East Bengal is again defeated by Mumbai City FC by 3 goals on Tuesday at GMC Stadium, Goa with their back-to-back defeats in their debut ISL campaign.
East Bengal did not have a good beginning to their debut ISL campaign as they again faced a defeat against Mumbai City FC by a 3-0 margin on Tuesday, after the derby loss on Friday.
Source – Goal.com
Despite the struggling start on Tuesday, MCFC managed to take down on SC East Bengal FC due to the individual errors made both the time by the SC East Bengal FC players.
EB’s inexperienced backline defense is a concern, as they committed reckless mistakes that eventually cost them the match, with players making individual mistakes.
Another area of concern for EB is Debjit’s Performance between the goalposts as he gave away a penalty against MCFC on Tuesday, where he could have done much better in both the matches with a few goals the team conceded.
“I am devastated myself. I hope players are hurting more than me. We have to go again in 4-5 days [vs NorthEast United FC]. We are still coaching players, some Indian players look like they haven’t been coached before. We are teaching intricate passing. We have to learn pretty quickly. We have to be better,” said Fowler.
Fowler also said, “I will love to have them in all areas of the park in all honesty. But I can’t complain because we have what we have. Individual errors have cost us. The ball over the top in the first game [led to a goal] and same again today [ Adam le Fondre’s opening goal]. When you make errors against a quality side you get punished. Two goals conceded today were our mistakes. We have to work and try to lift them [players].
To sum up, EB has too many holes with a weak strategy and individual player performance. Robbie Fowler has got a lot of work to be done on the team.
Scottish Premiership club Glasgow Rangers have officially announced that they will be broadcasting Hero ISL games in the UK via Facebook. The same way that the La Liga broadcast their games in India.
“The ISL is a fast-paced and competitive league and we are certain Rangers supporters, and many other football fans in the UK will be compelled to follow the live action on our social media platforms.”
“Everyone at Rangers sends best wishes to our partner club Bengaluru FC for the campaign and we look forward to welcoming them to Glasgow in July 2021 for a friendly match with the Rangers first team.”
🗣️ Mandar Tamhane, @bengalurufc Chief Executive Officer: "We are aware of the big presence of the Indian community in the UK and the fact that they will have free access to ISL games is something that will keep them closer to home." pic.twitter.com/uWOYWSTL9n
“We’ve also been hugely encouraged by the audience numbers in the several millions that have viewed Rangers SPFL Premiership matches live on STAR Sports in India already this season.”
The Scottish club have been involved in a partnership with ISL club Bengaluru FC since 2019. The initial deal involved six matches to be broadcasted in the UK through the club’s official Facebook page.
They have already shown two games on their platform, and the remaining four games all feature their partners in Indian football, Bengaluru FC.
Both of their fixtures in the 2020/21 edition of the ISL have ended in points being shared across both the teams. Bengaluru played out a 2-2 draw against Goa FC in their opening contest. Their second match saw the scoreline read a 0-0 draw against Hyderabad FC.
James Bisgrove, Commercial and Marketing Director, said:
“This innovative partnership with the ISL represents a further pillar in Rangers international strategy and cements our ambition to develop a meaningful and long-lasting relationship with the growing Indian football fan base.”
Indian football can use all the support from the bigger clubs in the world owing to their huge influence and monetary strength. This support could eventually result in India’s passion for football achieve new heights through the medium of the league itself.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit 2020 is running and on the first day, the semiconductor manufacturer showcased its new addition to the Snapdragon 800 series. The company named it Snapdragon 888, instead of Snapdragon 875 that the maximum of us expected following the naming convention. Anyway, here are the other attractions of this new smartphone process that can excite you easily.
Earlier leaks and rumors suggested that the new 8 series extension would follow the earlier 1+3+4 core architecture like the predecessor. Though, still, there is no confirmation yet from the company but will surely reveal later. In the confirmed list, Qualcomm’s new X60 5G modem is there. It supports both the sub-6GHz and mm-Wave networks. Other 5G-related features such as both standalone and non-standalone network support, multiple SIM cards, and more.
The new AI Engine, inside the Snapdragon 888 can easily handle 26 trillion operations in a second (TOPS). This will reflect on the camera-centric features like AI-driven portrait mode, color correction, and so on. Due to the new NUP, OEMs now can easily optimize their on-device features including battery life, screen refresh rate, etc.
It is expected that this flagship SoC runs on the Adreno 660 GPU. The company claims its image signal processor (ISP) is now 35% faster than the earlier version.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 is likely to be the first smartphone that will step into the market with the Snapdragon 888 SoC. There is another confirmed name from Realme i.e. Realme Race. Other smartphone giants like OnePlus, ASUS, Oppo, Vivo, and more will come with their products powered by the Snapdragon 888 next year.
