Hi there everyone! Hope you all are taking very good care of yourselves in this difficult time of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
It is indeed great to see the resumption of sports after a halt due to the pandemic.
With the German league (Budesliga) completing its competition last month. It’s Bayern Munchen who have won their 8th straight Bundesliga title and 29th overall, in a tight affair against lowly ranked Werder Bremen.
Defending champions Bayern entered the game with a straightforward scenario, where a win would guarantee the Bundesliga trophy to stay at the Allianz Arena for another year.
Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany
Both sides started well, with the hosts Werder Bremen trying to catch Bayern on the counter attacks and had been occasionally successful, but either failed to hit the target or were denied by the opposition goalkeeper.
Then, two minutes from half-time, striker Robert Lewandowski broke the deadlock following a Jerome Boating cross to put Bayern Munchen 1-0 up.
To make things more interesting Bayern’s Alphonso Davis got a second yellow card of the game in the 79th minute of play and got himself sent-off for a foul on a Werder Bremen player, forcing the visitors to defend with 10 men for the rest of the match.
Werder Bremen applied constant pressure following Davis’s red card but were unable to find the back of the net, resulting in a Bayern victory.
watch highlights of Bremen v Bayern
This saw Bayern clinch their 8th straight Budesliga title, making it 29th overall. The win over Werder Bremen meant the champions finished at the top of the Bundesliga standings with two games to spare.
So, now that the Bundesliga has concluded with the remaining fixtures being played, I present the full Bundesliga table below.
2019/2020 Bundesliga table part 1
2019/2020 Bundesliga table part2
As for Werder Bremen, they find themselves in regation zone and need a win against Heidenheim on 3rd July 2020, to avoid religation.
Hello wonderful people. Hope you all are having a good time and if you are not, then I quie sure your good times will come soon.
Nevertheless, I know and understand that many people take a lo of interst im politics and at the same time I am aware that many of us like politics but maybe not that much and some of you don’t like the subject at all.
Regardless of your respective views on this matter. Have you ever thought or wondered the relationship beteen our lives and the subject of politics?
Now, many of you might say “so, who cares?”
But the truth is, whatever decisions nomatter how big or small that choice be, it has massive impact on us as citizens.
Realife Politics
I think I have got to agree with Paul Ginsborg because everything we do whether we are politicians or not is based on one central word “CHOICE“.
It depends on us as individuals as to what we choose which changes our life in a possitive or negstive way.
For example, when we go to the polling station o cast our vote, we make a choice as to whom will we vote for.
Another good example is when we go to the supermarket or grocery store to buy goods, and when we don’t find what we are looking for or let’s say for a specific brend then we think maybe its not made or imported toour country. That is somehow or the other linked to politics.
Jus like in real life we have various relationships like parents with their children and other relatives, in politics we have relationships too.
But these are more of a formal relationship between two or more countries.
The knot that often brings countries together are agreements or a Memorendom of Understandings (MOU) that helps strengthen ties betwen the states involvd, upon signing the agreements or the MOU’s the singnatories agree to work together on a common course.
Like we have close friends and relatives, similarly in the political areana our close friends are known as those states that are within our region.
For example, the friendship beween Fiji with Tonga is a is a regional relationship becaus both countries are located within the Pacific Ocean.
Moreover, countries that do not share the same regional boundaries are often refered to as international boarders.
For instance, Fiji has friendships with China, India or the United Kingdom, it can be referred to as an international relationship.
Sometimes you may have had difference of opinion between families, friends, workmates, to name a few.
This human nature is no different in the political field.
Let’s take climate change for example, people of the Pacific Islands believe that change in wether patterns are actually taking place. But the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump thinks climate change is a hoax.
Trump’s view on Climate change
So now you see it, there’s not much of a diffrence between the relationships we hae with people and politics.
The two can often be seperated by the words “formal” and “informal”. whereby diplometic ties can be called formal and political relationships whereas, the connections with our families, friends and relatives are non-political and informal relationships.
It is South Africa commonly known as the springboks who have claimed the 2019 Rugby World Cup after a comprehensive 32-12 victory over England.
The Webb Elis Cup
20 teams came to Japan to battle for the most prestigious trophy in world rugby history, known as the “WEBB ELIS CUP“.
The reason why this cup is so special is that, it is a world cup trophy which is contested for once every 4 years.
South Africa’s last rugby world cup win was way back in 2007 when the side defeated England 15-6 in the final, in Paris.
