Air Force Helicopter Shot At Over Virginia, Injuring Crew Member

AN AIR FORCE HELICOPTER operating overn Virginia on Monday was reportedly shot at, injuring one member of the crew and prompting an FBI investigation. The UH-1N Huey helicopter, assigned to Joint Base Andrews just outside of Washington, D.C., was conducting a routine training flight roughly 1,000 feet above the ground before it was forced to make an emergency landing at an airport in nearby Manassas, Virginia, after being struck by a bullet, an Air Force spokesperson tells U.S. News. The helicopter is assigned to the 1st Helicopter Squadron, which supports the movement of the president and other senior government officials to and from Andrews, where Air Force One is also based. The FBI dispatched special agents and its Evidence Response Team to the airport after receiving reports about the shooting, its Washington Field Office said in a statement provided to U.S. News. It is currently conducting a joint investigation with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and local law enforcement agencies. McClatchy first reported the incident. Multiple officials at the Manassas Regional Airport told the news outlet that they received an emergency call shortly after noon on Monday before the helicopter made an emergency landing there, where it was met by paramedics to treat the injured crewman. The crewman, whose identity was not released, was taken to a local hospital for treatment for a non-life threatening injury and has subsequently been released. The aircraft also sustained damage, the Air Force said. The FBI is soliciting help from the public for its investigation. Anyone with information about the incident can call the Washington Field Office at 202-278-2000. Updated on Aug. 12, 2020: This story has been updated.

Anderson strikes against Pakistan as Fawad Alam's long wait ends with a duck

Anderson strikes against Pakistan as Fawad Alam's long wait ends with a duck AFPUpdated 13 Aug 2020Facebook Count Twitter Share 13 England great James Anderson returned to form with two wickets against Pakistan at Southampton on Thursday as Fawad Alam's long wait for a Test recall ended with a duck. Pakistan were 126-5 at stumps after a combination of rain and bad light cut short play on the first day of the second Test. Anderson had taken 2-35 from 15 overs to move to within eight wickets of becoming the first paceman with 600 in Tests. All of England's four quicks enjoyed success, with only Pakistan opener Abid Ali — dropped twice in the slips — offering prolonged resistance during an innings of 60. 

 ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD Fawad Alam walks back to the pavilion after being dismissed on the first day of the second Test. — AFP Anderson came into this match having taken just six wickets in three previous Tests this season, at an expensive average of over 41. By his own admission, he had not been at his best with a match haul of 1-67 during England's three-wicket win in the first Test at his Old Trafford home ground last week. But the 38-year-old denied rumours he was considering retirement, with England captain Joe Root saying on the eve of this match: “To question Jimmy's ability and his record — do that at your own peril.” And it was not long before England's all-time leading wicket-taker struck after Pakistan captain Azhar Ali won the toss. In humid conditions conducive to Anderson's bowling, he needed just eight balls to have Shan Masood, fresh from his Test-best 156, lbw for one with an inswinger to the left-hander. Masood was so clearly out, he did not bother to review the decision. Pakistan should have been 7-2 but Abid, on one, was reprieved when third slip Dom Sibley dropped an edge off Stuart Broad. Azhar, under pressure after a run of just one fifty in 10 innings since becoming skipper in November, was nearly out for seven when, playing defensively at in-form all-rounder Chris Woakes, the ball trickled onto his stumps without dislodging the bails. Woakes suffered again when Abid, on 21, got dropped by second slip Rory Burns. Luck runs out But Pakistan's luck ran out when Azhar, on 20, edged a full-length Anderson delivery and this time Burns held a good, low catch to leave Pakistan 78-2. The only bowlers to have taken more than Anderson's 592 Test wickets are a trio of retired spinners. Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan leads the way with 800, while Australia's Shane Warne has 708 and India's Anil Kumble 619. Abid completed a 99-ball fifty featuring six fours after tea. But left-arm seamer Sam Curran, recalled in place of fast bowler Jofra Archer, had Abid taken in the slips by Burns with a ball that angled across the right-hander following a couple of inswingers. Sibley, to his evident relief, held a slip catch off Broad as Asad Shafiq fell cheaply. Alam, a prolific run-scorer in Pakistan domestic cricket, played the last of his three previous Tests, in which he averages over 41, against New Zealand in Dunedin in November 2009. The 34-year-old was the only change to the side after replacing leg-spinning all-rounder Shadab Khan. But Alam lasted just five minutes at the crease. Batting with an extremely open stance, Alam was lbw for a four-ball nought to Woakes. Alam was initially given not out but an England review revealed the ball had pitched in line, with a squared-up Alam in front of his stumps. England, as well as recalling Curran, made an expected change when batsman Zak Crawley returned in place of Ben Stokes. Star all-rounder Stokes is missing the final two matches of this series for personal reasons after travelling to New Zealand to be with his ill father.