Dario Sarmiento is currently a young winger playing for Estudiantes in Argentina. However, if rumours are to be believed, things could change for the youngster in the summer of 2021.
Manchester City are reportedly keen on signing the teenage Argentine winger and are preparing a bid worth €19 million including add ons and bonuses. Considering that the youngster is only 17, he will join the youth academy of Manchester City before hopefully transitioning to the first team.
Manchester City are in advanced negotiations to sign Darío Ariel Sarmiento, 17 years old from Estudiantes. The opening bid is around €19m [add ons included!]. If the agreement will be reached, he’d arrive on June 2021 to plan about his future with ‘City group’ 🇦🇷 #mcfc@CLMerlo
To quote transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano, City are in ‘advanced negotiations’ to sign the player. They are looking to get the deal sorted out as soon as possible, and the player himself will join the club in the summer of 2021, by which time, he will have turned 18.
Considering the plethora of talent that Manchester City have in terms of wingers, it is unlikely that Dario Sarmiento will be favoured to break into the first team. Especially if the likes of Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Ferran Torres and Riyad Mahrez continue to perform at the level that they already are at.
The Argentinian’s future will apparently lie with ‘City Group’, which means that a spell in New York or any of the teams which fall under the City Group umbrella could be on the cards.
The Argentine youngster has featured for the Under 16 national team 6 times and has managed to score 4 goals. He has only featured 11 times in all competitions for Estudiantes and has only registered a singular assist, with no goals to his name yet.
Dario Sarmiento came through the ranks at the Estudiantes academy itself and played for the Under 20 team until 2019. He only broke into the first team last year, but a move to a European giant of the stature of Manchester City could really skyrocket his progress.
According to reports, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is planning to raise around $4 billion. This will happen with the aid of a top-up placement and sale of convertible bonds. Around $3.2 billion will be raised from selling 1 billion shares in a top-up placement. The rest of the amount ($ 855 million) will be accumulated by selling a seven-year, zero-coupon convertible bond. A zero-coupon bond means that Xiaomi cannot pay coupon payments and pay the amount decided back at the maturity. Xiaomi’s deals will be managed by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Credit Suisse.
The 1 billion shares will be sold at HK$23.70 to HK$24.50 (the final price will be decided on Tuesday). Thus, at a 7%-9% discount to its Monday’s closing price of HK$26.15. It will make this deal the largest top-up placement of Hong Kong. Currently, this record is held by CNOOC Ltd. They raised $1.9 billion in 2006.
Chinese smartphones are known for their innovative features and cost-effective nature. Due to their steady manufacturing units and lower labor costs, Chinese companies like Xiaomi have attracted many customers worldwide. The company reported a 19% overall rise in net profit in Q3FY21. Also, they registered a 45% gain in shipments year-on-year (YoY). A major reason behind this rise is the international struggles of their competitor Huawei Technologies. Donald Trump-led, the US imposed several sanctions on Huawei Technologies, citing national security concerns. It is no coincidence that Huawei saw a 24% drop in total shipment during the same period.
Xiaomi has been on a terrific bull rally for a year now. On 1st December 2019, they were trading around HK$9, whereas today, they ended the day at HK$26.15. The $4 billion they are raising can be further use to expand their business. Huawei Technologies is one of their primary competitors. It might be a perfect time for Xiaomi to invest in R&D and boost its product line. They have already tried to capture some of the other companies’ market shares in the past year. These funds will make the company stronger to compete in the future.
On 1st of December 2020, the popular IPL franchise KKR, owned by Shahrukh Khan announced its big investment in American Cricket Enterprises (ACE), A U.S Group, along with Vijay Srinivasan, one of the co-founders of ACE, that is going to launch up a major T20 league in 2020.
Shahrukh owned KKR’s investment in American Cricket can be considered as a huge encouragement to the cricketing industry in America.
Kolkata Knight Riders who also knowns a team in Caribbean Premier League – Trinbago Knight Riders, which has so far won 4 CPL titles in six editions along with Kolkata Knight Riders winning the IPL title twice is helping the T20 cricket thrive.
The investment led by Shahrukh Khan, along with his partners in Kolkata Knight Riders – Juhi Chawla and her husband, Jay Mehta will include financial investments and expertise which will help in evolve American Cricketing industry. Sources also say that they are also likely to own the Los Angeles franchise.
