This New Tool Can Help Parents Find the Best Sport

Kids these days: they have so many options when it comes to sports. There are organized travel teams, it seems, for every game: soccer, lacrosse, hoops, the works. While a child’s decision about which sport to play might not be as formative as, say, picking a college, it can sure feel that way. And potentially cost as much: fees and travel expenses for some club teams skyrocket to $10,000 per year and beyond.

In trying to navigate today’s youth sports scene, any guidance helps. That’s why a new tool released Thursday by the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, called the Healthy Sport Index, couldn’t be more timely. The handy website allows families to weigh three factors in deciding what sport makes the most sense: safety, physical activity, and the sport’s psychosocial benefits. The index then provides a customized ranking of ten sports, based on where a child lands on a sliding scale of “low emphasis” to “high emphasis” for each of the three factors.

So say, for example, your son wants to put maximum emphasis on psychosocial benefits: he wants a sport that will help him develop social skills, cognitive skills, and otherwise enhance his mental health. He cares about a sport’s safety, but is willing to take some injury risk; so here, he falls in the middle of the scale. But he’s ambivalent about physical activity: your son doesn’t care how much energy he expends in practice. He gives it the lowest possible emphasis on the Heathy Sport Index scale. Based on this mix, the Healthy Sport Index puts swimming on top, while lacrosse comes in tenth.

Meanwhile, your daredevil daughter can care less about getting hurt, but places the highest possible emphasis on working out hard while playing her sport and developing useful life skills, like setting goals. Healthy Sport Index says: sign her up for tennis! (Cheerleading falls to the bottom here. The ten girls’ sports ranked by the Healthy Sport Index are basketball, cheerleading, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. For the boys it’s baseball, basketball, cross country, football, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and wrestling.)

The Aspen Institute, in consultation with medical experts, compiled data for the index from a variety of sources. The National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study, produced by the Colorado School of Public Health, provided injury rates for various sports. For the psychosocial component, the Aspen Institute surveyed almost 1,300 high school athletes from across the country, and asked students whether their sport helped them improve in areas like sharing responsibility and patience. Researchers from North Carolina State University observed almost 700 hours of varsity practices to document the physical activity levels of each high school sport. The architects of the index were keen to account for the positive benefits of different sports, to counterbalance the downside risks.

“We talk a lot about injuries in youth sports, for good reason,” says Dr. Neeru Jayanthi, director of sports medicine research at Emory University. “But it’s important to look at all aspects of the athletic experience. If you just focus on one, you’re missing the boat.”

For example, football, which has witnessed participation declines due to well-founded worries about head injuries, ranks second among boys’ sports for psychosocial benefits. (Soccer comes in first.) High school football players reported more improvements in social skills and cognitive skills than athletes in any of the nine other sports. The Aspen Institute’s research was less encouraging for, say, boy’s lacrosse, which ranked ninth in safety, ahead of just football, and tenth in psychosocial benefits. Lacrosse players were most likely to cut class, binge drink, use marijuana and smoke cigarettes. In girls’ sports, basketball provided the most psychosocial upside, whereas cheerleading ranked tenth on both the psychosocial and physical activity scales.

Not that cheerleading or lacrosse or any other sport are at all detrimental, say the creators of the Healthy Sport Index. Every activity can have a positive impact on a kid’s life. “It’s better to be playing a sport,” says Jon Solomon, editorial director for the Aspen’s Sports & Society Program, “than to be sitting on the couch all day doing nothing.”

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France beat Croatia 4-2 to win FIFA World Cup 2018

MOSCOW > France overwhelmed Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium on Sunday to lift the trophy for the second time in 20 years.

Mario Mandzukic pounces on the mistake by Lloris, and it is now 4-2 to France!

Kylian Mbappé scores fourth GOAL for France in 65th minute.

Paul Pogba extends France’s lead over Croatia with GOAL, becoming the first Premium League player to score in the World Cup final since Emmanuel Petit in 1998.

Anto Griezmann scores second GOAL for France.

Croatian midfielder Ivan Perisic blasts first goal in 28th minute.

Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic is the first player to ever score an own goal in a World Cup final.

