Latest news with #giantkilling
Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- Times
Mark Lazarus obituary: League Cup-winning footballer for QPR
With eight minutes remaining in the 1967 League Cup final, the first to be staged at Wembley, Mark Lazarus scored what remains arguably the most memorable goal in the history of Queens Park Rangers. The Rs, of the old Third Division, had recovered from a two-goal deficit to draw level with West Bromwich Albion, two divisions above them, when Lazarus played a speculative ball towards Albion's penalty box. A deflection took the ball into the path of Rs defender Ron Hunt, who tangled with the West Brom keeper Dick Sheppard. When the ball squirmed from Sheppard's grasp, Lazarus was on hand to turn it into an empty net for the winner. It put the seal on one of the greatest giant-killing acts in League Cup history and earned Lazarus an indelible place in the hearts of QPR fans. It's the goal for which Lazarus will always be remembered, but the pacy, aggressive winger scored a further 83 goals in 235 appearances for the club, another three coming in their historic run to Wembley that season. A few weeks later, the club clinched the Third Division title, Lazarus scoring 16 times during the campaign and providing countless assists for his great strike partner Rodney Marsh, with whom he remained friends for life. Through the years, many players have had their own distinctive goal celebrations, but none have matched Mark Lazarus's for enthusiasm. He would run around the entire pitch, arms aloft, stopping occasionally to shake hands with fans, particularly at Loftus Road where spectators were just a few feet from the touchline. 'Laza, Laza, Laza, Laza, Lazarus,' would ring out from the home terraces. In a 20-year career, Lazarus also played for Leyton Orient, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brentford and Crystal Palace, scoring 151 goals in 606 appearances. But as befits someone with his surname, it was to QPR that he kept returning, enjoying three stints at the club. Aged 19, and playing youth team football for Fulham, his potential was spotted by the Orient manager Alec Stock, who took him to Brisbane Road. National service interrupted Lazarus's career, and by the time he was demobbed, Stock had left for QPR. Lazarus followed. His form in W12, scoring 12 goals in 33 appearances in the 1960-61 season, attracted interest from bigger clubs and he was sold to First Division Wolves for £27,500. But he didn't settle and clashed with the manager Stan Cullis, whom he described as 'a sergeant-major type'. He returned to Loftus Road after just nine matches. Two seasons later he was off again, to Brentford, but in November 1965 Stock brought him back to Rangers for a final time. Within six months of his Wembley heroics, Lazarus moved to Crystal Palace and then to Orient again, winning another Third Division championship medal with the Os in 1969-70. He finished his playing days in non-league football, by which time he had started his own removals business, which is now run by his son Nicky. Mark Lazarus was born in Stepney, east London, in 1938, the son of Isaac and Martha. Isaac was an old-fashioned jack-of-all-trades, working as a carpenter, fishmonger and tic-tac man at racetracks. Lazarus went to St Chad's Infant School in Chadwell Heath, and then onto the Warren junior and senior schools. His house was a full one. He had 12 siblings — brothers Harry, David, Eddie, Lew, Mossie, Bobby and Joe; and sisters Rosie, Rayner, Carol, Sarah and Betty. He said growing up the talk was never about football, but boxing, even among his sisters. In the Fifties, his brother Lew — under the name Lew Lazar — was a successful British welterweight and middleweight, and Lazarus would often follow him to Jack Solomons' gym in Great Windmill Street to do odd jobs, helping fighters such as Henry Cooper with their gloves and untying their boots. He fought at schoolboy level himself and remained unbeaten. His fighting prowess served him in good stead when Lazarus, aged six, moved with his family from Stepney to Chadwell Heath. They were the only Jewish family in the area and if anyone subjected young Mark to any antisemitic comments his mother encouraged him 'to sort them out'. Years later, as one of the first, if not the first, Jewish footballer in the Football League, Lazarus once had cause to fall back on his pugilistic talents when he put an abusive opponent face-down in the dirt. He said the referee turned a blind eye. As well as football and boxing, Lazarus was an accomplished cricketer, playing for Essex schoolboys. He also held a five handicap in golf and compiled many century breaks in snooker. It was at the Romford Snooker Centre in 1974 that he met the sports promoter Barry Hearn, who in turn introduced him to the young snooker champion Steve Davis. Lazarus became a member of Davis' supporter base, known as the Romford Roar, that travelled to snooker tournaments all over the country. He also became minder to Davis and other snooker stars. At a dance at Ilford Palais in 1958, Lazarus met Fay Ray and they married a few months later. They had a daughter, Rena, and a son, Nicky. Besides his cup-winning goal in 1967, another more bizarre incident during QPR's cup run will never be forgotten. Lazarus split his shorts in the Rs' quarter-final match with Carlisle United and ran to the touchline to put on a new pair. Before he could do so a teammate passed to him. Latching onto the loose ball, Lazarus dribbled down the wing in his Y-fronts, shorts in hand, and delivered a cross into the penalty box. It didn't lead to a goal on this occasion, but Rangers went on to win the match 2-1. Mark Lazarus, footballer and minder, was born on December 5, 1938. He died of undisclosed causes on July 29, 2025, aged 86
Arab News
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
UAE's ‘giant-killing' of Bangladesh not as unlikely as some might think
