Super Sports Sunday

6.30 am. I woke up, switched on the TV. 

Late in the night after 3. I switched off the TV, went to bed.

Three matches -- two football and one tennis -- during the course of the day. 

All together over 7 hours. 

COPA AMERICA 2021 FINAL

Image courtesy: The Guardian

The blockbuster Brazil and Argentina match kicked off at 5.30 am IST at Rio's Maracana stadium. But I managed to wake up only an hour late. By that time Argentina had scored. 

The scoreline stayed. A bit surprising, because Brazil dominated the game. 

Brazil had 59% of the possession; 13 shots (Argentina 6), and 4 corners (Brazil 1).

Anyway, the win was huge for Argentina, and Lionel Messi. 

That goal ended their 28-year-long wait for a victory in a major tournament. But a big disappointment for Brazil's Neymar who is yet to win a major international.

WIMBLEDON MEN'S FINAL   

Image courtesy: wimbledon.com

Back in front for the TV at 6.30 pm. 

The result was expected. Novak Djokovic finally caught up with what his two seniors -- Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal -- achieved: 20 Grand Slam titles. 

But Italy's Matteo Berrettini ensured that it was not a cakewalk for his opponent. At one point it looked like the match could go either way. I am glad that was some drama.

It was fascinating tennis stretching 3 hours 23 minutes. When Djokovic lost the first set 4-7 in the tie-break, I thought this will stretch to a five-setter.

But he seemed to be setting the tone as he won the first 4 games of the 2nd set. Berrettini held the serve to make it 4-1. Djokovic held the next and had a chance to wrap up the set. 

But Berrettini gave a stiff resistance and caught up picking up the next three games in a row to make it 5-4. The 10th game was Djokovic's serve and he finally closed it at 6-4.

Berrettini seemed to have lost a bit of the momentum in the 3rd set and Djokovic won that without much difficulty with the same score.

Image courtesy: wimbledon.com

The fourth set, in which Berrettini took a lead with a win in the 1st game, was a bit more challenging for Djokovic as he had to wait till the seventh game to get ahead: 4-3. From then on, the path was clearer and his job was done as Berrettini made an unforced backhand error.

Now all eyes are on the next matches that Djokovic will play. There is something called the Golden Slam, which only Steffi Graf has achieved in 1988, with a victory in all the four Grand Slams and an Olympic Gold Medal. 

But now whether the World Number One can do that is in doubt as he seemed to have been put off by the tight restrictions in the Olympic Village, and he is in two minds if he would go.

If he wins the US Open, which will start on Aug 30, he will get ahead of Federer and Nadal, and he would sort of establish himself as the GOAT or the Greatest Of All Time.

INDIA VS ENGLAND WOMEN'S T20

Image courtesy: Twitter/ICC

While the Wimbledon was on, the 2nd T20 cricket match between India and England women's team was being played at Hove. I kept checking the score on the BBC Sports app. 

India notched up 140 for 8 in 20 overs, and England fell short of the target by 8 runs. 

It was a thriller which I missed. 

The third match is tomorrow.

EURO 2020 FINAL

Image courtesy: BBC

After the tennis match, I took a one and a half hour nap before getting back in front of the TV at 12.30 am for the next epic encounter, at Wimbley.

It was a match truly worthy of a championship final as England and Italy battled hard. 

Within just two minutes of the start, the game got charged up as Luke Shaw scored for England. It should have remained like that at least. 

But in the 67th minute, Leonardo Bonucci equalised for Italy.

As expected the match went into half an hour of extra time and then the penalty shootout.

Though in the back of my mind I had a feeling that Italy might win, I was supporting England. And it was such a heartbreak to see Harry Kane's team fall behind by the thinnest of margins. 

It must be said that barring the initial few minutes, Italy was generally in control of the game, and they were constantly sniffing at opportunities to score.

They had 65% of the possession and had as many as 6 shot on target in comparison to just 2 for England.

In the penalty shootout, for England, Harry Kane and Harry Maguire scored; but the shots of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka failed to find the target.

It's sad that the England's three were subjected to racial abuse on social media. The flipside of our ubiquitous online world.

For Italy, Domenico Berardi, Leonardo Bonucci and Federico Bernardeschi scored; while the shots of Andrea Belotti and Jorginho were saved. 

And thus the quest of England for a major international win continues 55 years after their last triumph in the 1966 World Cup at the same Wimbley stadium.

England didn't win. But I enjoyed a thoroughly vigorous and enthusiastic contest.

The time was well past 3 am when I hit the sack.

Memorable start to football World Cup

Brazilians weren't at their best at all. Croatia didn't capitalize on that either. Thankfully, there were some good actions in the opening match of the football World Cup final yesterday.

The first goal was (technically) an own goal by Brazil in the 11th minute, as a shot from Olic touched Nikica and rolled off Marcelo into his own net. Then came the first yellow card in the 27th minute, to a Brazilian player, of all players, Neymar. I wondered what was in for Brazil?

But quite expectedly they came good. They had to. Neymar equalized in the 29th minute.

Then the controversy in the 71st minute. Japanese referee awarded a penalty after judging Lovren to have fouled Fred inside the box. But replays from multiple angles didn't show any contact at all for Lovren to have Fred falling down. Neymar converted, eluding the outstretched arm of the Croatian keeper. That got Brazil ahead. And the crowd exploded.