The FIFA world cup final match started at 8:00pm (PST). Daily Pakistan will present live score & live updates for it’s valued viewers at en.dailypakistan.com.pk

It is a final few people anticipated when football’s global showpiece kicked off four weeks ago.

Croatia have brought joy to their Balkan nation of just four million people by defying the odds to progress to the final while reigning champions Germany, then Argentina and Brazil all fell by the wayside in Russia.

They have been inspired by mercurial midfielder Luka Modric while coach Zlatko Dalic, who only took over last year with the squad in chaos, has coaxed remarkable performances from his team.

Deschamps would become only the third man to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager — he was captain when France lifted the World Cup in 1998.

His France side, spearheaded by 19-year-old forward Kylian Mbappe and the more seasoned Antoine Griezmann, are the favourites.

Paul Pogba has finally become a leader in midfield for France and N’Golo Kante has excelled in doing the tireless work that allows his teammates to shine, while Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane are the nucleus of a solid defence.

Les Bleus laboured through their group, beating Australia and Peru by the odd goal and drawing with Denmark in the only goalless game of the tournament.

Then they hit form, sweeping aside Argentina in a match which announced to the world that Mbappe is set to be an international superstar as he scored twice and outshone Lionel Messi.

But apart from that 4-3 win, France have played like a Deschamps side, with the emphasis on defence.

On the streets

The cavernous 80,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium will be the setting for the final, but the biggest celebrations will take place on the streets of the winning country.

Tens of thousands of people poured onto the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris after France’s semi-final win against Belgium and expectations at home are high.

“Of course we know what’s happening in France, all the more so after seeing all the images after the Belgium game,” goalkeeper Hugo Lloris said on Saturday.

“But tomorrow we will be coming up against opponents of great quality. They deserve to be in the final just as much as us.

“They have demonstrated their worth and that they have the physical and mental resources to go and win it.”

Croatia have shown impressive resolve to withstand three successive matches that went to extra-time — Mario Mandzukic’s winner in the 109th minute defeated England in the semi-final on Wednesday.

Dalic said on Saturday he was prepared to make changes for the final if any of his players have failed to recover from their exertions.

“Tomorrow is the World Cup final. Simply, the players know what that is,” the coach said. “One thing that brings me happiness is that all my players tell me if they are not 100 percent fit.

“They know what is at stake, but if they are unable to give their all they will tell us.” Ivan Perisic, who scored and set up Mandzukic’s winner against England, was among five Croatian players to miss training on Friday.

“We need relaxation and rest to gain freshness for tomorrow,” Dalic said. “We have some minor injuries, minor problems, and I hope my players will be ready. If not, I have great players on the bench who will be raring to go.”

The last time the two nations met in a World Cup was in the 1998 semi-final when two Lilian Thuram goals sunk a Croatian side playing in their first World Cup as an independent nation.

Win or lose, this Croatia team are already national heroes for improving on the 1998 team’s performance.

Belgium proved too strong for England in Saturday’s third-place playoff as Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard scored in Saint Petersburg and the Belgians bettered the achievement of their 1986 team.

England’s Harry Kane looked tired and did not add to his six goals in the tournament, although he remains the favorite to win the Golden Boot for top scorer, barring a remarkable performance from Mbappe or Griezmann in the final — both are on three goals.

Despite coming close to reaching their first World Cup for 52 years, England coach Gareth Southgate said that “against the very best teams we’ve come up short”.

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France BEAT Croatia 4-2 to WIN World Cup

MOSCOW > France overwhelmed Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium on Sunday to lift the trophy for the second time in 20 years.

The French, playing their third World Cup final, were made to sweat initially and were lucky to go ahead when Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic headed an Antoine Griezmann free kick into his own net in the 18th minute, the first own goal in a World Cup final.

Ivan Perisic levelled with a powerful shot 10 minutes later but the Croatia midfielder was then penalised for handball following a VAR review and Griezmann stepped up coolly to convert the 38th-minute penalty and put France 2-1 up.

Croatia fought hard for an hour but gradually ran out of steam after playing extra time in their three previous matches, and goals from Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe gave France a three-goal cushion.

