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“Superman” star David Corenswet is trading his cape for a children’s book as he prepares to read a CBeebies Bedtime Story on July 11, the same day the film hits theaters. Corenswet will read Rachel Bright‘s “What Does Daddy Do?” a tale about young Daisy trying to figure out her father’s mysterious job. While her friends’ dads have clear professions – fireman, doctor – Daisy only knows her daddy climbs “mountains of paperwork,” has to “fly,” and reports to a dragon boss. Could he possibly be an “explorersuperknight?”

The bedtime story marks another star-studded addition to CBeebies’ roster, which has featured everyone from Olivia Colman and Tom Hardy to Harry Styles and the Spice Girls. The beloved children’s program, airing weekdays on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer, has been a family favorite since the channel’s 2002 launch.

With over 300 archived episodes available on BBC iPlayer, CBeebies Bedtime Story has achieved numerous milestones,...

The BBC has confirmed the full cast for Dear England, a four-part drama based on James Graham’s Olivier Award-winning play about Gareth Southgate and the England men’s football team. Dr. Who star Jodie Whittaker, The Crown alum Jason Watkins and British actor Daniel Ryan (The Bay) are new additions to the ensemble cast.

Shakespeare in Love and The Handmaid’s Tale actor Joseph Fiennes will reprise his stage role as Gareth Southgate, the England manager who took over a team with a historically poor record in penalty shoot-outs. Whittaker will play team psychologist Pippa Grange. Watkins will portray former Football Association chairman Greg Dyke. Ryan plays former assistant manager Steve Holland.

Several castmembers from the play will reprise their roles for TV, including John Hodgkinson, returning as former Fa chairman Greg Clarke, Adam Hugill playing Harry Maguire, Josh Barrow as Jordan Pickford and Lewis Shepherd as Dele Alli.

Other...

The BBC has unveiled the full cast for its six-part drama Dear England, adapted from James Graham’s hit National Theatre play about Gareth Southgate and his campaign to turnaround the fortunes of the England men’s football team.

Jodie Whittaker joins the cast as Pippa Grange, the England men’s team psychologist, while Jason Watkins is former Fa chairman Greg Dyke and John Hodgkinson reprises his stage role as former Fa chairman Greg Clarke.

Daniel Ryan is Steve Holland, former assistant manager for the England men’s team. Sam Spruell will also star as fictional coach, Mike Webster.

The production has also unveiled the cast for the soccer players.

Adam Hugill (Sherwood), Josh Barrow (Hostage) and screen newcomer Lewis Shepherd reprise their respective stage roles as Harry Maguire, Jordan Pickford and Dele Alli.

Event cinema title Dear England is the widest new release at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, playing in 716 UK venues through National Theatre Live.

The play first screened in 694 venues yesterday (Thursday 25), grossing £541,000 with several venues still to report. As well as cinemas, it is screening in many non-cinema venues such as community centres and village halls.

Dear England is a recording of James Graham’s play, following the fortunes of the England men’s football team across three tournaments: the 2018 World Cup, the 2020 European Championships, and the 2022 World Cup.

Directed by Rupert Goold and starring Joseph Fiennes as England manager Gareth Southgate,...

Event cinema title Dear England is the widest new release at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, playing in around 800 UK cinemas through National Theatre Live.

The play first screened in 694 cinemas yesterday (Thursday 25), grossing £541,000 with several venues still to report. The exact weekend location number is to be confirmed; should it be above the 777 sites of James Bond film No Time To Die from 2021, it would be the widest opening ever in UK-Ireland cinemas.

Dear England is a recording of James Graham’s play, following the fortunes of the England men’s football team across three tournaments: the 2018 World Cup,...

London, Aug 31 (Ians) Coach Gareth Southgate has kept faith with two senior players when naming his 26-man squad for England’s two games during the forthcoming international break.

Southgate included Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson in the squad, despite Maguire remaining out of favour at Manchester United and without an appearance so far this season and Henderson opting to move to Saudi Arabia, which represents a less competitive competition than the Premier League.

