أعلن الاتحاد الأوروبي لكرة القدم عن طاقم تحكيم مباراة ليفربول الإنجليزي وباريس سان جيرمان الفرنسي في بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا، غدًا الأربعاء.
باريس سان جيرمان يستضيف ليفربول على ملعب بارك دي برانس بالعاصمة الفرنسية باريس، ضمن ذهاب دور الـ16 من بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا، قبل أسبوع من تكرار المواجهة في ملعب أنفيلد إيابًا.
طالع أيضًا | ريو مافوبا: باريس سان جيرمان يمتلك لاعبًا أكثر حسمًا من محمد صلاح
الاتحاد الأوروبي قرر تعيين طاقم تحكيم إيطالي لإدارة القمة التي ستجمع بين الفريقين مجددًا في بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا.
وسيدير المباراة، الدولي الإيطالي دافيدي ماسا، ويعاونه كلًا من شيرو كاربوني وستيفانو ألاسيو، وماوريسيو مارياني حكمًا رابعًا.
بينما في غرفة الفار، سيتواجد كلًا من، ألياندرو دي باولو، ودانييلي شيفي.
دافيدي ماسا أدار 7 مباريات في دوري أبطال أوروبا هذا الموسم، من بينهم مباراة واحدة لـ باريس سان جيرمان، الذي فاز فيها على شتوتجارت 4-1.
وتعتبر هذه هي المباراة الوحيدة التي أدارها الحكم الإيطالي لفريق باريس سان جيرمان. بينما لم يسبق له إدارة أي مباراة لـ ليفربول بمختلف المسابقات.
دافيدي ماسا سبق وأن أدار مباراة القمة بين الأهلي والزمالك، والتي انتهت بفوز المارد الأحمر 3-0 في يناير 2018، ببطولة الدوري المصري.
Qiana Joseph, Chedean Nation, and Karishma Ramharack have been rested
ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2021
Chinelle Henry returns to the squad after missing the third ODI•Getty Images
West Indies have added wicketkeeper Reniece Boyce and allrounders Sheneta Grimmond and Chinelle Henry to their 13-member squad for the fourth ODI against South Africa.Left-arm spinner Qiana Joseph, middle-order batter Chedean Nation, and offspin-bowling allrounder Karishma Ramharack have been rested.Henry, 26, featured in the first and second ODIs, having also played a game in the preceding three-T20I series. Meanwhile, Boyce, 24, and Grimmond, 23, last played competitive cricket in July, during the limited-overs A series at home against Pakistan.Ann Browne-John, CWI lead selector for women’s cricket, said: “The fourth and fifth ODIs will give the selectors an opportunity to have a look at some of the young players who have been on the bench and this would give a better assessment of the depth of the team. Qiana Joseph, who has been quite impressive with her left-arm orthodox bowling and has played all six T20 and ODI matches so far, has been rested for this match. She has definitely been a find for the team.”Rashada Williams also competently fitted into the opening batter position. As we prepare for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers, the players have these two final matches to dig deep and get some scores and fine tune their bowling.”The fourth ODI will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground on Thursday, with the fifth ODI scheduled for September 19. South Africa won the first three ODIs in commanding fashion, registering wins by eight, nine, and eight wickets respectively.West Indies squad for fourth ODI: Anisa Mohammed, Deandra Dottin, Aaliyah Alleyne, Reniece Boyce, Shamilia Connell, Cherry Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Sheneta Grimmond, Chinelle Henry, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Shakera Selman, Rashada Williams
Com o fim da primeira fase do Campeonato Mineiro 2023, foram definidos neste sábado os quatro times classificados às semifinais do Estadual. Dessa forma, o chaveamento colocará frente a frente o Atlético-MG (o melhor primeiro colocado da competição)contra o Athletic (segundo melhor colocado), enquanto o América-MG (segundo melhor time no geral e primeiro da sua chave) vai pegar o Cruzeiro (terceiro melhor primeiro colocado).
A Federação Mineira de Futebol (FMF) definiu datas e horários dos jogos semifinais. A entidade já separou os fins de semana dos dias 11/12 e 18/19 de março.
