DOHA: Kalidou Koulibaly sent Senegal into the World Cup knockouts for just the second time in their history with the winner in Tuesday’s dramatic 2-1 win over Ecuador.
The Netherlands’ dominant victory over Qatar meant only a win would see Senegal through to the knockouts from Group A, while Ecuador would have progressed with a draw.
Senegal opened the scoring through Ismaila Sarr’s penalty late in the first half, but despite managing to keep Ecuador captain Enner Valencia quiet throughout, Brighton’s Moises Caicedo levelled in the 67th minute before Koulibaly sent his team through and Ecuador home.
Senegal manager Aliou Cisse promised before the game his experienced side “would not overthink” the occasion and it was the Africans who opened the game furiously, with Everton’s Idrissa Gana Gueye lashing the ball just wide of an open goal after only three minutes.
Less than a minute later, Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez needed to bail out his side’s high backline, sliding in to stifle a counter well outside his box.
On the 10 minute mark, Senegal’s Boulaye Dia found himself one-on-one with Galindez, but he cut the ball just wide of the post.
Seemingly sparked into life by Senegal’s fierce opening, Ecuador pushed forward and won a free-kick 30 meters from goal, with the South Americans taking the opportunity for a rare breather before Valencia slammed the ball into the wall.
After the furious opening exchanges, both sides began to settle and the first half looked set to end goalless before Ecuador defender Piero Hincapie clattered into Sarr, giving referee Clement Turpin no choice but to point to the spot.
Sarr stepped up and coolly dispatched a fine spot-kick past Galindez, maintaining eye contact with the keeper as the ball went in.
Ecuador started the second half fresher and more determined, perhaps reassured that the Netherlands’ dominance over Qatar meant they only needed a draw to go through.
From a free-kick, defender Felix Torres rose high to head the ball on to Caicedo, who was waiting at the far post and slammed the ball home.
Senegal struck back immediately and in almost identical fashion, with Koulibaly lurking unmarked at the far post following a free-kick which was deflected into his path by Hincapie.
Coming into the match on a yellow card, Gueye picked up a second-half booking and will miss Senegal’s last-16 game against the winners of Group B.
Koulibaly sinks Ecuador to fire Senegal into World Cup knockouts
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Koulibaly sinks Ecuador to fire Senegal into World Cup knockouts
- The Netherlands' dominant victory over Qatar meant only a win would see Senegal through to the knockouts
- Senegal manager Aliou Cisse promised before the game his experienced side "would not overthink" the occasion
Espanyol club welcomes Saudi Future Falcons in Barcelona
- Young Saudi team defeats La Liga’s club’s reserve team 3-2 at Dani Jarque Sports City
- Saudi Future Falcons program seeks to provide experience, skill development for teams and players from the Kingdom
RIYADH: Espanyol became the latest Spanish club to welcome a delegation of the Saudi Future Falcons program, with a friendly match between the La Liga reserve team and the Falcons.
The Falcons have returned home after a successful trip which saw them win the match 3-2 at the Dani Jarque Sports City on Wednesday.
The Saudi Future Falcons program is overseen by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, and aims to provide experience and skill development for teams and players from the Kingdom
CEO of Espanyol Club, Mao Yi Wu, welcomed the Saudi delegation led by the program’s General Manager, Ghassan Felemban.
The meeting between the representatives of both sides marked the first step in a relationship. Espanyol Club, known as a developmental club, nationally and internationally, is looking to generate new avenues of growth through this relationship.
Felemban said that this step is one of the Future Falcons program’s initiatives to enhance relations with Spanish and European clubs.
The program has several partnerships in Spain with clubs such as Real Sociedad, Valencia, and Nastic Tarragona, as well as cooperation with Almeria and Leganes.
It aims to prepare and develop young talents born in 2005 to serve the Saudi U-19 national team, under the supervision of the technical director of the federation, Nasser Laghari, and the program’s technical team led by the Croatian Romeo Gozak.