The coach has handed a debut call-up to Chelsea defender Levi Colwill and recalled AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori and Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell, who missed the World Cup, while Arsenal’s in-form Eddie Nketiah also gets the nod, reports Xinhua.

“Eddie Nketiah and Levi Colwill are two young players who are doing very well. Levi had some time with us in the summer,” Southgate, who said he was looking for consistency after having beaten Malta 4-...

London, Aug 4 (Ians) Manchester City is on the verge of completing the signing of Croatian international central defender Josko Gvardiol from Rb Leipzig for a fee of 78 million pounds.

City coach Pep Guardiola confirmed what had been an open secret for the past few days in a press conference on Friday, Xinhua reported.

“Regarding Gvardiol, he is doing a medical test. Everybody knows he is here so hopefully we can finish the deal in the next hours and days,” said Guardiola.

The 21-year-old defender, who impressed in the World Cup final, will become the second most expensive defender in the Premier League after the 80 million pounds Manchester United paid Leicester City for Harry Maguire in 2019.

Gvardiol will be the second major signing of the summer for the team that last season won the Fa Cup, Premier League and Champions League, following the arrival of Matteo Kovacic from Chelsea.

The arrival...

London, July 19 (Ians) Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana looks set to miss most of the coming season after undergoing surgery on a cruciate knee ligament injury that saw him miss his side’s visit to the United States.

“The 22-year-old did not travel to America for the club’s pre-season tour due to specialist medical assessments, which unfortunately confirmed that an operation would be required,” explained the Chelsea website on Wednesday.

Fofana has suffered further back luck prior to a campaign in the past two years, breaking a leg in pre-season in 2021 and struggling with a knee problem last year after joining Chelsea, a Xinhua report said.

That limited him to just 20 appearances last season and he is now going to be out for at least six months and probably several more.

“It’s really sad: really bad news. We feel so sad. All we can do is to help him.

London, July 19 (Ians) Manchester United had a busy day with two new arrivals while striker Marcus Rashford signed a new contract.

Rashford put pen to paper on a deal that keeps him at Old Trafford until the end of June 2028, ending speculation over his future given that his previous contract had just a year to run, reports Xinhua.

The England striker scored 30 goals in all competitions following the arrival of Erik ten Hag as coach, putting an end to a previous difficult spell in which he had struggled for confidence and form.

“I joined Manchester United as a seven-year-old boy with a dream. That same passion, pride, and determination to succeed still drives me every time I have the honor of wearing the shirt,” said Rashford.

“As a United fan all my life, I know the responsibility that comes with representing this badge and feel the highs and lows as much as anyone.

London, May 30 (Ians) Manchester United’s coach, Erik ten Hag, says Harry Maguire faces a significant decision about his future with the club.

Though Maguire has a contract with Manchester United that runs until 2025 and continues to be a key part of the England squad, national team coach Gareth Southgate recently suggested that his international place could be at risk due to only playing 16 times in the Premier League, reports Xinhua.

Despite also featuring seven times in the Europa League, Maguire’s lack of sharpness led to errors in his team’s quarterfinal defeat to Sevilla, underlining the need for the towering defender to see more action.

However, with Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane ranking higher in the Old Trafford pecking order, Ten Hag concedes that it won’t be straightforward for the imposing defender.

“No one would be content with this situation,” the coach mentioned in an interview with The Times.

London, April 28 (Ians) Manchester City can go to the top of the Premier League, albeit for just over 48 hours when they visit Fulham on Sunday afternoon, while league leader Arsenal doesn’t play Chelsea until Tuesday evening.

City produced one of the best displays of the season to beat Arsenal in a game that most consider to be a title decider on Wednesday night, with Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland running riot against a rival that was a yard slower in key moments.

The 4-1 win didn’t flatter Pep Guardiola’s side, but it will count for little unless they are able to take three points from their visit to play Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Guardiola played a more direct football against Arsenal, using Haaland’s power to control long passes, but could return to their more common passing game against a rival likely to sit much deeper than Arsenal did,...

Madrid, April 21 (Ians) Six-time UEFA Europa League winners Sevilla roared into the semifinals of the tournament with a 3-0 win at home to Manchester United.