Mandzukic pounced on a mistake by France keeper Hugo Lloris to cut the deficit in the 69th minute, making it the highest-scoring final over 90 minutes in 60 years, but Croatia could not find the net again in their first World Cup final.

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Pakistani weightlifter Nooh Butt breaks Commonwealth Games record

Karachi > Pakistan’s weightlifter Nooh Dastagir Butt managed to smash a record at the Commonwealth Games 2018 by registering the highest-ever weight by a junior in the +105kg event while also earning the country its second medal at the event on Monday.

Butt won a bronze after he bettered his previous record of 389kg at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship that also took place in Gold Coast, Australia last year.

At the Games, he lifted a total of 395kg to make a junior record, edging past India’s Gurdeep Singh but falling behind New Zealand’s David Liti, who lifted 403kg, and Lauititi Lui (400kg) for the top two spots, reported Express Tribune.

The Gujranwala-based athlete didn’t avail his other chances however and caved in to pressure. He got 173kg in the snatch but failed there in the next two attempts, and lifted 222kg in clean & jerk again, missing the next two attempts.

If Nooh had managed to get five of his six attempts successful, he could’ve got us the gold,” Pakistan Weightlifting Federation Vice-President Rashed Malik, who has had a major hand in developing the new crop of athletes.

The 20-year-old has been training vigorously to achieve that feat and is among the seven weightlifters to represent the country at the Games.

This is just the second medal for Pakistan in the Games, with Nooh’s fellow weightlifter Talha Talib also breaking a record in the 62kg event while clinching bronze.

The youngsters have been working hard to achieve their goals since 2014 and out of a Pakistani contingent of 56 athletes, these two are the only ones to have delivered any medals so far.

Pakistan are currently on 26th position in the rankings table.

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France ’98 – when Croatia crashed the World Cup party

MOSCOW > Croatia’s appearance in the World Cup final has allowed the current generation to stand alongside the heroes of 1998, who crashed that year’s tournament in France to forge an indelible collective memory for the fledgling nation.

Seven years after they gained independence from the former Yugoslavia, Croatia’s thrilling and unexpected run to the semi-finals was, for just about everyone except the victorious hosts, the highlight of France ‘98.

For all the euphoria, their success should not have been seen as a total surprise. Two years earlier at the European Championship, they had reached the quarter-finals, losing 2-1 to eventual champions Germany.

And of course Yugoslavia had a long and proud record of producing technically gifted players — they beat Brazil in their first World Cup match in 1930 and were twice European Championship finalists.

But, to many around the world, the sight of those crazy red-and-white checked shirts was still a new thing in 1998 and the men wearing them made the most of every second in the limelight.

They were a highly talented group, led by Zvonimir Boban, Real Madrid striker Davor Suker, who went on to be the tournament’s top scorer and is the current Croatian FA chief, and brilliant midfielder Robert Prosinecki.

Memories of the civil war were still fresh for the players and helped to forge a truly special bond.

“I think we are much stronger now on the field after what we’ve been through. There is nothing to be afraid of now on the green pitch,” defender Igor Stimac said at the time.

They were coached by the experienced Miroslav Blazevic, a fierce political campaigner for independence.

“I took advantage of the intense patriotism in the squad,” he said. “We were very much an unknown country so it was our chance to put the team and the whole country in the spotlight. It was easy to motivate the players.”

Wins over Jamaica and Japan sent Croatia through to the last 16, despite a 1-0 defeat by Argentina, then the fun really started as Suker scored the only goal to beat Romania and set up a quarter-final with Germany.

In a brutal encounter, a 40th-minute red card for Germany’s Christian Woerns changed the game and goals by Robert Jarni, Goran Vlaocic and Suker secured a stunning 3-0 victory over the European champions.

If anyone in the footballing world had still not been aware of Croatia, they were now, as incredibly, they found themselves in the last four and facing hosts France.

A minute after halftime Suker struck to put Croatia ahead but they barely had time to dream before Lilian Thuram equalised. Freakishly the fullback then got a second goal 20 minutes from time — his only two goals in a career of more than 140 internationals.

It was far from over, however, as some outrageous “simulation” by Slaven Bilic led to the dismissal of Laurent Blanc — subsequently banned from the final — and meant France had to hang on desperately to go through.

