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Group K: Wolverhampton

Wanderers vs Braga

UEFA Europa League,

Group L: Manchester

United vs Astana

FOOTBALL FOOTBALL

07THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2019

I just wanted to tell you I’m so excited to come back to Argentina to play my good

friend Juan Martin del Potro at Parque Roca.

Roger Federer says about his scheduled exhibition match against Juan Martin del Potro on November 20. T

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AFP TOKYO

Japanese tennis superstar Naomi Osaka beat qualifier Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria in straight sets yesterday to reach the Pan Pacific Open quarter-finals.

Making her first appearance at the tournament following a first-round bye, top seed Osaka outclassed Tomova, ranked 181st in the world, 7-5, 6-3 in Osaka, western Japan.

“I was a little nervous at the beginning,” admitted Osaka, seeking to clinch her first victory at the home event after being runner-up in 2016 and 2018.

Osaka, who crashed out of this month’s US Open in the last 16, started slowly, losing the first three games in the first set, but later found her rhythm with solid serves and crisp volleying to secure the first set.

Tomova’s quick court cov-erage caused Osaka difficulty throughout the match but in the end the two-time Grand Slam champion had too much power

for her lowly opponent, serving a succession of rapid aces.

The 21-year-old, who was born in the city, said the cheers of her hometown fans helped her put in a sol id performance.

She will take on either Rus-sia’s Varvara Flink or Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in the quarter finals.

Last week, Osaka announced she was splitting with her coach, her second break-up this year as she battles for form and slips from the number-one position in the

world rankings to number four.Osaka had already caught

the tennis world by surprise when she announced she was parting ways with coach Sascha Bajin, who had overseen her stunning rise to win two Grand Slams -- the US Open in 2018 and the Australian Open title in January.

Her main challengers in the Japan event will be fellow top-10 players Kiki Bertens from the Netherlands and US sensation Sloane Stephens.

Former world number one

Angelique Kerber of Germany downed unseeded Nicole Gibbs of the US 6-2, 6-4 following her first-round bye.

“It’s tough. She played really well,” Kerber said.

Madison Keys, the 2017 US Open runner-up, came from behind to narrowly beat Kaza-khstan’s Zarina Diyas 5-7, 6-0, 6-4.

The fifth seed American lost the first set but found her form in the second to shut out the unseeded Diyas before sealing the win in the deciding set 6-4.

Osaka thrashes Tomova to storm into quarter-finals

Japan’s Naomi Osaka hits a return against Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova in their round of 16 match at the Pan Pacific Open in Osaka, yesterday.

Making her first

appearance at the

tournament following a

first-round bye, top seed

Osaka outclasses her

Bulgarian opponent 7-5,

6-3 in Osaka, western

Japan.

Federer, Del Potro to play in Buenos Aires exhibition match

AFP PARIS

Roger Federer (pictured) and Juan Martin del Potro, who is set to return next month from a knee injury, announced they will play an exhibition match in Buenos Aires on November 20.

“I just wanted to tell you I’m so excited to come back to Argentina to play my good friend Juan Martin del Potro at Parque Roca,” Federer said in a video on Del Potro’s Twitter account.

The Parque Roca stadium has a capacity of around 15,500 and is primarily used for Davis Cup ties.

Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion from Argentina, has not played since fracturing his right knee in the Wim-bledon tune-up at Queen’s in June.

T h e i n j u r y -plagued 30-year-old was forced to miss this year’s US Open after finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the 2018 final.

He is expected to make his comeback at the ATP tour-nament in Stockholm, which runs from October 14 to 20, and is also scheduled to compete in Vienna the following week.

The match in Buenos Aires will take place at the same time as the revamped 18-team Davis Cup finals, to be held in Madrid from November 18 to 24.

Meanwhille, Federer said he will soon decide if he will play at next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Speaking ahead of the Laver Cup team competition he co-owns, Federer said he is “very excited about the prospect” of Tokyo.

In an interview broadcast by Swiss public television, he says “I just have to see how is the

family, how is my body doing.”Federer is a four-

time Olympian. He met his wife at the 2000 Sydney Games and twice carried Switzer-land’s flag at o p e n i n g ceremonies.

ampion from Argentina, has t played since fracturing his ht knee in the Wim-

edon tune-up at een’s in June.T h e i n j u r y -

agued 30-year-oldas forced to misss year’s US Open er finishing runner-to Novak Djokovic

the 2018 final.

I just have to see how is tfamily, how is my body doin

Federer is a foutime Olympian. met his wife at t2000 SydnGames and twcarried Switzeland’s flag o p e n i nceremonies.

EWF handed two-year suspension over dopingREUTERS TOKYO

The Egyptian Weightlifting Federation (EWF) has been suspended for two years for various doping-related offences, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) said yesterday.

