Well, something has gone wrong from bad to worse as China (Whose nation had been affected by the pandemic since it began in 2019 at a Huanan fish market in Wuhan which has a zero COVID-19 framework in hand towards it as well as a travel ban to most countries around the world) records the 1st death caused by the corona virus in 6 months (And they have cancelled the Chinese Grand Prix next year due to the extended COVID-19 shutdown measures being in place) unlike the confirmed number of cases count has reached over 24,000 here in New Zealand but I'm not sure whether we'll bring back the restrictions related to the corona virus such as the mask mandate rulings if there's too many people who pick up the disease compared to Canada where they're about to bring back the mask mandate restrictions due to the high number of confirmed COVID-19 cases but there's over 27,000 now here in New Zealand since it reported as of the 28th of November because once again our country has declared war on the corona virus (And picking up COVID-19 is like getting shot from a gun).
And leading our sports news in this blog but 1st it's the rugby as the match between England & the AB's has ended in a draw at Twickenham in London after the All Blacks dominated the match until a yellow card by one of the New Zealand players of Beauden Barrett proved costly as England had staged a tremendous fight back to keep them back in the contest but one of the English players of Marcus Smith had decided to kick the ball out after the 80 minutes had been expired meaning that the fans weren't happy about the result (And I was gutted that our hopes for victory against the English had been derailed by a sin binning by easily one of our best players of Beauden Barrett resulting in the match being drawn after a dramatic comeback staged by England to end our year but at least we did not lose that test which is good but Sam Whitelock should never captain the All Blacks again (And I mean get over it, that is disgraceful) according to ex-rugby coach Jim Telfer when he spoke to Martin Devlin on the phone on the New Zealand talk show radio station Newstalk ZB) while Ireland have stunned the Wallabies (Who have only just one win in the tour which was against Scotland then 3 heartbreaking losses against France, Italy & now Ireland) in an dramatic but epic test at the Aviva Stadium (Which has opened in 2010 to replace the old Lansdowne Road) in Dublin then Georgia claim the upset of the weekend as they mow Wales down in Cardiff before Portugal (Who haven't been to a tournament since their debut at a Rugby World Cup in 2007) becoming the last side to qualify in next year's RWC after their win against the United States (The last time the Americans didn't make it to the Rugby World Cup was in 1995 after they appeared in the 1st 2 tournaments in both 1987 & 1991 & have appeared from 1999 until the most recent tournament in 2019) who miss out on a place in the RWC during the qualifying tournament of who'll make it to France 2023 (And next years Rugby World Cup tournament will be the 1st in history without a North American side involved (And for the 1st time in the tournament's 36 year history that a rugby playing nation from North America, won't be in the RWC).
And news straight out of the Rugby League World Cup as Australia claim their record extending 12th title, ending Samoa's hopes of a fairytale Rugby League World Cup glory finish in the final at Old Trafford in Manchester, England as the Kangaroos dominated the game from start to finish (And it's great that the Pacific island nation of Samoa are in the final after their historic upset victory over England in the 2nd semifinal in another one of the greatest games in the RLWC but it wasn't to be as they missed out on becoming world champions in the sport of rugby league (Which is the national sport in Papua New Guinea), for the very 1st time meaning that the Aussies dominance in the Rugby League World Cup continues) as they held off a Samoan challenge during the final (And it has been all Australia as they successfully complete a threepeat in which they have dominated the tournament since 2013) to succesfully defend the Rugby League World Cup.
