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John Henry has dropped a bombshell by revealing Fenway Sports Group (FSG) has no plans to sell Liverpool, so what does that mean for the Reds?

Liverpool owner John Henry had been thought to be willing to sell the Reds but has now announced that it's investment he's after, rather than a sale.

FSG claimed in November 2022 it would "consider new shareholders", which had prompted speculation there could be a takeover at Anfield.

Yet a sale is now very much off the table, so what does it mean for the club, manager Jurgen Klopp, potential transfer targets and the future? GOAL takes a look…

(C)Getty ImagesWill FSG be willing to fund Bellingham deal?

Borussia Dortmund starlet Jude Bellingham is expected to have his pick of top sides this summer after becoming a vital player for club and country at the grand old age of 19.

Liverpool are set to battle the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid for Bellingham's signature and have already made the midfielder their top summer target.

Yet the Reds will be well aware that Bellingham will not come cheap. Liverpool will likely have to break their transfer record and make the midfielder their highest-paid player if they are to bring him to Anfield.

The money will obviously be an issue, particularly if investment is not forthcoming, and the big questions fans will be asking is whether FSG are willing to fund a big-money move for Bellingham in the summer.

Liverpool are also in the midst of a difficult campaign both at home and abroad. Failure to qualify for next season's Champions League will impact the club financially and on a sporting level.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesFans frustration to continue

The news that FSG are not selling up will be met with frustration by some sections of the Liverpool support.

Fans have been angered during FSG's reign by hikes in ticket prices, a failed attempt to trademark the name 'Liverpool' and the decision to furlough non-playing staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. That decision came just six weeks after Liverpool announced pre-tax profits of £42 million and was very swiftly reversed.

There was also the European Super League fiasco which brought another U-turn from Liverpool after players and supporters made it clear they were completely against the idea.

There's no doubting that FSG have done a lot for the Merseysiders, but the team is struggling on the pitch which will leave many fans wanting serious investment in the summer to strengthen the squad.

Liverpool FCFSG to complete Anfield redevelopment

FSG have long wanted to redevelop Anfiled and are not far off seeing their plans realised.

Work on the new Anfield Road End Stand began in 2021 and remains on track to be completed in time for the new 2023-24 season.

FSG's redevelopment plan will see the famous old ground's capacity rise by 7,000 to 61,000 spectators, making it the fifth-biggest stadium in England and the third largest in the Premier League.

Liverpool's owners have made mistakes during their tenure but their work to redevelop the ground certainly shows plenty of ambition.

It will also have attracted jealous glances from neighbours Manchester United who are eager to see their dilapidated Old Trafford redeveloped.

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Getty ImagesBig-name departures?

Given FSG are still rooting around for fresh investment in the club, it won't fill people associated with Liverpool with confidence that their will be funds available to keep everyone happy.

If the Reds don't show ambition in the summer, or simply aren't able to because their hands are tied by financial constraints, that could provoke an exodus – especially if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.

Although he signed a new contract last summer, Mohamed Salah's future is still fairly uncertain, while other such as Luis Diaz and Ibrahima Konate could be tempted away by big-money offers from elsewhere.

Captain Faf du Plessis was quite clear in his assessment that South Africa fell at least 10 runs short of a defendable total against West Indies at Nagpur