The ban will prevent Egypt from competing at the World Weightlifting Championships that began yesterday in Pattaya and the Olympics in Tokyo next year if it is upheld.

“The Independent Member Federations Sanctions Panel (IMFSP) has suspended the Egyptian Weightlifting Feder-ation for a period of two years,” the IWF said in a statement.

“The IMFSP has the sole authority to impose sanctions on member federations, in line with Article 12 of the IWF Anti-Doping Policy, which was approved by the IWF Executive Board in order to ensure greater i n d e p e n d e n c e a n d transparency.”

The country’s governing body was informed of the decision on September 12 and were given three weeks to appeal.It was reported in 2017 that five Egyptian teenagers, including two girls aged 14, and two 20-year-olds, failed doping tests at the African Youth and Junior Championships in 2016.

Under IWF rules, any country returning three or more positive tests within a year faces a range of sanctions and in serious cases can be suspended from the sport.

Curry looks to take part in OlympicsREUTERS NEW YORK

Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry (pictured) is planning to be part of the team that will represent the United States at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“That is the plan, for sure,” Curry told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols.

“You know, obviously knock on wood, you don’t want any injuries or things like that to interfere.”

Team USA is coming off an embarrassing seventh-place finish in the FIBA World Cup.

The US team had won 58 consecutive tournament games in FIBA and Olympic compe-tition with NBA players dating to 2005 coming into the tour-nament, but left without a gold medal for the first time since 2006.

Curry has been on two of the World Cup teams during that stretch, but has yet to compete in the Olympics.

“I’ve never been on the

Olympic team. I’ve been on two World Cup championship gold-medal teams. But the Olympics is the experience that I want. And next year will hopefully be it,” said Curry.

The American squad had to cope with more than two dozen defections from NBA stars who backed out of their commitment to play before the tournament.

Of the 35 players named last summer as possible members of the roster, only four made it to China: Kemba Walker, Khris

Middleton, Harrison Barnes and Myles Turner.

“We’re still the best,” said Curry, before adding a caveat.

“If we get the guys that are supposed to be there, in terms of, you know, rep-resenting us in the O l y m p i c stage and the com-

mitment’s been there, and I

think it’ll be there next year,”

he added.

ympicsddleton, Harrisonrnes and Myles ner.“We’re still the t,” said Curry, before

ding a caveat.“If we get the guyst are supposed to

there, in ms of, youow, rep-enting in the

y m p i cge and

com-

mitment’s beenthere, and I

think it’ll bethere next year,”

he added.

New York Mets starting pitcher Marcus Stroman pitches in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.

New York pull within four

games of Chicago and

Milwaukee for the second NL

wild-card berth. The Mets

have 11 games left in the

regular season.

Pan Pacific Open

Stroman stars as New York Mets beat Colorado RockiesAP DENVER

Marcus Stroman provided a boost

to the New York Mets’ flickering

play-off hopes.

Stroman pitched seven shutout

innings, Amed Rosario, Brandon

Nimmo and Pete Alonso all

homered in the sixth to break open

a scoreless game and the Mets beat

the Colorado Rockies 6-1 on

Tuesday night.

“We show up with the same

confidence every day,” Stroman

said.

“I think we can rattle up some

wins here. We can get hot. I think

everyone believes that, so it’s just

a matter of going out there and

doing it.”

New York pulled within four

games of Chicago and Milwaukee

for the second NL wild-card berth.

The Mets have 11 games left in the

regular season.

“We’re going to try to grab as

many games as we possibly can,”

Alonso said.

“Every win matters and we’re

going to keep trying to play our

best baseball coming down the

stretch.”

Stroman (9-13) allowed four

hits, struck out seven and walked

one in helping the Mets bounce

back from consecutive losses.

Tim Melville (2-3) had put up

zeroes right along with Stroman,

facing the minimum through five

innings with an assist from his

defense, which turned three double

plays while he was on the mound.

But Todd Frazier singled to

start the sixth and Rosario followed

by driving a 1-1 offering from

Melville into the left field bleachers

for his 13th home run and a 2-0

lead. One out later, Nimmo tagged

the first pitch he saw for his

seventh of the season. Melville got

Jeff McNeil to fly out before Alonso,

getting the green light on a 3-0

pitch, connected for his 48th home

run. The ball landed among the

stand of evergreens beyond the

center field fence, and Melville was

relieved by Philip Diehl.

Alonso, who added an RBI

single in the Mets’ eighth, is one

homer shy of tying Mark McGwire

for the second-most home runs by

a rookie in a season. The New York

Yankees’ Aaron Judge hit 52 home

runs as a rookie in 2017.