Fifa’s normalisation committee good for Pakistan football

Fifa’s normalisation committee good for Pakistan football: PFF president Hussain says outcome is positive, is happy world body listened to him KARACHI:After wasting four years, Fifa has finally decided to appoint the normalisation committee for the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) that has been controversially run by politician and spiritual guide from Jhang, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, for the last 16 years. This is a step that Fifa could have taken in 2015 too, but after four years wait is over. The PFF controversy broke in 2015 when Hayat tried to tailor the PFF elections for his fourth term. He had been the PFF resident since 2003. FIFA appoints normalisation committee for the Pakistan Football Federation The PFF has had very slow progress compared to other countries in the region, when it came to the development of football, which included unfinished Fifa goal-projects, not having a single football stadium built for international fixtures, embezzlement of funds given by Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and mistreatment of footballers. Manipulating the elections in 2015 turned out to be the dividing factor for Hayat, who had enjoyed strong support from AFC, to the extent that the continental body's official, who supervised the PFF elections of 2015 in Changla Gali did not speak of the discrepancies in the process. Year 2015’s first quarter saw PFF break into two factions as Hayat saw his competition in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Football Association chief Zahir Ali Shah. "On 27 June 2019, the Bureau of the FIFA Council decided to appoint a normalisation committee for the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in accordance with art. 14 par. 1(a) and art. 8 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes,” read the Fifa press release. “The decision follows the recent FIFA/AFC fact-finding mission to Pakistan, which concluded that only free, fair and transparent elections of the PFF executive committee would reunite the football stakeholders in Pakistan and set the basis for the development of football which has been at a standstill since 2015," Fifa's statement added on their website. Hayat had manipulated the congress votes at provincial level first and then at the PFF congress that elected him for the fourth term in illegitimate elections without full quorum that even had a stay order from the Lahore High Court. Pakistan women’s football captain Hajra Khan to be part of world record match The legal battle had been a long one too, which saw LHC appointing an administrator, the case was then fought in Supreme Court and all the while Fifa managed to give extension to Hayat, despite their fact-finding mission seeing the problems in the way PFF has not updated its constitution according to Fifa statutes, and imbalance in the power when it came to disciplinary and ethical bodies of the federation. PFF also got banned after the two-year extension got expired in 2017, over 'third-party interference' for the LHC administrator being the in-charge of the PFF quarters. The suspension was overturned by Fifa in March 2018 with a court verdict in Hayat's favour, however, by December 2018, Supreme Court-ordered fresh PFF elections took place that saw Ashfaq Hussain Shah become the new PFF president. But Fifa did not recognise the new elections and continued to call it third-party interference. However, this time they sent another joint Fifa-AFC mission in May where according to Shah, he put out the case openly and requested for justice. "It is a very, very positive outcome," Shah told The Express Tribune. "This is just the first step and I'm happy that Fifa listened to us. I knew about this for more than a week, but we were waiting for Fifa to announce it. We should be getting the letter from them soon. "This is the end of the black regime, 16 years of it. This is the first step and from here onwards there is only betterment for Pakistan football. I requested the Fifa mission to do justice to our situation. I don't want anything for myself in this. But they should do justice, and normalisation committee is what we asked for. I'm more than satisfied with this decision." Shah added that the next step will be to go to Fifa Ethics Committee to investigate the corruption of funds, while the normalisation committee that should be formed will likely have two members each from both factions and one from Fifa. "We want it to be fair," said Shah. "The committee will be formed the new elections will take place from top to bottom, from district level to all the way to the top, and this should take six to nine months, however we would like it to be done in three to four months." Players welcome the decision Pakistan's former captain Kaleemullah, who was threatened and intimidated by the Hayat-run federation, believes that it is the best news that came for Pakistan football. "I welcome this whole-heartedly,” said Kaleemullah who is playing for Al-Najaf FC in Iraq. "Finally there is a resolution to a very bad situation where only players have suffered. We had no football for four years, no one, no youth teams, no women's team, no men's team, everyone has suffered. The fans too, since there has been so much frustration." Kaleemullah added that it is finally a dawn of a new era, and he believes that Fifa and AFC have considered the plight of the players. "We tried so hard to raise our voice for four years, all we wanted to see was change from Fifa and AFC, at least to do something for us. I'm sure they must have seen through what Hayat's body had done to PFF. I'm glad Fifa and AFC opened their eyes and they have finally appointed the normalisation committee. According to Fifa, there are 3 million footballers in Pakistan, that’s so much potential, how can we not progress? But this time Fifa wants to help football, maybe finally Fifa considered our plight," said Kaleemullah. The former Tulsa Roughneck player feels that it is time for the players as even after playing the 2022 World Cup qualifying round, where Pakistan lost to Cambodia 4-1 on aggregate on June 11, the second leg, the players have gone back to their homes and not have much to look forward to. "They don't have much, the domestic football leagues in Pakistan are not professional, there are no international matches for us for the next few years, they have nothing. So now is the time that normalisation committee takes steps for them," said Kaleemullah. The agenda for normalisation committee as defined in the Fifa statement is: "The mandate of the normalisation committee will include the following: To run the PFF’s daily affairs. To ensure the proper registration and scrutiny of the clubs in Pakistan. To draft and ratify, with the assistance of FIFA and the AFC, an electoral code for the PFF. To organise and conduct elections at district followed by provincial levels. To organise and conduct the elections of a new PFF executive committee. “The normalisation committee will be composed of an adequate number of members to be identified by the FIFA administration, in consultation with the AFC and relevant local stakeholders. In line with the FIFA Governance Regulations, all members of the normalisation committee will be subject to an eligibility check. “The normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee, whose decisions are final and binding, and the specified period of time during which it will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its tasks but no later than nine months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA. FIFA and the AFC will now begin the task of identifying, interviewing and selecting the members of the normalisation committee — an update will be provided on that matter in due course."