The side failed to retain the title after a 11-9 loss to Australia in the quatter- finals of the 2011 world cup in Newzeland https://www.theguardian.com/ followed by an 18-20 defeat to the All Blacks in the 2015 world cup semi-final in England https://www.bbc.com/.
However, this time the story was entirely different as the boks were the first team to arrive in Japan, not only to participate in the tournament but also play the host in their final warm-up game which South Africa comfortably won 41-7 https://www.sport24.co.za/.
Japan V South Africa Warm-up match
On 21st September 2019, the Springboks opened their world cup campaign agaist the defending champions of that time the mighty ALL BLACKS.
The boks started the game very well but two sudden quick tries in the 1st half shifted the momentum and some basic errors throughout the game saw them end the match in a 23-13 defeat.
Newzeland v South Africa match highlights
A week later, the side took on Namibia in a must win fixture to stay in the fight of a quater-final spot.
Having a perfect 100 % win record against Namibia, the springboks were booming with confidence which did no harm to their style of play as they finished 57-3, collecting their first bonus point win of the tournament.
South Africa v Namivia match highlights
For their third group encounter, the springboks travelled to Shizuoka to play Italy.
The Italians found themselves battling not only on the scoreboard but through massive injries to some of their key players.
The major blow was during their scrum as the scrum-half’s including the substitutes were sidelinded due to injuries, forcing refree Wayne Barnes to restrict players from engaging at scrum time throughput the match, as there were no scrum experts available for the Italians on the bench.
Things even got worse for the European nation as one of their player’s was sent off late in the first half.
South Africa played more attacking rugby and were and were of good value for their 49-3 victory.
Soth Africa v Italy highlights
The Boks then faced Canada in their final pool game in Kobe City, where they thumped the Canaidians 66-7 and booked a spot in the last 8 of the world cup.
South Africa v Canada match highlights
In the cup quatter- final South Africa were up against the host’s Japan.
In a game which was evenly matched on paper, Japan had an advantage of home crowd support plus they had qualified as pool A winners , meaning they had not lost a single game in the competition.
The confidence of the Japanese players was clearly reflected in their gain the first half where they just trailed the Springbosks 5-3 athe break.
In the second half, South Africa pulled their gear upwards and scored 21 unanswered points, which saw them through to the world cup semi-finals.
Japan v South Africa – WC Quater-Final
The Semi- Final was against Wales who were also in good form having won all 4 group matches and a 20-19 Quatter- final win over France saw them facing two time world champions South Africa.
The Semi- final against the Welsh was a mouthwatering one as both teams went neck-neck and were 16 all at one stage of the game, which was then decided by Handre Pollard’s late penalty goal, with the final score 19-16 to South Africa.
Wales v South Africa- Semi Final 2 highlights
On the other hand, the 2003 world cp winners England created a major upset by defeating the 1987, 2011 and 2015 champions the All Blacks by 19-7.
This saw the three time world cup holders playing in the Bronze medal play-off against Wales, while England went onto face the Springboks in the Grand Final.
England v Newzeland- Semi- Final 1 highlights
After a narrow Semi-Final win against Wales, South Africa made a good start in final after missing his first kick of the night Handre Pollard found his way with the boot and got South Africa on the scoresheet.
Skipper Owen Farrell got England lavel with a penalty goal.
The penalty goal game continued for sometime in the first half as the Springboks took a 9-3 lead at half-time.
The same penalt goal tactic continued in the second half for a little longer as South Africa took a 12-3 lead which was moments later cut short t0 six points with another Owem Farrell penalt goal.
But it was the men in green who took the initative and scored two tries and a few more extra three points to take the scoreboard to 32– while Farrel could only add another three before the final whistle.
Final score England 12- Soth Africa 32
England v South Africa- RWC 2019 Grand Final highlights Captian Siya Kolisi & team lif Webb Ellis Cup
Hi there everyone. Today I’ll talk on one of the world’s most preesing and whast I would say is often talked about especially in the Pacific, the topic of Climate Change.
Climate change Issue in Taveuni- Fiji
Before I dig deep into this topic, it is important to know what climate change is and how it is caused.
The simplest di\efinion of this subject is that climae change is the change in adverse weather pattern which occur over a long period of time. The following link will elebrate more on the definition as well the cause of climate changehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHbxSYDqTR8
one of the main contributors to climate change is the increase in greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
This is mainly due to factories and large industries that produce thick black smoke into the atmosphere which is then absorbed by the sun’s rays & ozone layer which leads to global warming.
