Neymar urges Brazil to find ‘new identity’
Rio de Janeiro: Five-time world champions Brazil will begin a new cycle in 2019 as they seek to win the Copa America on home soil, according to captain and talismanic forward Neymar. The 26-year-old said the South American giants are ready to rebound from their quarterfinal loss to Belgium at this year’s World Cup and urged his teammates to “find a new identity”, Xinhua reported on Friday. “It was a difficult year, for me especially, and a year of learning,” Neymar told reporters after participating in a charity match in the Brazilian city of Uberlandia. “Now it’s time to come back. We had a big crash in the middle of the year, which was very tough. Now it’s time to resume, to seek strength, to find a new identity. The cycle of players changes automatically. We have to win because that’s what is most important.” The Selecao will begin as firm favourites to win the Copa America, which will be played in five Brazilian cities from June 14 to July 7. “There are many goals for next year,” the Paris Saint-Germain forward said. “I will do all I can to achieve them and will also try to be happy.” (IANS)
Marin Cilic pulls out of Tata Open Maharashtra tennis
Pune: World no. 7 Marin Cilic Friday pulled out of next week’s Maharashtra Open tennis tournament, citing a nagging knee injury.Portugal’s Pedro Sousa will now enter the main draw after the withdrawal of the second-seeded player from Croatia, who made the announcement through his social media accounts. “I am sad to announce I have had to pull out of the Tata Open Maharashtra. My sincerest apologies to the fans and organizers,” Cilic posted on his Instagram account. “I was looking forward to returning, however, my knee pains that began toward the end of the season have escalated. “Treatments during the short off season have been helping but there is still a ways to go and I cannot go into this tournament knowing I am not currently able to give 100%.” The former US Open champion, however, hoped to return next year for the tournament. (PTI)
Murray happy with decision not to quit tennis
Brisbane: Former world number one Andy Murray says he has no regrets about not walking away from tennis despite missing 11 months of the year with a hip injury. The three-time Grand Slam champion was speaking ahead of his return to the sport at the season-opening Brisbane International, which gets underway at the Queensland Tennis Centre on Monday. Murray, who won the Brisbane title in 2012 and 2013, enters the tournament with a world ranking of 256. The 31-year-old Scot had intended to play in Brisbane at the beginning of 2018, but was forced to withdraw on the eve of the tournament and pull out of the Australian Open with a hip injury. He had surgery soon after, which kept him out of the game for much of the year. “You want to go out on your own terms,” he said when asked about a possible retirement after practising with Grigor Dimitrov. “If I decided to stop six months ago, having not played or gotten back to a level where I can compete again, I would have looked back and regretted that. “I owed it to myself to give myself the best possible shot to get back to a level I was happy with.”I am able to compete at a high level, but I have to back it up a few days in a row. That’s the challenge,” he said. Murray, a five-time Australian Open runner-up, added to British media late Thursday that “I still have some pain in my hip”, but said that “I’m in a better place than I was a few months ago”. (AFP)