Danial Patel’s dream run at FIFAe World Cup ends in semis

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Riyadh, Dec 12 (IANS) In the first-ever FIFAe World Cup ft. eFootball – Mobile, India’s Danial Patel’s sensational run ended in the semi-finals after going down to Malaysia at the SEF Arena here on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old, who had taken the group stage by storm, pumping in 20 goals to finish second, registered a stunning comeback win against Turkiye’s YUSA in the quarter-finals. The knockout stage was held in a best-of-three format.

Turkiye nicked the first game 2-1 in extra time despite Danial equalising with the last kick of the game in normal time. However, he bounced back in the second game, and after a cagey and goalless 90 in-game minutes, saw off a 1-0 win in extra time to force a deciding third game. The decider proved to be a one-sided affair as Danial went out all guns blazing and raced to a two-goal lead before half-time. Turkiye did not have enough left in the tank to make a comeback and Danial cruised into the last four.

In the semi-finals, India faced Malaysia’s Minbappe, who was the only unbeaten player in the tournament thus far, winning seven and drawing two until the quarter-finals.

It was clear from the first game that Malaysia would present the toughest challenge of the World Cup for Danial. Although the Indian took an early lead, Malaysia ultimately ended up winning 3-1. The second game turned out to be as close an affair as possible, requiring penalties to separate the two sides. Danial once again went ahead in the first half, but Malaysia equalised moments later. There were no goals until the end of extra time, which led to the first-ever shootout of the World Cup. Despite Danial seeing two of his first three penalties saved, he scored the next four to win 5-4 and force another decider.

The third and final game ended up being arguably the most thrilling one of the entire tournament. It did not start according to plan at all for Danial, who conceded twice early on. But he delivered another resolute comeback with a couple of quickfire goals in the second half to level it up 2-2 again and leave Malaysia rattled. However, just as the match was moments away from inching into extra time, the Malaysian pulled a rabbit out of the hat, splitting open the Indian defence and scoring the winner in the 87th minute of in-game time.

Malaysia will face Morocco in the final of the FIFAe World Cup ft. eFootball – Mobile on Thursday.

India’s (Danial Patel) results in the 2024 FIFAe World Cup ft. eFootball – Mobile:

Group Stage

India 7-0 England

India 4-1 Japan

India 3-2 Indonesia

India 5-0 Spain

India 0-0 Korea Republic

India 1-5 Costa Rica

India 0-1 Brazil

Quarter-finals (Best of three)

India 1-2 Türkiye (aet)

India 1-0 Türkiye (aet)

India 2-0 Türkiye

Semi-finals (Best of three)

India 1-3 Malaysia

India 1-1 Malaysia (5-4 pens)

India 2-3 Malaysia

–IANS

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I would’ve sent him with a lot of respect, happiness: Kapil Dev on Ashwin’s retirement

Ahmedabad, Dec 19 (IANS) Former India captain Kapil Dev expressed that he would not have wanted the ace Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin to retire from the game in such a manner. Instead, he would have preferred to bid him farewell with great respect and joy.

Ashwin surprised the cricketing world when he made the announcement of retiring from international cricket with immediate effect after India’s third Test against Australia, a game he was not selected for, ended in a draw at the Gabba, Brisbane on Wednesday. His last international game was the day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide, where he took 1-53 in his 18 overs and made 29 runs with the bat, as India lost by ten wickets.

“I feel the next generation has to be better than us. If not, the world is not going ahead. We never imagined somebody could come close to Sachin Tendulkar or Sunil Gavaskar. So you get the next generation come out, their strike rate, their way of playing is so unique. So you appreciate the next generation,” Kapil Dev said at an event in Ahmedabad.

“Like Ashwin, you said he is gone. I wish if I were there, I wouldn’t have let him go like that. I would have sent him with a lot of respect and happiness. Because when you leave something, when you love something, it’s very tough. And we have to respect those people,” the 1983 World Cup-winning captain added.

The 38-year-old, however, will be playing in the IPL 2025 for the Chennai Super Kings, who bought the ace off-spinner for Rs 9.75 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction last month.

Ashwin ended his 14-year international career with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Tests and became India’s second-leading wicket-taker after legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble (619). He also scored six Test centuries and 14 fifties. He also played 116 ODIs for India, taking 156 wickets, and 65 T20I matches, taking 72 wickets. Ashwin was a member of 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy-winning teams.

In Tests, Ashwin was one of the biggest match winners in the Indian team’s 12-year-long home dominance and played a starring role in the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy win in Australia. Ashwin was one of the 11 all-rounders to clinch the double of 3000 runs and 300 wickets in Tests. He also won a record 11 Player-of-the-Series awards, which is level with Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan.

–IANS

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