The ozone layer
Global warming has caused icebergs in the Atlantic ocean to melt which has led to forming clouds and falling as rain. The following link has more in-depth information on the effects of global warming as a cause of the melting icebergs.https://education.seattlepi.com/effect-global-warming-icebergs-4877.html
The Melting Icebergs
Another major cause that has links to both global warming and climate change is tropical cyclones.
Now, if you are wondering what a tropical cycle is ,then let me share some light on it.
Tropical cyclone is very intense low-pressure wind system, forming over tropical oceans and with winds of hurricane force https://www.google.com/search?
Furthermore, tropical cyclones use warm and moist air to generate.
Fiji is one of the Paific Island nation’s located close to the equator which makes them which makes thwm vulnerable to tropical cyclones.
Fiji on he map
The Fiji group was hit by the bigest cyclone in the world named Tropical cyclone Winston, in 2016 which claimed 44 lives accross the country https://www.google.com/.
TC Winston in the iji group in 2016
There’s one more interesting factor contributing to the effects of climate change, this is deforestration.
Deforestration is simply the cutting down of trees and leaving the land bare.
This causes soil to erode by the use of mechanisms such as wind, water, animals and hmans.
Example of Deforestration Example of Soil erossion
One way to fight climate change is through collectivism. By this I mean all relevant stakeholders whether be it governmental, non-governmental and civil society organization will have to work togeher to fight this pressing issue, especially the Pacific contries like Fiji who are facing the full brunt of the change in climate.
Wih the process of reafforestation, which is replanting of trees can help overcome the problem of deforestration and soil reosion.
Example of reafforestation
As a Pacific islander, I feel the need for global dialogue is vital especislly having a collective voice of the Pacific where all Pacific Island sates come together as one and make their voices heard in the international arena.
Fiji’s Conference of Parties (COP) 23 Presidency in 2017 in Bonn, Germany is a good example of Small island states leading discussions on climate change.
COP23 conference Headed by Fiji
Whether or how successful the COP23 was? Is another debatable question which I prefer to discuss at a later date.
In the meantime, feel free to like, comment or share this post.
Hi evwryone. I know it has been a really long time since I had blogged about something. But tody’s topic is something different from my favorite and usual topic of sports & politics.
Today, I have decided to shift my focus to the topic of “Moral Vales”. But before I dig deep into the details of this topic, I want to mention that moral values do not only apply to children.
I see it as a set of values applied universally regardless of an individual’s race, gender, ethnicity or skin clour.
Now, let’s move to the central quesion of what actually moral vales are?
Now, let’s look at some of the moral values that we as humans are expected to have or behave in society.
Some Desired Moral Values
Let’s look at some of these values in a bit more detail. I have identified a few from the list above, which I think are the most essenial once.
Firstly, responsibility- this simply means being accountable for your actions. if you know you have done something wrong such as robery or murder then the person commiting he offence is responsible for that particular action. This link will provide a beter definition of this term. so do take a look https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvv4CEi1mDc.
Secondly, honesty- this in the most simplified form means truth. If a person is truth in thoght, word & deed they are often considered honest by virtue. Well speaking of the truth, the next link is song on honesty and if you have small kids at home make them watch this for sure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo1n3JzEt7Y
Another essential element to become a good person is to sommitment in whatever axtivity you are participating in. it does not necessarily mean to be commitited to work all the time. It can also mean commiting to relationship, family or even frends. The following link shows what commitment really is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZFZdUKTZoQ
I’ll conclude this writeup by saying, in my view the moral values that I have dosscussed among other moral themes which I have not talked abot all come from one very imporant place and that is or various religous text and scriptures. So stay devoted to god and be happy.
Thank you.And feel free to comment, like or share.
Disclaimer: The views posted on this blog are of my own and it does not intent to cause harm or discriminate against any other belief.
It will be an all English final for
the first time in UEFA Champions League history which will see two evenly
matched teams take field on Spanish soil.
Both
Tottenham and Liverpool turned a 1-0 and 3-0 defeats in their respective
semi-finals first leg to earn their place in the champion’s league grand
finale.
The hosts were outplayed by Ajax defenders,
not allowing Tottenham strikers to take shots on Ajax goal or even hit the
target.
