Sport

Messi named FIFA player of 2022, England women rewarded for Euro campaign

Published

3 weeks ago

February 28, 2023

(Last Updated On: February 28, 2023)

Lionel Messi was named FIFA player of the year 2022 on Monday as Argentina scooped all major men’s awards after winning a vintage World Cup final last December, Reuters reported.

The 35-year-old forward scored two goals in the final against France, with the South Americans emerging triumphant on penalties following a 3-3 draw after extra time in Qatar.

“It’s amazing. It was a tremendous year and it is an honour for me to be here tonight and win this award”, said Messi, who sat next to France forward and Paris St Germain team mate Kylian Mbappe throughout the ceremony at Paris’s Salle Pleyel.

According to Reuters Mbappe, also nominated for the highly anticipated award of the night, netted a hat-trick in the World Cup final but his achievement was overshadowed as Messi finally won the most coveted trophy in world football.

“I want to express my thanks to (coach Lionel) Scaloni and my team mates, without them I would not be here,” Messi added.

“I achieved a dream I had been hoping for so long and finally I achieved it. It’s a dream for any player, very few people can achieve that and I was lucky enough to do so.”

His compatriots Lionel Scaloni and Emiliano Martinez won the coach of the year and keeper of the year awards respectively, and their supporters even got the best fans prize, while England were rewarded for their victorious women’s Euro 2022 campaign.

Mary Earps was named keeper of the year and England’s Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman received the accolade for best coach of a team who had four players in the year’s World 11 – Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze, Leah Williamson and Keira Walsh, read the report.

Spain’s Alexia Putellas, who won the Ballon d’Or last year, was named women’s player of the year after inspiring Barcelona to a third consecutive national title in 2022.

Polish amputee Marcin Oleksy won the Puskas prize for best goal of the year for a spectacular acrobatic volley with Warta Poznan against Stal Rzeszow.

Related Topics:Argentina featured FIFA player of 2022 Lionel Messi World Cup final

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Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets in U-19 Tri-Series opener

Published

2 days ago

March 18, 2023

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: March 18, 2023)

Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh by 7 wickets in the first match of Under-19 Tri-Series in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh made 75 runs before they were bowled out in the 22.5 overs.

Bashir Ahmad picked up four wickets while Kamran Hotak took three. Khalil Ahmad followed with two wickets.

Afghanistan chased down the target in the 9.5 overs, as Suhail Khan made 33 and Mohammad Haroon added 21.

Afghanistan will face Sri Lanka in their next match of the series on Wednesday.

Sport

Bangladesh U19s levels ODI series 1-1 against Afghanistan U19s

Published

5 days ago

March 15, 2023

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: March 15, 2023)

Bangladesh Under-19s defeated Afghanistan Under-19s by 63 runs in the second ODI in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to end the two-match series 1-1.

Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh posted 231 runs before they were all out after 49.3 overs in Abu Dhabi.

Mohammad Shihab James was their top-scorer with 98. He was followed by Paevez Rahman Jibon who made 48.

Yama Arab picked up four wickets for Afghanistan, while Faraidoon Dawoodzai took two.

In reply, Afghanistan made 168 before they were all out in the 45.4 overs. 88 of their total was scored by Sohail Khan.

Both teams along with the Sri Lanka U19s will now feature in a Tri-Series starting this Saturday in Abu Dhabi.

Sport

Shadab Khan to lead Pakistan in T20I series against Afghanistan

Published

6 days ago

March 14, 2023

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: March 14, 2023)

Shadab Khan will captain Pakistan’s T20I side against Afghanistan in the absence of regular captain Babar Azam, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials announced late Monday.

Pakistan also decided to rest several key regulars for the series, including Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan.

Shadab has been the vice-captain of the limited-overs side in the last two years and even stood in for Babar during the T20I series in the tour of New Zealand in 2020.

Speaking after the announcement, Shadab said: “I am grateful to the Almighty for this opportunity. Representing your country is an honor for any cricketer and to lead it is even a bigger honor so I am very excited and eager to take this role.

“This is a big responsibility as I will be leading a nation of 220 million people and I will try my best to do justice with it with all the ability that I have.”

Several new talents such as Ihsanullah, Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir and Zaman Khan are in line for their T20I debuts after impressing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) while the likes of Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf and Imad Wasim have earned a recall.

Pakistan will depart for the UAE on 22 March for the series which starts on 24 March in what will be the first multi-game bilateral assignment between the two sides.

All three games will be played in Sharjah where Afghanistan will be on the hunt for their first limited-overs victory over Pakistan.