Warsaw (Reuters): Portugal’s Bernardo Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo scored first-half goals in a comfortable 3-1 win away to Poland in the Nations League on Saturday as the Group A1 leaders continued their perfect start to the competition with three wins.

Silva put Portugal in front after 26 minutes, netting from Bruno Fernandes’ headed assist, before captain Ronaldo got his 133rd international goal when he doubled the lead 11 minutes later with a first-time shot after Rafael Leao hit the post.

Piotr Zielinski pulled a goal back for Poland in the 78th with a powerful strike into the roof of the net before home defender Jan Bednarek netted an own goal in the dying minutes.

Portugal continue to set the pace in League A Group One with nine points, three points clear of Croatia who came from behind to beat visitors Scotland 2-1 earlier on Saturday.

Poland, who beat Scotland 3-2 on the road in their opener before losing 1-0 in Croatia, are third with three points while the Scots have none so far.

The Poles started on the front foot and leading striker Robert Lewandowski came close to netting an early opener when he was inches from getting his head to a cross as Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa beat him to the ball.

Portugal, however, were quick to grow into the match and Poland keeper Lukasz Skorupski was put to work early when he blocked Diogo Dalot’s effort from close range.

Ronaldo then hit the bottom of the bar as Portugal continued to enjoy the bulk of possession and their chances kept coming.
Fans of the America’s Cup final have long been able to see the races and the water,

Fernandes put Skorupski to the test again with a curled shot from just outside the box in the 14th minute and the keeper had to stretch to tip the ball away.

London: Pakistan Army’s Team participated in Exercise Cambrian Patrol – 2024, which was held at Wales, UK from 04-13 October 2024. This year, Exercise Cambrian Patrol celebrated its 65th year.

According to ISPR, the exercise has retained its demanding professional standards; patrols all across from the globe had to move tactically across inhospitable terrain, covering a distance of 60 kms within 48 hours, completing specialist tasks in a contested environment.”

This year, 128 teams from 42 Countries particpated in the Exercise and out of all these teams, Pakistan Army’s Team showed Exceptional Performance in the exercise and has been awarded with the Gold Medal.

It is indeed a proud moment for the whole Nation and Pakistan Army, which is known for its professionalism and highest standards of training. Pakistan Army has always held Country’s flag high, Alhamdulillah.

 

The 2024 National League Championship Series matchup is set!

Starting Sunday, the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers will clash with a trip to the World Series on the line.

After the Mets booked their first NLCS trip since 2015 when Francisco Lindor delivered a Game 4 grand slam to knock out the Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers eliminated the San Diego Padres with a 2-0 NLDS Game 5 win in Los Angeles.

What have we learned about each of these teams so far? What does each side need to do to punch a ticket to the Fall Classic? And who could be the NLCS difference-makers? ESPN MLB experts Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez and David Schoenfield break it all down.

Jump to: Mets | Dodgers

What’s the most impressive thing about the Mets this postseason?

Castillo: The Mets’ lineup is relentless. They might not match the Dodgers’ star power, but their lineup is as deep as any in baseball. They can beat you 1 through 9. They conduct smart at-bats. They have a knack for huge hits in the clutch. And they pounce on bullpens. Look no further than Game 4 of the NLDS when, after they left the bases loaded in each of the first two innings against Phillies starter Ranger Suarez, Francisco Lindor cracked the go-ahead grand slam off Carlos Estevez, Philadelphia’s best reliever, in the sixth. One day it’s Lindor. The next it’s Mark Vientos or Pete Alonso or Brandon Nimmo or Jose Iglesias. Or someone else. There aren’t any holes in the lineup, and that could be an NL pennant-winning recipe.

Schoenfield: The Mets actually have the most starting pitching depth of any team left in the playoffs, with six reasonable options if you include Kodai Senga (who started Game 1 against the Phillies but isn’t stretched out yet). Sean Manaea pitched a gem in NLDS Game 3 against the Phillies with seven scoreless innings, and the Mets just win when he pitches — they’re 16-4 in his past 20 starts. Jose Quintana has allowed just one unearned run in 11 innings in two playoff starts, and Luis Severino, David Peterson and Tylor Megill round out the options, although Peterson has also proved to be a valuable relief option. With three days off before Game 1, the Mets can reset, get some much-needed rest and figure out which of the starters will pitch out of the pen.

Why will it (or won’t it) work against the Dodgers in the NLCS?

Castillo: The Dodgers’ bullpen was impressive in the NLDS, but relying on bullpen games won’t be sustainable against the Mets. Chances are New York will grind the Dodgers’ relief corps down if Los Angeles doesn’t get more innings from its starters. That means Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jack Flaherty, in particular, must pitch deeper into games. If not, the Mets will eventually solve the bullpen over the seven-game series.

