The Modern Musketeers
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22.11.2019 12:52
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Chris Brunt will not play for Northern Ireland at Euro 2016 after undergoing surgery on the knee injury sustained in West Broms victory against Crystal Palace. It is a devastating blow for the 31-year old who, during qualifying, reached 50 caps for his country. Brunt was a revelation in the successful campaign as he filled the problematic left back role, a position he has grown familiar with at West Brom.For Brunt, whether at left back or in a midfield, its never any fuss. He gets on with it. A valued, trusted and popular team member, hes one of only a handful of Northern Ireland players playing regular Premier League football.What makes this news so tough to take is that Northern Ireland are rarely at major tournaments. Its been 30 years since Billy Bingham led NI to the World Cup finals in Mexico, and four years earlier in Spain. Chris Brunt injured during match against Crystal Palace Brunt, as with the majority of the squad, does not remember 82 and 86. Like the rest of his generation and younger, he will have heard the stories and dared to dream.A long line of failed qualifying attempts will have made what happened on that glorious night in Belfast last October even sweeter, with Brunt delivering the corner that led to the third goal, as the dream became a reality. While its too early to tell if this squad can make an impact in World Cup qualifying, a group with Germany, Czech Republic and Norway among others is no walk in the park. In other words, France is the best hope of tournament football for the senior players. Michael ONeill enjoys post-match celebrations in Belfast last October Pre-2016 Brunt, like many of his more experienced international team-mates, would have been forgiven for wondering if their international careers would fizzle out without the euphoria of pulling on the green shirt at a major finals. In a cruel twist of fate, Brunt will not experience that unless in Russia in 2018.With such a small pool of players to choose from, this type of scenario will be Michael ONeills worst nightmare. Northern Irelands natural left back replacement is Millwalls Shane Ferguson while Jonny Evans has played there for both club and country. Brunt injury is devastating blow to manager Michael ONeill Somehow this doesnt feel like the time to be talking team selections.This news will have dampened the spirits of everyone associated with the Northern Ireland national team. A truly bitter blow for one of their good guys. It isnt fair, but when they walk out in Nice for that historic first European Championship match on 12 June, Chris Brunt wont be far from their minds. Also See: N Ireland latest N Ireland fixtures N Ireland stats Table Live on Sky Ryan Zimmerman Nationals Jersey . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. Ryan Zimmerman Jersey . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. https://www.cheapnationals.com/897r-yan-gomes-jersey-nationals.html . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. Koda Glover Jersey . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Stitched Nationals Jerseys . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year. RIO DE JANEIRO -- The taekwondo competition at the Rio Games on Thursday morning was sold out. Not a single seat was left for grabs at the 10,000-capacity arena, where fans spent between $21 and $43 to gain access.But the arena never totally filled.The crowds, or lack thereof, will unquestionably be part of the legacy of these first Olympics in South America, where some events were raucous and others seemed downright sleepy. Despite organizers insistence that most tickets were sold, it wasnt uncommon to see Usain Bolt running in a stadium that had perhaps more empty blue chairs than fans -- even after he took to Twitter with a video urging people to buy tickets.Make sure you buy tickets and come out and watch, Bolt said. Its going to be great.Bolt has more than 4 million Twitter followers. Most of them, apparently, werent listening.When U.S. 1,500-meter runner Jenny Simpson won bronze earlier this week, the track stadium was maybe 25 percent filled. She noticed but insisted it didnt take away from her moment.The physical crowd that is there never compares to the people that you took along the journey with you, and theyre watching through their television screens and certainly now the internet, Simpson said. So the physical presence doesnt excite or deter.Rio Games officials insist that more than 80 percent of all available tickets were sold and that their goals on that front will be met. But that stat hasnt passed the eye test throughout the Games, and an Associated Press review of the remaining 100 event sessions starting Thursday afternoon showed roughly half -- including the closing ceremony, the womens soccer gold-medal match and all remaining sessions in track and field -- had tickets remaining.I got tickets for wrestling because they were the lowest price, said Luiz Hernandez, a Colombian who was with friends inside Olympic Park this week. We got them to come in here and hang out. We wound up giving them away because we just wanted to be in here.Hernandez said he paid 160 Brazilian real for four wrestling tickets, or about $49. His girlfriend, he said, spent at least 10 times that much in the Olympic Megastore --which, without those tickets, their group would not have been able to access.In other words, they spent a little money so they could spend a lot of money. And they waited an hour in line just to get in the crammed store inside Olympic Park, where crowds have been sizable throughout the Games. (Throughout Brazil, there are morre than 100 other stores, all smaller than the one in Olympic Park, selling Games souvenirs and open to the public.dddddddddddd)Shes happy, Hernandez said.Theres been no shortage of theories -- or excuses, depending on perspective -- about the empty seats in Rio. Some events start too early; others start too late. Some tickets were too expensive. Too many sports seemed foreign to Brazilians. Blocks of seats ordinarily set aside for international fans either werent sold or claimed. Traffic scared away locals. Would-be visitors were scared away by pre-Olympic stories of disease, dirty water and crime.Theyre probably all valid factors, on some level.Combine that with how Rio organizers say 11 percent of the advance-purchased tickets -- and 55 percent of the tickets given out for free to needy kids in the Rio area -- werent used, and its easy to see how the crowds became an issue.I dont want to go too long into this because it might sound as an excuse, Rio Games spokesman Mario Andrada said. I believe we faced this issue without looking for excuses but rather looking for explanations.But Andrada said the Games broke the financial target for sales even while the attendance numbers lagged, something he attributed to high-priced tickets getting sold early to marquee events.Numbers mislead, Andrada said.The cheapest available ticket to track and field Thursday morning was about $31, the most expensive about $109 -- and for the night session, with Bolt set to try for a third straight gold in the 200-meter dash, the top price was nearly $300. For diving, the prices ranged from $75 on the low end for the morning session, $281 on the high end for the afternoon session. Plenty of those seats were available.But for volleyball, a sport wildly popular among Brazilians, tickets were gone even with a steep price. The best seats for the mens beach final Thursday night were all sold at $375 each.The mens gold-medal soccer match at Maracana had a top ticket value of around $300; that was also sold out, organizers said. But the closing ceremony might have empty seats -- the two cheapest levels of tickets ($62, $187) have all been sold, but the three most expensive tiers ($437, $655 and $936) all were available.Officials steadfastly insist empty seats wont hurt Rios legacy.We cannot regret something, Andrada said, that we cannot fix. ' ' ' |
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