Dyke’s reaction sums up Eng feelings
LONDON: By slowly running a finger across his throat in mock fear, the head of English football appeared to sum up his nation’s gloomy view of England chances at next year’s World Cup in Brazil. England was thrown into one of the toughest of the eight pools in Friday’s draw after being pitched with 2010 semifinalist Uruguay, four-time winner Italy and Costa Rica in Group D. Football Association chairman Greg Dyke, who attended the draw and sat alongside England manager Roy Hodgson as the balls were pulled out of the pots, was caught on camera making a throat-slitting action. That reaction that was harshly criticized by the country’s national media, although many newspapers seemed to share his sense of doom. The Daily Mail lambasted Dyke as “The World Cup Chump” on its back page on Saturday, while The Sun called the situation “Dykabolical.” The Sun, however, also had a picture of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue on its front page with the headline “Lord help us!” The Daily Mirror also had Dyke on its front page with the headline “He thinks it’s all over!” The Daily Telegraph was among many newspapers who called it a “Group of Death,” a phrase commonly used in major tournaments to signal the hardest group. (Agencies)
Pakistan will not take Afghanistan lightly, says Hafeez
SHARJAH: Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez stressed his team will not take Afghanistan lightly in the first-ever Twenty20 international between the two nations in Sharjah on Sunday. War-ravaged Afghanistan have earned a reputation of being a dangerous team in the shortest format of the game, having last month qualified for their third successive World Twenty20 — to be held in Bangladesh in March-April next year. Earlier this year, Afghanistan also qualified for the 2015 World Cup (50 overs) to be held in Australia and New Zealand. They have an improved Twenty20 record, winning 11 of the 21 they have played so far, although all their four matches against Test playing nations in the last two World Twenty20s ended in defeats. They lost to South Africa and India in the 2010 World Twenty20 held in the West Indies and two years later lost to England and India in Sri Lanka. But Hafeez warned his team on complacency. (PTI)