Despite the
hosts dominating possession most of the game, they failed to find the back of
the net.
Disapointing Tottenham players after shocking loss to Ajax
Things
turned bad to worse for Tottenham in the 1st half of the 2nd
leg at the Amsterdam, when Captain Matthijs de Light struck inside the opening
5 minutes to extend Ajax aggregate lead to 2-0
Hakim Zyiech
made Tottenham’s task more difficult after he put the ball into the net making
it 2-0 on the night and 3-0 overall.
However, the
2nd 45 minutes was a totally different story.
It all started
with a Lucas Moura 55th minute goal to give the visitors some hope.
4 minutes
later he put Tottenham level at 2-2 and reduced the aggregate to just 1 goal.
Moura, then
scored in added time to break thousands of Ajax fans hearts and guide his team
to the final in Madrid.
Likewise,
Liverpool turned a 3-0 loss in Barcelona to a 4-3 victory at Afield, in the
other semi-final.
A goal from
Luis Suarez in the 1st half and 2 goals from Lionel Messi in the 2nd
half saw hosts Barcelona ease to a 3-0 win over Liverpool in the 1st
leg.
But
Liverpool came out too strong in the 2nd leg at home, striking three
in the 2nd half after Divock Origi switched Liverpool on a comeback
mode.
Georginio
Whijnaldum struck twice inside 11 minutes of the 2nd spell to bring
Liverpool level at 3-3 on aggregate.
11 minutes
from time Divock Origi snatched his 2nd and Liverpool’s 4th
goal to help his team create one of the historic comeback in the champions’
league.
Disclaimer: “This is a personal blog. Any views
or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog
owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that
the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal
capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to
malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.
All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner
of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any
information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner
will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the
availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses,
injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.”
There’s a common
saying “we are what we eat”. But I often like to say “we become what we think”
The young
generation often like to challenge the ideas of the older generation.
If you are
one of them, then don’t be afraid to say yes because I am also one of you.
Being born
and raised in an Indian family, I always try and question the traditional
Indian values, culture, customs and beliefs.
Now, it’s
not that I don’t like the traditional culture & beliefs, I do like them and
understand that they must be respected but sometimes it seems to be a little
too much.
So, the biggest questions are “where does conservatism come into this?” Or perhaps an even bigger question is, “what is conservatism?” And “how do we define it?”
Conservatism
simply “is
opposing rapid changes, and promotes keeping traditions in society”.
My
definition of conservatism is very similar to the internet. Conservatism
I define
conservatism as a group of people who do not support change.
Conservatism
is also an ideology which dominated European politics in the mid 1920’s Origins of conservatism
Some of
the countries that have or are practicing conservatism includes; the United
States of America, Canada, Australia, Brazil and Costa Rica Conservative countries
Furthermore, if I look at conservatism from an
Indian perspective I barely find anything positive.
I agree
to the fact that preserving traditions, culture and beliefs are necessary but
not to a point which is extreme.
Previously,
in many traditional Indian societies women were not allowed to work or young
girls to go to work.
They
would all stay home and do the household chores or do babysitting for their
families.
The
young girls would even get married at the age of 13 or some as early as 8.
Another
very debatable issue is that women and girls are not allowed to enter temples
during their periods.
I
strongly oppose this idea because a person who has committed 1000 murders, rape,
robbery and other serious crimes can enter the temple, however a woman or girl
during her period can’t enter the holy place just because she is classified as
being unclean.
Such pollution from our society needs to stop,
at least for the betterment of our future generation.
The
reason why I view the idea of conservatism as a threat to the world is because such
things fail to accept “change” and/or
adopt “modernity”
It is
critical that we as humans accept the changes happening in our society as this
is a rule of life.
Disclaimer: “This is a
personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and
belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people,
institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with
in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or
opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club,
organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for
informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as
to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by
following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or
omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The
owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display
or use of this information.”
The 2018 –
19 English Premier League season seems to be coming to an exciting conclusion
with two evenly matched teams fighting to become champions of England.
Manchester
City who are the current leaders on the premier league standings with 92 points
are being strongly challenged by their rivals Liverpool who are just a point
behind.
This simply
means, either team cannot afford to drop points in their remaining matches as
this might just ruin their chances of clinching premier league glory.
However, if
somehow or the other the points are equal at the end of the season, Manchester
City who are also the defending champions of the competition will retain their
title due to the goal difference.