Charlie Blackmon homered off

Luis Avilan with two outs in the

ninth for the Rockies’ lone run.

Stroman, acquired from Toronto

in a July 28 trade, improved to 3-2

with a 3.86 ERA in his nine starts for

New York. The Mets have gone 6-3

with Stroman on the mound.

08 THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2019SPORT

F1: Hamilton hopes to shine under Singapore floodlightsREUTERS SINGAPORE

Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton (pictured) can return Mercedes to the top of the podium this Sunday with an unprecedented fifth win around the floodlit streets of Singapore.

Winners of 10 of the sea-son’s 14 races so far, Mercedes suffered a double defeat in Belgium and Italy to Ferrari with the fast straights of Spa-Francorchamps and Monza giving the Italian team a rare edge.

The Marina Bay layout, winding through the heart of the glittering city state, has more corners (23) than any circuit, however, and should restore Mercedes’ status as the team to beat after wins at similar venues like Monaco and Hungary.

“For a long time, Sin-gapore used to be one of our weakest tracks,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

“We’ve made some inroads into that and per-formed well last year.

“However, there are no home runs at a track like Sin-gapore,” added the Austrian.

“We take abso-l u t e l y

nothing for granted in our approach to the weekend.”

Hamilton, who leads team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 63 points with seven races left, is tied with Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel for most Sin-gapore wins.

The only drivers of the current crop to have tri-umphed in the city-state have each won four times.

Two of Hamilton’s wins have come in the last two years. Another victory on Sunday will see the five-time champion secure his third in a row and hand Mercedes their fourth successive Sin-

gapore success.

Ferrari, on a high after winning two races on the trot with the second of those in front of their passionate home fans in Monza, could face a reality check.

Their hopes could rest on the weather or a safety car, which has made an appearance in every race Sin-gapore has hosted since it joined the calendar in 2008.

Vettel who was involved in a multi-car start line crash that cost him victory in 2017, will have to stay out of trouble.

The German four-times champion was sanctioned after spinning out and rejoining the track in a dan-gerous manner in Italy and is now only three penalty points away from a one-race ban.

“After two positive weekends in Belgium and

Italy, the race in Sin-gapore doesn’t look

as good on paper for us,” said Monegasque Charles Leclerc, winner in

Belgium and Italy.“It might be a more dif-

ficult weekend for us, but we will give our all to have a good result.” Red Bull may be Mer-cedes’ closest challengers.

Singapore has tended to suit the team’s typically nimble chassis, with the

former champions fin-ishing second for

the last five years.

Max Ver-s t a p p e n , who battled Hamilton

hard for victory in Hungary and was runner-up to the Briton last year, will be eyeing Sunday as an opportunity to go one better.

His rookie team-mate

Alexander Albon, who has made a strong start to his Red Bull career, will also aim to impress in the closest race the British-born Thai has to a home appearance in Asia.

Lap distance: 5.063 km. Total distance: 308.706 km (61 laps)

2018 pole: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes, one minute 36.015 seconds

2018 winner: Hamilton

Race lap record: Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) Haas, 1:41.905

Start time: 1210 GMT (2010 local)

SINGAPORE Sunday’s race is the 12th in Singapore, the first night-time grand prix upon its

introduction in 2008.

Only two current drivers have won at the 23 corner circuit -- Hamilton (2009,

2014, 2017, 2018) and Vettel (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015).

Mercedes have won the race four times, Red Bull three and Ferrari twice. Red Bull

have finished second for the past five years.

No team has ever scored a one-two finish in Singapore.

Hamilton and Vettel have each been on pole four times in Singapore. The race

has been won from pole position on eight occasions.

The lowest winning grid position was Fernando Alonso, who came from 15th in

a now-notorious 2008 race where Brazilian team mate Nelson Piquet crashed his Re-

nault deliberately on team orders.

The race is the longest on the calendar in terms of time taken to complete and

runs close to the two-hour limit.

The safety car has featured in all 11 editions of the race to date.

The winner in Singapore has been champion at the end of the season in seven of

the last eight years.

Vettel has been on the podium seven times to Hamilton’s six.

RACE WINS Hamilton has 81 career victories and is closing the gap to Michael Schumacher’s

record 91. Vettel, third on the all-time list, has 52.

Vettel has not won since his victory at last season’s Belgian Grand Prix, more than

a year ago.

Ferrari have won 237 races since 1950, McLaren 182, Williams 114, Mercedes 97

and Red Bull 61. Former champions McLaren and Williams have not won since 2012.

Hamilton has won eight out of 14 races so far this season and has a 63-point lead

over team mate Valtteri Bottas, who has won twice. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc have also won twice.

Leclerc is chasing his third win in a row after Belgium and Italy.