Though there was disappointment Croatia finished on a high note by beating the Netherlands in the third-place playoff and returned home as heroes.

“The whole country was happy and very proud — but I was sad,” said Blazevic.

“If I had the experience then that I do now then Croatia would have been champions of the world.”

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France’s road to the 2018 World Cup final

MOSCOW > France’s progression to Sunday’s World Cup final, where they face Croatia as they target a second title to add to their victory on home soil in 1998, has included arguably the tournament’s most boring and most exciting matches.

France 2-1 Australia, Group C

France produced an overall disappointing performance in their opening game but still got the job done, a scenario that would be repeated throughout their run to the final.

Antoine Griezmann converted the first World Cup penalty to be awarded after a video review to break the deadlock, but a bizarre handball by Samuel Umtiti saw Australia hit back. After a double substitution from Didier Deschamps, Paul Pogba grabbed a winner with 10 minutes left with a heavily deflected shot.

France 1-0 Peru, Group C

Deschamps recalled experienced hands Olivier Giroud and Blaise Matuidi to his starting line-up for their second game, and France improved but still struggled to impress against the South Americans.

The breakthrough came with a deflected shot from Giroud which Kylian Mbappe tapped into the net, although Peru were not far from levelling when Pedro Aquino clanged the crossbar. The win saw France into the last 16 and sent Peru out.

France 0-0 Denmark, Group C

Deschamps made six changes to his team for the final group game and only needed a point to guarantee top spot, a result which also suited the Danes and would guarantee their passage to the last 16.

To little surprise, the circumstances lead to the tournament’s first goalless draw and probably its least interesting game, with neither side willing to take any risks in attack.

France 4-3 Argentina, last 16

A match-up worthy of a World Cup final kicked off the knockout phase and was a thriller from the start, when Mbappe blazed through the middle of the pitch and won a penalty which Griezmann converted, right to the finish, when Sergio Aguero headed in an injury time goal to set up a tense finale.

In between, Angel di Maria scored a sensational long range strike, Benjamin Pavard cancelled out Gabriel Mercado’s scrappy goal with an equally impressive hit, and Mbappe scored two thumping goals to restore France’s lead and then extend it, adding extra panache to an already enthralling spectacle.

Uruguay 0-2 France, quarter-final

Griezmann had predicted that facing a team marshalled by his Atletico Madrid teammates Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez would be a boring affair, and it took a Raphael Varane header from one of the forward’s free-kicks to open it up.

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris preserved France’s lead with a stunning save to deny Martin Caceres, while Griezmann ended the game as a contest with a speculative shot that slipped through Fernando Muslera’s hands, although he opted against celebrating out of his affection for Uruguay.

France 1-0 Belgium, semi-final

With France great Thierry Henry in the opposing dugout as assistant coach and a Belgium team full of players who had learned their trade at French clubs, this semi-final was packed with narratives and did not disappoint.

Belgium played the more attractive football, with Eden Hazard their main source of danger. But France were more street wise, playing a careful, defensive game and striking with Samuel Umtiti’s header from a corner kick.

Paul Pogba summed up France’s ruthless mentality in the game, saying: “I am not a natural defender, but I want to win the World Cup, and you have to make sacrifices.”

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Belgium beat England to secure third place finish

ST PETERSBURG > Belgium beat England 2-0 in the World Cup third-place play-off on Saturday to secure their best ever finish at a World Cup and send Gareth Southgate’s side home with a second straight loss.

France will face Croatia in Sunday’s final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

A fourth-minute goal from Thomas Meunier and an 82nd minute Eden Hazard strike earned Belgium the victory and the third-place, which improves on their previous best performance of a fourth-place finish in 1986.

England were on top for most of the second half but with captain Harry Kane looking tired, Belgium’s greater sharpness in the final third proved decisive.

Meunier’s goal came after Romelu Lukaku swung the ball out left to Nacer Chadli who burst down the wing and slipped the ball across the face of the goal and the midfielder confidently slotted past Jordan Pickford.

The goal means Belgium have had 10 different goalscorers at this World Cup — equalling the record set by France in 1982 and Italy in 2006.

