Well, I've finally graduated from Don Bosco IoT (with a Ist class, thankfully). This ends a 4-year long saga littered with good times and bad ones, though the former overpowers the latter, at least in hindsight.
I've now moved to KReSIT, IIT-Bombay. It's a completely different world and will take some getting used to. Still, it promises to be a very interesting couple of years.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Sympathies
My deepest sympathies to the victims of the Mumbai train blasts. May the deceased rest in peace and the disabled rebuild their lives. Let's hope that the wounded recover quickly and that bereaved families find the strength to carry on.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Football World Cup finale
After much stewing over this game, I've finally got down to commenting on it. The final was contested between Italy and France.
The start of the match was rather uninspiring. Both teams seemed nervous and defensive. In the very first minute, Thierry Henry bumped into Italian skipper, Fabio Cannavaro, which left him rather dazed, but fortunately he was able to recover. In the 6th minute, he earned a penalty, that was converted by skipper Zinedine Zidane, albeit with a bit of luck. This brought some life into the game with the Azzuri being forced to go forward. They eventually equalized in the 19th minute, when Marco Materazzi rose above the French defence to send a powerful header into the back of Fabien Barthez's goal, off an Andrea Pirlo cross.
The rest of the game, including extra time, was littered with chances but both sided failed to capitalize. Notable ones include a powerful Zidane header in extra time, which Italian forced keeper Gianluigi Buffon to tip it over the crossbar, a Luca Toni header from a corner which hit the crossbar, and another Toni conversion, this time from a free-kick, which was ruled out for offside. Thierry Henry and Florent Malouda also made some penetrating runs into the Azzuri defence.
Then came the great Zidane incident. It was obviously a red-card offence, but it was definitely provoked by Materazzi. But it is a sad way to end such a glorious career. Unfortunately, it also left France without all their mainline penalty takers, Vieira being injured, and Henry and Ribery substituted, which eventually proved costly.
In the penalty shootout, David Trezeguet was unlucky to see his penalty come off the crossbar, but it was enough for France to lose. The Italians scored with all their penalties to take home the trophy.
All in all, the final was well-contested, though the Zidane incident did leave a bad taste in the mouth.
The start of the match was rather uninspiring. Both teams seemed nervous and defensive. In the very first minute, Thierry Henry bumped into Italian skipper, Fabio Cannavaro, which left him rather dazed, but fortunately he was able to recover. In the 6th minute, he earned a penalty, that was converted by skipper Zinedine Zidane, albeit with a bit of luck. This brought some life into the game with the Azzuri being forced to go forward. They eventually equalized in the 19th minute, when Marco Materazzi rose above the French defence to send a powerful header into the back of Fabien Barthez's goal, off an Andrea Pirlo cross.
The rest of the game, including extra time, was littered with chances but both sided failed to capitalize. Notable ones include a powerful Zidane header in extra time, which Italian forced keeper Gianluigi Buffon to tip it over the crossbar, a Luca Toni header from a corner which hit the crossbar, and another Toni conversion, this time from a free-kick, which was ruled out for offside. Thierry Henry and Florent Malouda also made some penetrating runs into the Azzuri defence.
Then came the great Zidane incident. It was obviously a red-card offence, but it was definitely provoked by Materazzi. But it is a sad way to end such a glorious career. Unfortunately, it also left France without all their mainline penalty takers, Vieira being injured, and Henry and Ribery substituted, which eventually proved costly.
In the penalty shootout, David Trezeguet was unlucky to see his penalty come off the crossbar, but it was enough for France to lose. The Italians scored with all their penalties to take home the trophy.
All in all, the final was well-contested, though the Zidane incident did leave a bad taste in the mouth.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
The Azzuri take on Les Bleus in the World Cup Final - II
Like I'd promised I'll now comment on the 2 semi-finals.
The first semi-final featured Italy and the hosts, Germany. Italy started brightly, and took the game to the Germans. As the game progressed, however, Germany managed to claw back and create a few opportunities of their own. However, there were no real scoring chances, and neither goalkeeper was really tested.