STATISTICS FOR THE SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX

The Marina Bay layout, winding through the heart of the glittering city state, hasmore corners (23) than anycircuit, however, and should restore Mercedes’ status as the team to beat after winsat similar venues likeMonaco and Hungary.

“For a long time, Sin-gapore used to be one of our weakest tracks,” saidMercedes boss Toto Wolff.

“We’ve made some inroads into that and per-formed well last year.

“However, there are no home runs at a track like Sin-gapore,” added the AAustrian.

“We take abso-l u t e l y

t e ou t success ve Sgapore success.

a te sp g out rejoining the track in agerous manner in Italy now only three penalty paway from a one-race b

“After two posweekends in Belgium

Italy, the race igapore doesn’

as good on papus,” said MonegaCharles Leclerc, winn

Belgium and Italy.“It might be a mor

ficult weekend for us, bwill give our all to have aresult.” Red Bull may becedes’ closest challenge

Singapore has tendsuit the team’s typnimble chassis, with

former championishing secon

the last years.

Maxs t a p pwho bHam

MotoGP: Team KTM replaces unhappy Zarco with Kallio for end of seasonAFP PARIS

The KTM MotoGP team abruptly ended their troubled relationship with Johann Zarco saying they would replace the French rider with Finnish veteran Mika Kallio for the Aragon Grand Prix this weekend.

“We want to express gratitude to Johann for his effort since he joined our ambitious project in November last year,” KTM mot-orsport boss Pit Beirer said.

Zarco joined the Austrian team before this season but had struggled to adapt.

The team announced in August that they had granted his request to terminate his con-tract after this season, saying it was the rider’s decision.

The 29-year-old Zarco finished 11th in the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday while the other KTM rider, Spaniard Pol Espargaro, was seventh. With six races left, Espargaro is 11th in the overall standings with 77 points, Zarco, the most successful Frenchman in the history of MotoGP is 17th with just 27. Zarco’s best result is 10th place in Catalonia in June.

Zarco was world champion in Moto2 in 2015 and 2016. He made a promising start in MotoGP for Yamaha satellite Tech3 with three podium finishes and two pole posi-tions in both 2017 and 2018, finishing sixth in the final standings both years.

The team said it needed to focus on the development of its bike.

“We have to make decisions to ensure that we use our resources in the best pos-sible way and we are currently in a positive direction with our MotoGP structure,” said Beirer.

“We firmly believe that Mika can help us in this stage thanks to his knowledge and background.”

Kallio is KTM’s official test driver and has solid experience in lower categories with 16 victories and 49 podiums. Zarco did not comment and has given no indication what he plans to do next season.

Harrington names Karlsson as first vice-captain for Ryder CupREUTERS LONDON

Europe captain Padraig Harrington has named Sweden’s Robert Karlsson as his first vice-captain for the 2020 Ryder Cup, which will be held at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

Harrington made the announcement yesterday ahead of the BMW PGA Championship at Ryder Cup Europe’s head-quarters at Wentworth Golf Club.

“I have known Robert for

many years and I know he will bring a wealth of experience to the team,” the Irishman said.

“As a former Ryder Cup player and European Tour Number One, he commands the respect of his peers and I know I can count on him both in the build-up to Whistling Straits and during the week itself.”

Karlsson, 50, has repre-sented Europe twice at the biennial team competition against the United States, making his debut in 2006 at the

age of 37 and helping Europe to a nine-point victory at The K Club in Ireland.

The Swede returned to Team Europe in 2008, partnering Har-rington in both foursomes ses-sions at the Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky, when the US emerged with a convincing victory.

“It’s an honour to be asked to be a vice captain by Padraig, someone I have known and respected in the game for many years,” said Karlsson, who also served as vice captain under

Thomas Bjorn when Europe crushed the US in Paris last year.

“I’m really looking forward to playing my part for Team Europe once again over the next 12 months.

“To be involved in what tran-spired at Le Golf National was a dream come true and I believe the experience and continuity I can bring to the team this time around can be a big help as we aim to retain the trophy on American soil.”

Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington during a press conference , yesterday.

Thomas to lead Britain at World ChampionshipsAFP LONDON

Geraint Thomas will lead Great Britain’s charge on home soil in both the road race and time trial at the World Championships later this month.

The 2018 Tour de France winner will be joined in the road race by Ben Swift, who won the British national championships in June, Ian Stannard, Owain Doull and Tao Geoghegan Hart.

British time trial champion Alex Dowsett will be the other home entrant in the time trial.

“We have such a talent pool of elite men’s road riders in this country that final selection was quite tricky even though the course is so challenging,” said British Cycling’s elite men’s coach Matt Brammeier.