RelacionadasAmérica MineiroWellington Paulista marca duas vezes para o América-MG e ‘garante’ o Cruzeiro nas semifinais do EstadualAmérica Mineiro04/03/2023CruzeiroCampeonato Mineiro: Cruzeiro empata com o Democrata-SL, mas avança de fase graças a ajuda dos rivaisCruzeiro04/03/2023Atlético MineiroAtlético-MG vence o Democrata-GV, garante a liderança geral no Mineiro e pega o Athletic nas semifinaisAtlético Mineiro04/03/2023
O Atlético-MG foi o time de melhor campanha geral, com 20 pontos, e leva vantagem para a semifinal e também para a final, caso passe do Athletic. O Galo jogará por dois empates ou uma vitória e uma derrota pela mesma diferença de gols. O primeiro duelo entre as duas equipes será no domingo, 12 de março, às 16h, em São João Del Rei. A volta deve acontecer no sábado, 18, em Belo Horizonte, mais provavelmente no Mineirão.
O América-MG foi o líder do Grupo B com 18 pontos, dois a menos do que o Galo. Porém, o Coelho, que venceu o Tombense por 3 a 1, e ajudou o Cruzeiro a se classificar, também terá vantagem sobre rival na semifinal. O clássico será no dia 11 de março, às 16h30, na Arena do Jacaré, em Sete Lagoas, pois o mando é do Cruzeiro e o América não aceita jogar na sua casa como visitante. O duelo da volta será no Independência, no dia 19, às 16h.
Briga contra o Rebaixamento
A fórmula de disputa do Mineiro 2023 previu um triangular de turno e returno s para definir quem serão os dois rebaixados. Os três times de piores campanha jogarão este “Torneio da Morte” para evitar a queda. Patrocinense, Caldense e Democrata SL, todos do Grupo B, ficaram com as piores campanhas e vão decidir os dois que irão jogar o Módulo II em 2024.
Troféu Inconfidência 2023
A competição, um torneio de consolação para manter as equipes do interior com mais tempo de calendário, será disputada do quinto até o oitavo colocado melhor da fase de classificação. A fórmula é a mesma da semifinal e da final do Mineiro, com jogos de ida e volta. Quinto melhor, o Tombense enfrenta o Pouso Alegre, enquanto Villa Nova e Democrata GV vão duelar no outro encontro. O Quinto colocado poderá se garantir na Copa do Brasil de 2024.
Ipswich Town now finds themselves winless in eight in the Premier League, with displays starting to raise concerns amongst the Portman Road masses.
The Tractor Boys were arguably victims of their own downfall versus Everton last time out, as errors in defence allowed the Toffees to eventually breeze to a 2-0 win, but Kieran McKenna’s side did register 13 shots of their own in Suffolk to further frustrate the home faithful.
Liam Delap was arguably quiet against Sean Dyche’s men, with the former Manchester City wonderkid one that has to usually be playing to the top of his game for Ipswich to salvage something.
Delap's form this season
That has been the case this campaign in many games when Ipswich could have folded under the weight of playing a team placed higher up the division, with Delap firing home two strikes against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa at the start of the month to help his team pick up a hard fought 2-2 draw.
In total, the 21-year-old striker has four goals from eight league games donning Ipswich blue, but wasn’t at the races last time out as his team fell to a disappointing 2-0 loss.
Not one to regularly involve himself in play, with Delap thriving more as a poacher alert to a sniff of a chance, the ex-Man City forward failed to register a single on-target effort on Jordan Pickford’s goal versus Everton, which made his lack of touches feel more obvious consequently.
Delap would only amass 29 touches of the ball and complete eight accurate passes, away from uncharacteristically fluffing his lines with shots on goal, as McKenna then hooked him off late on for returning attacker George Hirst to get a run-out.
Still, goals like this breakaway strike managed against Villa will keep him firmly in his manager’s good books for the time being.
Amazingly, despite Delap’s electric start to life in Suffolk minus his off-day versus Everton, there is an ex-Ipswich attacker actually bettering his numbers currently playing in the EFL.
The player outscoring Delap
That player is one-time Tractor Boys loanee Louie Barry, who many with connections to the Premier League underdogs will have forgotten was even on the Ipswich roster once upon a time.
The Aston Villa youngster would only go to make a forgettable six appearances on loan, with just one league start afforded to him during the 2021-22 season when Ipswich languished all the way down in League One.