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur 25-Mar-2016It was an over sent from the heavens. Three googlies from Imran Tahir and nearly three wickets.Marlon Samuels looked to drive the first one through the covers. The ball turned into him and forced him to hit it straighter, and in the air. Tahir got his left hand to the ball but couldn’t wrap his fingers around it.Andre Russell looked to slog the second beyond wide long-on, but ended up hitting it squarer than intended and deep midwicket ran a few steps to his left to take a simple catch. Darren Sammy simply didn’t pick the last one. It hung deliciously over his eyeline, dipped wickedly, and turned through the gap between front pad and airy cover drive to hit the top of middle stump.Two wickets taken, only one run conceded and West Indies were 100 for 6 after 17 overs. The over might have turned the match South Africa’s way had West Indies been chasing 140. But they were only chasing 123 and still only needed a perfectly gettable 23 off the last three overs.After the match, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was quite clear in his assessment that his side fell at least 10 runs short of a defendable total.”The batting today was the difference between us winning and losing,” he said. “We needed to get to 130-135 to have a par score. I thought we were 10 runs short, definitely.”On the eve of the match, du Plessis had counted adaptability and “being smart in decision-making” among the strengths of his batting side. He had hoped these qualities would make the difference against a West Indies batting unit reliant on power hitting, given the large outfield and the expectation that the pitch would provide turn.The pitch met du Plessis’ expectations: it was slow, low and offered a fair degree of turn, though not to the extent seen during the India-New Zealand match on March 15. West Indies’ batting proved to be as reliant on big hitting as du Plessis had noted and, as a consequence, was not at its best with the ball not coming on to the bat.But before they could expose West Indies’ frailties with the bat, South Africa had failed to demonstrate the adaptability and smart decision-making du Plessis had spoken of. After the match, he conceded that they had been “frantic” at the start of their innings, when they lost their three most experienced batsmen to what he called “soft” dismissals: Hashim Amla to a run out, du Plessis himself to a spooned catch taken at mid-off, and AB de Villiers to a shot played across the line. Rilee Rossouw also slashed a wide delivery straight to point.”Obviously batting first, the thinking was that it wasn’t going to be the same wicket as Mumbai, doesn’t take a brain surgeon to look at that. But those decisions you make when you’re batting, we didn’t make them tonight,” du Plessis said. “The run-out, caught at mid-off, and Rilee – our first three wickets for me were all soft wickets. AB’s wicket was also a soft wicket.”They didn’t bowl us out tonight. We were put in situations where we needed to be smarter and we weren’t. If you don’t do those things you’re not going to bat as well as you can. We went into this game thinking that West Indies is a power hitting team and we rely on being smart. Ten or 15 runs more, I think we could have won the game. They don’t rely on touch, on getting ones and twos, whereas this ground is spot on for that. That’s where we lost the game.”Du Plessis said Quinton de Kock and David Wiese – who added 50 for the sixth wicket – showed South Africa how they could have played on the Nagpur surface, but only after the top order had already collapsed.Hashim Amla’s run out was the first of several soft dismissals according to South Africa captain Faf du Plessis•IDI/Getty Images”I thought we were very frantic there, up front,” du Plessis said. “Obviously you never want to start your innings with a run out, that just puts you back, puts it all, puts everything in a bit of a negative mode, because you’re giving the opposition a wicket, but to lose three or four wickets so quickly, that broke our momentum in the innings, and that was the difference between us [scoring 122 and] getting to 140.”The guys batted beautifully in the middle, David Wiese once again as a guy that’s coming in today, had a great game, and I can’t fault the bowlers today. Obviously there’s been a lot of pressure and a lot of stuff said about our bowling unit over the last two weeks or so, but they fought really hard today.”Especially in a big game like today, you want your big players to stand up, and myself, Hashim and AB, one of us needed to anchor the innings and be there. Quinton played an amazing innings, a mature innings, that’s something he hasn’t done a lot. Normally he plays his aggressive game and he’s very free. Today the shoe was on the other foot and he adapted brilliantly. And he showed the rest of the batting unit what it is like to adapt on that wicket.”Despite all this, South Africa’s bowlers kept them in the game till the last over. Tahir took those two wickets in the 17th and Wiese, mixing up his pace brilliantly, conceded only three runs in the 18th over. It took a slash and a thick edge past the keeper from Marlon Samuels, which streaked to the third man boundary in the 19th off Chris Morris, to bring the equation down to 10 off eight balls.Du Plessis said the edged four made him think “oh my word, it’s not meant to be for us today”, but he was quick to add that West Indies had earned their luck by staying “half a step” ahead of South Africa right through the game.”We’re not playing close to how good we are or can be, and that’s frustrating,” du Plessis said. “We want to be better, and unfortunately we’re not producing the goods on the day. As I said, you need a bit of luck but also you make your own luck, and I feel if you win those small moments in the game, generally the luck goes your way.”That’s why it didn’t go our way tonight, because we were just half a step behind West Indies all the time. But they’re playing great cricket and that’s why it’s going for them. They’re a confident team and things will fall their way, because you almost earn that luck, and they deserve it.”The win put West Indies through to the semi-finals and left South Africa hanging from edge of the precipice. They will need Sri Lanka to beat England, and then need to beat Sri Lanka themselves, to have any chance of progressing. It was not the situation du Plessis had expected his team to be in at this stage of the competition.”[I’m] disappointed, because I had strong hopes of winning the tournament, and now we’re hoping for other performances to go our way,” he said. “We’ll obviously be rooting for some opposition to try and do us a favour, but if it doesn’t happen like that, there’s no excuses.”

