#1

e Germans last-ditch defense proved impenetrable.

in Meet Other Ponies And TALK! Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:58 am
by corse178 • 1.660 Posts

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The hundreds of Villanova fans at Charlestons TD Arena gathered with coach Jay Wright and his Wildcats to cheer their latest in-season tournament championship.Most of them surely believe winning the Charleston Classic can lead the defending national champions to even bigger celebrations this season.I feel good about where we are, our path, Wright said Sunday night.The Wildcats passed their biggest test yet in staring down UCF and 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall for a 67-57 victory, giving Villanova an in-season tournament title for the fourth straight season.Josh Hart, a preseason All-America selection, scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half and was chosen the events MVP. He and his teammates showed their savvy in maneuvering around Fall, whose wingspan is 8 feet, 2 inches.Its genius how they use him, Wright said. Its hard to play them. Theyre a tough team.The Knights anchor Fall near the basket on defense while his teammates switch through different schemes to frustrate opponents. If anyone dares to drive the lane, Fall is waiting to swat it away.On offense, Fall is also underneath waiting for entry passes that he can efficiently jam home for dunks.Fall made all 10 of his shots and finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds. He went 26 of 31 from the floor with 34 rebounds in three tournament games and was a constant headache for defenders.All I could do was make it difficult for him to get post touches, said Darryl Reynolds, the 6-9 Villanova forward charged with fronting Fall. You cant block his shot because he does a good job keeping the ball high.Reynolds, a senior starter, finished with two points and fouled out after 26 minutes.Still, it was the Wildcats celebrating. Fans and teammates sang Happy Birthday to Final Four star Kris Jenkins, who had 12 points despite an off shooting night as Villanova ran its November record the past four years to 24-0.It was a great way to spend my birthday, he said. I wouldnt have it any other way.UCF closed to 37-32 on Matt Williams basket with 16 minutes left. Then the Wildcats took off on a 12-3 run to extend the lead. Hart had a jumper and his only 3-pointer in the surge. The Knights never got within single digits after that.Theyve been in that position before, you could tell, UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. They made the big plays when they needed to make them.Villanova freshman Donte DiVincenzo had 13 points, and Jalen Brunson added 12.Williams scored 17 points for UCF.BIG PICTUREVillanova: The Wildcats showed their resiliency and skill in battering three opponents in Charleston, all by double digits. If youre nitpicking for a deficiency, it might be a lack of height; Reynolds played center most of the weekend.We knew this was coming, Wright said.Villanova has won three games in the past week against teams that had height advantages: No. 15 Purdue, Wake Forest and UCF.UCF: The Knights picture is always big with Fall, the tallest player in the game. The school says he is among the 40 tallest people in the world, too. But UCFs offense at times doesnt run through Fall, maybe because hes still developing his passing skills down low. If that happens, look for the Knights and Fall to take off as he becomes a more versatile player.POLL IMPLICATIONSLook for Villanova to move up a spot after No. 1 Duke lost to seventh-ranked Kansas earlier this week.CHART CLIMBERWright has 359 victories at Villanova, moving past former boss Rollie Massimino into second place on the schools all-time list among coaches. Only Al Severance with 413 stands in front of Wright.UP NEXTVillanova heads home to face the College of Charleston. After the teams spent the past four days crisscrossing each other at TD Arena, they travel to Philadelphia to play Wednesday night.UCF begins a two-game homestand against Seattle on Saturday night.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org Thiago Silva Paris Saint-Germain Jersey . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. Custom Paris Saint-Germain Jerseys . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. http://www.parissaintgermainfcstore.com/Women-Marco-Verratti-Paris-Saint-Germain-Jersey/ . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Thilo Kehrer Jersey . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. Sebastien Cibois Jersey .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. RIO DE JANEIRO -- The sound was already deafening. You couldnt hear. You couldnt think. Eighty thousand screaming Brazilians was something you felt. But it wasnt good enough. Neymar wanted more. And so the 24-year-old lifted his arms up and down, up and down, begging the sea of yellow to get even louder.A few seconds earlier, he had started this frenzy by magically twisting a free kick into the top corner of the goal to give Brazil a 1-0 lead in its Olympic final against Germany. He thought this was the moment. The iconic image of his country winning its first Olympic gold would be him, following his goal by mimicking Usain Bolts arrow-shooting celebration and then choreographing the fans into a frenzy.He had no idea. This was only the beginning. A little more than two hours later the Brazilian wunderkind would fall to the field in a bed of celebratory tears. He would laugh and dance and cry and take a victory lap on the pristine grass of the hallowed Maracana, the heartbeat of Brazilian soccer. In the fifth round of penalty kicks, his right foot would boot the ball past the German keeper, inciting nationwide celebrations from the Amazon to Sao Paulo and all points in between.I cant