Bhubaneswar: With the world battling the raging COVID pandemic, sports lovers finally had something to cheer on Sunday.
It started with football prince Lionel Messi eventually ticking the last box by winning the Copa America in Argentina shirt and ended with Euro Cup triumph for Italy. In between, the tennis phenomenon called Novak Djokovic coasted to his 20th Grand Slam singles title to join compatriots Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
It was 5.30 am in India when people woke up to witness perhaps the world’s biggest football rivalry — Brazil vs Argentina summit clash. Sports lovers wanted to witness Messi’s first-ever Copa America glory and the way things turned out was enough to delight them. Argentina held on to Angel Di Maria’s 22nd-minute strike to finally end their 28-year drought of Latina American supremacy.
By the time Messi’s feat was getting soaked in, sports aficionados’ evening was dedicated to world number one tennis player Djokovic, lovingly called Djoker in the circuit.
The Serbian eked out a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in the murky Sunday fixture. Djokovic celebrating his sixth win at the BigW by eating the grass of the Centre Court was a sight that would be cherished by his fans for long.
He is now tied with Federer and Nadal for the highest number of Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era.
Following a short breather, sports lovers again congregated in front of the television sets to witness Italy’s supremacy over England in the dramatic Euro Cup final at the Wembley Stadium.
It was after 53 long years, Italy became the European football champions following a 3-2 victory on penalties. Both teams were locked 1-1 after 120 minutes of play. Italy last became the Euro champions in 1968.
Last but not the least, there was something for the Indians to be delighted, too. The women cricket team’s eight-run win over England women in the second Twenty20 International was the icing on the cake.
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