“For several years now, we have been expanding the Knight Riders brand globally and closely watching the potential for T20 cricket in the US. We are convinced that Major League Cricket has all the pieces in place to execute its plans and we look forward to making our partnership an enormous success in the coming years,” Shah Rukh Khan said in a statement.
“Even though cricket is not a mainstream sport in the U.S., the size of the diaspora and the appetite for cricket is so strong that the U.S. is the second-largest market to consume cricket content, after India,” Knight Riders Group CEO Venky Mysore said.
“The combination of Bollywood and T20 cricket has been extremely successful in other markets, and we’re looking to leverage that to the extent we can in content creation and the merger of entertainment and cricket,” ACE co-founder Vijay Srinivasan said in a phone call to Yahoo Sports.
Former Inter Milan and Italy international Mario Balotelli is set to join Brazilian club, Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama. Vasco Da Gama’s director of sport Fabio Cordella has confirmed that Balotelli agreed to join the club.
Mario Balotelli was a free agent after Brescia released him last summer. Mario Balotelli was a great striker in his prime. He has played for Liverpool, Manchester City, Inter Milan in his career. He has scored 151 goals in 383 appearances.
Fabio Cordella said, “He’d like to come here, don’t forget Vasco are the second club with most trophies in the world after Real Madrid.”
“I don’t think Mario needs to come to Rio to do stupid things, I think he has reached mental maturity.”
“Vasco are an institution against racism. I hope he can wait for us,” he added.
“Officially, we cannot sign anyone, but there were exchanges of mail and offers.”
“Formally, we agree on everything, we just have to formalise. I hope I can do it on January 15, Vasco need a player like Balotelli and he needs a club like Vasco.”
“For our fans he would be like [Diego Armando] Maradona.”
Vasco Da Gama is one of the oldest football clubs and also have a rich history. The club was formed by the Portuguese community of Rio De Janeiro in 1898. The club still has a huge fanbase. Mario Balotelli’s addition into the squad will surely add some firepower in the offensive part of the team.
Manchester United has started the UCL campaign with an exciting form this season. After the first 4 matches in the group, they are now leading the table with 9 points. They need 1 more point to secure the qualification to the next round. Whereas, Paris Saint Germain needs all 3 points to boost their chance to qualify.
Manchester United will take on Paris Saint Germain at Old Trafford tomorrow. United has secured 3 points against the Ligue 1 champions by defeating 2-1 at Paris. But this time it will be a tough tie for both teams.
Multiple injury issues are a concern for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this season. United can miss 6 first team players against Paris Saint Germain.
David De Gea was substituted at half time against Southampton F.C. last weekend. Alex Telles was also replaced in the same match at the end after he took a knock. Ole said, “I don’t know how he (De Gea) will react to his knock and bang. Alex had an issue towards the end but hopefully won’t be too bad.”
Anthony Martial was also out of the game as he is ill and had to stay at the hotel for the treatment of the injury he picked before the international break. Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay may return to the training today.
“Paul and Scott hopefully can start training with us tomorrow”- Ole said yesterday.
There is good news for Ole as Jesse Lingard and Phil Jones are fit to play again.
BXP, short for, BlitzkriegXP, is India’s first-ever experiential Esports organisation which kickstarted in June 2020 with a vision to become a premier international Esports organisation. In a rather unorganised gaming industry, BlitzkriegXP recognises the massive potential the industry bears and intends to take Indian gaming talent to extraordinary heights.
Soon after its inception, BlitzkriegXP hosted a data-driven PUBGM nationwide try-out that garnered massive traction and witnessed registration slots getting full in 5 mins!
BXP also participated in the PMCO Fall Split 2020 (PUBG Mobile Club Open), the biggest PUBG tournament in India and dominated right up to the finals with its PUBGM roster under the guidance of their PUBGM head coach, Vedang Chavan. However, ever since the PUBGM ban, BXP has revamped its strategy with a drive to own the void.
BlitzkriegXP is helmed by Samin ‘AceAthena12’ Ahmed, Diksha ‘AshkidOP’ Kathayat and Pallavi ‘DarthPVader’ Venugopal – all semi-professional gamers who got together during a session of PUBG. The camaraderie then turned into a business proposition with the help of Ranjeeta Joshi as the Business Head of BlitzkriegXP– forming an organization that explores the levels of opportunities offered by the gaming industry.