Barry’s L1 numbers for Stockport (24/25)
Stat – per 90 mins*
Barry
Games played
10
Goals scored
6
Assists
0
Goals*
0.6
Shots*
3.1
Shots on target*
1.5
Scoring frequency
124 mins
Stats by Sofascore
It’s fair to say his loan stint with Stockport County this season – which is his second spell at the club after guiding the Hatters to promotion up to League One last campaign – is going far better than his unmemorable stay at Portman Road, with a stunning six goals tallied up from ten league clashes.
Constantly wanting to get himself involved in play as a daring attacking option down the wings, who can even lead the line as seen last match versus Charlton Athletic when he found the back of the net as a striker, Barry is now very much living up to his “incredible” label which was handed to him by Arsenal star Declan Rice back in 2021.
That was of course in reference to Barry netting for Villa in the FA Cup versus Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, but that same unerring composure under pressure to finish off chances has been seen in the third tier, with the 21-year-old reaffirming his status as a major fan’s favourite at Edgeley Park this campaign to date.
He is even outscoring Delap based on his heroics in the lower reaches of the EFL, with Ipswich left to now contemplate whether they could have got more out of the tricky attacker when he was temporarily at the club.
McKenna must drop Ipswich man who made 12 passes
Ipswich Town struggled against Everton as their winless streak in the Premier League goes on.
Mark Adair takes 3 for 9 in his four overs as Netherlands stifled despite Max O’Dowd fifty
Deivarayan Muthu18-Oct-2021
Curtis Campher became the third man to take four wickets in four balls in men’s T20Is•AFP/Getty Images
Curtis Campher’s four wickets in four balls headlined Ireland’s drubbing of Netherlands in Abu Dhabi. Campher, who was playing only his fifth T20I, emulated T20 legends Lasith Malinga and Rashid Khan when he picked off Colin Ackermann, Ryan ten Doeschate, Scott Edwards and Roelof van der Merwe off successive balls, in the tenth over. At that point, Netherlands were 51 for 6 and there would be no way back for them from that abyss. Pieter Seelar’s men will now have to almost certainly topple Sri Lanka if they are to qualify for the Super 12s.It was Mark Adair and Josh Little who had set the scene for Campher’s feat with their constricting lines and lengths in the powerplay. Adair made his presence felt in the death, too, finishing with 3 for 9 in his four overs.Opener Max O’Dowd added a semblance of respectability to Netherlands’ innings, with 51 off 47 balls, but only one result seemed possible and that was Ireland winning big.Netherlands’ power(less)play After choosing to bat, Netherlands lost Ben Cooper to an awful mix-up in the very first over. Bas de Leede and O’Dowd tried to get a move on by manufacturing swinging room and shots. de Leede successfully jumped down the track and belted Little for four in the fifth over, but next ball the left-arm seamer knocked out the leg stump with a skiddy full-toss. Adair gave up only two runs in his first two overs as Netherlands tiptoed to 25 for 2 in the powerplay.Curtis backbreaker Campher began his shift with a 12-run first-over – two wide half-trackers that were duly put away to the boundary. He, however, came back to break Netherlands’ middle order with a stunning sequence. When he sent a short ball down the leg side, Colin Ackermann was late onto a pull, nicking behind to keeper Neil Rock. He immediately shifted his line and length, going fuller and straighter to pin Ryan ten Doeschate and Scott Edwards lbw in similar fashion. Three in three became four in four when Roelof van der Merwe threw his hands at a wide ball only to drag it back onto his stumps. The celebrations that followed were understated much like his military mediums.Dowd tucked into the spin of Simi Singh and Ben White, taking 32 off 23 balls from them. He notched up his seventh T20I fifty before Adair tricked him with an in-to-the-pitch cutter. Quite fittingly, Adair and Campher combined for the last wicket, that of No. 11 Brandon Glover, dismissing Netherlands for 106.Sedate Stirling, dashing Delany Glover and Fred Klaassen struck early in the chase to remove Kevin O’Brien (9) and captain Andy Balbirnie (8). With the Netherlands seamers gleaning some sharp bounce, Paul Stirling, who is usually a powerful ball-striker in the powerplay, held himself back and forged a 59-run stand that was dominated by Gareth Delany.Delany, who had clattered an unbeaten 88 off 50 balls against Bangladesh in a warm-up fixture at the same venue last week, continued his fine form, scoring 44 off 29 balls. He was particularly strong against spin, often picking the length early and playing late. Delany was bowled by Seelar at the doorstep of victory, but Stirling and Campher, who had set it up for Ireland, finished it off with seven wickets and almost five overs to spare.After suffering heartbreaking defeats to Netherlands in 2014 in Sylhet and then in 2016 in Dharamsala, Ireland finally found joy in Abu Dhabi.