“Looking at the time trial, we have selected two very experienced time trial riders this year in G and Alex, both of whom suit the course and as such we can expect to see good per-formances from them both.

“G will then stick around to compete in the road race on the Sunday, and will no doubt be a valuable asset to the team in the final laps,” he said.

The 54 kilometre time trial will take place on September 25 with the 280 kilometre road race from Leeds to Harrogate four days later.

Panda unveiled as the mascot for the 2022 Beijing Winter OlympicsAP BEIJING

A smiling panda and a walking Chinese lantern will be the mascots for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Para-lympics in Beijing.

The mascots were revealed at a ceremony at the Shougang Ice Hockey Arena in the Chinese capital.

Beijing Mayor Chen Jining described them as adorable, unique and exquisite.

“In a visually appealing way, they epitomize our aspiration for the Beijing 2022 Games, and extend our warm invitation to friends throughout the world,” he said.

The panda, named Bing Dwen Dwen, is the Olympic mascot. Colourful circles around its face symbolise skating tracks and 5G tech-nology, according to the website of the Beijing organ-izing committee. Bing, the Chinese word for “ice,” shows purity and strength,

while Dwen Dwen means sincerity, liveliness and health, the website said.

The choice of the iconic animal, considered the national treasure, was not a surprise to people in China.

While many acclaimed Bing Dwen Dwen for its cuteness on social media, some were not impressed by the lack of creativity in choosing a panda.

The giant panda was one of the five mascots for the

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, and it also was the symbol for the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990.

“Today is an important step on a milestone in Bei-jing’s journey to make

history as the first ever, in Olympic history, to host both summer and winter editions of the Olympic Games,” International Olympic Com-mittee president Thomas Bach said at the ceremony.

Based on a traditional red lantern, Paralympic mascot Shuey Rhon Rhon creates the cheerful atmos-phere of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which will fall around the time of the Winter Games, the organ-izing committee said.

It sports a yellow scarf, a circle of yellow doves around its head and a traditional Chinese paper cutting.

“Shuey” means snow in Chinese and the characters for “Rhon Rhon” mean “inclusiveness” and “inte-gration,” implying the world civilizations communicating among one another and living in harmony, the com-mittee said.

The two mascots were selected from more than 5,800 submissions from 35 countries.

Artists and children perform during the mascots unveiling ceremony for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games at the Shougang Ice Hockey Arena in Beijing.

09THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2019 SPORT

Hosts Japan ready to face Russia in openerREUTERS TOKYO

With the weight of an expectant nation on their shoulders and a governing body desperate for the hosts to succeed in the first Rugby World Cup in Asia, Japan head into the tournament opener tomorrow under arguably more pressure than any other team.

Fortunately, head coach Jamie Joseph probably could not have picked a better match-up to begin their campaign as they prepare to face Russia, ranked 20th in the world and making only their second World Cup finals appearance, at Tokyo Stadium.

A big win for the home side is likely to be welcomed by World Rugby, who took a major risk in awarding the tournament to Japan 10 years ago, taking the World Cup out of the sport’s tra-ditional heartlands for the first time.

They will be looking for a good early showing from Japan to build further excitement in the host country, who are already optimistic following the Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) triumph last month.

Japan now see themselves as too good for many of the other Tier Two nations and are looking to disrupt the established world order by reaching the quarter-finals for the first time.

Although the results against

their other Pool A opponents Ireland, Scotland and Samoa will likely define Japan’s World Cup campaign, a big opening win in front of an expected record tel-evision audience will build belief that history can be made.

Joseph has been quick to dismiss the favourites tag ahead of tomorrow’s game, pointing out that Japan only managed to sneak a 32-27 win when they faced Russia in November.

“I never consider us to be the

favourites, simply because… we have never been the favourites,” Joseph said yesterday.

“We have got a lot of respect for Russia and we were very lucky to win the last time we played them.

“I will say that the players are really excited, they have been waiting a long time, like eve-rybody has in Japan, for the day to arrive.”

Japan were naive in a 41-7 loss to South Africa in their last warm-up match, struggling to adapt to the Springboks’ suffo-cating defensive gameplan and leaving Joseph looking tactically outclassed.

Despite admitting that match was a wake-up call for his players, against Russia he is likely to go back to the dynamic, attacking rugby that produced 14 tries and 109 points in three matches during the PNC.

For their part, Russia will be determined not to act as merely the sacrificial lamb to Japan’s slaughter as they aim to get their first ever World Cup win.

They lost all four matches at the 2011 tournament during their only previous appearance at the finals and are only in Japan after Romania and Spain were disqual-ified from European qualification for fielding ineligible players.

Russia, under the tutelage of Welshman Lyn Jones, lost their last warm-up match 85-15 to Italy.