While England manager Gareth Southgate made five changes to the side which lost to Croatia, Belgium boss Roberto Martinez made just two switches.

Meunier returned from suspension and Youri Tielemans given a start ahead of Maroune Fellaini in midfield with the Belgians fielding their strong front three of Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard.

De Bruyne should have made it 2-0 in the 12th minute when the ball found him at the back post after a slip-up from John Stones, but his poorly struck shot was easily dealt with by Pickford.

Kane, the tournament’s top scorer with six goals, had an opportunity when set up by Raheem Sterling in the 24th minute but was off-balance as he screwed his shot wide.

Southgate brought on Marcus Rashford for Sterling and Jesse Lingard for Danny Rose at the break and the change worked well, with England well on top in the second half.

Toby Alderweireld was forced to clear an Eric Dier effort off his line at full stretch after a neat exchange between the Tottenham midfielder and Rashford ended with a chip over Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois.

Dier and then Harry Maguire both headed wide from promising positions, while at thee other end Meunier went close to a second with a powerful volley that Pickford did well to save.

But the game was wrapped up when De Bruyne burst from midfield and slipped the ball through to Hazard, who glided past Phil Jones and fired into the bottom corner.

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Deschamps looks to his own three Cs for World Cup final success

MOSCOW > France coach Didier Deschamps has instructed his players in his own version of the three Cs — calm, confidence and concentration — as preparation for Sunday’s World Cup final against Croatia.

The French are favorites to win the World Cup when they take on the Croatians at Luzhniki stadium but Deschamps is well aware they were also fancied to beat Portugal in the Euro 2016 final, which they lost.

Deschamps revealed he had come up with a variation on the industry model for success — company, customers and competitors — to help his players deal with the pressures of playing such a big game.

“It’s a huge pleasure and privilege to play in such a match, there’s nothing more beautiful as a professional football player than to play in the World Cup final,” he told reporters on Saturday.

“We have prepared them as best we can. We must stay calm, we must have confidence and we must concentrate — these are the three words we’ve have been focusing on to get them ready for the final.”

Deschamps said France were a very different team than the one that lost to Portugal in Paris two years ago, which inevitably meant they lacked something in experience compared to the Croatians.

“The 14 players I have integrated since the Euro final, they have only learned what playing a big tournament is all about here in Russia, so of course the experience is less but the quality is there,” he added.

“Croatia has players with great club experience and their squad has been together for a long time but every team we’ve faced here has been more experienced.”

Still, he thought, the nine players who were in the squad at Euro 2016 would ensure the French team for Sunday would learn lessons from the experience of that final, if only to pass on how it felt to lose such a big match.

Deschamps captained France to victory in their first World Cup final in 1998 and on Sunday could join Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer as the only men to have won the World Cup as both a player and a coach.

Taking part in a big final on the pitch and watching from the sidelines were two very different experiences, he said.

“When you are player, you are an actor but as a coach you are working through the players. I am at the service of my players but the match belongs to them,” he said.

“Being a player you expend physical energy, but when you are a coach it’s more psychological and you have a different kind of fatigue.”

France were accused of being over-confident in the 2016 final having beaten world champions Germany in the semi-final and Deschamps said everybody in the French camp was aware that matches could be won and lost by factors out of their control.

“There is no euphoria here, we are all satisfied because we have reached this point, and this is the biggest game of the year,” he said.

“But beyond that, the result will show whether we have got it right. Every coach knows that such matches can be won on tiny details, and sometimes the most irrational things.”

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France 1 ----- 0 Belgium

PETERSBURG – France Scores 1-0 against Belgium as they battle for the spot in the finals. The winner of the game will face either England or Croatia, which are due to play on Wednesday, in the final game of the tournament.

The first World Cup’s semifinals match between France and Belgium has kicked off in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg.

During the first half of the game, both teams showed some fight, the first half ended with the 0-0 score.

Umtiti scored the first goal for France making it 1-0 at the 51st minute.

France made it to the semifinals after defeating Uruguay 2-0, while Belgium triumphed over World Cup’s favourite Brazil 2-1.

French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium as well as the country’s Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, are attending the game.