'Giant-killing' in sport is often associated with cup competitions in soccer, when a team from a lower division beats one placed in a higher division. A recent example was when Plymouth Argyle, near the foot of the Championship — effectively, the second tier of English football — beat the leaders of the Premier League, Liverpool, in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Feb. 9, 2025. There have been many other legendary examples of giant-killing in soccer. Use of the term to describe similar feats in other sports does not appear to be commonplace. Perhaps it reflects the different structure of other sports. At its apex, cricket is not structured by divisions. Only 12 teams play Test cricket against each other. In one-day international cricket (ODIs) and T20 international cricket, the International Cricket Council rates teams according to performance. The Test-playing teams occupy the highest-rated positions in the shorter formats by virtue of their greater strength. Outside of World Cup tournaments they rarely play teams rated in the 20 places below them. Therefore, the opportunities for giant-killing would appear to be restricted. This is not to say that upsets and surprises do not happen. They are part of the natural rhythm of sport. Identifying when they may happen is a challenging task. In Liverpool's case, the manager selected a team consisting of a number of players who were not normally first choice for league matches. Last week I referred to Zimbabwe's defeat of Australia in the group stage of the 1983 World Cup at Nottingham. Two members of the Zimbabwean team met several of the Australian team the evening before the match at the hotel where both teams were staying. The Zimbabweans were surprised to learn of the level of disharmony within the Australian camp and the openness with which it was revealed. This revelation gave them hope and confidence, but it was not until the closing stages of the match that they realised a shock win was possible against an aging Australian team. The part-time players of Zimbabwe triumphed by 13 runs. Afterwards, the Australian captain admitted that 'We knew nothing about them at all. There was no video analysis. We said, 'We'll find out what they're like when we get out there on the park'.' A vastly different environment exists today in which technical analysis of players' performances in different circumstances are forensically assessed, with plans drawn up to promote, expose and counter them. It is not clear if these have led to upsets of smaller nations beating more powerful ones. At first sight, the UAE men's team beating Bangladesh in a three-match T20 series between May 17 and 21 might appear to be an upset. On closer examination, this would be a disservice to the UAE in this format. Prior to the series, Bangladesh were rated ninth in the ICC T20 rankings, compared with 15th for the UAE. The ratings are the result of dividing the total number of points earned by the number of games played. Bangladesh had a rating of 225 prior to the series compared with 181 for the UAE. Although there were only six places separating Bangladesh and the UAE, the reality is that, given the points system of two points for a win and minus two points for a loss, it would take a significant time for the UAE and teams with similar ratings to bridge the gap. This puts the UAE's series win into greater perspective. Bangladesh won the first match by 27 runs, the UAE losing its last seven wickets for 33 runs. In the second match, Bangladesh posted 205 for 5 wickets which the UAE chased down with only one delivery remaining for the loss of eight wickets. Muhammad Waseem top scored with 82. The crucial difference in that match was that the UAE's lower order did not collapse. In the third match, the UAE chased down 163 for the loss of only three wickets, with five deliveries remaining. Alishan Sharafu scored an undefeated 68, assisted by 41 not out from Asif Khan. Earlier, Haider Ali had claimed three wickets for only seven runs. After the series, Litton Das, Bangladesh's captain, noted that his team bowled and fielded in the second half of all three matches, the UAE having won the toss and elected to field. He said that dew was a factor in making the ball more difficult to grip and field cleanly, adding that his team's batting, including his own, had not been consistent enough. This pattern continued in Bangladesh's next series against Pakistan, which the latter won 3-0. As a result, Bangladesh have dropped one rating place to 10th. Although the UAE's rating remained unchanged, the UAE team and their management were understandably delighted with the outcome. Emirates Cricket Board Chairman Nahayan Mabarak Al-Nahayan congratulated the team on their historic series win, saying that 'the team had played brilliantly in the whole series, while the support staff put in the hard yards to make the victory possible, another glorious chapter in our cricketing history.' He added that the board will 'continue to provide the best possible facilities and exposure to our immensely talented players.' The UAE have previously beaten Test-playing countries Ireland, New Zealand and Afghanistan, the last two in 2023. Victory over Bangladesh should, as the chairman remarked, 'give immense confidence and self-belief to our players and make them take on bigger and more established opponents.' It is in this context that giant-killing acts in cricket may be judged — the defeat of a Test-playing, ICC full member being defeated by an associate nation. It was certainly a shock when the Netherlands beat South Africa in the group stages of the 2023 World Cup at Dharamsala by 38 runs. In the same competition, Afghanistan beat England by 69 runs. A year later, the US, as joint host nation of the 2024 T20 World Cup, beat Pakistan in a super over, bowled because the match scores were tied. One of the greatest upsets was achieved by Ireland in the 2011 ODI World Cup in Bengaluru. England scored 327 and, in reply, Ireland slumped to 111 for five. Kevin O'Brien then hammered 100 off 50 deliveries to propel Ireland to a sensational three-wicket victory. Finding a common denominator to explain or forecast upsets remains elusive. In three of the above examples, the defeated full members either looked out of sorts on the day or had broader issues, which affected their performances. In the case of Ireland, O'Brien produced an innings of brilliance, which occasionally and unexpectedly occurs. In more normal patterns it is possible that, as associate nations improve over time with appropriate developmental support from their national boards, the propensity for giant-killing may increase. This is a possibility for the UAE in T20 cricket rather than ODIs, in which their recent performances have put the team in jeopardy of losing its ODI status.
Washington Post
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
The ultimate leveler: Giantkilling Bodø/Glimt has a secret weapon to bring down Europe's giants
The ultimate leveler: Giantkilling Bodø/Glimt has a secret weapon to bring down Europe's giants Located north of the Arctic Circle and needing to deal with brutal weather conditions, Norwegian soccer team Bodø/Glimt has an artificial playing field that's built to handle just about anything May 7, 2025 at 4:34 a.m. EDT 6 minutes ago