The second half was relatively quiet when compared to the first half, as the Azzuri just sat back and defended. This allowed the Germans to attack more often, and Lucas Podolski shot the best chance of the half too close to the Italian keeper, Gianluigi Buffon. The Italian defance was otherwise outstanding, with Fabio Cannavaro in great form. Towards the end of regulation time, Italian coach Marcello Lippi bolstered his front line, bringing on Alberto Gilardino and Alessandro Del Piero. However, the game was still goalless after 90 minutes, and headed into extra time.
The first half of extra-time was action packed as in the first minute Gilardino hit the post, and Gianluca Zambrotta hit the cross bar wth the follow-up off the rebound. Podolski missed the goal with a header, despite being completely unmarked. The second half of extra time proved decisive, as Fabio Grosso's brilliant goal off an Andrea Pirlo pass, put the hosts on the back foot just as the game appeared to be heading for penalties. The Germans attacked, but the resulting conterattack resulted in the Italians doubling their advantage, with Gilardino's splendid run ending with a superb back-heel to Del Piero, who made no mistake in beating Jens Lehmann.
Thus the Italians continued their strange sequence of making a final every 12 years, while the hosts were shattered after being denied a chance at the title.
The next semi-final took place at Munich between France and Portugal.
This was not as exciting as the other semi-final, but it was keenly contested and did have its moments. France began the brighter of the two, but Portugal soon found their feet. Cristiano Ronaldo was particularly dangerous with his incisive runs down the flanks. The match was decided with a slightly dubious penalty earned by Thierry Henry. Zinedine Zidane took the spot-kick and finished clinically, just beating the Portugese goalkeeper Ricardo.
After this, though the Portugese enjoyed the lion's share of possession they never really had any chances thanks to the ploy of operating only one striker. The only real chance fell to captain Luis Figo, who misheaded a botched clearance by Fabien Barthez towards the end of the second half. The real hero
for the French was Lillian Thuram who always seemed to be on hand to block a shot or any dangerous cross.
So, the French make their second final in 8 years while the Portugese go on to play the hosts in the battle for third place.
The first semi-final featured Italy and the hosts, Germany. Italy started brightly, and took the game to the Germans. As the game progressed, however, Germany managed to claw back and create a few opportunities of their own. However, there were no real scoring chances, and neither goalkeeper was really tested.
The second half was relatively quiet when compared to the first half, as the Azzuri just sat back and defended. This allowed the Germans to attack more often, and Lucas Podolski shot the best chance of the half too close to the Italian keeper, Gianluigi Buffon. The Italian defance was otherwise outstanding, with Fabio Cannavaro in great form. Towards the end of regulation time, Italian coach Marcello Lippi bolstered his front line, bringing on Alberto Gilardino and Alessandro Del Piero. However, the game was still goalless after 90 minutes, and headed into extra time.
The first half of extra-time was action packed as in the first minute Gilardino hit the post, and Gianluca Zambrotta hit the cross bar wth the follow-up off the rebound. Podolski missed the goal with a header, despite being completely unmarked. The second half of extra time proved decisive, as Fabio Grosso's brilliant goal off an Andrea Pirlo pass, put the hosts on the back foot just as the game appeared to be heading for penalties. The Germans attacked, but the resulting conterattack resulted in the Italians doubling their advantage, with Gilardino's splendid run ending with a superb back-heel to Del Piero, who made no mistake in beating Jens Lehmann.
Thus the Italians continued their strange sequence of making a final every 12 years, while the hosts were shattered after being denied a chance at the title.
The next semi-final took place at Munich between France and Portugal.
This was not as exciting as the other semi-final, but it was keenly contested and did have its moments. France began the brighter of the two, but Portugal soon found their feet. Cristiano Ronaldo was particularly dangerous with his incisive runs down the flanks. The match was decided with a slightly dubious penalty earned by Thierry Henry. Zinedine Zidane took the spot-kick and finished clinically, just beating the Portugese goalkeeper Ricardo.