Sri Lanka’s batting has been brittle, and they’re missing their finisher with the ball, but T20 wits, they hope, will be enough to put them into the semi-final as they face off against England

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Delhi25-Mar-2016Sri Lanka’s batting has been brittle, and they are missing their finisher with the ball, but T20 wits, they hope, will be enough to put them into the semi-final. First up in their Delhi double-header is England – a team they have sometimes outsmarted before.There is evidence that this England side is savvier than its predecessors. They have hired experts to advise them on spin, and are led by one of the more unorthodox England captains. But, Sri Lanka are hoping they are savvier still. Since the loss to West Indies on Sunday, Sri Lanka have spent their break training and introspecting, but also plotting, vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal said.”We have six days’ rest since the last match,” he said. “Two of those days were total rest – without training. That was for players to concentrate on their own games – to watch videos of them batting well, and to analyse where they went wrong. In those days, we also made a lot of plans about how to challenge England. There will be a few small changes. Part of the reason for those changes is also to surprise them.”If Sri Lanka have something up their sleeve, there is a chance the plan involves the recently-shortened one belonging to Sachithra Senanayake. Sri Lanka’s offspinners has been effective against England in limited-overs matches before, and Senanayake has been good against them in particular – in one-day cricket at least. He has taken 14 England scalps at an average of 14.57 in ODIs, and stands a strong chance of playing on Saturday, particularly with three left-handers in the England middle order.In any case, Sri Lanka’s plans are likely to feature spin, with Rangana Herath and legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay having bowled well in the tournament so far.”Rangana can cause damage in the next two games against England and South Africa,” Chandimal said. “We all know they are struggling against the spinners. We’ve got Vandersay, who is a surprise package, and Sachithra as well. If those bowlers do their best, we have a good chance. We all expect a lot from Rangana, but he knows how to handle those pressure situations. I think he will have a huge role in the next two games.”Sachithra Senanayake has been effective against England in limited-overs and stands a chance of playing on Saturday•AFPThe spin threat may be magnified by a Feroz Shah Kotla surface that has so far played slow, though there has not been excessive turn yet. The pitch is not exactly what the Sri Lanka side encounter at home, but still presents challenges Sri Lanka may be more comfortable facing than England.”Here, I think the pitch really helps us,” Chandimal said. “England played the first two games in the Wankhede and we all know that’s one of the best pitches India have got. In here, it’s totally different. Wickets are slow. I think we’ll have a good chance.”On the batting front, it is Sri Lanka’s middle order that concerned Chandimal the most. Angelo Mathews continues to bat at No. 5, but is in much leaner form than England are used to seeing him in. The likes of Chamara Kapugedera and Milinda Siriwardana are also yet to make a major impact in the tournament.”We’re struggling with the batting – especially the middle order. It can happen when you come to big games like this. We don’t have experienced guys in the middle. Guys are really working hard in practice. If our middle order clicks together, we’ll have a good chance anyway.”But, you can’t say every time that it’s our transition period. We’ve got some experienced guys, as well as youngsters. We have to put our hands up and perform for the side.”England had been the only side that defeated Sri Lanka during their run to the title in 2014, and yet, Chandimal felt this England side was better equipped than that one.”They’ve got some good players, I think, especially compared to the past five or six years, when I think they weren’t concerned about the T20 format. Now, they are thinking. They’ve got Root and Buttler – they are the key players. They are playing really well. We never underestimate any team. We’ll have to play our brand of cricket.”

Like countless summer blockbusters, Chelmsford did not quite meet expectations, but there Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara provided some good moments along the way as Essex’s batting finally stirred