According to
the current league table Manchester City have 90 goals forward and 22 against
which brings their total goal difference to 68.
On the other
hand, Liverpool have 84 goals forward and 20 against which takes their goal
difference to 64.
Both
Manchester City and Liverpool have been in devastating form, winning their last
five league games.
Manchester City or often referred to as “Man City” have overcome teams like Brighton, Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Manchester United and Burnley. Click here to watch the match results.
Likewise, Liverpool or commonly known as “the Reds” have defeated Tottenham, Southampton, Chelsea, Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town in their last 5 outings Click here to watch the match results.
Meanwhile, some other interesting facts 3rd placed Tottenham, 4th placed Chelsea, 5th placed Arsenal and 6th ranked Manchester United are all competing for a top 4 finish in the league for a UEFA Champions’ League Group stage qualification.
So far
Tottenham are on 70 points, Chelsea have 68 points while Arsenal and Manchester
united have 66 and 65 points respectively.
No team will
want to drop points now particularly not at this late stage of the competition
where a champion league group stage spot is on the line.
The UEFA
Champions League is the most prestigious club competition in European football
where the winner of this tournament get to be called “THE CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE” as well as represent the European
continent at the FIFA Club World Cup which is held annually.
Now, let’s
not forget the bottom three teams of the premier league, in this case, Cardiff
City who have 31 points, followed by Fulham on 26 points and 20th
ranked Huddersfield Town with just 14 points.
However, if
17th placed Briton loose both their final league games and Cardiff
City get the maximum points then Cardiff City would survive and Brighton will
be eliminated from the premier league. Click
here
to see league
table.
Disclaimer:“This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.”
It was Lionel Messi who deligthted the home fans with his magic feet as he struck twice past Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea to put Barcelona in a commanding position. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0As5nFlijU
Things got worse for Manchester United after Phillippe Coutinho increased Barcelona’s lead to make it 3-0 with just under 29 minutes to play.
Manchester United needed to win by two clear goals in order to make it to the last 4 of the champions league after the side went down to the Spanish giants 1-0 in the first leg at Old Trafford.
The lone goal scored in the first leg of the quatter final played between the two sides was courtesy of Manchester United defender Luke Shaw, whose deflection found the net from a Luiz Suarez cross just from the edge of the 18 yard box. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhBCZvNpumQ
To annalyze this two leg contest, Manchester United played a lot better at old Trafford than at Camp Nou.
The reason why I say this beause one way to beat Barcelona is to deprive them of the ball because once they start dominating possession, they take control of the game.
Looking at Manchester United’s home game against Barcelona, they allowed the visitors to control possession but were pretty quick to defend against Barcelona attackers.
This I think was really lacking in the second leg at the Camp Nou.
They allowed players like Leonel Messi, Luiz Suarez and Phillippe Coutinho too much space to move around with possession and these players rose to the occasion.
However, I strongly believe one of the many reasons for United’s heavy defeat to Barcelona in the second leg was because they really needed goals and so pushing players up front was one way of scoring goals.
But this backfired, leaving too much space in the mid-field area for Barcalona attackers to penetrate the United defence.
In the end Barcelona winning 4-0 on aggregate.
On the other hand, last season’s Champions League runner- ups Liverpool have also made it to the last four with a handsome 6-1 aggregate win over Portuguese club FC Poto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtsS04i2PVI
With Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino findig the net comfortably, Liverpool took a 2-0 lead to Portugal where Sadio Mane, Mohamad Salah, Roberto Firmino and Virgil Van Dijk assured a Champions Leage semi final sport for their side.
In critical analysis, Liverpool were too dominant against Porto particularly in the second leg where they showed their finishing ability in front of goal.
You don’t often as a manager sit back and watch your team play this well. But when they do, its a real joy to watch.
Both Barcelona and Liverpool last met in the 2006/07 Champions League round of 16 tie where Liverpool won the mach 2-1 and won the tie on away goals.
I definitely think that this match is going to be a cracker. And the most hungerier team might jst win it becacuse both look evenly matched on paper.
Even though Liverpool might have a better goal average after that 6-1 agregate win over Porto, their opposition cannot be ruled out.
Barcelona will host the first leg at the Camp Nou on the 1st of May 2019, with the return leg at Anfield on the 7th of May 2019. Click here
Disclaimeer: “This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.”
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IN THE WHITE 