And finally in Football World Cup news such as Ecuador have beaten hosts Qatar (Who became the 1st side to lose an opening match as the host nation of the Football World Cup in a record that had to stand for 92 years that a host nation would never lose an opening game of the World Cup (And they would always win or draw the Football World Cup opener stretching from 1930 until 2018) 2 - 0 to open proceedings after the Ecuadorian captain (Whose earlier goal had been denied as a result of the Ecuadorian skipper being adjudged to be in an offside position according to the VAR) scored an opening goal with a penalty then got another goal during the match before leaving the field with an injury just before they tasted victory over the Qataris but here are the results of the other World Cup games being played:
England 6 - 2 IR Iran (It was the English who ran away with a hammering over the Iranians to start their campaign)
Senegal 0 - 2 Netherlands (It's Holland's first World Cup match since their third placing against Brazil in 2014 where they got of to a promising start in which they scored 2 late goals to come away with the win)
USA 1 - 1 Wales (It was the United States (That was their 1st game at a World Cup since their Round of 16 defeat against Belgium in 2014) who took the lead during the game until a Gareth Bale penalty for the Welsh (Who also played their 1st game at a Football World Cup since their quarterfinal loss against the eventual champions Brazil in 1958), ended the Americans chances for victory)
Argentina 1 - 2 Saudi Arabia (And yes that game was by far, the biggest boil over in the history of the Football World Cup during modern times or should I say during the modern era (Compared to & better than Korea Republic's win over Germany in 2018 in the last group game where the defending champions at the time, were eliminated from the tournament) where Argentina led 1 - 0 but had their 3 goals disallowed due to offside then the Saudi Arabians took control of the 2nd half by scoring both unanswered goals & held on until the very end in which they shocked the football world by claiming the 1st upset of the 2022 tournament (And only once in Football World Cup history that a side went on to win the tournament in style after losing the opening group game & that honor belongs to Spain (Who lost to the Swiss in the opening match of the 2010 tournament (And it was during the game that the Spanish defence were unable to stop the speedy Swiss player Gelson Fernandes who was in to score) before winning all 6 to win the World Cup including the final against the Netherlands in which Andres Iniesta scored that infamous game winning goal during extra time) in 2010 (Just like South Africa did at the 2019 Rugby World Cup that they became the 1st side to successfully win the tournament after losing the opening game which was against New Zealand) who did it in 2010)
Denmark 0 - 0 Tunisia (It was the 1st goal less draw of the tournament at the end where no side had even scored a single goal)
Mexico 0 - 0 Poland (And also that no team has ever scored a goal in which the group game had ended in a goal less draw (And that's the 2nd in this years World Cup but Poland have been given the penalty during the match for a Mexican player who caused the foul on a Polish player, inside the penalty area moments before Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa denying Poland's captain, Robert Lewandowski a chance of scoring that penalty to put them in front during the contest)
& France 4 - 1 Australia (And it was Australia who took the lead before the defending world champions scored 4 unanswered goals to kick start their title defence that they won in 2018 in Russia)
UPDATED
Morocco 0 - 0 Croatia (It was a draw at the end between both sides in the 3rd goal less draw of this year's tournament)
Germany 1 - 2 Japan (And another superb upset compared to the Argentina-Saudi Arabia clash, this time by the Japanese over the Germans in an incredible contest for the ages in which a country from the Asian continent claimed another scalp over Germany)
Spain 7 - 0 Costa Rica (And it was the Spanish who thrash the poor old Costa Ricans in a blowout in which they did not see that one coming)
Belgium 1 - 0 Canada (And of course the Belgians who appeared to be down & out after they gave away a penalty until they made a save by their star goalie Thibaut Courtois before Belgium ran away with a win with a goal scored by Michy Batshuayi)
Switzerland 1 - 0 Cameroon (Well, it was the Swiss who dismantled the Cameroonians by the barest of margins)
Uruguay 0 - 0 Korea Republic (And it turns out to be a goalless draw between both sides in a rematch of the Round of 16 game in 2010)
Portugal 3 - 2 Ghana (It was the Portuguese time to shine as they win a Football World Cup match against Ghana in their 1st meeting between the 2 countries at a World Cup since 2014)
& Brazil 2 - 0 Serbia (And also that the Brazilians got off to a flyer as they produce magic by securing a 2 goal win against the Serbians in their 1st game between both nations at a World Cup since their last meeting in 2018 in their bid of chasing a record extending 6th Football World Cup championship for the Brazilians)
So that is my 475th blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 23rd of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.
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