Neymar ties Pelé's all-time record with Brazil at World Cup
Al Rayyan, Dec 9: Neymar moved into a tie with Pelé as Brazil's all-time leading scorer with 77 goals on Friday.
The Brazil forward scored in the first half of extra time of his team's World Cup quarterfinal match against Croatia.
Neymar scored with a right-footed shot after getting through the defense and dribbling past the Croatia goalkeeper to match Pelé's record. He entered the tournament two goals shy of the milestone, and scored his 76th in the round of 16 against South Korea after returning from an ankle injury.
Pelé remained in a hospital in Brazil treating a respiratory infection that was aggravated by COVID-19. The latest medical report said the 82-year-old Pelé , who last year had surgery to remove a colon tumor, was doing OK.
The 30-year-old Neymar scored his 77 goals in 124 matches for Brazil. Pelé's goals came in 92 appearances with the national team between 1957 and 1971.
Ronaldo, a World Cup winner with Brazil in 2002, is third on the list with 62 goals in 98 matches.
Neymar first played for Brazil as an 18-year-old in 2010. He is trying to win his first major title with the national team. Pelé won three World Cups, including as a 17-year-old in the 1958 tournament. He also helped Brazil win the World Cup in 1962 and 1970.
Neymar is playing in his third World Cup and is the only other Brazil player other than Pelé and Ronaldo to score in three different World Cups. He helped the Sele ao win the 2013 Confederations Cup and its first Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
Neymar damaged ligaments in his ankle in Brazil's opening win against Serbia, and his participation in the rest of the tournament was in doubt because of the injury. He made it back to the starting lineup after missing two group games, and played about 80 minutes in Brazil's 4-1 win over South Korea on Monday.
He was knocked out of the 2014 World Cup after hurting his back in the quarterfinals against Colombia. Brazil eventually lost to Germany 7-1 in the semifinals.
The right ankle had already caused Neymar problems in the past, being among a series of injuries since the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Another right ankle sprain forced him to miss the 2019 Copa Am rica, which Brazil won.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