In an exclusive interview with TechnoSports, Ms Samin ‘AceAthena12’ Ahmed, the Marketing Head of BlitzkriegXP has spoken about the eSports industry in India, alternatives to PUBG and BXP’s future plans
We asked few questions to which Ms Samin Ahmed has answered. Here’s what she told us:
eSports in India and its future
The eSports industry is picking up in India with a momentum like never before. With game downloads increasing by 10x, the Indian mobile gaming market is projected to reach 628 million users by the end of 2020 positioning India to be the next major gaming market. The lockdown also brought about a huge spike in mobile gaming where people were seen to spend a great amount of time playing and streaming games at home.
Since the ban of PUBG Mobile, a lot of titles like COD Mobile and Valorant have benefitted by scooping in the traction. With multiple IPs being executed for Valorant, it seems to be the most promising esports title when it comes to PC gaming.
For mobile, Garena Free Fire has been flourishing in terms of content and gaming. The Free Fire India Championship 2020, a tournament whose finals brags 6.7 million views on YouTube, featured a prize pool of 35Lakh INR. In other news, 4 Indian teams are set to represent India at the COD Mobile World Championship.
Moreover, with the easing Covid lockdown, we might even get to attend the much-awaited LAN events sooner than imagined.
Alternatives to PUBG that Indian gamers are in love with
Since the ban, an extreme change in trend was observed. Viewers were no longer tuning into live streamers just for the sake of the fandom but for the game being played and the quality of content being dished out.
Hence, games like Among us and fall guys stepped into the limelight as entertaining and engaging content creating capabilities is supported by the game’s nature itself. The viewership numbers of Garena Free Fire and COD Mobile have remained unaffected as the game already harbors a massive community since the past year.
However, with PUBGM unban news making the rounds, we are certain that if and when the comeback happens we will be putting together a PUBGM roster and resume our grind to dominate in the competitive scene.
What is the future plan of BlitzkreigXP?
BlitzkriegXP’s vision is to command the international Esports scene and house some of the most talented rosters in India. Diversifying in terms of content for the community, training and building rosters across different games and eventually competing in the biggest Esports competitions in India and then the world is the plan for the BXP’s future.
Moreover, partnering with endemic as well as non endemic brands and ensuring meaningful integrations through unique proprietary IPs is something that we are going to focus on in the next 6 months. These strategic collaborations will help build a sustainable and more credible ecosystem that opens up a plethora of opportunities for the entire Esports community!
About Ms Samin ‘AceAthena12’ Ahmed
Ms Samin ‘AceAthena12’ Ahmed is the Marketing Head of BlitzkriegXP, India’s first experiential E-Sports organisation. She recently completed her MBA in communication management from SIMC, Pune. Having had a year and a half long journey in experiential marketing she has played a key role in crafting consumer experiences for some of the biggest properties in the nation like Supersonic, Sunburn and T20 Mumbai. She has worked on various PR and activation campaigns across brands like Gulf Oil, Budweiser, Amazon Easy and Mondelez. Samin has also worked closely for the launch strategy and content curation of 7Rivers, India’s proudly homegrown beer from the house of ABInBev.
In 2020, she ventured into the E-Sports industry as the Marketing Head of BlitzkriegXP with a mission to introduce system and structure in this extremely unorganized yet highly lucrative industry by making the sport, the players, the content and the experiences more engaging and hence marketable.
She has worked intensively in the launch strategy and digital marketing campaign of BliztkriegXP which is now gearing up for a nation-wide tryout to recruit its first team.
As an extremely passionate and hardworking professional, she is always looking for newer and more challenging opportunities that foster thought leadership. Samin believes in a healthy work-life balance and being a cinema lover often blows off steam by watching films and going for a run every morning.
Equality between men and women in every aspect is highly encouraging in the last decade. FIFA is also trying to boost Women’s football. All continental organizations are also helping FIFA. It helped Women’s football to come on leaps and bounds in recent years, football remains a male-dominated sport. Not only playing and coaching, but females had come up to officiate matches in recent times as well. In, 2019 UEFA Super Cup, a female referee was appointed.
Today, UEFA Champions League is going to make a new history. According to a report by Sport face, UEFA Champions League is going to take another major step.
As per the report, Juventus vs Dinamo Kyiv in the Champions League on Wednesday will be officiated by a woman for the first time in the competition’s history.
Stephanie Frappart will be officiating the match. She was also in charge of the UEFA Super Cup – between Liverpool and Chelsea on 14th August 2019. She also became the first female referee in Ligue 1 and 2 histories. She is now ready to become the first female referee of the UEFA Champions League as well.
The 36-year-old French lady started her career in 2011. She is a highly experienced referee and officiated in some major tournaments.
The way female football is progressing, it will also get the recognition like Men’s football get. Still, now a female is taking charge of a Men’s game is newsworthy. But the scenery will be changed pretty soon.