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Chose your Favorite team

FRANCE v/s Belgium 2018 FiFa World Cup Football
In comments chose your favorite team and share with your friends.

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What now for Neymar after image-shattering World Cup?

As the World Cup nears its conclusion, Brazilian forward Neymar is faced with not just a bitter few days of what might have been, but a coming season of what to do now.

The Paris St German striker arrived in Russia hoping to guide Brazil to their sixth title and also as favorite to succeed thirty-somethings Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world.

Instead, he was ridiculed for his haircuts, diving and tears, and the 26-year old must now decide what to do about his tattered reputation.

He can respond on the field by playing well and winning matches, something that is second nature to a man who won league titles in Brazil, Spain and France, and lifted the Champions League with Barcelona and the Copa Libertadores with Santos.

But restoring his reputation off the field is more difficult.

“In terms of communications, Neymar’s big problem – and it’s one common to other athletes – is his lack of empathy,” Diogo Kotscho, a communications specialist who looked after Kaka’s career and is now VP of Communications at MLS club Orlando City, told Reuters.

“He is very protected, and the people who speak for him are his dad, his mum, his sister, his girlfriend. Neymar never speaks and when he does it is via social media or in tightly controlled interview situations. Any identification with him is superficial. The priority is getting him to open up and let the public know the real Neymar.”

To many football fans, as well as to the coaches and players who criticised him, the Neymar they saw in Russia was spoilt and narcissistic.

Read More: Ronaldo defends Neymar as English also accused of diving

One particular incident against Serbia, when he rolled along the touchline in overwrought hysteria, became an instant source of ridicule.

Memes picturing the fakery were shared millions of times, as were videos of children imitating his exaggerated response in parks and stadiums as far apart as Mexico and Scotland.

Neymar is an obsessive user of social media, and with 99 million followers on Instagram and 61 million likes on Facebook he has considerable influence. People who know him invariably say he is polite and easy going.

But because he appears to live his life surrounded by a protective entourage, it is not clear whether he has seen or cares about the ridicule.

Nor is it clear whether he intends to do anything about it when he begins the new season at PSG, a club he joined last year.

A spokeswoman has rebuffed repeated requests from Reuters over the last year to talk to Neymar, his agent father, and his financial advisers.

But Kotscho said those financial experts could be decisive in any future decisions about an image makeover.

“Maybe when it starts to harm his business the red light will flash,” he said. “Top players earn more from image rights than from actually playing football, so if the sponsors start disappearing that might be the moment he starts to pay attention.”

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England beat Sweden 2-0 to play FIFA World Cup semifinal after 28 years

MOSCOW > England beat Sweden 2-0 to reach semi-finals of FIFA World Cup 2018 being played in Russia.

England are through to the World Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1990, where they will face Russia or Croatia.

Harry Maguire and Dele Alli got the goals as they overcame a Sweden side that made life rather easy for their English opponents in Samara.

Leicester defender Maguire headed in the opening goal from a corner on 30 minutes, with Alli adding a second just before the hour.

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford then produced a series of crucial saves in the final half-hour to seal England’s long-awaited spot in the last four.

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Veteran Italian goalkeeper Buffon signs with PSG

PARIS: French football champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on Friday announced that the signing of Italian veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon on a one-year contract, with one additional year as an option for the former Juventus captain.

“It is with a great feeling of happiness that I join Paris Saint-Germain,” reacted Buffon following the signature of his contract, reports Xinhua news agency.

Buffon, 40, joined PSG from Serie A champions Juventus where his contract expired on June 30, 2018. He was elected best goalkeeper of the beginning of the 21st century by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. At the end of 2017, he was listed in FIFA’s Best XI which honored the best players of 2017.

Buffon started his career at Parma, making his professional debut in 1995 at the age of 17. In 2001, his move became the biggest transfer in the history of goalkeepers when he joined Juventus. In a white and black jersey, Buffon played 655 matches, winning 9 titles as the champion of Italy and appearing in 3 UEFA Champions League finals (2003, 2015, 2017).

In national team jersey, Buffon will always be regarded as a major factor in Italy’s World Cup win in 2006. His 176 appearances in a 20-year international career make the player the most capped in the history of European football.

