of 9.98sec.

This means that this is the first time in 7 years Coleman has failed to book a seat to represent his country.

This could be something to ponder for Omanyala, because did Christian Coleman- his nemesis- miss out simply because he wasn’t quick enough or because the rest of the field was just that much faster?

by Ben Ayuko

{image by cumhuriyet}

Germany, the host nation, was looking to roundoff a successful kick-off to the Euro 2024 tournament in front of their home fans at the Frankfurt stadium in Frankfurt. It was all goin according to plan for new manager Julien Nagelsmann. However, they failed to account for an inspired performance from a dogged Switzerland side that was determined to, not only spoil the party in the stadium, but also finish top of the group standings in Group A.

This is why there was a well taken finish by Dan Ndoye in the 28th minute game time, giving Switzerland the lead. And why, try as they might, the Germans just couldn’t break down the resolute Swiss defense. And why in the 80th minute, Switzerland mustered a deserved 2nd goal only for it to be ruled out for the tightest of offside calls. The home crowd was stunned. It was silent enough in the home end to hear the sneeze of a hamster. They couldn’t understand how it is they had miscalculated proceedings so terribly.

That is about the time when the German manager made an executive decision and subbed in their wrecking ball of a center forward, Niclas Füllkrug, who- in the last minute of injury time (90min +4)- crashed in a towering header to draw the game level at 1-1 and send the stadium into rapturous delirium.

Germany retained top spot (of the group) while Switzerland came second.

Hungary secured 3rd spot after Kevin Csoboth scored against Scotland in the 10th minute of injury time (90min+10) in what seemed like an attempt at outdoing Germany’s own heroics for a 1-0 win, and in so doing, left themselves with half a chance of progressing to the next stage.

Scotland are the first team to be kicked out of the tournament.

by Ben Ayuko

{image by Getty Images}

{contact info: gnrlspecific@gmail.com}

England National Team Manager, Gareth Southgate, has once again been called out for the lack of urgency in his team’s style of play. After, shall we say, escaping with a point against Denmark, a good team on its own merit but a team most would’ve expected England to beat nonetheless, the dissatisfied clamor amongst the English fanbase is almost palpable from about 8,000km away here in Kenya.

Having mentioned before the start of the tournament that it could very well be his last chance to win something for his country, one would’ve half expected the home support to be behind him; One Last Dance, as they say…

But no. The English fans are as vocal about their opinions of him as ever, and they are not pulling any punches.

And we’re only two games in.

You love to see it.

by Ben Ayuko

{image by the Guardian}

The Euro 2024 got underway on Friday, and it’s been a brilliant first weekend. A lot of goals scored. Players reveling in the pressure that comes with representing your country.

Germany opened the tournament in style in front of their home crowd with an entertaining 5-1 demolition of 10-man Scotland. They look like a team reborn under their new coach Julian Nagelsmann and such a result may be an omen of things to come and a sign that other teams should be wary of their ambition to go all the way to the final.

Spain overcome some difficult spells in their game against Croatia to take all 3 points in what turned into a comfortable 3-0 victory. The young squad they have seems to have gelled together really well under their new captain Alvaro Morata (who opened the scoring) and such as result against strong opposition shows a sign of intent that we should watch out for further along into the tournament.

Italy, the current holders, look to make amends for a poor World Cup campaign in Qatar and they started that off with a 2-1 victory against Albania thanks to a scorcher of a finish from outside the box by Nicolo Barella (the goal of the tournament, so far). It is yet unclear whether or not Italy can defend their title, but that opening day victory certainly holds them in good stead.

England, finalists in the previous Euro tournament, survived a second half onslaught from Serbia as they managed to see out a 1-0 victory, courtesy of a goal by Jude Bellingham. It was far from a convincing performance, but they got the job done and have set themselves up in the best way for the rest of the tournament.

Netherlands had to dig deep and be patient in order to get passed an inspired Poland side that seemed intent on ruining their party. It took a goal by substitute Wout Weghorst in the 83rd minute to give them the lead for the first time in the match as they then saw the game out at 2-1. Having got to the World Cup quarter finals, there is some curiosity over what this team can do in this tournament. They are by no means the favourites, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that they couldn’t just go out and win the whole thing. They are definitely one to watch.

There are still some top teams left to play, e.g. France, Portugal, Belgium, etc., but if they play like we know they can, this might turn out to be one of the most competitive Euro tournaments we have ever seen.