LeBron stars as Lakers stay alive with win over Nuggets
- Eastern Conference top seeds Boston rebounded from a shock home loss to the eighth-seeded Heat with a 104-84 victory in Miami that put the Celtics up 2-1
- Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-89 to level their Eastern Conference series at two games apiece
LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Lakers, fueled by 30 points from superstar LeBron James, stayed alive in the NBA playoffs on Saturday with a 119-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Down 3-0 to the defending champions and facing elimination, the Lakers stood firm on their home floor, weathering a triple-double from Nuggets star Nikola Jokic to send the series back to Denver for game five on Monday.
After the Lakers let double-digit leads evaporate in losing each of the first three games, James scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to ensure it didn’t happen again.
“I love the fourth quarter,” James said. “I understand it is close-out time and we haven’t been able to do that versus this team through three games.
“So tonight I had an opportunity to do that and I wanted to deliver,” added the 39-year-old, who connected on six of eight shots in the final period, drew a charge and came up with a steal that he parlayed into a dunk at the other end.
But the four-time NBA champion wasn’t ready to celebrate the Lakers’ first win over Denver in 12 contests, since December of 2022, knowing that no NBA team has rallied from 3-0 down to win a playoff series.
“We’re still down 3-1,” he said. “So each and every game will be its own challenge. We took care of business tonight to extend the series, but we’ve got to be even better.”
Anthony Davis added 25 points and a whopping 23 rebounds for Los Angeles. Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell scored 21 points apiece.
Russell repaid the faith of coach Darvin Ham, who kept him in the starting lineup after he went scoreless in game three.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic scored 33 points with 14 rebounds and 14 assists.
Michael Porter Jr. added 25 points and 10 rebounds and Jamal Murray added 16 for the Nuggets in defeat.
Saturday’s other three games were lopsided affairs, as Eastern Conference top seeds Boston rebounded from a shock home loss to the eighth-seeded Heat with a 104-84 victory in Miami that put the Celtics up 2-1.
The Thunder, winners of their first two games against the
Orlando, Franz Wagner scored 32 points and the Magic dominated Cleveland in Pelicans in Oklahoma City, pressed their advantage in New Orleans with a 106-85 thrashing that gave them a 3-0 stranglehold on their Western Conference series.
And the Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-89 to level their Eastern Conference series at two games apiece.
In Miami, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored 22 points apiece, Tatum adding 11 rebounds and six assists as the Celtics led from start to finish.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 18 points and Derrick White chipped in 16 for the Celtics, who allowed the Heat the fewest points of any Celtics opponent this season.
“Once they got up double digits, their pressure started to pick up,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They were the more physical team, they bodied us, bullied us.”
Boston led 21-12 after the first quarter and erupted for 42 points in the second period.
They were up by 24 points at halftime and pushed the lead to as many as 29 in the second half.
Miami, who had just nine three-pointers after raining 23 treys in their game two victory, will try to regroup when they host Game 4 on Monday.
That’s when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will have a chance to close out the Pelicans in New Orleans.
With Zion Williamson sidelined with a hamstring strain, the Pels have had no answer for the young Thunder team led by Most Valuable Player award finalist Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the Thunder on Saturday with 24 points five rebounds and eight assists.
The Thunder drained 17 three-pointers and after taking a 60-46 lead into halftime pushed their advantage to as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter.
Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey scored 21 points apiece for the Thunder.
Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 19 and CJ McCollum added 16, but New Orleans made just nine of their 32 three-point attempts and turned the ball over 21 times.
In Orlando, Franz Wagner scored 32 points and the Magic dominated Cleveland in the second half.
The Cavs scored just 10 points in the third quarter and 29 in the second half, going more than six minutes without scoring.
Nadal gets even with De Minaur at Madrid Open but still doubts his body can hold up at French Open
- Nadal is no longer aiming to add to his 92 career titles after being decimated by injuries in recent years
- Top-seeded Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek brushed aside their first opponents
MADRID: Rafael Nadal tore his headband off, thrust his arms in the air, and soaked up the cheers. It was only a second-round win, but coming from where Nadal had been just a few weeks ago when he couldn’t even get on the court, he could have been savoring a trophy.