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Chelmsford15-Jun-2015
ScorecardAlastair Cook was in contented form ahead of the Ashes•Getty ImagesLike countless summer blockbusters with the most hyped of trailers or that favourite food you would not normally deep fry, sometimes high expectations have to give way to an acceptance of reality. Sometimes, cheesecake is fine as it is.Indeed, there were passages on day two – three, to be exact – when we seemed on the cusp of something thrilling as Essex took an unassailable hold on the game.Alastair Cook, unbeaten overnight on 50*, took his guard as Mark Footitt, a man championed for England honours, walked out his angled approach towards what was mid-off. By now, after one over, the Chelmsford crowd had settled in – they rarely cut things fine in this part of the world – awaiting the clash of the England captain and the man who wanted to leave his mark on him, with Gus Fraser, in his guise as England selector, scoring the bout.Then there was the partnership of Ravi Bopara and Jesse Ryder: two players of equal skill but differing methods, operating outside the international scene through circumstance and choice, respectively. They came together at 230 for 3, on a pitch that was playing true, against an attack that looked there for the taking. Class was in the offing.Lastly, when Ryder strode out for the evening session, with Ryan ten Doeschate for company, with the new ball weathered, the opportunity for Essex to get out of sight, with Graham Napier to come. Fireworks, surely?And yet, while none of those scenarios quite came to pass, you would be hard-pressed to find a soul here at Chelmsford that was not enthralled by what actually took place.The locals will be pleased all the same: at least as Essex achieved their first batting points at home. Their three doubled the total number of batting points achieved here by all teams (Leicestershire achieved two, Gloucestershire one).The dynamic of Footitt’s dual with Cook shifted after his first over. After leaving four of the left-armer’s first five balls of the day, all following Footitt’s natural arc – in this instance, away from the left-hander – Cook left the sixth. However, this one held its line and just missed off-stump. Cook, upon hearing the gasps from those on the field and those off it, looked back at his off-stump and reassessed his alignment. Satisfied, he left his crease for an end of over chat with Nick Browne, who by then had moved to his half-century. Then it was business as usual.In typical Cook fashion, he judged the next 10 balls he faced from Footitt perfectly. A few more leaves and Footitt was at the stumps, which Cook picked off for a few into the leg-side. Then, in the last over of Footitt’s morning spell of five, he took him for two fours – both characteristically cut on width and length.The bowler looked a tad frustrated that he was roped into Cook’s web of patience. Not to worry – many of the world’s best have fallen for it. Throughout the day he bowled with good control but could have been more probing, particularly in a new-ball spell that saw his four overs return 0 for 12.Former New Zealand international bowler Iain O’Brien, present at Chelmsford as a commentator for BBC Radio Derby, noted that the undulating run-ups were affecting Footitt’s leap, which was long rather than high, and thus affecting his gather. Still, given he has 32 wickets already this season; he is allowed an off-day. So too, Cook, who had a third hundred in six long-form innings there for the taking before he hung back to a Wes Durston off-break that found a way through him.For the best part of 20 overs, Bopara and Ryder exchanged the strike, nodded in appreciation of each other’s boundaries and, occasionally, had a quick word about their running between the wickets. But this game-changer of a partnership was kept in check by some controlled overs from Shiv Thakor and Tony Palladino, backed up well in the field.While Ryder got off the mark with a four through cover, he would have to wait 27 balls for his next one: a cover drive off Palladino that went through Thakor at cover with such force that it must have taken some of his knee cap with it.Bopara begain to tick and went to his half-century, off 104 balls, with the sort of straight drive you would show to your friends but hide under your bed, out of your mother’s sight. Three balls later, he wafted at a short, wide ball, straight to second slip to give Wayne White his third wicket of the match.White would have his fourth after tea, when Napier found Thakor at square leg, after an enterprising 35 from 39 balls. That really was the end of any prospective charge to dusk, with Ryder (52) and ten Doeschate (20) back in the hutch. James Foster continued on, sweeping the spinners on line and the odd punch off the quicker bowlers.He finished the day on 51 not out. The pitch looks easy as pie to bat on and it might be in Essex’s best interests to declare overnight, with a lead of 301, and make use of the early morning conditions with a new ball. But then, who knows what the reality will be.

Bayern Munich's Harry Kane has been making the most of a rare Christmas break by relaxing on a tropical beach with his wife and children.

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Kane enjoying rare Christmas breakStriker spotted on beach with wife and kidsBundesliga resumes in two weeksWHAT HAPPENED?

Kane has discovered that one of the perks of joining Bayern Munich is having Christmas off. The former Tottenham man is used to training and playing during the festive period, but this year he and his family are taking full advantage of the Bundesliga winter break.

Instagram (@katekane)AdvertisementWHAT KANE'S WIFE SHARED

Kane's wife, Kate Goodland, used her Instagram stories to share a glimpse into her family's Christmas getaway. The fitness instructor shared a snap of Kane and her three children on a tropical beach, as well as a video of her daughter petting a horse.