After this, though the Portugese enjoyed the lion's share of possession they never really had any chances thanks to the ploy of operating only one striker. The only real chance fell to captain Luis Figo, who misheaded a botched clearance by Fabien Barthez towards the end of the second half. The real hero
for the French was Lillian Thuram who always seemed to be on hand to block a shot or any dangerous cross.
So, the French make their second final in 8 years while the Portugese go on to play the hosts in the battle for third place.
Friday, July 07, 2006
The Azzuri take on Les Bleus in the World Cup Final - I
Well, we've reached the last stage of the FIFA World Cup. What a time we've had!
First let's have a look at the Round of 16 games I've not commented on. Italy managed to beat a determined Aussie side with a rather dubious penalty in the last minute of stoppage time. France finally woke up, and came back from a goal down to trounce Spain 3-1. The Switzerland-Ukraine game was rather dull and finished with the Swiss missing all their penalties in the shootout, while the Ukrainians made all 3. The same can be said of the Brazil-Ghana game which turned out to be rather one-sided, in favour of Brazil.
Now, for the qurter-finals. First, Germany beat an in-form Argentina in another successful shootout, despite haing to come back from a one-goal deficit. Argentina were dominating the game till their coach, Jose Pekerman, went defensive, and took playmaker Riquelme off. After that the Germans equalized and held on till the end of extra-time, and were unstoppable (as usual) in the penalty shootout that ensued.
The next game involved Italy and Ukraine, and proved to be pretty one-sided, as the Ukrainians conceded an early goal and never recovered. Though they did apply some pressure in the 2nd half, the Italians killed off the game with 2 more strikes.
Next, Portugal met England. England made a mess of a penalty shootout again, as Portugese goalkeeper Ricardo stood like a wall to deny the English. The match made news thanks to Wayne Rooney's controversial sending-off. Though England fought hard they never really had much hope thanks to coach Eriksson's tactics which were flawed to say the least.
The final quarter-final saw France upset a fancied Brazil. The French ran rings around the Brazilians who were done in thanks to defensive tactics. Even after conceding a goal, Brazil never really fought hard enough to equalize, what with Lillian Thuram looking invincible in the French defence. Patrick Vieira, and Franck Robery were on song, while Zinedine Zidane was at his magical best.
I'll speak about the semi-finals next time.
First let's have a look at the Round of 16 games I've not commented on. Italy managed to beat a determined Aussie side with a rather dubious penalty in the last minute of stoppage time. France finally woke up, and came back from a goal down to trounce Spain 3-1. The Switzerland-Ukraine game was rather dull and finished with the Swiss missing all their penalties in the shootout, while the Ukrainians made all 3. The same can be said of the Brazil-Ghana game which turned out to be rather one-sided, in favour of Brazil.
Now, for the qurter-finals. First, Germany beat an in-form Argentina in another successful shootout, despite haing to come back from a one-goal deficit. Argentina were dominating the game till their coach, Jose Pekerman, went defensive, and took playmaker Riquelme off. After that the Germans equalized and held on till the end of extra-time, and were unstoppable (as usual) in the penalty shootout that ensued.
The next game involved Italy and Ukraine, and proved to be pretty one-sided, as the Ukrainians conceded an early goal and never recovered. Though they did apply some pressure in the 2nd half, the Italians killed off the game with 2 more strikes.
Next, Portugal met England. England made a mess of a penalty shootout again, as Portugese goalkeeper Ricardo stood like a wall to deny the English. The match made news thanks to Wayne Rooney's controversial sending-off. Though England fought hard they never really had much hope thanks to coach Eriksson's tactics which were flawed to say the least.
The final quarter-final saw France upset a fancied Brazil. The French ran rings around the Brazilians who were done in thanks to defensive tactics. Even after conceding a goal, Brazil never really fought hard enough to equalize, what with Lillian Thuram looking invincible in the French defence. Patrick Vieira, and Franck Robery were on song, while Zinedine Zidane was at his magical best.
I'll speak about the semi-finals next time.
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