He had just beaten 11th-ranked Alex de Minaur 7-6 (6), 6-3 at the Madrid Open on Saturday, avenging a straight-set loss to the Australian less than two weeks ago.
Nadal is no longer aiming to add to his 92 career titles after being decimated by injuries in recent years. The 37-year-old just wants to play like Rafael Nadal, or as close to that as he can. So he is going forward game by game, measuring his efforts to avoid an injury that would likely force his definitive retirement, with the ultimate goal of being competitive one more time at next month’s French Open.
“I have been through some very difficult months when there were moments when I didn’t see the reason to continue, but I had the dream of experiencing feelings like this again and above all at home,” Nadal said. “It was incredible.”
The 22-time Grand Slam champion was cheered on by Spanish King Felipe VI, soccer great Zinedine Zidane and a raucous crowd that packed the Caja Magica to see what will most likely be the tennis great’s last tournament in Spain.
Nadal was playing just his fourth competitive match since his latest injury layoff in his farewell season.
De Minaur beat Nadal just 11 days before in Barcelona, where the Spaniard returned to the courts for the first time in more than three months. Nadal looked much better this time around.
But Nadal said being ready to play at Roland Garros, with its more demanding five-set format, is another matter, especially given the importance he has for the tournament he has won 14 times.
“Roland Garros is the most important tournament of my tennis career, and all the things that I lived there, enjoyed there, stay in my heart forever,” he said.
“So if I am not able to go on court and dream, even if it’s the minimum, minimum percentage, (then) for me doesn’t make sense to go on court. I’d prefer to stay with all the amazing memories that I have. I want to be there, and even losing, but, you know, to go on court with the chance to dream about something important.”
Nadal got a straight-set win over American teenager Darwin Blanch on Thursday, but De Minaur was much stiffer competition and the tension in the stands of Manolo Santana Stadium was palpable.
The first set saw both players break serve twice. De Minaur then saved four set points before Nadal finished him off in the tiebreak to take the lead. Nadal pressed his advantage, broke De Minaur’s first service game of the second set and closed out the victory.
“I’m super happy to be able to be competitive against a great player like Alex, play over two hours,” Nadal said after his first win over a top-20 opponent since 2022. “It means a lot to me and the atmosphere here is just a joke, so I can’t thank enough everybody here.”
Nothing less than sports royalty in his Spain, Nadal grunted out his first “Vamos!” (Let’s go!), more to himself than his staff or fans, after winning his first point. He pumped his fists after landing his hammer of a left-hand drive; he argued heatedly with the chair judge over whether or not he challenged a line call on time; he shook his head when he hit long, chiding himself for not adjusting to Madrid’s high altitude.
And the crowd ate it up, shouting “Viva Rafa!” between points and “Ole! Ole! Ole!” after his backhand winner set up match point. De Minaur double-faulted to do himself in.
Nadal has won a record five times in Madrid, the last time in 2017.
Next up will he face Pedro Cachin in the third round after the Argentine beat Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-4.
TOP SEEDS ADVANCE
Top-seeded Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek brushed aside their first opponents.
Sinner downed fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-0, 6-3 in the second round to improve to 5-0 against his countryman.
Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev rallied past Matteo Arnaldi 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, while fifth-seeded Casper Ruud beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-1.
The seventh-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas was upset 6-4, 6-4 by Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro, ranked 118th. Tsitsipas won Monte Carlo this month before reaching the final of Barcelona last week.
Grigor Dimitrov, seeded ninth, lost to Jakub Mensik 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3, while Felix Auger-Aliassime, Sebastian Korda, Ben Shelton, and Alexander Bublik were among players who won.
Swiatek made quick work of Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-1 to reach the women’s last 16.