Balance the key for Flying Fijians, says coach McKeeREUTERS SAPPORO, JAPAN

Fiji coach John McKee has said the World Cup will be treated to plenty of the flair associated with the island nation’s rugby but this time it will be allied with a firm focus on the basics of the game.

The Flying Fijians were the last Pacific islands side to make the knockout phase at the World Cup when they upset Wales 38-34 to advance to the last eight in France in 2007.

McKee believes a rock-solid structure must be combined with their natural running game if they are to match that feat in Japan, where they have drawn Australia, Uruguay, Georgia and Wales in Pool D.

“We do need to play test match rugby but need to put the icing on the cake with some Fijian talent and flair,” the New Zealander said.

“For us it’s about finding the balance to playing test match rugby.”

Fiji have long been a global power in sevens and played some breathtaking rugby to win gold in the inaugural Olympic tournament in Brazil in 2016.

The Fijians won four suc-cessive Pacific Nations Cup titles from 2015-18.

Fiji open their campaign against twice champions Aus-tralia in Sapporo on Saturday.

Japan’s WorldCup stadiums

AFP TOKYO

Japan aims to bring the Rugby World Cup to as wide an

audience as possible and host cities stretch from the

northern island of Hokkaido to Fukuoka, on the western tip

of the archipelago.

The government is also hoping to breathe new life into

an area wrecked by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, cre-

ating the only purpose-built stadium in a town destroyed

by the disaster.

Here are the 12 stadiums hosting matches at the 2019

Rugby World Cup, which kicks off tomorrow (capacity in

brackets):

YOKOHAMA INTERNATIONAL STADIUM (72,327)

The biggest stadium and the venue for both semi-finals

and the final on November 2. The Yokohama Stadium, just

south of Tokyo, is used to holding major sporting events,

having hosted the final of the 2002 football World Cup

where Brazil beat Germany.

SHIZUOKA ECOPA STADIUM (50,889)

Home to Japan’s most famous attraction, Mount Fuji,

Shizuoka is also a breeding ground for sports stars in tennis

and baseball.

TOKYO STADIUM (49,970)

Home to a J-League football team, this stadium was

drafted in as emergency replacement for the proposed

national stadium, which was scrapped amid public outcry

over its $2bn price tag.

TOYOTA CITY TOYOTA STADIUM (45,000)

The ‘City of Automobiles’ is a key engine room for rugby

in Japan. The city’s rugby team has been crowned national

champions three times. The stadium, which has a retractable

roof, has hosted international rugby.

SAPPORO DOME (41,410)

The most northernly venue, Sapporo hosted the 1972

Winter Olympics. But the Dome was only opened in 2001

for the 2002 football World Cup. It is also home to profes-

sional baseball and soccer teams.

OITA STADIUM (40,000)

Oita is famous for its hot springs and local delicacy, the

poisonous fugu, or blowfish, which can only be prepared

by specially licensed chefs. The stadium was built for the

2002 World Cup, where it hosted three matches.

KUMAMOTO ATHLETIC STADIUM (32,000)

Blessed with national parks and the 400-year-old

Kumamoto Castle, several top Japanese rugby players have

come from Kumamoto.

KOBE MISAKI PARK STADIUM (30,312)

Kobe, which suffered a devastating earthquake in

January 1995 that killed over 6,000 people, hosted 2002

football World Cup matches and previously played host to

the 1985 Student Summer Games.

OSAKA HANAZONO RUGBY STADIUM (30,000)

Hanazono was Japan’s first purpose-built rugby stadium

when it was completed in 1929, earning the city the

nickname of “Rugby City”.

KUMAGAYA RUGBY GROUND (24,000)

Kumagaya is a suburb outside Tokyo and has earned

the soubriquet of Japanese rugby’s ‘hallowed ground of

the east’. It plays host to the spring all-Japan high school

rugby championship.

FUKUOKA HAKATANOMORI STADIUM (22,563)

Known for its gourmet food and rugby, Fukuoka is the

sports centre of Japan’s Kyushu island.

KAMAISHI RECOVERY MEMORIAL STADIUM

(16,187)

The smallest but most emotive venue, as the town of

Kamaishi was almost wiped off the map by the 2011 tsunami.

The stadium, the only one purpose-built for the Rugby World

Cup, is on the site of two schools devastated by the waves.

South Africa plan aerialattack against All Blacks AFP TOKYO

South African coach Rassie Erasmus predictably named his number one side to face New Zealand in the marquee clash on the opening weekend of the World Cup.

He will roll out the same side that thrashed Japan in their final warm-up match before the tour-nament, a line-up that had only one change from the team that drew 16-all with New Zealand last month when Siya Kolisi was injured.