Schoenfield: The other advantage the Mets have is three lefties in Manaea, Quintana and Peterson. Shohei Ohtani is actually human against lefties — .867 OPS compared to 1.128 against righties. Max Muncy hit .172 against lefties. Freddie Freeman, if his ankle allows him to play, was much worse against lefties (.250 average with less power versus .300 against right-handers). Gavin Lux hit .152 against southpaws. That’s why we might see Peterson back in the rotation after he pitched in relief against the Brewers and Phillies. The more lefty innings the Mets can throw at the Dodgers, the better.

Who is the one player who must deliver for the Mets to win the NL pennant?

Castillo: The Mets’ biggest weakness is the bullpen, which makes closer Edwin Diaz a pivotal character in this series. Díaz is the best reliever the Mets employ. He boasts a triple-digit fastball and a wipeout slider. But this year, after missing all of 2023 with a torn ACL, has been a roller coaster. He briefly lost his job in June. He was suspended for sticky-stuff use in June. He has been bad, and he has been great. He has been uneven recently amid heavy usage, blowing a lead in Game 2 against the Phillies and walking two batters to begin the ninth inning in Game 4 before getting back on track. The Mets need Díaz to dominate every time he’s on the mound. That means being efficient and throwing strikes. If he’s vintage Díaz, the Mets have a weapon to shrink games.

Schoenfield: Pete Alonso has to keep it going. He didn’t have his best season, and the strikeouts really piled up in August and September when he fanned 74 times in 54 games. After he hit just four opposite-field home runs in the regular season, however, all three of his playoff home runs have gone to right field as he has hit .273/.433/.727 — and you have to love the seven walks against a manageable eight strikeouts in seven games. If he stays in that kind of zone, it gives the Mets the power bat they need in the middle of the lineup behind Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo.

What’s the most impressive thing about the Dodgers this postseason?

Gonzalez: Their bullpen. Given the multitude of injuries suffered by their starting pitchers, the Dodgers knew they’d be heavily relying on their relievers in October. And so far, they’ve answered, most notably by shutting out the Padres to save their season in Game 4. The Dodgers are navigating this postseason with what amounts to a three-man rotation, and all three of their starters — Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler — have had their share of struggles. But the Dodgers also have as many as seven high-leverage relievers to deploy in relief of them.

Schoenfield: The Dodgers showing … resilience? That hasn’t exactly been their forte in recent postseasons. Even though the Dodgers won the NL West, most picked the Padres to win the series, especially after San Diego went up two games to one. But Dave Roberts and the relievers executed the bullpen game to perfection in Game 4 to get to Game 5. They didn’t let the Padres’ antics get to them. They won despite a hobbled Freddie Freeman. They showed they can win games in which Ohtani doesn’t have to be Superman. Maybe this will be the year — in a postseason when few expected the Dodgers to win.

Why will it (or won’t it) work against the Mets in the NLCS?

Gonzalez: Just look at how the Mets got here: With Francisco Lindor’s sixth-inning grand slam off Carlos Estevez, who had mostly excelled as the Phillies’ closer since coming over before the trade deadline. The Mets seem to have something special going on, and a lot of their magic has manifested late. The Mets have won six of nine games dating back to the Sept. 30 doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves that served as their regular-season finale. Five of those wins saw them come from behind, three of them after the seventh inning.

Schoenfield: OK, resiliency is nice, but at some point they’re going to need some better results from the starting pitching. Winning a five-game series with two off days while relying extensively on the bullpen is one thing, but it’s much harder to do that in a seven-game series (with the same two days off). The Mets have shown their own resiliency as well, with the dramatic comebacks to beat the Braves to clinch a playoff spot, beating the Brewers to advance, and then knocking off the Phillies — and doing so against three of the closers in the game.

Who is the one player who must deliver for the Dodgers to win the NL pennant?

Gonzalez: I’m going to throw out a name you probably didn’t expect: Enrique Hernandez. The Dodgers got him specifically for these moments and he showed why with a huge home run in Friday’s Game 5 win. They believe he has an ability to rise to the occasion in October, and he should get quite a bit of playing time in this NLCS. His production at the bottom of the order will be critical to giving Ohtani opportunities with runners on base — a situation Ohtani has famously excelled in lately.

Schoenfield: Mookie Betts. We saw him break out of his postseason slump with the home runs against the Padres, and he has to keep it going, especially given the left-handed starters the Mets will be able to roll out (and especially if Freeman’s availability and production is going to be a concern).

LOS ANGELES — They had all the money, all the stars and all the hype, but what these Dodgers needed most, they learned, was an edge.

They found it during the stretch run of their season, when injuries piled up and doubt crept in. It coalesced around a short, cutting message that littered their group chat throughout September and became their rallying cry after falling to the brink of elimination against their bitter rivals.

Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy was among the many who shared it Friday night, after overcoming the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series: “F— them all.”

The Dodgers rode five innings from an effective Yoshinobu Yamamoto, home runs from Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández and another run of dominant relief work to beat the Padres 2-0 at an electric Dodger Stadium in a winner-take-all Game 5.