Instagram (@katekane)GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Kane has exceeded all expectations since swapping north London for Bavaria. The England captain has scored 25 goals and laid on eight assists in just 22 games for Bayern, making a mockery of those who doubted he would adapt to playing in a different country.

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WHAT NEXT FOR KANE AND KATE GOODLAND?

Kane spent the first few months of his Bayern career living in a luxury hotel, but he has now found a home for himself and his family. Kate and the kids are expected to join him in Munich after the winter break, perhaps in time to see Kane and Bayern take on Hoffenheim on January 12.

Canada were one game away from making an undefeated run to the ICC Americas T20 title for the second time after breezing to a seven-wicket win over Bermuda

The Report by Peter Della Penna09-May-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJimmy Hansra was Man of the Match for his match-winning innings•Peter Della PennaCanada were one game away from making an undefeated run to the ICC Americas T20 title for the second time after breezing to a seven-wicket win over Bermuda at Indianapolis World Sports Park. Bermuda managed just 114 for 7 after winning the toss, and an unbeaten 79-run stand between Jimmy Hansra and Srimantha Wijeratne took Canada home with 10 balls to spare.Bermuda’s batting stumbled early once again and had difficulty recovering: Dion Stovell was lbw playing across the line to fast bowler Cecil Pervez on the first ball of the match. Christian Burgess was out for 5 to make it 15 for 2 on the first ball of the fourth over as Hansra took a superb catch – a skier over extra cover that swirled in the wind off the bowling of Saad Bin Zafar. David Hemp, Bermuda’s leading scorer in Indianapolis, fell for 12, mistiming Satsimranjit Singh to Rizwan Cheema at cover.Bermuda captain Janeiro Tucker top-scored with 34 but survived a run-out chance before he had scored. Zafar had a clear shot at the stumps from short third man with Tucker six yards short and having given up, but the throw was errant. Tucker wound up lasting until the 15th over, adding 47 runs with Tre Manders before he was well caught by wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq off a thick edge while attempting to cut offspinner Nikhil Dutta.As he did against USA in a Man-of-the-Match performance, Pervez returned to produce a superb spell at the death to take a wicket in the 18th and 20th overs. Both times he clipped the top of off stump, getting Delray Rawlins for 24 and Josclyn Pitcher for a duck. Left-arm spinner Farhan Malik claimed Jacobi Robinson for 1 to round off the wicket-takers for Canada with Pervez’s 3 for 17 the best figures on the day.Canada’s chase got off to a slightly rocky start. Just as he did in the first game against Bermuda, Ruvindu Gunasekera pulled to fine leg but once again a straightforward chance was put down, this time in the first over before he had scored. Bermuda kept coming hard though and three balls later Cheema was beaten for pace on an attempted drive and bowled by Pitcher for 1. Gunasekera then fell on the first ball of the second when he was bowled by Jordan DeSilva for 6 to make it 7 for 2. Nitish Kumar entered at three and lasted until the final ball of the eighth, when he lofted Stovell to Manders at long off for 12.Hansra was joined by Wijeratne and the pair chased down the target with relative ease. He brought up his 50 in 46 balls with a single off Tucker to end the 15th before teeing off for a six straight down the ground off Robinson in the 16th. Three overs later, he finished off the match by hitting a towering six that ricocheted off the top of the sightscreen scaffolding on the north side of the ground to finish unbeaten on 68. Wijeratne was not out on 26. Hansra said Canada were not satisfied with being 5-0 and were motivated to go for an undefeated title run by beating USA in the tournament final on Saturday.”It means a lot. What we came here to do, we’re just one game away to accomplish that goal,” Hansra told ESPNcricinfo after the win. “We wanted to win convincingly. I think we’ve done that so far. Bowlers and batters have stepped up when needed. Tomorrow we know we have a good game. USA is going to come hard at us. We just have to keep calm and do the little things right and I think we’ll be fine.”

Michael Owen says he still feels 'resentment' towards David Beckham following his infamous red card against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup.

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Owen resents Beckham for '98 red cardDidn't think he should have been sent offStill bitter over 1998 World Cup incidentWHAT HAPPENED?