Moroccan international striker Youssef En-Nesyri scored twice on Thursday night as Sevilla sealed a 5-2 aggregate win, which is all the more remarkable due to the fact that they fell 2-0 down in the first half at Old Trafford last week.

The high press favoured by recently arriving Sevilla coach Jose Luis Mendilibar was evident in their opening goal, which came after just eight minutes, reports Xinhua.

David de Gea played a dreadful pass out of his penalty area to Harry Maguire as three Sevilla players swarmed around the defender. Erik Lamela won the ball and fed it to En-Nesyri, who scored from 10 metres out.

Manchester United had little response to Sevilla’s aggression in front of a packed house, and Lucas Ocampos was unlucky...

London, March 17 (Ians) England coach Gareth Southgate has made several changes to his squad for their Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Italy and Ukraine later this month.

Brentford striker Ivan Toney is rewarded for an excellent season that has seen him score 17 goals, while Chelsea full backs Ben Chilwell and Reece James are also included after having missed out on last year’s FIFA World Cup due to injury.

However, there is no place for Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Coady, Ben White or Callum Wilson, who were all present at the World Cup, while Raheem Sterling misses out through injury, a Xinhua report said.

Toney’s inclusion comes despite facing charges of breaching rules on betting, which could lead to him receiving a lengthy ban, but Southgate backed the powerful striker.

“He’s available for his club. There hasn’t been a trial or a judgement yet, so I don’t know...

Sao Paulo, Dec 30 (Ians) The sports world on Thursday reacted with sadness to the passing away of Pele, Brazil’s legendary player and three-time World Cup winner, paying rich tributes to the man known as The King.

Pele passed away at a hospital in Sao Paulo aged 82 after a month-long battle with respiratory and cardiac complications arising from cancer treatment.

“Gracias por todo lo que le diste al mundo del fútbol. Rip legend #Pelé (Rough translation: Thank you for everything you gave to the world of football. Rip legend),” tweeted former Argentine great Gabriel Batistuta.

“Rest in peace Pele, one of the greatest ever. What a role model on and off the pitch. Winner of 3 World Cups, unbelievable,” wrote England football Harry Maguire on his Twitter handle.

“Rip to one of the greatest players of all time!” said former England footballer Robbie Fowler.

Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag termed him as...

After a thrilling final saw Argentina beat France on penalties, the awards for the 2022 World Cup were also announced with some of the biggest names in football were recognized, with Lionel Messi from Argentina was confirmed as the best player at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The Argentinian forward won the Adidas Golden Ball, which is awarded to the best player by the FIFA Technical Study Group (Tsg).

Kylian Mbappe from France and Luka Modric from Croatia came second and third respectively.

Golden Ball – Lionel Messi (Argentina)

This was Messi’s World Cup – and that was rubber-stamped as he was named the player of the tournament.

The 35-year-old finally got his hands on football’s biggest prize, scoring seven goals enroute to hoisting the trophy high into the Qatar night.

He became the first man to score in the last 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final of the same edition and wins...

England provided a wonderful fightback but missed a crucial chance to take the game into extra time as Harry Kane missed a penalty at fag end of the match.

In the end, Les Bleus’s ability to produce a moment of brilliance out of thin air was the difference and are the first reigning champion to reach the World Cup semi-finals since Brazil in 1998.

England now head back home, but they should do so with their heads held high, having pushed the current world champions the distance in this gripping encounter.

It was a largely equally matched first half, but England began the second with renewed vigour.

England midfielder Jordan Henderson said they gave everything in the match.

"It’s difficult to find the right words. I thought we gave everything. (We were) disappointed to go one-nil down. I thought (our) character to keep going and find an equaliser was good.

Doha (Qatar), Dec 2 (Ians) England defender Harry Maguire believes that taking advantage of set pieces could be vital as his side looks to progress in the World Cup 2022.

England meet Senegal in the last 16 on Sunday after topping Group B with a 6-2 win against Iran, a 3-0 defeat of Wales and a 0-0 draw against the USA.

Marcus Rashford opened the scoring against Wales with a thundering free-kick, while England’s second goal against Iran came when Maguire nodded down a corner for Bukayo Saka to fire home.