A Football league for Pakistan

Football: A league for Pakistan AUGUST 9 FOOTBALL: A LEAGUE FOR PAKISTAN BY EDITORIAL STAFFINNATIONWIDE NEWSNEWSPAKISTAN PREMIER LEAGUE by Sohail With a population of 220 million, most of them cricket crazy, football was always going to play second fiddle as a sport in Pakistan. But no one could have imagined that, one day, Pakistan would be the only nation among the 47 members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) without a single win in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. By comparison, even Bhutan — with just 700,000 inhabitants — has progressed to the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualification system. But why has Pakistan, a country which averaged two million viewers per game in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and which is ranked in the top 20 countries for its number of footballers, underperformed in such a fashion? The reasons range from chronic political disputes to a severe lack of funding. But take a deeper look and you realise the missing piece is a top-tier professional football league, which acts as a hub for the entire football ecosystem. Player development, infrastructure, funding, grassroots and clubs are the pillars on which countries have built footballing dynasties, but Pakistan has missed out badly here. The Pakistan Premier League (PPL) was revamped in 2003 upon Faisal Saleh Hayat’s election as president of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), but it hasn’t changed much in the last 17 years. The league takes its roots from the National Championship that started in 1947 and, apart from a short revamping stint that saw Lifebuoy become the title sponsor under Hafiz Salman Butt (1990-93), it remains practically unchanged for the last 73 years. Departments rule the roost and teams include the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), the Pakistan Army and other government entities, which use investment in sports as evidence of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), with little desire to develop talent or professionalise their set-ups. The few clubs that are present are primarily from Balochistan, where the fierce Chaman derby between Afghan FC and Muslim FC commands crowds in the thousands. Most of the league, though, is played silently, without any fanfare. The entire system reeks of the Soviet Union era, where sports were essentially represented by various government entities competing against each other and offering jobs to athletes. The world moved on. Even state departments such as CSKA (Russian Army) and Lokomotiv (Railways) Moscow have become huge brands in their own right. But Pakistan has stayed put. In 2007, a breath of fresh air arrived in the shape of the Geo Super League, with teams based on cities and live broadcast of all the games. It gave live coverage to domestic footballers for the first time and merited a second attempt in partnership with K-Electric in 2010. But the league did not continue because the organisers and sponsors reportedly did not want to work with the PFF again. Subsequently, the Pakistan Premier League (PPL) has never bagged a regular sponsor (a five-year-deal with KASB fell through after a single season in 2009), runs on an ad-hoc basis for four to five months, and has never been broadcast on television. You needn’t look far for inspiration. Bangladesh, after their independence in 1971, has managed to professionalise legacy football clubs and mould them into the Bangladesh Premier League, where historical names such as Dhaka Mohammaden, Sheikh Russell and Sheikh Jamal are at home with newcomers such as Bashundhara Kings, who earned their first title in 2019. A corporate-owned team by a real estate group, the Bashundhara team has now turned their attention to the Bashundhara Sports Complex, which will be one of the first private sports infrastructure projects in the country, and can go a long way in developing grassroots talent and building up a sports eco-system. Such success stories were made possible because the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has consistently managed to rope in sponsors such as TVS and Grameenphone, while the games are shown live across multiple channels, with the latest being Bangla TV. On the other hand, our feisty rival, India, isn’t even our competition in terms of local progress. They are so far ahead in terms of their league development that the distance could be measured in decades. The Indian Super League (ISL), since its inception in 2014, has managed to capture the imagination of the public, bring hefty sponsorships into the game and produce a quality football broadcast that hasn’t been seen before in South Asia. But it too has had its fair share of problems. The ISL was thrust to the top of the Indian football pyramid just when the I-League (the old top tier in India) had started a revamping process with new, privately owned clubs. This led to massive differences with legacy institutions such as Mohun Bagan and East Bengal (the Kolkata derby between the two still attracts over 120,000 spectators), while others such as Pune FC and Minerva Punjab disbanded due to the ongoing tussle. This brings us to the key question: what should Pakistan’s league look like? Should it be a franchise-based model like the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in cricket, or should it take a route similar to Bangladesh’s? The answer is strategic and is based on the fact that Pakistan, unlike Bangladesh and India, does not have a strong football culture or legacy clubs — even the best players from historic hotspots Chaman and Lyari plied their trade in Kolkata and Dhaka before independence. This means that club culture needs to be created from scratch. However, a PSL-like franchise system will not do. Since a PSL team is extremely expensive ($6.2 million per year for Multan Sultans, for example) and while football will be cheaper, it is crucial that the money be spent on football and infrastructure development rather than paying team costs. An alternative route is revamping the PPL with an immediate phasing out of departmental teams and their replacement with city-based teams that can be acquired through one-off payments or low franchise fees with long-term installment plans. Most of the club identities would be freshly created in this scenario, but existing clubs including the two Chaman favourites, Baloch FC Nushki and even the well-run Karachi United can be used as vehicles for investment, and be given a chance to organically expand their fan-base. This approach allows for the marketing and hype associated with a franchise model but also prevents a completely new league from being at odds with the football pyramid. As a result, the entire system, including a second tier league and below, can be remodeled to ensure promotion and relegation, a fundamental principle of global football that the franchise model ignores. Even more important is ensuring that a league is indeed a league. What the ISL in India faced was its existence as a mere tournament in the books of FIFA and AFC, and thus it had to endure a long battle to attain top tier status as competition to the I-League. A revamped PPL will have no such problems, and allow it to qualify for the AFC Cup League criteria where Pakistan currently receives the lowest possible allowance. Pakistan has to start from the lowest level in that, a pre-playoff place in Asia’s second tier continental competition. Meeting requirements for the AFC Cup will require organic growth from clubs and the league, but the long-term aim should be qualification for the AFC Champions League (Asia’s equivalent of the UEFA Champions League). This requires a host of features, including 14-15 teams in a league, 27 minimum games for each side and a maximum of two teams sharing a single stadium. The list is extensive, covering everything from ticket pricing to club administration. It’s a lofty dream, but one which can be achieved with the right vision and strategic planning. A football league is a certainty in Pakistan in the next few years and the PFF recently made it clear that they hold the rights to such a venture, not any third party. However, for Pakistan to truly realise its potential, what’s needed is harmony between the private sector and the federation. Most importantly, it needs to have a league model, where the priority is football.FOOTBALL: A LEAGUE FOR PAKISTAN BY EDITORIAL STAFFINNATIONWIDE NEWSNEWSPAKISTAN PREMIER LEAGUE by Sohail With a population of 220 million, most of them cricket crazy, football was always going to play second fiddle as a sport in Pakistan. But no one could have imagined that, one day, Pakistan would be the only nation among the 47 members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) without a single win in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. By comparison, even Bhutan — with just 700,000 inhabitants — has progressed to the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualification system. But why has Pakistan, a country which averaged two million viewers per game in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and which is ranked in the top 20 countries for its number of footballers, underperformed in such a fashion? The reasons range from chronic political disputes to a severe lack of funding. But take a deeper look and you realise the missing piece is a top-tier professional football league, which acts as a hub for the entire football ecosystem. Player development, infrastructure, funding, grassroots and clubs are the pillars on which countries have built footballing dynasties, but Pakistan has missed out badly here. The Pakistan Premier League (PPL) was revamped in 2003 upon Faisal Saleh Hayat’s election as president of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), but it hasn’t changed much in the last 17 years. The league takes its roots from the National Championship that started in 1947 and, apart from a short revamping stint that saw Lifebuoy become the title sponsor under Hafiz Salman Butt (1990-93), it remains practically unchanged for the last 73 years. Departments rule the roost and teams include the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), the Pakistan Army and other government entities, which use investment in sports as evidence of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), with little desire to develop talent or professionalise their set-ups. The few clubs that are present are primarily from Balochistan, where the fierce Chaman derby between Afghan FC and Muslim FC commands crowds in the thousands. Most of the league, though, is played silently, without any fanfare. The entire system reeks of the Soviet Union era, where sports were essentially represented by various government entities competing against each other and offering jobs to athletes. The world moved on. Even state departments such as CSKA (Russian Army) and Lokomotiv (Railways) Moscow have become huge brands in their own right. But Pakistan has stayed put. In 2007, a breath of fresh air arrived in the shape of the Geo Super League, with teams based on cities and live broadcast