Australia look to defy odds again

Big Picture

Australia have no business being 2-2 in this series. Seven first-choice men out, followed by two of their replacements (Moises Henriques being the latest). Foreign conditions. Back-to-back matches, spread across the length and breadth of India, suggesting more a sightseeing tour than one of the cricketing variety. Bowlers struggling at the death. Big hitters absent. Horror of horrors, Andrew Symonds is being discussed again by the fans. Conventional wisdom suggests that cannot be a good sign for the Australian team. Look at the scoreline, though - Two wins each. Who told Australia they could compete once their players started going down one by one after the first ODI?

Two-all doesn't mean this becomes a fresh three-match series, as MS Dhoni would suggest. Australia have simply lost too many players, which has made India the favourites though the Mohali loss puts the pressure back on the hosts. They will know losing the series in home conditions against an under-strength Australia will be an embarrassment; a 4-3 result won't be much better received. All of which gives Australia added incentive to win on Thursday and take a step closer to the grand heist.

India have had their share of injury troubles, with Zaheer Khan out for the series and Gautam Gambhir missing the fourth ODI. But the selectors' retaining the existing XV for the final three games suggests Gambhir's injury is not serious, nor is Virender Sehwag's. India need a win in Hyderabad to start their march towards 5-2, anything less than which should disappoint them. By the look of things right now, there are no excuses in sight either.

Soccer Bullies Come Out To Play

Aggressive coaches, players and even parents can be referred to as bullies. But what I find funny is that most bullies would be horrified to be called a bully.

Even funnier, for most of them, it would come as a total shock.

Everyone has been exposed to some form of bullying. Bullying at home, school and even at work.

But does it exist in soccer?

Bullying is an abuse of power by someone who is stronger physically, verbally, mentally and even socially. This abuse usually targets someone younger or someone who can’t block the bully’s mind games or cruel intentions. It usually targets someone who is regarded as mentally or physically weak.

So why does bullying exist? Why do so many youth coaches find the need to use intimidation and aggression as a means of control? Why are some kids subjected to bullying within the dynamics of their team?

Do you know the answer?

The main reason coach’s bully is because they’ve been allowed to get away with it. Over a period of time it has been condoned by players and to some extent parents.

Over the years I’ve encountered two sorts of coaching bullies. The first one, an x-player of the team had a very anti-social personality. During his playing days he would bully the younger players and this continued when he was given the chance to coach. This person, I will not disclose a name for obvious reasons, enjoyed bullying and for some strange reason expected everyone else to enjoy it as well.

The other type of bully is the arrogant, “mr know it all” and egomaniac that doesn’t even realise he is doing it and has no idea that this behaviour is unacceptable. This type of coach doesn’t know how to coach and is often frightened about the stability and safety of his coaching position.

Lets use an example for demonstration.

The coach deliberately leaves Mark out of a training drill and continues to yell at Gerry in front of the entire team. These coaches know what they are doing is wrong but don’t think they will be caught. Nor do they think it’s bullying.

Soccer bullying exists but has not been properly identified. Have you experienced bullying at soccer? If so, what have you done about it?

Players will talk about it, think about it but very rarely report it or do something about it. If your coach is a bully he needs to be put back in his place.

So what happens to the victim, the bully and the teammates?

Can this situation produce a successful soccer team?

The victim feels neglected, hurt and loses confidence. The coach feels superior, powerful and in control. The teammates no longer enjoy the game because they fear the abuse and do not want to be singled out.

So how do you stop this abuse?

Believe it or not, it’s very easy.

Gather around kids and I’ll tell you a secret.

To stop a coach bullying, players must be united. They must develop a friendship and a common language that will eliminate this behaviour and its pervasive effects. As a collective group you can warn the coach that his behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Remember this, a coach cannot coach without his team. Trust me when I tell you, the coach needs his team more than the team could ever need the coach.

The most important thing you can do as players is to acknowledge that bullying is occurring. Stick together and put a unified front.

Although times have changed dramatically since my playing days and awareness has increased, bullying isn’t going to go away. So remember to stick together like warriors and set your own rules within your gang.

Coaches are a dime a dozen, never put up with abuse!

Soccer Pre-Season: The Baptism Of Fire

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It’s 6.00 am and you’re roused from sleep with blisters and sore legs.

Have you experienced this? Do you know what I’m talking about?

Let me give you some more clues.

The heat hangs in the morning air and the day is ready to begin with the rising sun. You grab your runners and wake up your roommate along with 25 other guys. The smell of pain is in the air while the faces of your teammates paints a picture of misery.

The coach takes a head count and everyone’s here. No one has escaped and you don’t feel fully awake yet. Any ideas?

Does Pre-season Camp ring a bell?