انتهت مرحلة دور الـ16 من بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا، موسم 2024/25، بعدما انطلقت منافسات الإياب مساء يوم الثلاثاء، وانتهت يوم الأربعاء.
حسمت 8 فرق مقاعد تأهلها إلى دور الـ 8 من دوري أبطال أوروبا، لهذا الموسم.
اقرأ أيضًا.. الفرق المتأهلة إلى دور الـ8 من دوري أبطال أوروبا (محدث باستمرار)
وسبق أن أجرى الاتحاد الأوروبي لكرة القدم، يويفا، مراسم قرعة مرحلتي ربع ونصف نهائي البطولة، حيث إن طريق كل فريق معروف حتى النهائي.
ومن المقرر أن تنطلق منافسات ذهاب دور ربع نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا يوم 8 و9 أبريل، في حين أن الإياب سيُقام يومي 15 و16 من الشهر نفسه. الفرق المتأهلة إلى دور الـ8 من دوري أبطال أوروبا
برشلونة الإسباني.
بايرن ميونخ الألماني.
إنتر ميلان الإيطالي.
باريس سان جيرمان الفرنسي.
بوروسيا دورتموند الألماني.
آرسنال الإنجليزي.
أستون فيلا الإنجليزي.
ريال مدريد الإسباني. مباريات دور الـ8 من دوري أبطال أوروبا
كشف أحمد حسام ميدو، نجم الزمالك السابق، وعضو اللجنة الفنية الحالي بالقلعة البيضاء، عن مفاوضات سابقة كادت تقوده للعمل في نادي باريس سان جيرمان، مشيرًا إلى أن الاتفاق لم يكتمل بسبب رد فعل الجماهير.
وقال ميدو في تصريحات عبر قناة الرابعة الرياضية العراقية: “كنت سأتولى تدريب الفريق الثاني في نادي باريس سان جيرمان، وفعلًا كانت هناك جلسات مع صديقي العزيز الأستاذ ناصر الخليفي”.
طالع أيضًا | ميدو: هدفي أن أكرر مع الزمالك ما فعله فيرجسون في مانشستر يونايتد لتجاوز الأهلي
وتابع نجم الزمالك السابق: “ناصر الخليفي، هو واحد من الشخصيات الأسطورية في عالم الرياضة العربية، لأنه استطاع تطوير النادي بشكل كبير جدًا، حتى وإن لم يفوزوا بدوري أبطال أوروبا”.
وأضاف: “كانت الجلسات معه ومع المدير الرياضي، لكن في النهاية كانوا يريدون تعييني مساعدًا لـ تياجو موتا في الفريق الثاني لباريس سان جيرمان”.
واختتم ميدو تصريحاته: “لكن الجماهير أبدت رد فعل بسبب لعبي السابق مع مارسيليا، وبعد أن قطعنا شوطًا كبيرًا في المفاوضات، لم تكتمل الأمور في النهاية”.
It has been a season to forget so far for Wolverhampton Wanderers. After a tough 2023/24 campaign, in which they were led to safety by manager Gary O’Neil, the Old Gold now find themselves rock bottom of the Premier League this term.
It may be surprising for people that Wolves are struggling as much as they are this season. BBC Sports’ chief football writer Phil McNulty was one person who thought they would steer well clear of the drop zone this term. He explained that, in his opinion, the Midlands outfit “can avoid danger” this term, although so far it has not worked out very well.
When looking more in-depth at their underlying stats this season, it is certainly a cause for concern for O’Neil, ahead of this afternoon’s clash with Brighton and Hove Albion.
Wolves’ stats in 2024/25
There is no doubt that the Old Gold have underwhelmed massively this term. The bottom-of-the-table side are yet to get a win on the board this term, one of four sides to do so along with Ipswich Town, Crystal Palace and Southampton. They have not even earned a point since a 1-1 draw away to Nottingham Forest.