Beckham received a red card for kicking out at Diego Simeone, before England went out on penalties to Argentina in the last-16 of the competition. The then-Manchester United player received a huge backlash from the English media and fans for months and months off the back of his actions. Now ex-striker Owen, who burst onto the scene for his country in that tournament and scored a stunning goal against Argentina in the same game, says he still feels bitter about what the winger did 25 years on.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT MICHAEL OWEN SAID

He said on William Hill’s Up Front with Simon Jordan: "Firstly, I don’t believe David Beckham’s kick out at Diego Simeone should’ve been a red card, but that is irrelevant. He made a mistake and that is where my resentment lies. For a lot of players you only get one shot at a World Cup, and he made a big mistake – he would admit that. You could say that it contributed to us being knocked out and that is a big thing.

"You can resent a lot of things if you use that word, and I do resent a lot of things. Paul Ince missed a penalty and I resent him choosing to shoot the ball one way instead of the other, in the same way I resent Beckham making the decision to kick out at Simeone.

"I resent his actions for all manner of reasons. It was a mistake that only he made and it makes you think that if he hadn’t done it, we could have beaten Argentina. I’m absolutely convinced that we would’ve beaten them with 11 men because we were the better team. We had an unbelievable team so of course I think to myself what could have been."

Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Beckham's red card in that World Cup was one of the biggest controversies in English football history. He was public enemy number one for a long time and his sending off certainly lessened his side's chances of advancing in the competition. But there have been better England sides since then and they have failed to win the illustrious tournament, and yet the fact that Owen has not gotten over this shows the scars from that incident run deep.

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WHAT NEXT?

Owen's comments may spark more debate about Beckham's red card and potentially lead to a response from the former England captain.

The World Cup has thrown up its share of embarrassing moments for the men between the posts. Here, Goal takes a look at some of the best, or worst!

Getty ImagesBarbosa | Brazil 1-2 Uruguay | 1950 Final

“Everywhere has its irremediable national catastrophe, something like a Hiroshima. Our catastrophe, our Hiroshima, was the defeat by Uruguay in 1950,” wrote renowned Brazilian author Nelson Rodrigues.

Playing in their own country, Brazil needed just to draw their final match of the final group stage to win the 1950 World Cup. Entertaining Uruguay, who had to win to steal the trophy from their South American rivals, the whole of Brazil were already in celebratory mood and expected nothing less than a comfortable victory at the Maracana.

Even the press took victory for granted, with O Mundo printing a picture of the squad with the words: ‘These are the world champions’. Brazil did start well and went ahead when Friaca scored on 46 minutes. But midway through the second half future Milan legend Juan Schiaffino equalised and what followed has since gone down in football history.

As it stood, Brazil were still set to be world champions for the first time until disaster struck and Urugauy scored again in the 79th minute. Alcides Ghiggia dribbled past Bigode before catching Barbosa out at his near post, the goalkeeper having anticipated a cross into the middle. Uruguay were World Cup winners, and the whole country of Brazil went into mourning over what became known as the Maracanazo (‘the Maracana blow’). 

Goalkeeper Barbosa became the main scapegoat for their country’s failings and was never forgiven up until his passing in 2000. “Under Brazilian law the maximum sentence is 30 years. But my imprisonment has been for 50,” he said before he passed away. Seven years earlier Barbosa had attempted to visit the Brazilian squad in training, only to be turned away for fear that he was a ‘jinx’.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesNery Pumpido | Argentina 0-1 Cameroon | 1990 Group Stages

The 1990 World Cup can only be described as a nightmare for Argentina's No.1 Nery Pumpido. In the tournament opener against outsiders Cameroon, the World Cup holders fell to a shock 1-0 defeat in Milan.

Francois Omam-Biyik towered above his man to head towards goal, but would not have expected his weak and central effort to go in. Pumpido somehow let the ball squirm through and under him as the Africans triumphed.

To make matters worse, in the next game against USSR, Pumpido broke his leg. His replacement Sergio Goycochea would go on to become a national hero after his miracles in penalty shootout wins over Yugoslavia and hosts Italy.

GettyRene Higuita | Colombia 1-2 Cameroon | 1990 Second Round

As eccentric goalkeepers go, Rene Higuita surely goes down as the most eccentric World Cup goalkeeper of all time. The Colombian became infamous during Italia ’90 for coming off his line and taking risks.

Higuita would sweep up miles outside his area, dribble past attackers, and regularly attempt nutmegs and flicks. During the second-round clash with Cameroon, this would prove to be his and Colombia’s downfall.

Deep into extra time, with the score still goalless, Higuita attempted to turn past the legendary Roger Milla close to the halfway line. The 38-year-old tackled him, though, and then dispatched the ball into an open net. Cameroon progressed to the next round, and Higuita was the villain.