The big defender was unlucky not to open the scoring in the same game with a header from a corner that hit the woodwork, while England’s best chance against the USA saw Harry Kane nod just wide from another set piece.

“We’ve got a really good record from set plays,” Maguire told the Football Association.

He explained the squad...

Doha (Qatar), Nov 24 (Ians) England coach Gareth Southgate confirmed on Thursday that captain Harry Kane and central defender Harry Maguire would both be available to face the USA in their second World Cup Group B game on Friday.

Kane had been a doubt after suffering a knock to his ankle in England’s 6-2 win over Iran on Monday, while Maguire had to go off in the second half after feeling dizzy.

However, in his pre-game press conference, Southgate eased fears over both players.

“Harry is fine. He has worked slightly separately from the group but is good for Friday night,” said Southgate, who confirmed the player “had a scan” that showed “everything is fine.”

The England coach said Maguire would also be available to face the Americans, reports Xinhua.

“He was feeling ill, and that was affecting his vision. You worry about concussion in that instant, but we were...

London, Nov 10 (Ians) Coach Gareth Southgate on Thursday announced a 26-man England squad for the 2022 football World Cup, including Leicester midfielder James Maddison along with Newcastle striker Callum Wilson.

Both the players have not played for England since 2019, but recent club form has seen them earn a call-up for the FIFA World Cup which begins on November 20 in Qatar.

On including Maddison in the team, Southgate said, “He is playing really well. We think he can give us something slightly different to the attacking players that we’ve got. He’s playing as good as any of the attacking players in this country. He is a little bit different from the others. I think we need that.”

Maddison last played for England in November 2019 while 2020 Wilson’s last international cap came a month before in October 2019.

Among English players, Maddison has had one of the highest number of goal involvements...

Madrid, Nov 9 (Ians) A quick look at Group B implies that England should be the clear favourites to breeze through into the last-16 of the FIFA World Cup, and a possible three straight wins will allow Gareth Southgate’s side to gain confidence ahead of the knockout rounds.

However, any England fan will tell you it’s rarely as simple as that, with memories of their struggles in a group comprised of the United States, Algeria and Slovenia in 2010 coming to mind, and a look at other teams in the group also suggests things may not be as straightforward as they seem.

On paper, England have a better squad and record than Wales, the United States and Iran. They qualified for Qatar with no real problems and travel as the European Championship runners-up.

Southgate will build his team around striker and captain Harry Kane, and midfielders Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham.

London, Oct 25 (Ians) Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag held talks with beleaguered striker Cristiano Ronaldo at Carrington on Tuesday and the talismanic Portuguese star returned to training with the first-team squad afterward.

Ronaldo was dropped for United’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea and made to train away from the squad after refusing to come on in last Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Tottenham at Old Trafford.

But after the talks with Ten Hag, Ronaldo resumed training with the first-team group and is in contention to start in Thursday’s Europa League tie against Sheriff Tiraspol at Old Trafford.

According to a report in mirror.co.uk, Ten Hag and Ronaldo had been in constant dialogue since the decision was taken to drop the forward for the Chelsea game and exclude him from training for three days.

Ten Hag made it clear he would not tolerate Ronaldo’s public show...

Paris, Sep 27 (Ians) England’s three-goal fightback from two goals down didn’t earn them a home victory against Germany on Monday, as Kai Havertz’s late goal, also his second in the game, saw the rollercoaster clash end in a 3-3 draw.

Thus, England finished their Nations League group matches with a six-game winless run, sitting at the bottom of the group, which also featured Italy and Hungary.

European champions Italy, who have failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, regained some pride as they won 2-0 in the battle for top spot in Budapest against Hungary, securing a place in the semifinals of the tournament, reports Xinhua. Giacomo Raspadori and Federico Dimarco scored for the Azzurri.

Unlike Italy, both England and Germany will head to the World Cup in less than two months, but both are still struggling to find their best form.

Germany’s home defeat to...

London, Sep 15 (Ians) England coach Gareth Southgate has called Brentford striker Ivan Toney into his squad for the forthcoming UEFA Nations League games against Italy and Germany.