Pinpointing their biggest weakness this season is not too difficult. They have been incredibly frail at the back, conceding the most goals in England’s top flight so far with 23, five more than any other side in the division.
They let six in against Chelsea at Molineux in a shocking 6-2 defeat and conceded five goals away from home to Brentford in a 5-3 loss.
What is perhaps most surprising is that O’Neil’s side are not last in the Premier League when it comes to the number of expected goals against. As per Understat, they rank 16th, with a tally of 16.54xGA, although they are massively underachieving on that front.
Interestingly, the Old Gold are not doing as well on the goalscoring side of things. They have scored ten times this term, with seven teams having scored less than that. They are overachieving on expected goals though, with an expected goals tally of 8.13xG this term. However, it is worth remembering that half of those goals came in two matches, against the Blues and the Bees.
It is hard to know where the Old Gold turn now, as they look to pick things up this season. However, O’Neil could well select an attacker ahead of today’s tough assignment against Brighton, in the hope it will change their fortunes.
The player who could start for Wolves against Brighton
The player in question here is young winger Rodrigo Gomes. The 21-year-old joined the club for £12.7m in the 2024 summer window, signing from SC Braga until 2029.
The Portugal under-21 international impressed last term during a loan spell with Estoril, scoring nine goals and grabbing eight assists in 36 games in all competitions. That included 14 goal involvements in 30 games in Liga Portugal.
A direct winger, he can be simply devastating to an opposition defence.
Gomes stats in Liga Portugal 2023/24
Stat
Number
Goals and assists
14
Expected goals
6.37xG
Big chances created
7
Key passes per game
1.2
Expected assists
3.19xA
Dribble completion rate per game
41%
Ball recoveries per game
3.8
Duels won per game
3.4
Stats from Sofascore
So far, opportunities have been few and far between for the Wolves number 19. He has played just four times for the Old Gold, featuring just once in the last six Premier League games, and is yet to register a goal involvement.
Chalkboard
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Football scout Antonio Mango described the £25k-per-week talent as “a diamond” during his loan spell at Estoril Praia last term. The Old Gold are yet to see the best of him, but he could be the player who gets them out of this poor run of form.
The new man does only have one Premier League start under his belt so far, although he did catch the eye against the Seagulls in the EFL Cup earlier in the campaign, notably providing two key passes in that 3-2 defeat at the Amex.
Given Wolves’ poor form, O’Neil might well decide to try something new which could lift his team.
Brighton will prove to be a tough test, but Gomes could terrorise them if given the chance, and help lift his side out of the relegation zone, or, at the very least, begin to change their fortunes.
91% passing, 6/10 rating: The Wolves star who was even better than Larsen
Wolves star performed even better than Larsen despite the goal.
A desistência de Roberto Silva em se candidatar à presidente do Conselho Deliberativo do Palmeiras no mesmo dia da eleição, que acontece nesta segunda-feira (6), promete movimentar o cenário da disputa.
Se em 2021, Seraphim Del Grande, representante da situação, venceu o opositor Mario Giannini por somente 15 votos de diferença (129 a 114), o pleito desta noite promete ser ainda mais acirrado.
Projeções internas avaliavam que Alcyr Ramos da Silva Junior, candidato da situação, se beneficiaria do lançamento da candidatura de Roberto Silva, que se intitulava independente. Isso porque Silva dividiria votos com Carlos Antonio Faedo, que representa a oposição. Assim, a estimativa até a desistência de Silva era que Alcyr tivesse aproximadamente a metade dos votos entre os 291 conselheiros, com Faedo, Roberto e abstenções/ausências dividindo os outros 50%.
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+Raphael Veiga é destaque, mas não evita empate do Palmeiras com o Guarani
Agora, com Carlos Antonio Fardo e Roberto Silva unidos, a oposição ganha mais motivos para acreditar que vencerá o pleito marcado para acontecer durante a reunião do Conselho Deliberativo palmeirense, que iniciará às 20h (horário de Brasília). Os conselheiros que não preencherem a lista de presença até ás 21h (horário de Brasília) serão impedidos de votar.
+ Confira a tabela do Paulistão e simule os jogos das quartas de final do torneio
O encontro terá, em ordem, a leitura da ata da reunião anterior, a posse dos 90 conselheiros eleitos em fevereiro deste ano e, posteriormente, as votações para presidente e vice do órgão nos próximos dois anos. Como a escolha é feita de maneira eletrônica, estima-se que o resultado será divulgado por volta das 22h (horário de Brasília).