of all the games. It gave live coverage to domestic footballers for the first time and merited a second attempt in partnership with K-Electric in 2010. But the league did not continue because the organisers and sponsors reportedly did not want to work with the PFF again. Subsequently, the Pakistan Premier League (PPL) has never bagged a regular sponsor (a five-year-deal with KASB fell through after a single season in 2009), runs on an ad-hoc basis for four to five months, and has never been broadcast on television. You needn’t look far for inspiration. Bangladesh, after their independence in 1971, has managed to professionalise legacy football clubs and mould them into the Bangladesh Premier League, where historical names such as Dhaka Mohammaden, Sheikh Russell and Sheikh Jamal are at home with newcomers such as Bashundhara Kings, who earned their first title in 2019. A corporate-owned team by a real estate group, the Bashundhara team has now turned their attention to the Bashundhara Sports Complex, which will be one of the first private sports infrastructure projects in the country, and can go a long way in developing grassroots talent and building up a sports eco-system. Such success stories were made possible because the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has consistently managed to rope in sponsors such as TVS and Grameenphone, while the games are shown live across multiple channels, with the latest being Bangla TV. On the other hand, our feisty rival, India, isn’t even our competition in terms of local progress. They are so far ahead in terms of their league development that the distance could be measured in decades. The Indian Super League (ISL), since its inception in 2014, has managed to capture the imagination of the public, bring hefty sponsorships into the game and produce a quality football broadcast that hasn’t been seen before in South Asia. But it too has had its fair share of problems. The ISL was thrust to the top of the Indian football pyramid just when the I-League (the old top tier in India) had started a revamping process with new, privately owned clubs. This led to massive differences with legacy institutions such as Mohun Bagan and East Bengal (the Kolkata derby between the two still attracts over 120,000 spectators), while others such as Pune FC and Minerva Punjab disbanded due to the ongoing tussle. This brings us to the key question: what should Pakistan’s league look like? Should it be a franchise-based model like the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in cricket, or should it take a route similar to Bangladesh’s? The answer is strategic and is based on the fact that Pakistan, unlike Bangladesh and India, does not have a strong football culture or legacy clubs — even the best players from historic hotspots Chaman and Lyari plied their trade in Kolkata and Dhaka before independence. This means that club culture needs to be created from scratch. However, a PSL-like franchise system will not do. Since a PSL team is extremely expensive ($6.2 million per year for Multan Sultans, for example) and while football will be cheaper, it is crucial that the money be spent on football and infrastructure development rather than paying team costs. An alternative route is revamping the PPL with an immediate phasing out of departmental teams and their replacement with city-based teams that can be acquired through one-off payments or low franchise fees with long-term installment plans. Most of the club identities would be freshly created in this scenario, but existing clubs including the two Chaman favourites, Baloch FC Nushki and even the well-run Karachi United can be used as vehicles for investment, and be given a chance to organically expand their fan-base. This approach allows for the marketing and hype associated with a franchise model but also prevents a completely new league from being at odds with the football pyramid. As a result, the entire system, including a second tier league and below, can be remodeled to ensure promotion and relegation, a fundamental principle of global football that the franchise model ignores. Even more important is ensuring that a league is indeed a league. What the ISL in India faced was its existence as a mere tournament in the books of FIFA and AFC, and thus it had to endure a long battle to attain top tier status as competition to the I-League. A revamped PPL will have no such problems, and allow it to qualify for the AFC Cup League criteria where Pakistan currently receives the lowest possible allowance. Pakistan has to start from the lowest level in that, a pre-playoff place in Asia’s second tier continental competition. Meeting requirements for the AFC Cup will require organic growth from clubs and the league, but the long-term aim should be qualification for the AFC Champions League (Asia’s equivalent of the UEFA Champions League). This requires a host of features, including 14-15 teams in a league, 27 minimum games for each side and a maximum of two teams sharing a single stadium. The list is extensive, covering everything from ticket pricing to club administration. It’s a lofty dream, but one which can be achieved with the right vision and strategic planning. A football league is a certainty in Pakistan in the next few years and the PFF recently made it clear that they hold the rights to such a venture, not any third party. However, for Pakistan to truly realise its potential, what’s needed is harmony between the private sector and the federation. Most importantly, it needs to have a league model, where the priority is football.