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GettyPat Bonner | Republic of Ireland 0-2 Netherlands | 1994 Second Round

Ireland had scraped through from that tournament's ‘Group of Death’ mainly thanks to their now famous opening victory over Arrigo Sacchi’s eventual runners-up Italy.

In the second round Jack Charlton’s men faced Holland in Orlando, but two big defensive errors would cost them as the Dutch ran out 2-0 winners. For their second, goalkeeper Pat Bonner allowed a 30-yard strike from Wim Jonk to go through his hands and into the net.

A six-wicket haul from Varun Aaron, his first in first-class cricket, restricted Karnataka to 244 after Rest of India sent them in at the Chinnaswamy Stadium

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy in Bangalore17-Mar-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA six-wicket haul from Varun Aaron, his first in first-class cricket, restricted Karnataka to 244 after Rest of India sent them in at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Karnataka could have ended with even less had RoI not offered their batsmen three lives.Two of them came in the middle session, after Karun Nair and debutant Abhishek Reddy had come together with the scorecard reading 107 for 4. First, Rishi Dhawan bowled a peach of an outswinger to Reddy, close to off stump and forcing him to play and edge to the keeper, only for replays to confirm he had overstepped.In his next over, Reddy nicked a wider, fuller outswinger, only for Manoj Tiwary, the RoI captain, to spill a simple catch at first slip. Reddy was on 18 when the catch went down, and he went on to score 54 and put on 113 for the fifth wicket with Nair.RoI might yet come to regret allowing that partnership to flourish. Left with five overs to bat out at the end of the day, they lost Unmukt Chand – who inexplicably shouldered arms to a straight ball from Vinay Kumar that was angling into his stumps – and played and missed at enough balls from Karnataka’s new-ball pair to suggest they will face quite a test, on a still greenish pitch, when play resumes on the second morning.Having picked up 11 wickets in three Ranji Trophy matches after returning from India’s tour of Australia, Aaron looked in excellent rhythm. While he didn’t strain the speed gun needle to its limit, he was still sharp, hovering around the high 130s and low 140s, and picked up most of his wickets by simply hitting a good length on a fourth-stump line. There was a decent amount of bounce on offer when he bent his back, which meant driving or punching him with an angled bat was fraught with risk.RoI began with the medium-fast duo of Shardul Thakur and Rishi Dhawan, and both were guilty of bowling too full or too straight in an effort to find new-ball swing. Robin Uthappa and Mayank Agarwal had picked up five boundaries – all via drives down the ground or clips off the legs – when Aaron came on to bowl the eighth over of the morning.By then, the umpires had already changed the ball twice for going out of shape – they would do so again after the 26th over. Aaron struck with his fifth ball, which Uthappa poked at outside off, his front foot a critical fraction late in moving across, and edged to the keeper.In his next over, Aaron induced R Samarth to edge an attempted drive, only for Paras Dogra to spill the low chance diving to his left from third slip.Runs came freely for Agarwal and Samarth, with the bowlers continuing to feed them balls to drive, and Karnataka were 58 for 1 after 15 overs. Aaron and Pragyan Ojha restored some control, giving away only eight runs in the first six overs after the drinks interval, before Dhawan struck to remove Samarth in the first over of his second spell. It was the same recipe that had brought Aaron his success – fourth-stump line, not quite up there for the drive – with the added ingredient of away-swing.Having survived through to lunch, Agarwal and Manish Pandey were both back in the dressing room five overs after lunch. Aaron dismissed both of them, his line catching an unusually tentative Pandey in two minds between playing and leaving, and forcing Agarwal into edging one that was too close to force off the back foot. Both edges came to rest within Naman Ojha’s gloves. They were his third and fourth catches of the morning.He had to wait a while for his fifth, and it came after tea, via a tactical switch from Thakur, who had till then had a poor day with the ball. With Reddy on 49, he went around the wicket and banged the ball in short, with a short leg, a leg gully, a long leg and a deepish square leg in place. Reddy gloved an attempted pull to the keeper on 49 itself, but the umpire didn’t spot it, but there was to be no such luck when the same thing happened four balls later.Aaron struck twice in the next over, getting Nair caught at second slip for the mistake of throwing his bat at a wide-ish ball, and slipping in the straighter one to trap Vinay in front to bring up the five-for.Pragyan Ojha, who had till then looked pedestrian bowling with a remodelled, round-arm-ish action, then picked up two lower-order wickets – the second giving Naman his sixth catch of the innings to equal Nayan Mongia’s Irani Trophy record – before Aaron returned to finish things off. This wicket was a departure from Aaron’s usual modus operandi, and involved a touch of artistry, a back-of-the-hand slower ball that froze Abhimanyu Mithun’s feet and spun like a googly to smack him on the front pad.