The coach and the assistants are probably no more awake than you, but they will not feel the pain. Pre-season with the addition of heat has the ability to crush you. Chances are you’re already losing your mind and conjuring up excuses why you shouldn’t train. My blisters hurt. My hamstrings are tight or I’m feeling sick.

Sound familiar?

If it does put your hand up and keep it up. For those of you reading this with your hand down, I’m sorry but you’re lying.

Training begins and the pain sets in. You struggle through another brutal session and return back to your hotel room.

The cloak of night closes in and sends you and your fellow teammates to bed. You are sore, the legs are heavy and you wonder how you ever got so unfit during the off-season. The thought of tomorrow and the increased drills and doggies haunts you as you try and sleep.

The sun rises even stronger and the heat has accumulated from the day before. You look up at the sun and you could swear that it’s smiling down on you, laughing at the pain that awaits you.

The moans and groans increase as the coach announces the training drills and the never ending sets of “doggies”. For those of you that don’t know what a doggy is, it’s a sprinting workout which has 5 cones separated by about 5 feet. You sprint to the first one and return to the starting position. The next group begins. When they finish you begin again, but this time you run to the first cone and back and then continue to the second cone and back. Next group starts again. Before you know it, you’re repeating this drill 5 times with each set becoming longer and longer.

By the 5^th set your lungs are about to burst and your legs no longer listen to your brain. Simple running patterns become difficult and the motion of left foot before right foot becomes brain surgery as you gasp for that oxygen.

Although I paint a picture of pain, pre-season must be challenging and painful. Everyone has heard “no pain, no gain” but how many of you have really felt the pain.

Do you know the pain?

The pain when your hands are on your knees and every breath you take feels like the last breath you’ll ever take. The pain that doesn’t let you drink water because the heart is pounding so hard on your chest that you think you are going to die.

That my friends is the pain you need to embrace and hunger for. A great coach once said to me after an exhausting session that pre-season isn’t designed to hurt you or punish you.

“It’s designed to hurt and punish your opponent”.

After a solid pre-season you have the confidence, strength, fitness and the ability to crush your direct opponent. You will look at him and laugh because the pain you felt 2-3 months ago will become his nightmare.

The pain you felt 2-3 months ago will now be inflicted on your opponent as he tries to keep up with you. After the 90 minutes the only thing your opponent will remember is the number on your back and the colour of your heels.

So next time you’re bent over gasping for air, push yourself even harder and enjoy the pain. This same pain will become your ally and will never let you down.

So before you run out for your next match, look to the sun and smile back as you welcome the visitors to a baptism of fire.

“May the winds of destiny blow you to the stars”.

Milan confirm Beckham return

AC Milan have confirmed David Beckham will be returning to the Italian club in January. The 34-year-old helped Milan to fourth place in Serie A last season with two goals in 18 league appearances before going back to LA Galaxy in May.

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David Beckham will be returning to the San Siro.

Former England captain Beckham had been strongly linked with a second loan spell with the Rossoneri to improve his chances of making Fabio Capello's World Cup squad.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani claimed last week an announcement was imminent - and it has been confirmed on the club's official website this evening.

Beckham moved to the San Siro during Major League Soccer's off-season last January, initially on a three-month loan deal, but impressed so much his stay was extended until the end of the Serie A campaign.

Milan have announced a six-month deal on this occasion, meaning Beckham will remain in Italy up until the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

"We are very happy to see again David Beckham with the Rossoneri jersey after the splendid experience of last season," AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said on the club's official website.

"We are certain that this time in Europe will help the player take part in the next World Cup and to continue after his career in Los Angeles Galaxy, to whom we thank for their time.''

His first Serie A game this season could be against Genoa at the San Siro on January 6.

Ponting mulls opening batting for rest of India-Australia ODI series

Mohali, Nov 2(ANI): Australian skipper Ricky Ponting’s decision to open the batting in the third ODI of the seven game series against India may develop into something more lasting.

Ponting has indicated that he would maintain the spot for the rest of the series, starting with the fourth game in Mohali.

“The reason I opened in the game was for team balance. I’m obviously the most experienced player in our side and to put one of the other guys up to open the innings I thought would have been more of a challenge for them than it would be for me,” The Daily Telegraph quoted Ponting, as saying.

“If it looks like everyone’s fit and ready for the next game there’s probably every chance that I’ll open again,” he added.

The 34-year-old made 59 runs in a painfully slow conditions at the Ferozshah Kotla, but his contribution will give the selectors cause for thought ahead of the 2011 World Cup, also on the subcontinent.