The top-ranked Swiatek, who lost last year’s final to Aryna Sabalenka, improved her record this season to 26-4. She will next face Sara Sorribes Tormo on Monday after the Spaniard ousted Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (0), 6-3.
Coco Gauff, seeded third, downed Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 6-1 and will next face Madison Keys.
The 2022 winner Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari, Jelena Ostapenko — all top-10 players — also advanced.
Interest in hosting Olympics ‘never so high,’ says IOC boss
- After a string of Games in Western democracies, 2036 could be an opportunity for Saudi Arabia, sole candidate for the 2032 FIFA World Cup; Qatar, a losing candidate for 2032; Indonesia, or India
- Bach attributes the revival of interest in hosting the Olympics to reforms undertaken on his watch
LAUSANNE: Despite threats from climate change, AI-enhanced doping or competition from e-sports, the boss of the International Olympic Committee believes the future has never looked so bright for his sports movement.
Thomas Bach, a 70-year-old German fencer, has run the Switzerland-based guardian of the Olympic Games since 2013 when interest in hosting the event was near rock-bottom after repeated scandals over costs and corruption.
Its diminished appeal was clear at the time of bidding for the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics when there were only two candidates, Paris and Los Angeles, who divided the honors between themselves.
Since then, the 2032 Games have been awarded to Brisbane, Australia, and Bach told AFP in an interview at IOC headquarters on Friday that there were “double-digit” numbers of countries in the running for 2036.
“We have never been in such a favorable position. We have never seen such a high interest in hosting the Olympic Games,” he said on Friday from his offices that overlook Lake Geneva.
After a string of Games in Western democracies, 2036 could be an opportunity for Saudi Arabia, sole candidate for the 2032 FIFA World Cup; Qatar, a losing candidate for 2032; Indonesia, or India.
“We are now 12 years away from these Games, so it is way too early to comment on any of these interests,” Bach replied when asked about Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Bach attributes the revival of interest in hosting the Olympics to reforms undertaken on his watch, which have sought to put an end to the wasteful spending that has near-bankrupted several host cities in the past.
Instead of oversized and gleaming new stadiums and facilities that often fall empty afterwards, the IOC now encourages the use of existing or temporary infrastructure.
An estimated 96 percent of the sport during Paris 2024, which begins on July 26, will take place in existing or temporary locations, while LA 2028 might reach 100 percent.
“Paris is the first Olympic Games which is absolutely in line with our Olympic agenda reforms from start to finish,” Bach added.
As a result, French organizers claim that their event will be responsible for around half the carbon emissions of previous editions in London 2012 and Rio in 2016.
Critics, such as environmental research group Carbon Market Watch, commend the efforts to improve, but remain skeptical that the Games can ever be sustainable.
“The most significant factor affecting the games’ environmental footprint is its enormity,” a report from the group stated in mid-April.
Last-gasp goal stretches Leverkusen unbeaten streak
- The strike keeps Leverkusen’s remarkable streak of late goals alive
- Alonso’s side have now won or equalized in stoppage time 10 times this season in all competitions
LEVERKUSEN, Germany: Robert Andrich scored with the last kick of the match to extend Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten run to 46 games this season with a 2-2 home draw against Stuttgart on Saturday.
With Bundesliga champions Leverkusen facing their first loss of the season in any competition trailing 2-1 late in stoppage time, Andrich hammered in a loose ball to equalize in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The strike keeps Leverkusen’s remarkable streak of late goals alive, with Xabi Alonso’s side doing the same at Borussia Dortmund in the seventh minute of injury time for a 1-1 draw last week.
Two goals in the space of nine minutes to start the second half from Chris Fuehrich and Deniz Undav put Stuttgart on course, with Amine Adli pulling one back after 61 minutes.
Leverkusen built pressure but could not break through, putting their hopes of becoming the first team to go a full Bundesliga season without defeat in doubt.
However, with time running out, they won a free kick and Florian Wirtz curled the ball into the box, Andrich snapping up a rebound to score.
Alonso’s side have now won or equalized in stoppage time 10 times this season in all competitions.