Graeme Swann has insisted there was no bullying culture within the England dressing room as claimed by Kevin Pietersen

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2014Graeme Swann has insisted there was no bullying culture within the England dressing room, as claimed by Kevin Pietersen in his autobiography, saying that the emotion shown on the field was because the players were involved in “international sport, not the Under-11s”.In his column for the , Swann said he never shouted at one of his own team-mates over a dropped catch. He acknowledged there was some truth to Pietersen’s claims that Jonathan Trott had reacted angrily during a match in Bangladesh on the 2010 tour although said Pietersen had “misinterpreted” the incident.Swann had already called Pietersen’s book a “work of fiction” and the various claims “codswallop” and did not hold back in further criticism.”There was absolutely no bullying. Sure, bowlers shout at fielders if they are out of position or not concentrating,” he said. “A bowler or wicketkeeper delivers a bit of a kick up the backside – just like a goalkeeper shouts at his centre-half. This is international sport, not the Under-11s.”If Kevin or other players can’t take a bollocking for being unprofessional, for being out of position or seemingly not trying, they are in the wrong business.”However, another version of events over how errors in the field were treated came from Ajmal Shahzad, the Nottinghamshire seamer, who played for England in 2010 and 2011 and recalled feeling under pressure to apologise for errors.”There were times when I misfielded balls, in the World Cup I dived over a ball [and] there were some senior players you just didn’t want to look at,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “You knew they were disappointed and [thought it was] a bit of a disgrace … what you’d done was really bad.”If you did something wrong it wasn’t looked kindly upon. It did feel quite bad. I remember misfielding [in Bangladesh] and didn’t want to look up because you knew you were going to get these hard looks, stern looks – and it did feel a little uncomfortable.”Time to move on – Giles

The former England coach Ashley Giles has said “everyone has to move on” amid the fallout from Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography.

Giles was close with Pietersen as a player – he gets a brief mention in the book when Pietersen writes about England’s buddy system in 2004: “My buddy was Ashley Giles. Again, still a mate.”

After the Ashes whitewash, with rumours swirling about Pietersen’s future, Giles called Pietersen a “million pound asset” although he would never have the chance to work alongside him again as coach.

“I played in the dressing room with Kev and got on very well with him, but similarly with those other guys as well,” Giles said in his first press conference as Lancashire’s new head coach. “I coached them, and I never had any major issues with any of them.

“He’d still consider himself a multi-million pound asset, I’m sure. He’s that sort of player, he’s the big show if you like. Things have unfolded, and he’s not going to play for England, by the looks of it, again. I’m sure it’s disappointing for him, and everyone has to move on.”

About the Trott incident in Bangladesh, Swann said it stemmed from a field placement and that Trott had misunderstood a signal from Matt Prior over whether he was able to dive for a ball. “So Trotty started screaming from the boundary, ‘F*** off, f*** off.’ There’s a bit of truth in the story Kevin tells but, really, he has misinterpreted it,” Swann said.Shahzad, meanwhile, added that there was often only one route to dealing with mistakes, and encouragement when things went wrong was in short supply. “There weren’t many times when someone would come up to you and say ‘don’t worry about it – that’s sport, you have ups and downs’. It was a tough environment.”Swann was also strong in condemning Pietersen’s comments about Prior, who came in for a sustained campaign in the book over his perceived role in causing dressing-room splits.”Matt is the most passionate bloke about protecting the team environment. He was the voice of the dressing room … Now Kevin has written a whole chapter assassinating him, even having a pop at him for taking his bike to New Zealand. Kevin’s attack on Matt is, dare I say it, a bit like bullying.”One of the more cryptic responses to the claims in Pietersen’s book has come from Chris Tremlett, who was part of the successful 2010-11 Ashes tour as well as the more recent whitewash. “Glad @KP24 has finally been able to give his side of the story. People can now make an informed opinion of what went on in the dressing room,” he posted on Twitter.