As eleições para presidente e vice não são associadas. Se para o cargo máximo, a disputa é entre Alcyr e Faedo, para o primeiro nome abaixo do presidente a concorrência é entre Maurício Camargo, representando a situação, e Felipe Giocondo, vinculado à oposição. Há chances do presidente ser de um grupo, com o vice do outro, ou vice e versa.
Both teams also carry a few South African names as they look to deflect pressure ahead of the tournament’s opening round
Firdose Moonda14-Oct-2021
Pieter Seelaar: “There’s no clear favourite and no weak side”•ICC via Getty
The T20 World Cup is all about winning but Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus and Netherlands’ Pieter Seelaar tussled over whose team will fly further under the radar in a bid to deflect pressure off their sides ahead of the tournament’s opening round.When asked about the expectation facing Associate nations keen to punch above their weight on the biggest stage, Seelaar put the ball firmly in Group A favourites Sri Lanka’s court, saying, “Sri Lanka need to go through; we want to go through, so that’s the difference,” before Erasmus chipped in with, “Maybe I will grab the underdog tag from Pieter and we’ll go with that.”There were chuckles all around but in reality both captains are feeling the immense weight they carry ahead of what could be the most important week in many of their cricketing careers.Related
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Ireland stun Bangladesh; Munsey, Cross warm up with fifties
Netherlands had not qualified for either of the last two 50-over World Cups and did not make it to the second round of the last T20 World Cup and want to rebuild their reputation as one of the stronger “smaller” sides. Namibia have never been at a T20 World Cup and have not played in an major event since the 2003 World Cup and believe they can surpass those glory days almost two decades later.”We had (2003 World Cup captain) Deon Kotze at our send-off event, speaking very fondly. He branded us as being a better team than theirs which is a great honour,” Erasmus said. “Those are individuals we looked up to and guys that sparked something for us. They drew a line in the sand back then and 18 years later, although it’s too long for Cricket Namibia’s liking, we are back at it and hopefully we can continue.”While neither Erasmus nor Seelaar was willing to label themselves their country’s best just yet, they both believe they have the ingredients to fly their flags high, albeit some of their key components come from elsewhere. Incidentally, the same elsewhere.Gerhard Erasmus: “You can’t get anything better than playing lots of games of cricket but we’re a bit over the warm-up games now and we’re raring to go”•Getty Images
Netherlands are headlined by former South African allrounder Roelof van der Merwe and former Warriors player Colin Ackermann, who Seelar singled out as being two players that give them the edge. “We’ve got Colin Ackermann and Roelof van der Merwe – two guys who bat in the top six, who can also bowl,” he said.And Namibia have a South African-heavy coaching staff led by Pierre de Bruyn, with Albie Morkel as assistant and Easterns coach Richard das Neves as a consultant. They will also give an international debut to former South African allrounder David Wiese, whose journeyman T20 career brings vast expertise to the group.”Not only does he bring skills with bat, ball and in the field but he has been to a lot of tournaments and brings a lot of experience having played around the world,” Erasmus said. “He has been amazing with fitting in the changeroom and he is only going to add value to this tournament.”While neither Namibia nor Netherlands played any T20 cricket in the pandemic-affected year of 2020, they are both reasonably happy with the recent preparation they have had, especially Namibia. “We’ve been able to play a lot of cricket back home. Coming from winter, we had to go and find our own cricket. We managed to do that right around Southern Africa,” Erasmus said.Namibia hosted Uganda, a Zimbabwean and South African Emerging side, and a South African domestic team, Titans, which included Test captain Dean Elgar and who Namibia beat. “All those teams brought different challenges. You can’t get anything better than playing lots of games of cricket but we’re a bit over the warm-up games now and we’re raring to go.”Seelaar and his side feel the same. They won the qualifying event for this tournament almost two years ago and are keen to see if they can perform as well now as they did then. On paper, they are probably considered to be as likely as Ireland to progress to the main draw but Seelaar was not going to go there. “There’s no clear favourite and no weak side,” he said, before adding that Sri Lanka would not have it easy. “I wouldn’t say Sri Lanka is definitely* going to go through, they are going to have a hard time beating all three of us.”*October 18 – This quote was amended to include the word “definitely”