Club and international appearances combined, Buffon has played 1,051 official matches and won 23 trophies.

“For the first time in my career, I am leaving my country and only a project this ambitious could have encouraged me to make such a decision. I want to thank the club and the president for their confidence,” Buffon said.

“To have followed the club’s incredible progression in recent years, I know what dreams Paris Saint-Germain and its fans have in their hearts. I am going to bring all my energy, all my experience and all of my thirst to win to help my new club achieve all the great objectives it has set out for the future,” he added.

“With my teammates and our supporters, we will share fantastic emotions at the Parc des Princes and in all of the stadiums in which we are going to represent Paris, a marvelous city that deserves to one day see its club at the top of international football.”

PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi: “We all feel an immense pride in welcoming Gianluigi Buffon into the great Paris Saint-Germain family at the immensity of his career, as well as his ambitious personality, unifying and elegant, make him one of the most admired and respected players in world football.

“At 40 years old, his passion for football is intact and Gianluigi has found the ideal environment in our project to set himself extremely high objectives transmitting his experience, not only to the other goalkeepers at the club but to all of our players,” added Al-Khelaifi.

“Our supporters will know how to welcome Buffon with the enthusiasm and love that he deserves. His arrival reaffirms our will to always go higher, an ambition that we intend to pursue with a determination just as strong.”

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Belgium Beat Brazi 2-1

Belgium hold off Brazil fightback to reach semi-finals

Belgium struck early and held off a late Brazil fightback to send the five-times champions tumbling out of the World Cup with a 2-1 victory in an end-to-end thriller on Friday that earned them a semi-final against France.

A Fernandinho own goal and a brilliant Kevin De Bruyne strike gave Belgium a spot in the last four for the second time after 1986 and sent Brazil home at the quarter-final stage for the third time in the last four World Cups.

Brazil dominated possession and carved out chance after chance but could not score until substitute Renato Augusto headed home Philippe Coutinho’s cross 14 minutes from time.

Roared on by the vast majority of the crowd at the Kazan Arena, the Brazilians poured forward to try and save the game but Roberto Firmino, Augusto and Coutinho spurned gilt-edged opportunities to level the scores.

If Belgium’s first goal in the 13th minute had an element of luck, the ball going into the net off Fernandinho’s shoulder from a corner, the second in the 31st minute was a shining example of counter-attacking football.

Romelu Lukaku took the ball with his back to goal, turned into space and stormed past Fernandinho up the pitch before releasing De Bruyne on his right for the playmaker to rifle the ball into the net from the edge of the box.

De Bruyne, playing in a more advanced role than he had in Belgium’s previous four matches, was at the heart of his team’s best work, managing the transition from rearguard defence to attack with vision, pace and accuracy.

This was no repeat of Belo Horizonte four years ago, when Brazil were thrashed 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals on home soil, and Tite’s side kept their shape and composure.

Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, though, made a fine saves from Coutinho and Serbian referee Milorad Mazic waved away penalty appeals from Neymar and Gabriel Jesus.

The Brazilians finally got some reward for their efforts with Augusto’s header and Belgium needed a brilliant fingertip Courtois save from Neymar in the last seconds to secure a date with neighbours France in St Petersburg on Tuesday. Reuters

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Croatia’s World Cup hero Goalkeeper Danijel Subasic remembers tragic friend

Goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, the hero of Croatia’s dramatic World Cup win against Denmark, has revealed he wears a T-shirt in honour of a friend who died after hitting his head on a concrete wall during a match.

Subasic has been the focus of frenzied media attention since he saved three Denmark penalties in a shootout on Sunday to ensure Croatia’s place in the quarter-finals in Russia.

On most of the photos in the Croatian press he is seen in a T-shirt he wears under his jersey, featuring a portrait of Hrvoje Custic under the caption “Forever”.

The two played together for their hometown team NK Zadar when in 2008 Custic tragically hit his head on a concrete wall surrounding the pitch during a First Division match. He died a few days later.

Subasic, 33, always plays in a T-shirt with Custic’s image under his jersey, sometimes with the caption “Where are you, my angel?”

“My Hrvoje will always be with me, and not only on a T-shirt but also in my heart,” Subasic said before the World Cup in Russia.

