Recently, the Santiago Bernabeau bore witness to an absolute footballing exhibition as Spain tore apart Italy 3-0. Interestingly, Spain played without any strikers in this game with coach Julen Lopetegui opting for a 4-6-0 formation. It’s not as if Spain hasn’t done this before. Under Vicente Del Bosque, this idea was used to great effect; especially during Euro 2012 where Fabregas played as a false striker. That Spain though was different. Continue reading
I remember first watching Batman Beyond somewhere around 2001. Back then, the digital era was in its infancy and the Toonami programming block had just been introduced to Cartoon Network. Episode/s would release just once a week on the weekends. There was a special feeling to this airing schedule as you waited all week just for that 1 episode. No YouTube, no Netflix back then and episode re-runs would air at odd times which made it impossible to catch otherwise. Oh and boy was Batman Beyond worth that wait. Continue reading
I really didn’t want to be the one writing this piece but the apathy, chaos and politics that has plagued Indian Hockey over the last…. (Forever) years; has forced my hand. The first ever hockey tournament that I witnessed as a kid was the Champions Trophy in 2003. The Indian team were a talented bunch and there were some memorable games. The one where they conceded 4 goals in the last 5 minutes against the Dutch after leading 3-0 stands out (Not the best memory, I know). However, the day I truly fell in love with the Indian National Team was its memorable comeback against Pakistan. After being down 4-2, they pumped in 5 goals in the last 20 minutes to win 7-4. I can never forget Gagan Ajit Singh’s effortless brilliance in that game. This is the stuff that dreams are made of. Continue reading