begin to describe [my feelings], Neymar said afterward. I have fulfilled my dream and to have fulfilled it in my home country makes me very proud. This is one of the best things that have happened in my life. Thats it. Now the critics will have to [take back their words].The noise when Neymars winning penalty landed in the back of the net could only be described as spine-tingling. It made the raucous celebration after his goal look like polite golf claps. Fans hugged, kissed and danced in the aisles. The party would go on indefinitely, with chants and cheers and a spirited rendition of the Brazilian national anthem during the medal ceremony.This was about far more than the most decorated soccer nation on the planet finally winning the one title that for so long had eluded it. Or doing it on home soil. This was about restoring pride in a country built on a bedrock of soccer. Two years ago, the Selecao were downright humiliated in a 7-1 loss to Germany in the semifinals of the Brazil-hosted World Cup. That 7-1 score became woven into Brazilian culture, used to describe any sort of embarrassing outcome. Then the squad failed to impress at this summers Copa Centenario in the United States. And it is currently sixth in World Cup qualifying in South America. In other words, when the Olympic soccer tournament began, morale was at an all-time low.Neymars right foot changed that. Even though this is an age-restricted tournament whose global popularity doesnt come close to that of the World Cup, the young Brazilians showed their biggest fans its OK to believe again. Its OK to pour everything you have into watching 90-plus minutes of soccer. It will be worth it in the end.Brazilian football is not dead, said coach Rogerio Micale. We have great potential and hope to achieve more great things in the future.The match will also have a profound effect on how Brazilians feel about the Olympics. In many ways, Saturday nights victory was the unofficial closing ceremony. And it couldnt have gone any better for the home team. When the Olympics draw to a close Sunday night, it will bring to a merciful end a nine-year run that saw the country host three major international sporting events: the Pan American Games, the World Cup and the Olympic Games. It hasnt gone seamlessly. And there will without question be a long-term debate about whether or not thhese Olympics will prove to be a good thing for Brazil.ddddddddddddut after the Olympic spotlight spent the last several months talking about Zika, feces-filled water and the escalating violence in Brazils streets, the final memory the Brazilians will have of these games is Olympic gold in the sport that matters most. This is how it long has been in this country: the pride over their international dominance in the sport of soccer helping to make the problems at home a bit more palatable.We knew the huge responsibility on the shoulders of the Olympic team, Micale added. Football is the No. 1 sport in Brazil. But now this phase has passed we can look to the future of Brazilian football more confident and proud.When the tournament began two weeks earlier, this top-of-the-podium outcome couldnt have seemed any more unlikely. Sixteen days ago, the Brazilians opened their Olympic campaign with a scoreless draw against South Africa. In their second match they again failed to score in another tie to the 99th-ranked team in the world, Iraq. Yes, Brazil tied Iraq. On Brazilian soil. But a 4-0 thrashing of Denmark pushed the Brazilians to the medal round, where a 4-0 win over Portugal in the quarterfinals and a 6-0 domination of Honduras in the semis set the stage for Saturday night.From the very beginning, there were nerves in the air and pressure on the shoulders of everyone on the field wearing yellow. It was three nights earlier when a pair of Germans ruined the midnight party on Copacabana Beach, beating Brazilian volleyball stars Agatha and Barbara in straight sets to win gold. This was soccer. As much the fabric of Brazil as samba, Carnival and caipirinhas.When Neymar opened the scoring in the 26th minute, it looked like it would be Brazils night. The Germans hitting the post three times in the first half only further fueled feelings of fate. But in the 58th minute Germany let it be known it had every intention of spoiling the celebration when Maximilian Meyer booted a shot into the back of Brazils net. It was the first goal the Selecao had allowed in the entire Olympic Games.For the remaining hour-plus, Brazil spent most of the time on the attack and the Germans last-ditch defense proved impenetrable. Time and time and time again the Brazilians would create a scoring chance and would either be unable to finish or simply run into a German wall.When the second period of extra time drew to a close, players from both sides fell to the field in pure exhaustion. Neymar was one of them. Through four rounds of penalty kicks both teams couldnt miss. Then Germanys Nils Petersen had his penalty saved by Weverton and the Maracana erupted.Thats when Neymar stepped up. He waited, waited and then waited a bit more. He took two stutter steps. Then buried the ball in the back of the net. Pandemonium.Two weeks earlier, as the team struggled, Brazilian fans were seen crossing out Neymars name on their jerseys to support that of Marta, the most popular female player in the country. Now he was again their hero, receiving without question the loudest approval of the night during the medal ceremony.That is just part of Brazilian culture, the way we are, Micale said. It is always love or hate. We are a nation of extremes. Im just so proud at this moment to be Brazilian.It was a feeling shared with other Brazilians across the globe. A feeling that had been absent for so long that it somehow felt brand new. ' ' '

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