However, there is no place for Manchester United duo of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho just two months away from the start of the World Cup.

Southgate’s final squad before naming players who will go to Qatar is always going to be looked at with extra interest. Although Rashford is suffering from a slight injury, Sancho’s place on the plane must now be in serious doubt, reports Xinhua.

26-year-old Toney gets his chance after scoring 17 Premier League goals and giving six assists in just over a season with Brentford. He is an effective penalty taker and also a threat in the air and set-pieces.

Southgate’s 28-man squad sees a return for Tottenham’s Eric Dier, who has not featured since...

London, Aug 26 (Ians) All it took was 90 minutes on Monday for Manchester United to pass their early season crisis 25 miles west to Liverpool and now United coach, Erik Ten Hag will hope to build on their 2-1 win, when his side travels to play Southampton on Saturday.

Casemiro is in line for his debut after signing from Real Madrid and will slot in ahead of the defense, while Harry Maguire will once again be watching from the subs bench — probably sitting close to Cristiano Ronaldo as Marcos Rashford leads the attack.

Southampton have improved in recent games, and United will have to be wary of their dangerman, Che Adams, who has netted four goals in the past week.

Liverpool’s defeat at Old Trafford left a lot of questions to be answered, but the fact is that most of the answers can be supplied by a look at an injury list that includes,...

London, Aug 25 (Ians) Manchester United have confirmed the departure of defender Eric Bailly, who has joined Marseille on a season-long loan with the potential for a permanent transfer.

The Ivory Coast centre-back has swapped the Premier League for Ligue 1 on a deal that will initially run to the end of the 2022-23 season.

But Marseille will have the option to buy the 28-year-old before the campaign concludes.

According to reports, that will become an obligation if Bailly meets an appearances criteria and Marseille qualify for the Champions League.

Bailly arrived at Old Trafford from Villarreal in 2016 and was a member of United’s League Cup and Europa League-winning squad under Jose Mourinho in 2017.

However, various injury struggles, as well as the arrivals of Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane, have seen him restricted to just 57 appearances since the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

United’s recent acquisition of Lisandro Martinez from...

London, Aug 25 (Ians) Manchester United have confirmed the departure of defender Eric Bailly, who has joined Marseille on a season-long loan with the potential for a permanent transfer.

The Ivory Coast centre-back has swapped the Premier League for Ligue 1 on a deal that will initially run to the end of the 2022-23 season.

But Marseille will have the option to buy the 28-year-old before the campaign concludes.

According to reports, that will become an obligation if Bailly meets an appearances criteria and Marseille qualify for the Champions League.

Bailly arrived at Old Trafford from Villarreal in 2016 and was a member of United’s League Cup and Europa League-winning squad under Jose Mourinho in 2017.

However, various injury struggles, as well as the arrivals of Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane, have seen him restricted to just 57 appearances since the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

United’s recent acquisition of Lisandro Martinez from...

London, Aug 23 (Ians) Manchester United earned a deserved 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Old Trafford to kick-start the Erik ten Hag era and leave their rivals winless after three Premier League games.

Ten Hag elected to drop Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire following successive losses to begin the campaign, a decision that was rewarded by a much-improved display, reports Dpa. An incisive move culminated in Sancho calmly slotting past Alisson after 16 minutes as Liverpool conceded first in a club-record seventh consecutive Premier League game.

Marcus Rashford’s goal early in the second half gave United breathing space prior to Mohamed Salah’s header nine minutes from time, which proved a mere consolation.

The hosts’ first-half display was in complete contrast to their 4-0 loss at Brentford, with Anthony Elanga — preferred to Ronaldo — striking the post early on with just Alisson to beat.

United were ahead soon after when Sancho collected Elanga’s pass,...

Leeds, Feb 20 (Ians) Substitutes Fred and Anthony Elanga scored in the final 20 minutes as Manchester United survived a second-half scare to beat Leeds United 4-2 at Elland Road, here on Sunday. United shot into a two-nil lead before the break thanks to goals from Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes. But Leeds responded superbly […]...