Between them, the Springboks and All Blacks have won five of the eight World Cups and Erasmus has been quite open about the game plan needed to take down his arch-rivals in their Pool B clash at Yokohama on Saturday.

Against Japan, Springbok halves Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard spent much of the time kicking the ball away so the South Africans could rehearse their defensive lines ahead of the sus-tained periods of attack they expect from the All Blacks.

“We’ve picked our best side,” Erasmus said.

“It’s going to be a massive chal-lenge with the rain they’re pre-dicting. Everyone’s talking about the slippery ball and the wetness. Kicking is going to play a big part.”

Erasmus believed his backline -- with a speedy outside trio of Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi -- would match whoever the All Blacks put up but the crunch area would be how his

bigger forward pack handled the breakdown in the humidity as the game wore on.

“We’ve been working really hard on that over the last six or seven Test matches. It will be a massive challenge.”

With Kolisi restored to full health he will form a powerful loose forward trio with Duane Ver-meulen and Pieter-Steph du Toit, with the tight five of Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Mal-herbe, Malcolm Marx and Steven Kitshoff adding muscle.

Italian players taking part in a training session in Sakai yesterday, ahead of the Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup which will kick off tomorrow.

Japan’s Shota Horie (right) and team-mates attending a gym training session yesterday, ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

South African flanker Siya Kolisi (left) taking part in a training session at the Arcs Urayasu Park in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, yesterday.

SOUTH AFRICA (15-1)

Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo

Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole

Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk,

Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit,

Siya Kolisi (capt), Franco Mostert, Eben

Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx,

Steven Kitshoff

Replacements: Bongi Mbonambi, Tendai

Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, RG Snyman,

Francois Louw, Herschel Jantjies, Francois

Steyn, Jesse Kriel

10 THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2019SPORT

Kohli, bowlers star in India’s T20 victory over South Africa

AFP CHANDIGARH

An unbeaten half-century from skipper Virat Kohli and disci-plined bowling helped India beat South Africa by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 interna-tional yesterday.

Kohli made 72 off 52 balls as India chased down their target of 150 in 19 overs in Chandigarh to lead the three-match series 1-0 after the opening game was washed out.

But it was the bowlers led by paceman Deepak Chahar who set up the win after restricting South Africa to 149 for five in their innings.

Kohli then anchored the chase, putting on crucial part-nerships including a 61-run second-wicket stand with opener Shikhar Dhawan, who made 40 off 31 deliveries.

The left-handed Dhawan fell to a spectacular catch by an air-borne David Miller at long-on with left arm spinner Tabraiz S h a m s i g e t t i n g t h e breakthrough.

Debutant spinner Bjorn Fortuin struck soon to get w i c k e t k e e p e r - b a t s m a n Rishabh Pant back in the pavilion for four as India slipped to 104 for three.

But Kohli, who went on to

complete his 22nd T20 fifty in 71 games, stood firm to see the team home with Shreyas Iyer, on 16 as he hit the winning four, at the other end.

Kohli, who became the highest run-getter in T20 inter-nationals with 2441 runs, is locked in a battle with teammate Rohit Sharma who was out for 12 and has 2434 runs from 97 matches.

Earlier South Africa skipper Quinton de Kock smashed 52 off 37 deliveries to give his team a brisk start before the Indian bowlers struck back.

De Kock, a wicketkeeper-batsman, put on a crucial 57-run second-wicket stand w i t h d e b u t a n t T e m b a Bavuma.

The left-handed opener, who was recently appointed leader

of South Africa’s T20 side, smashed eight fours as he com-pleted his third fifty in the shortest format.

Paceman Navdeep Saini got the prized wicket of De Kock with India Kohli taking a sensa-tional one-handed running catch from mid-off.

Bavuma went on to make 49 off 43 deliveries before becoming Chahar’s second victim of the evening as South Africa lost steam in the middle overs.

Unbeaten batsmen Dwaine Pretorius, on 10, and Andile Phehlukwayo, on eight, finished off in style with a six each to make South Africa get 16 runs from the final over.

The final match is on Sunday in Bangalore.

Australia’s Moody named as coach of Oval team in The HundredAFP LONDON

Former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody and England World Cup winner Lydia Greenway have been appointed as head coaches of the Oval-based men’s and women’s teams for the new Hundred competition, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced yesterday.

The Hundred, starting in 2020, is a new tournament con-sisting of eight city-based fran-chise sides, breaking away from England’s traditional county system.

Teams will bat for 100 balls each with overs, normally con-sisting of six deliveries, lasting for 10 balls with bowlers either bowling five or 10 balls consecutively.

Moody led Sri Lanka to the 2007 World Cup final and Sun-risers Hyderabad to the Indian Premier League title in 2016.

