SACHIN TENDULKAR : THE REASON TO CHEER

Sachin Tendulkar's five best innings in Test cricket :

http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3211508

Best quotes on Sachin Tendulkar :

Best quotes on Sachin Tendulkar by various cricket legends like Matthew Hyden, Don Bradman, Sunil Gavaskar, Dennis Lillee, Greg Chappell, Glenn McGrath, Brian Lara and many others.

http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3349169

ICC WORLD CUP 2011 FIXTURES

Sat Feb 19	1st match - India v Bangladesh Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Sun Feb 20	3rd match - Sri Lanka v Canada (Hambantota) Venue TBC
Sun Feb 20	2nd match - Kenya v New Zealand MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Mon Feb 21	4th match - Australia v Zimbabwe Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Tue Feb 22	5th match - England v Netherlands Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
Wed Feb 23	6th match - Kenya v Pakistan (Hambantota) Venue TBC
Thu Feb 24	7th match - South Africa v West Indies Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Fri Feb 25	9th match - Bangladesh v Ireland Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Fri Feb 25	8th match - Australia v New Zealand Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
Sat Feb 26	10th match - Pakistan v Sri Lanka (Colombo) Venue TBC
Sun Feb 27	11th match - India v England Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Mon Feb 28	12th match - Netherlands v West Indies Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Mon Feb 28	13th match - Canada v Zimbabwe Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
Tue Mar 1	14th match - Kenya v Sri Lanka (Colombo) Venue TBC
Wed Mar 2	15th match - England v Ireland M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Thu Mar 3	17th match - Canada v Pakistan (Colombo) Venue TBC
Thu Mar 3	16th match - Netherlands v South Africa Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Fri Mar 4	19th match - Bangladesh v West Indies Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Fri Mar 4	18th match - New Zealand v Zimbabwe Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Sat Mar 5	20th match - Australia v Sri Lanka (Colombo) Venue TBC
Sun Mar 6	21st match - India v Ireland M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Sun Mar 6	22nd match - England v South Africa MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Mon Mar 7	23rd match - Canada v Kenya Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Tue Mar 8	24th match - New Zealand v Pakistan (Pallekele) Venue TBC
Wed Mar 9	25th match - India v Netherlands Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Thu Mar 10	26th match - Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe (Pallekele) Venue TBC
Fri Mar 11	28th match - Bangladesh v England Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
Fri Mar 11	27th match - Ireland v West Indies Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Sat Mar 12	29th match - India v South Africa Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
Sun Mar 13	30th match - Canada v New Zealand Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Sun Mar 13	31st match - Australia v Kenya M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Mon Mar 14	33rd match - Bangladesh v Netherlands Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
Mon Mar 14	32nd match - Pakistan v Zimbabwe (Pallekele) Venue TBC
Tue Mar 15	34th match - Ireland v South Africa Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Wed Mar 16	35th match - Australia v Canada M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Thu Mar 17	36th match - England v West Indies MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Fri Mar 18	37th match - New Zealand v Sri Lanka Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Fri Mar 18	38th match - Ireland v Netherlands Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Sat Mar 19	40th match - Bangladesh v South Africa Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Sat Mar 19	39th match - Australia v Pakistan (Colombo) Venue TBC
Sun Mar 20	41st match - Kenya v Zimbabwe Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Sun Mar 20	42nd match - India v West Indies MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Wed Mar 23	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Thu Mar 24	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC (Colombo) Venue TBC
Fri Mar 25	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Sat Mar 26	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Tue Mar 29	Semi Final - TBC v TBC (Colombo) Venue TBC
Wed Mar 30	Semi Final - TBC v TBC Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Sat Apr 2	Final - TBC v TBC Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

SOCCER DIARIES

World Cups!

Year	Host Nation(s)	Final
		Winner	Runners-up
1930	Uruguay	Uruguay	Argentina
1934	Italy	Italy	Czechoslovakia
1938	France	Italy	Hungary
1950	Brazil	Uruguay	Brazil
1954	Switzerland	West Germany	Hungary
1958	Sweden	Brazil	Sweden
1962	Chile	Brazil	Czechoslovakia
1966	England	England	West Germany
1970	Mexico	Brazil	Italy
1974	West Germany	West Germany	Netherlands
1978	Argentina	Argentina	Netherlands
1982	Spain	Italy	West Germany
1986	Mexico	Argentina	West Germany
1990	Italy	West Germany	Argentina
1994	USA	Brazil	Italy
1998	France	France	Brazil
2002	South Korea & Japan	Brazil	Germany
2006	Germany	Italy	France

Lets look at the above chart in quiz form!

Q1. Which country has won maximum World Cups?
A : Brazil has won 5 World Cups followed by Italy who have won 4.

Q2. Which country has been runners-up at the World Cups the most times?
A : Germany has been runners-up the most times, numerically 4 times.

Q3. Which country hosted and won the first World Cup?
A3. Uruguay beat Argentina 4-2.

Q4. How many World Cups have been organized till date?
A : Eighteen

Q5. In which World Cup, there World Champions were declared without a final match being played?
A : The 1950 World Cup. The tournament winner was decided by a final round-robin group contested by four teams (Uruguay, Brazil, Sweden, and Spain). Uruguay's 2-1 victory over Brazil was the decisive match which put them ahead in points.

Q6. When was a World Cup match first televised?
A : 1954

Q7. From which World Cup onwards FIFA introduced an official mascot for the tournament? Which was the first mascot?
A : From the 1966 World Cup. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup Mascot.

Q8. How many countries have at least played a World Cup Match?
A : 75 countries have at least played in a World Cup. 7 countries(Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France, England, Germany and Uruguay) have won at least one World Cup.

Q9. How many countries have won consecutive World Cups?
A : Only Brazil and Italy have won consecutive World Cups.

Q10. Why was the World Cup not organized in 1942 and 1946?
A : Due to the World War!

Q11. Which country has played in every World Cup organized by FIFA?
A : Brazil

Q12. Where will the 2010 and 2014 World Cups be held?
A : In South Africa(the first African team to organize the World Cup) and Brazil respectively.

Q13. Where, when and who played the first ever international football match?
A : It was played in Glasgow between England and Scotland in 1872.

Q14. When was FIFA formed?
A : 1904

Q15. Which country is an exception to the unwritten rule of adding a star to its crest for each World Cup won?
A : Uruguay has four stars even though it has won only 2 World Cups. The other 2 stars are for the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics victories.

Q16. Which was the first World Cup Match ever played?
A : 2 matches ( France v/s Mexico and USA v/s Belgium) took place simultaneously on 18th July, 1930.

Q 17. Which FIFA president played an important role in setting up the first World Cup?
A : Jules Rimet. The World Cup trophy which was originally called the Coup de Monde was renamed after Jules Rimet as the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1970.

Q18. Who designed the new World Cup trophy after 1970.
A : The Italian designer, Silvio Gazzaniga.

Q19. How many countries are expected to attempt at qualifying for World Cup 2010?
A : 204

Q20. Which country has the most appearance in a World Cup Final?
A : Brazil and Germany, (7 each).