Finally just seconds before the final hooter Oscar scored giving the home team 3-1 win.

Today's second match will be special: it will be a replay of 2010 final - between Spain and Netherlands. Then, the 1-0 win gave Spain the crown. Let's see how it plays out today. Spain is expected to win.

Who will win 2014 FIFA World Cup?

The world's most popular sporting extravaganza is all set to kick off in Brazil. The opening match is between Brazil and Croatia tomorrow night (at 1.30 am Friday in India) at Arena Corinthians, Sao Paulo. Thanks to the time difference, it will be hard to follow all the matches live: they are at 9.30 pm, 12.30 am at 3.30 am. Sadly, some of the good matches are at 3.30 am.

A graffiti depicting human hands holding the earth
with the Brazilian flag in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
(Photo credit: AP/Thanassis Stavrakis)

It will now be a full month of fun. As 32 nations in 8 groups vie for the most coveted trophy in football, all the talk will be about who is playing whom, who will score, the deadly saves and strikes, who will top the table, and finally who will take the trophy home.

The hosts, Brazil is the only nation to have played in all the editions of the prestigious tournament. They have also won the cup a record five times -- in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. They are always in the reckoning, more so now, to strike the jackpot. Spain comes as defending champions, but not much hopes are riding on them.

Though on paper Germany looks good to triumph, I have a gut feeling that it'll be a Latin American party. Though there were a lot of protests and strikes in Brazil, the country will finally rally behind their team on home ground, and backed by a good lineup, I think the holders of Confederations Cup will go on to lift the Fifa Cup too. From Latin America, expect a good fight from Argentina. If I have to look at Europe, my feeling is, it will be Germany, and the surprise will come from France.

Anyway, let's see how it plays out. Lots of time to discuss and debate.

Easy search on Google

By the way, Google -- as always -- has made it very easy for us to keep track of the fun.

Type or say "2014 Fifa World Cup", under the head "Matches", you get to see who is playing against whom and when. In the tab "Groups", you see the points table arranged group-wise.

Google Search result page for FIFA World Cup.

Under the tab "Matches", if you click on a match, you have details like Timeline, Match Stats and Lineup. When you click on a team, you can see more details about the team and the other matches the team will play, besides the current standing of the team in the group.

If you click on "match preview", you are taken to the Fifa site, where you have a slew of information.

Who, you think, will win the cup?

Zidane unconvincing

So, finally Zinedine Zidane has spoken, but he didn't tell exactly what Materazzi had said that led to the violent head butting during Sunday's world cup soccer final in Berlin.

He said to the effect that the Italian had said harsh, very personal things, about his mother and sister, two or three times.

France, as indicated by its media, has completely forgiven Zidane. Quite understandable.

But I am not convinced. Was Materazzi more important than world cup? Was that... whatever Materazzi uttered... worth giving up the World Cup Football Crown for. I fully believe the Cup was well and truly France's way.

Shame, Zidane!

What a World Cup Final match it was! Soccer-wise, it was such a great match. But it ended in such a disappointment.

I was... no longer I’m... a fan of Zinedine Zidane. He started off as a footballer on the streets of Marseille. And, he ended his wonderful career in utter disgrace as a street-fighter. Instead of walking off with the Soccer World Cup, head held high, Zidane ambled away, head bowed, mid-match after being sent off by the referee.

Zidane may have his story to tell on why he violently head-butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi with just 10 minutes left in the extra-time. Materazzi may have said something very nasty to Zidane. But nothing justified what Zidane did – launching his head into the chest of the Italian, who fell back on to the ground. It was sheer madness. A man of his experience, he just couldn’t let himself fly off the handle on such an important occasion.

Only six minutes earlier, Zidane had leapt gloriously into air to head one into the goal but only to be punched off by Italian goalie Buffon. We all kept talking how Zidane could dictate the course of a match; how he was leading the French attack on Italy's impenetrable defence, especially in the second half. When he was injured, we felt how France needed him on the ground to get the victory they deserved.

After Zidane was red-carded, on his last match, I didn't want France to win. A team led by such a guy didn't deserve to win, irrespective of how well they played.

Okay, Zidane has a history of violent temper... He had once stamped his boots into the thigh of a Saudi player. I thought he had overcome that. And, it was such a shock to see the TV replay of Zidane's madness. Horrible. What a disgraceful way to end one’s glorious career. What a shame, not just for Zidane or France, even for the game.

There is an argument that since the referee didn't see Zidane's act, it wasn't an offence. It was Buffon who protested. Then, referee Horacio Elizondo of Argentina consulted the lineman; and sent Zidane out. I wouldn't agree with the view that the protest should not have been upheld this way. It was such a grave offence that the dignity and glory of the game had to be protected.

Not that Italy didn’t deserve to win: 6-4 (1-1 after extra time). With a wonderful defence, they held together against French onslaught. But, are we now going to talk about Italy or Zidane?

Brazilian striker dies on the field

Brazilian striker Cristiano Junior collapsed during the final of the Federation Cup football championship in Bangalore today some two hours back. HOSMAT hospital said he was brought dead to the hospital. It's not known if he died on the field or on the way. Postmortem report awaited.

Junior had scored a brace to help Dempo Sports Club, Goa, defeat Mohun Bagan in the finals 2-0. He scored the goal in the 78th minute. He collided with Mohan Bagan goalkeeper and collapsed on the ground. All efforts to revive him were futile.