London, Feb 18 (Ians) Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has denied reports that Cristiano Ronaldo will replace Harry Maguire as captain. He rubbished the speculations, saying there is “no reason for me to talk about this”. Speaking ahead of United’s visit to Leeds on Sunday, Rangnick said, “To start with, I must say this is […]...

London, May 25 (Ians) Ben White, Ben Godfrey and Aaron Ramsdale received their first England call-ups as Gareth Southgate selected Trent Alexander-Arnold among four right-backs in his provisional European Championship squad.

With the Three Lions dealing with issues such as injuries and European (Champions League) final absentees, the Football Association confirmed a larger provisional squad would be announced on Tuesday rather than the definitive group, Dpa reports.

Southgate has named a 33-man party that will be trimmed down to 26 players on June 1, allowing him to include injury doubts such as Harry Maguire, Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips.

Speaking about his decision to name a 33-member squad, Southgate explained: "I think our situation is more complicated than any other country at the moment.

"We have known for a while that we have of this 33, 12 players still to play in European finals this week so we were always going to need some additional...

London, March 29 (Ians) England have made it two wins out of two in their World Cup qualifying campaign after they won 2-0 in Albania.

In the Sunday match, goals from captain Harry Kane and midfielder Mason Mount secured three points for Gareth Southgate's side, adding to their win over San Marino first time out.

Kane, restored to the starting line-up after being rested against San Marino, opened the scoring on 38 minutes, finishing off Luke Shaw's cross.

And Mount secured the victory just after the hour mark to put England on six points out of six at the top of Group I.

"I thought it was a really good performance," Kane said. "Maybe a bit slow at the start but we changed our formation and I think that helped.

"Sometimes you go through spells when things don't go your way, that is part of being a striker. You just...

London, Jan 28 (Ians) Bottom side Sheffield United sprang the biggest surprise of the ongoing Premier League season when they won 2-1 at Old Trafford to knock Manchester United off the top of the table.

On Wednesday evening, Kean Bryan put Sheffield United ahead with a close-range header after 24 minutes, and although former Blades defender Harry Maguire equalised with 25 minutes left to go, Oliver Burke's curling shot 10 minutes later gave his side an unexpected win, reports Xinhua news agency.

The result means Manchester City, who on Tuesday won 5-0 away to West Brom, are the new league leaders.

Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel's debut as Chelsea coach after being named as Frank Lampard's replacement on Tuesday ended in a 0-0 draw against Wolves at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea had 79 per cent of the ball, but didn't do enough with it and although Wolves keeper Rui Patricio did well to deny Antonio Rudiger and Callum Hudson-Odoi,...

(Updated With Viewership Numbers) On a scorching Saturday that saw England advance further in the World Cup than the home of the beautiful game has since 1990 and Croatia take down a dynamo, Russia was on seemingly everyone’s lips and the object of their eyes yesterday – and we don’t mean Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation of Donald Trump and the adjoining array of Congressional committees.

Going all the way to an obviously dramatic 3-4 penalty shootout with the 2018 tournament hosts, Ivan Rakitic, Domagoj Vida and the rest of the Croatian national team put the brakes on Vladimir Putin and Russia’s eventual aim of a World Cup final perch. They also helped Fox hit new ratings and viewership highs for its coverage of this year’s World Cup.

Actually, breaking the 2018 record established by Croatia’s July 1 victory in penalties over Denmark, the Russian loss to the Luka Modric...

The World Cup is getting increasingly closer to coming home after England beat Sweden to reach the semi-final.

The game drew an 80% share of television viewers on BBC One on Saturday afternoon, similar to England’s penalty shoot-out win over Colombia in the quarter final. However, total TV viewers were down on the last round as the game averaged 15.8m, reaching a peak of 19.9m during the last few minutes. This compared to an average of 16.6m and a peak of 24.4m for the Colombia match.

This number would not have captured the millions of Brits watching the game, which saw Harry Maguire and Dele Alli score in a relatively comfortable win, in pubs or in public spaces. Given the scenes in the streets of Britain’s major cities and towns, it was clear that there was a huge communal viewing for this match.

Some 3.8M people also live-streamed the match online,...