Ponting has previously opened only once in his career, against Zimbabwe at Harare in 1999. (ANI)

Australia survive Harbhajan scare, win by 24 runs

Let down by the batsmen, India slumped to a 24-run defeat in the fourth one-dayer that not only allowed Australia to level the seven-match series 2-2 but also prolonged the hosts' wait to become the number one ODI team in the world here on Monday. Chasing 251, India got off to a flier with Virender Sehwag (30 off 19 balls) looking eager to wrap up the issue and Sachin Tendulkar (40) going great guns. But their undoing was no less spectacular as the middle and lower could not forge a single significant partnership and the team folded for 226 in 46.4 overs. Earlier put into bat, Australia stitched together half-centuries from Ponting (52) and White (62) and cameos from Shane Watson (49) and Michael Hussey (40) to reach 250 before wilting in 49.2 overs. India's chase got off to a blazing start with Sehwag displaying the kind of power-hitting on which he has built his career around. The first ball raced to the fence off his blade faster than it had arrived and it was a bad omen for Mitchell Johnson. The hapless birthday boy copped three boundaries in his next over and an encore of the treatment meant the Australian spearhead had hemorrhaged 34 runs in his first three overs before Ponting spared further trauma by withdrawing him from attack. It was too good to last for long and relief for Australia came soon when Sehwag fell to Doug Bollinger in the seventh over and Virat Kohli (10), replacing Gautam Gambhir, squandered yet another opportunity to impress, leaving India at 78 for two. With Sachin Tendulkar in pursuit of yet another batting milestone - 47 runs separated him from the 17,000 mark when he walked out - and looking in good nick, the crowd had enough to look forward to till an Ashoka de Silva howler spoiled their party. Fluent initially and aware of the imminent milestone as he approached it, Tendulkar was hit on the pad by an innocuous Nathan Hauritz delivery that was missing the leg stump but de Silva raised his dreaded finger to send groans across the chock-a-block stadium. At 94 for three, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (26) and Yuvraj Singh (12) had a task uncannily similar to the one they had accomplished in the previous match in Delhi but this time their association was nipped in the bud by a Ricky Ponting direct throw that sent back Yuvraj. Dhoni then became Bollinger's third victim, Hauritz castled Suresh Raina (17) and Ravindra Jadeja (7) ran himself out, leaving India gasping at 177 for seven in the 39th over. Down the order Harbhajan Singh's 25-ball 35 - like the series opener in Vadodara - was entertaining but not clinching.

'We failed as a batting unit' - MS Dhoni

	MS Dhoni: 'We should have batted the full 50 overs but that was not possible because we kept losing wickets at regular intervals.' © Getty Images

India's powerful batting line-up has often had to compensate for errant bowling and slack fielding in the past but the tables were turned in Mohali. MS Dhoni praised his bowlers for restricting Australia to 250; he said the fielding effort was India's best in the last one-and-a-half years; but he criticised the batsmen for a lack of partnerships which ultimately led to a 24-run defeat in the fourth ODI.

"It was a good effort by the bowlers to restrict them to a total like 250," Dhoni said. "We got a decent start to our chase also. But subsequently, we failed as a batting unit. We should have batted the full 50 overs but that was not possible because we kept losing wickets at regular intervals."

Dhoni defended his decision to field, saying the dew factor would have made it difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball under lights. "Dew is a big factor that always plays on your mind. From overs 15-40, generally the spinners do the job for us. That would have been taking a risk. Of course, it can backfire as well, so it's difficult to choose. But we knew in Mohali, the wicket would not break much and ball would come nicely onto the bat with a bit of dew. I think our bowlers did a great job and 251 is something we should have scored."

India's chase had a terrific start with Virender Sehwag caning Mitchell Johnson for 30 runs off 14 balls. Australia began to fight back after Sehwag fell but India were on course while Sachin Tendulkar was batting. However, his dismissal for 40 - the highest score of the innings - was the beginning of the end as wickets fell frequently thereafter.

"We badly needed some partnerships going," Dhoni said. "We got the start but we could not take advantage of that. If at least one batsman got going, it would have made things easy."

Dhoni also said the younger batsmen like Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli would need to learn how to overhaul a difficult target. "Raina today got out to a beautiful delivery, while Jadeja was run out after a mix-up," Dhoni said. "Batting at No. 6 or 7 is not easy, since you don't get much opportunity to bat. You cannot pace your innings either, for you have to play according to the platform given to you. Sometimes, you have to accelerate or keep a partnership going. They are still inexperienced and I hope they learn from their mistakes."

On the decision to send Kohli at No. 3, Dhoni said: "The best way to give someone an opportunity is to let him bat higher. At No. 6 or 7, you score 20-30 in quick time or can get out for 10-12 also. I think it's important to give them a chance. Virat is a talented batsman, good on the field and brings in lot of energy."

India's defeat in Mohali prevented them from taking Australia's No. 1 ranking in ODIs and the gap between the teams is now three points. The next match is in Hyderabad on November 5.