New York City July 4th Fireworks Spectacular Like Never Before

 

ROAD TRIP MANHATTAN NEW YORK TO PATTERSON GREAT FALLS NEW JERSEY

ROAD TRIP MANHATTAN NEW YORK TO PATTERSON GREAT FALLS NEW JERSEY

A Belief and Spirit - Pleasing day tour at the Great Falls of Passaic Stream in Paterson is a must-watch for the folks residing in Tri-States and people who can't go there, I made this brief videotape to relish the unseen treasure in the major manufacturing city; the Paterson. This videotape is a comprehensive road journey compilation from Queens, New York to Patterson the Great Falls, New Jersey on Aug 09, 2020 - all taped in time-lapse at 4fps (nearly 1,000 frames total). Of the 30 miles driven, about 5 miles of this drive is omitted, mostly in New York near Queens. All this drive videotaped in the daytime; the weather was decent for the most part.

Are you getting paid?

Will the Germany vs. Argentina World Cup Final Be Any Good?

Lionel Messi doesn’t take up much space on the field, given that he’s all of 5-ft.-7 in. tall, if that. Then again, he doesn’t need much. Messi is one of those performers who, like a sunbeam splitting through thickening clouds, produces a moment of brilliance when things are getting dark. He did it against Nigeria, Iran and Switzerland to keep Argentina marching toward the final.

Argentina is likely to need such a Messi moment to be able to win its third World Cup title in this, its third World Cup final against Germany. The Argentines won 3-2 in 1986 on the chubby legs of Diego Maradona, equal parts devil and delight in that tournament, delivering the pass that created his team’s winning goal, and enshrining himself in his nation’s history.

Four years later, a fading Maradona and Argentine team got rolled by a multitalented German team that included current U.S. coach Jürgen Klinsmann. It was a match widely considered to be one of the worst finals ever because Argentina went into a defensive shell, never to emerge. Too bad only one team came to play, noted the acerbic German coach Franz Beckenbauer after the game.

You couldn’t blame current Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella one bit if he were tempted by that approach this Sunday at the famed Maracanã stadium. Given the way Germany stormed past Brazil 7-1—with multiple scorers and multiple points of attack— taking shelter could prove the wiser strategy than throwing caution to the wind.

Please don’t, Alejandro. This World Cup final deserves both teams on full display at both ends of the pitch. We certainly know that Argentina can defend. Against the Netherlands in the semifinal, a Javier Mascherano-marshaled back line repelled Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Robin Van Persie as if they were tropical mosquitos, leaving Dirk Kuyt to launch clueless crosses to nowhere.

That was by design.

“They think about what they’re doing and they’re not easy to break down,” noted the French great Bixente Lizarazu, a World Cup winning defender about the Albiceleste. “Their forwards’ speed, liveliness and technical ability are impressive, but what has struck me the most about them is the way they break up their opponents’ rhythm.”

