Category: Sport
Queens Park Rangers 0-2 Brentford – BBC Sport
Romaine Sawyers scores his first goal for Brentford as they beat Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road for the first time in 52 years.
Euro 2016
England denied by Russia’s last-gasp equaliser in Euro 2016 opener | Football | The Guardian
England looked to have won through Eric Dier’s goal when Vasili Berezutski equalised in injury time to earn a draw for Russia in Marseille
The action has started. Friday night was the opener in Paris with France playing Romania.
We have been accessing the action through alternative routes. Primer TV is showing some in NZ. Sky has the rights but is showing it on a specific channel so not through our Fanpass subscription- as Sky Sports internet access.
So we have used VPN to access ITV sport and will do the same to watch on the BBC.
So far so good and an example of technology overcoming the rights lock-down that is hard to maintain in the modern world.
And as far as the football was concerned-England looked good, capable but lacked control. Should have had the game in the bag before the last minute equaliser.
London mayor: The Sadiq Khan story – BBC News
A profile of Sadiq Khan – the council estate boy turned lawyer, then MP and now mayor of London.
Source: London mayor: The Sadiq Khan story – BBC News
He has often said that his early impressions of the world of work shaped his belief in the trade union movement. His father, a bus driver for 25 years, “was in a union and got decent pay and conditions” whereas his mum, a stay-at-home seamstress, “wasn’t, and didn’t”.
He lived with his parents and siblings in a cramped three-bedroomed house on the Henry Prince Estate in Earlsfield, south-west London, sharing a bunkbed with one of his brothers until he left home in his 20s.
He attended the local comprehensive, Ernest Bevin College, which he describes as “a tough school – it wasn’t always a bed of roses”. The nickname “Bevin boys” was at that time in that part of south London a byword for bad behaviour.
It was at school that he first began to gravitate towards politics, joining the Labour Party aged 15. He credits the school’s head, Naz Bokhari, who happened to be the first Muslim headteacher at a UK secondary school, with making him realise “skin colour or background wasn’t a barrier to making something with your life”.
Mr Khan was raised a Muslim and has never shied away from acknowledging the importance of his faith. In his maiden speech as an MP he spoke about his father teaching him Mohammed’s sayings, or hadiths – in particular the principle that “if one sees something wrong, one has the duty to try to change it”.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesHe was an able student who loved football, boxing and cricket – he even had a trial for Surrey County Cricket Club as a teenager. He has since spoken about the racist abuse he and his brothers faced at Wimbledon and Chelsea football matches, saying he felt “safer” watching at home and became a Liverpool fan simply “because they were playing such great football at the time”.
So now my claim to fame in life is that I used to play Sunday morning football on the astroturf in Wandsworth with the Mayor of London.
He will resign his seat at Westminster. TC to get the chance? You never know.
Jonah Lomu
Recent unexpected death. Recognised around the world. Nice cartoon.
The crowd sings
https://youtu.be/RF-F720rOAY
Loving New Zealand at the moment
How did the All Blacks improve on perfection? Simplicity and honesty | Robert Kitson | Sport | The Guardian
New Zealand were already world champions but Steve Hansen and his coaching team demanded, and delivered, even more to retain the Rugby World Cup
Not so good
BBC Sport – Brentford 0-2 Hull City
Goals from Andrew Robertson and Sam Clucas send Hull City to the top of the Championship with victory at Brentford.
Football World Cup
The football world cup as hit New Zealand and we have been part of the action. The U-20 world cup that is.
No representation from England of course.
Joe and I did go to see a couple of games a group game between Argentina who were at that point one of the favourites and Ghana. That was a good game with great skill on display. Ghana went 3-0 up and Argentina came back to 3-2 in the last ten minutes looking like they may take an unexpected point from the game. Ghana were the better team and played fast, running, attacking football. Some fine talent on display.
It came to pass that Argentina went out t this stage and Ghana in the round of sixteen.
We also watched the Wellington hosted quarter final between Senegal and Uzbekistan. Not such great quality and I wondered all through the game how these two had progressed. A turgid game with a lower level of skill on display than the previous viewing. Senegal won deservedly but I cannot see them beating Brazil.
No more games in wellington. The semis are in Christchurch and Auckland and the final in Auckland too. The crowds were not great; 5+ thousand for the first game and 10+ for the quarter-final, and the latter with lots of kids.
I don’t think the tournament has set alight the Kiwi public. Not that I have seen anyway.
The Bees remain famous
Well the situation remains tight at the top of the Championship as the BBC report:
How it stands after 39 games
This is the closest promotion race since the second tier became known as the Championship in 2004.
So once again Brentford remain in the limelight. Still a chance of a trip just down the road to Wembley? Automatic promotion looks too far off with their drop in form recently.
Who would have believed it?