Subasic remained modest about his performance on Sunday.

“Penalties are a lottery, this time luck was on our side,” the Monaco goalkeeper told the press.

NK Zadar were also the first team of Croatia captain Luka Modric and the two played there together.

“These are all … kids of Zadar and our club. I cannot be more proud,” Svetko Custic, the father of Hrvoje Custic and NK Zadar director, said after the win against Denmark.

Croatia play against hosts Russia on Saturday in Sochi.

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Football World Cup Cat

A “psychic” cat in China that correctly predicted the outcome of six World Cup games has met an untimely end, prompting thousands to pour out their grief on Chinese social media.

The orange-furred tabby, named “Baidian’er”, which means “white spot” in Chinese, was a stray that prowled around the Palace Museum in Beijing’s Forbidden City.

He was offered two bowls of food, with the flags of competing World Cup teams stuck in the ground behind them.

Baidian’er correctly predicted the results of six World Cup games.

He achieved such fame that the Palace Museum even set up an account for him on China’s Weibo, a popular Twitter-like platform.

Unfortunately, Baidian’er’s correct prediction of an Argentinian win against Nigeria turned out to be his last.

The museum said the cat fell ill and finally announced its death on Monday, sparking almost 10,000 comments on Weibo.

“Every time I go to the Forbidden City, I have to go see Baidian’er, take a photo, play for a while, see him sleep on the grass in the sun,” wrote one distraught user.

“Go on living a happy life in Cat Heaven, I’ll see you again.”

It has not been a good week for animal prognosticators.

In Japan, an octopus caught in the northern region of Hokkaido correctly predicted the outcome of three of Japan’s World Cup matches, but like the Blue Samurai met an unfortunate fate.

Even before Japan qualified for the final 16, the octopus named Rabio was reportedly sold and turned into sashimi.

Rabio was following on from the most successful salty soothsayer, an Octopus named Paul who achieved global fame by correctly predicting eight 2010 World Cup games from his aquarium in Germany.

Paul became a worldwide media sensation, with his latter predictions covered by hordes of international media.

But Paul fell offside with his home fans after correctly predicting that Germany would lose to Spain. His aquarium received menacing letters threatening to turn him into a tasty dish.

In the stands, the honor of Paul’s mother was called into question and some sections of the crowd watching on giant screens in Berlin sang anti-octopus songs.

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World Cup fans head underground to Stalin’s bunker

SAMARA: As the Russian city of Samara gears up for Saturday’s England-Sweden clash, some fans have been taking time out to discover a darker side of the city hidden underground.

Hundreds of visiting supporters have been queuing up to visit Josef Stalin’s bunker – chambers dug out underneath the southwestern city to protect the Soviet leader from a Nazi German assault that never came.

“You get goosebumps. You can’t imagine all of that happened just here and only a few years ago. It is a very good experience to take back to our country,” said Mexico fan Josue Resend is.

Supporters, many still wearing their team’s tops, carefully walk down flights of narrow stairs until they are 37 meters (120 feet) below the soccer celebrations.

“To think that a place that today shows so much happiness has had a past in which children, women were carrying arms and building planes in order to have one human being fighting another human being because of an ideology…” Thiago Andrade from Brazil told Reuters.

“It is good that it is over and that things in the world are now solved in a different way.”

The bunker was built in 1942, but remained a secret to Samara’s citizens until 1990, when it was uncovered and later turned into a museum.

Its walls were built to withstand a direct hit from an aerial bomb and held enough provisions to feed Stalin and his entourage for up to five days.

During World War II, Samara – then named Kuibyshev – was chosen to be the alternative capital of the Soviet Union should Moscow fall to the German troops, and the shelter was meant to be the headquarters of the Armed Forces, led by Stalin.

He never had to use it.

The bottom floor contains two rooms: the main chamber which could accommodate 115 people and was meant to serve as meeting room, and Stalin’s personal chamber, the tourists’ favorite.

Here they can sit at Stalin’s desk, pick up the handset and “call the Kremlin”.

Legend has it, according to a museum guide, that the phone line used to be live until a French tourist called home and ran up an extortionate bill.

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