Without Angel di Maria in the lineup against the Netherlands due to injury, Argentina clearly lost some of its own rhythm. The Dutch supplied Messi with a pair of escorts whenever he got on the ball and Germany will pay similar attention. DiMaria’s ability to exploit defenders with his speed down the flank has to be respected–which could yield the little man a little more breathing room. If di Maria isn’t available, the return of a fully Sergio Agüero will also make things easier for Messi.

“But we can’t burden him with all that responsibility,” said Argentina’s Maxi Rodriguez. “We know he’s a game changer, but we have to support him. The upside is that the group is well drilled: everyone knows their role, “

Argentina might profit by considering the two teams that gave Germany fits in this World Cup: Ghana, which drew 2-2 with them in the group stage, and Algeria, which went out 2-1 in extra time in the round of 16. Both teams shared a go-flat-out philosophy of pressuring the Germans all over the park, and attacking wide and furiously. It worked so well that Germany coach Joachim Low had to change formations and move Philipp Lahm back into defense from midfield.

This approach for Argentina would not be without risk. “The German outside wingers will track defensively for the entire match,” says former Iranian assistant coach Dan Gaspar, whose team lost 1-0 to Argentina. “My concern about Argentina is that when they fly forward their tendency is not to have the same willingness to recover as the Germans. As a result, Argentina may find itself down in numbers defensively.”

And that, notes Gaspar, is a very bad thing.

In scoring four goals against Portugal and seven more against Brazil, Germany’s midfield trio of Mesut Özil, Thomas Müller and Toni Kroos demonstrated how quickly it converts defense into attack. At the same time Miroslav Klose was able to set the World Cup career scoring record. Germany is about options, all of them good.

“I think Germany can and will contain Messi,” notes Gaspar. “And they will be able to pierce the Argentina midfield and defense through the middle unlike the Dutch, who only seemed to play from the wings in the semifinal”

But like a lot of fans, he’s also pulling for La Pulga, the flea, as Messi is known. The four-time world player of the year will always be one of the greatest players the game has known. But there’s nothing like a World Cup trophy to confirm it.

Argentina Heads into the World Cup Final

Victor R. Caivano/Associated Press 

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Argentina heads into the World Cup final on the 

heels of a cautiously played draw with the Netherlands

 that was decided in a shootout.

However, while they are playing in Brazil with a measure of home-field advantage and boast the world’s best player, they are the betting underdog facing Germany, who dismantled host Brazil 7-1 in the semifinals.

Argentina is a significant underdog in the World Cup final, currently sitting at 5-2 at most sportsbooks tracked by Odds Shark. The Germans were 13-10 with a draw line (after 90 minutes) priced at 9-4.

Here are five reasons why Argentina can pull off the upset and win the World Cup final.

Stout Defense

While Argentina is known for their attack, featuring Lionel Messi and company, the defense is the reason why they are in the final. In the three knockout-stage matches, Argentina has not allowed a single goal.

In the semis, they shut down the Netherlands' solid attack and kept Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben from scoring. Only one of the past six World Cup finals has seen more than two goals, so under bettorsare focusing on the lines ahead of Sunday’s match.

Messi’s Magic

While Lionel Messi has not scored in the last three matches, he leads Argentina in goals scored for the tournament and will get chances against Germany. He also has an outside shot at winning the Golden Boot if he can score twice, and he is the third betting choice at 12-1 to win the prestigious trophy.

Also, with Messi being the focus for the German defense, it affords other attacking players space around the box. That is good news for struggling Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero.

Midfield Will Step Up

While Argentina is not as strong as Germany in the midfield, and they did not play great in that area against the Dutch, they have the talent and form to step up in the final. Their speed in the middle of the pitch will be key, and they must disrupt the German passing lanes.

If they can get Angel Di Maria back from a thigh injury, the midfield becomes faster and more dynamic, but that appears to be a long shot.

History Says so

The World Cup has been hosted in South America four times, and a South American team has won on each occasion (Uruguay in 1930 and 1950, Brazil in 1962, Argentina in 1978).

Home-continent advantage meant nothing for Brazil against Germany, but Argentina can get the crowd on its side with some early offensive flourishes.

Speed Kills

Messi leads an Argentine attack that is mostly small and fast, and they can give the bigger and more physical Germany back line problems. Messi was thwarted in the match with the Netherlands and constantly flanked by one or two defenders.

But he has the skill to shed such attention and generate scoring chances for himself and his teammates.

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