Their postseason rotation is down to three members, and their No. 3 hitter, Freddie Freeman, continues to be bothered by a badly sprained right ankle. But the Dodgers will nonetheless move on to face the New York Mets in the NL Championship Series, with Game 1 scheduled for Sunday.

Dave Roberts, winding down his ninth season as Dodgers manager, compared the achievement to his Boston Red Sox overcoming a 3-0 series deficit against the New York Yankees in 2004 and his Dodgers overcoming a 3-1 deficit against the Atlanta Braves in 2020. It’s because of recent history, which has seen the Dodgers get trounced by division rivals in the NLDS each of the past two years. And it’s because of the opponent.

“I wanted to beat those guys,” Roberts said. “We all wanted to beat those guys really bad.”

Roberts awoke Friday morning to manage his eighth winner-take-all game and felt a certain calmness about it. He didn’t know what to expect from Yamamoto and had no idea what other obstacles would present themselves, but he took solace in the identity of a team he considered uniquely relentless and resilient.

Said Roberts: “I believe in this team more than any team I’ve had.”

The Dodgers splurged more than $1 billion this offseason, adding Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernández, among others. They outlasted the Padres and won 98 regular-season games to capture their 11th division title in 12 years. But many saw them as underdogs in this NLDS. The Padres were healthier, more complete, with an offense that was humming, a rotation that had been dominant and a bullpen that stood among the deepest in the sport. The Dodgers rallied around that.

“What was it, 80 percent of the f—ing experts said we were going to lose?” Muncy said. “F— those guys. We know who we are. We’re the f—ing best team in baseball, and we’re out there to prove it.”

When the Dodgers lost Game 4 to the Braves in the 2020 NLCS, requiring three consecutive victories to reach the World Series, a players-only group chat began to populate with positive messages. It helped lift the team to a championship. Something similar occurred recently, after Game 3, with the Dodgers down 2-1 in the series and requiring a bullpen game to survive Game 4. Kiké Hernández, a longtime sparkplug in Los Angeles, was among the most vocal.

One message in particular resonated with Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux.

“He said, ‘F— everybody,'” Lux recalled. “‘Everyone that’s not in this clubhouse.'”

When Kiké Hernández was placed in the starting lineup for Game 4 — a by-product of Freeman and shortstop Miguel Rojas being too injured to play — he told Teoscar Hernández that two Hernándezes had never homered in the same postseason game. That Wednesday night, Kiké Hernández told him, they would be the first. When it didn’t happen, he told him they would do it in Friday’s Game 5. Then they did.

“I believe in him, he believe in me, I believe in myself, and we enjoyed today,” Teoscar Hernández said.

Seven years ago, in 2017, Kiké Hernández got into the habit of visualizing success going into postseason games. Lying in bed the night before, he would picture himself hitting a home run, rounding the bases, conducting postgame interviews. It helped make him one of the sport’s most productive postseason performers. He did the same thing before Game 5 then got a first-pitch fastball in the second inning and clobbered it 428 feet to left-center field to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Five innings later, against a continually effective Yu Darvish, the other Hernández got a 2-1 slider that leaked out over the plate and sent it 420 feet to the same vicinity.

Teoscar Hernández has been a fixture in the middle of the Dodgers’ lineup all year. Kiké Hernández was brought back for his eighth year with the Dodgers to serve as a versatile bench player, but also to star in October. His latest home run was his 14th in 75 career postseason games.

“I kept telling myself, ‘They brought you here for a reason. They brought you here to play in October,'” Kiké Hernández said. “I wanted to come back to make a run with this team, because I really want to have a parade. I knew that whether it was going to be on defense or at the plate, I was going to find a way to win this game for us.”

Yamamoto did something similar, while working to sync up his delivery going into the biggest start of his major league career. The Dodgers made Yamamoto the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history this offseason, signing him to a 12-year, $325 million contract. He struggled in his Dodgers debut against the Padres in March and struggled in his postseason debut against the Padres in Game 1.

But the Dodgers had also seen him shine under Major League Baseball’s brightest lights, dominating at Yankee Stadium on June 7 and stifling the Chicago Cubs — in a matchup against countrymen Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki — when he returned from a three-month absence on Sept. 10. The Dodgers hoped that version would present itself when it mattered most — then they saw him commanding a fastball that sat consistently at 97 mph in the first inning and knew it would.

“In talking to him,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said, “you can get the sense that he wanted the ball.”

The ball went from Yamamoto to Evan Phillips to Alex Vesia to Michael Kopech to, in the end, Blake Treinen. Together, they held the Padres to zero runs and three baserunners. They and many others combined to hold the Padres scoreless over the final 24 innings of this NLDS, the third-longest streak to close a series in postseason history. The Padres’ offense wasn’t supposed to be tamed like this. Their depth and their talent were supposed to overcome even the best relievers.

The Dodgers didn’t care for any of that, and Kiké Hernández summed up why:

“We have a lot of ‘F U’ in us.”