“Anything that is new and is innovative has an automatic appeal,” said Moody.

“From a coaching per-spective it presents new chal-lenges to test yourself against in a world-class environment.

“To be a part of the early stages of a tournament where you have the opportunity to set the tone around what the 100-ball format will look like is a unique opportunity.”

T h e 5 3 - y e a r - o l d ’ s appointment is the final one among the eight men’s outfits in The Hundred following the announcements of Stephen Fleming (Nottingham), Mahela Jayawardena (Southampton), Simon Katich (Manchester), Gary Kirsten (Cardiff), Darren Lehmann (Leeds), Andrew McDonald (Birmingham) and Shane Warne (Lord’s).

None of the coaches of the men’s sides are English but of the seven appointed so far for the women’s teams, Greenway is the fourth from the host nation.

Greenway, who helped England win the Women’s World Cup in 2009, said: “I feel extremely privileged to have this chance. It’s an opportunity to work with the best players in the country and the best players from around the world, which is really exciting.”

Sanjay Patel, managing director of The Hundred, said the list of coaches was a line-up “bursting with quality”.

The men’s player draft takes place on October 20.

India captain Virat Kohli plays a shot during the second Twenty20 match of a three-match series against South Africa at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali yesterday.

Mahmudullah guides Bangladesh into finalAFP CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH

Mahmudullah struck a quick-fire half-century as Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 39 runs to qualify for the final of their Twenty20 tri-series in Chittagong yesterday.

The hosts wil l face Afghanistan in the final on Tuesday in Dhaka, while Zim-babwe will finish their cam-paign against the same oppo-nents on Friday.

Riding on Mahmudullah’s 62 off 41 balls, Bangladesh posted 175-7 -- the side’s highest total against Zimbabwe in Twenty20s -- before pacer Shafiul Islam and debutant leg-spinner Aminul Islam shared five wickets to bowl out Zimbabwe for 136.

Shafiul, playing his first Twenty20 international in nearly

two years, claimed 3-36 while teenager Aminul also impressed, taking 2-18.

Mustafizur Rahman also took two wickets in the final over to

finish with 2-38 as Bangladesh condemned Zimbabwe to their third consecutive defeat in the tournament, ending their chances of playing in the final.

South AfricaR Hendricks c Sundar b Chahar .........................6

Q de Kock c Kohli b Saini ...................................52

T Bavuma c Jadeja b Chahar ........................... 49

R van der Dussen c & b Jadeja ............................1

D Miller b H Pandya ........................................... 18

D Pretorius (not out) ..........................................10

A Phehlukwayo (not out) ....................................8

Extras (LB5) ......................................................... 5

Total (5 wkts) ....................................... 149Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-88, 3-90, 4-146, 5-129

Bowling: Sundar 3-0-19-0, Chahar 4-0-22-2,

Saini 4-0-34-1, Jadeja 4-0-31-1, H Pandya 4-0-

31-1, K Pandya 1-0-7-0

IndiaR Sharma lbw b Phehlukwayo ....................... 12

S Dhawan c Miller b Shamsi ............................ 40

V Kohli (not out) .................................................72

R Pant c Shamsi b Fortuin ..................................4

S Iyer (not out) .....................................................16

Extras (LB2, W5) ................................................. 7

Total (3 wkts) ........................................ 151Did not bat: H. Pandya, K. Pandya, R. Jadeja, W.

Sundar, D. Chahar, N. Saini

Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-94, 3-104

Bowling: Rabada 3-0-24-0 (w3), Nortje 3-0-27-

0, Phehlukwayo 3-0-20-1 (w1), Pretorius 3-0-27-

0, Shamsi 3-0-19-0 (w1), Fortuin 4-0-32-1

SCOREBOARD

BangladeshNajmul Hossain c & b Jarvis ..............................11

Liton Das c Madziva b Mpofu ..........................38

Shakib Al Hasan c Williams b Burl ..................10

Mushfiqur Rahim c Taylor b Mutombodzi ....32

Mahmudullah Riyad c Williams b Jarvis .......62

Afif Hossain c Taylor b Mpofu ............................ 7

Mosaddek Hossain c Chakabva b Jarvis........... 2

Mohammad Saifuddin (not out) .......................6

Aminul Islam (not out) .........................................0

Extras (LB3, W4) ................................................ 7

Total (seven wkts) ................................ 175Did not bat: Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman

Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-55, 3-65, 4-143, 5-159,

6-169, 7-169

Bowling: Ndlovu 3-0-32-0, Jarvis 4-0-32-3,

Mpofu 4-0-42-2 (w2), Williams 4-0-26-0 (w2),

Burl 1-0-13-1 , Mutombodzi 3-0-17-1, Madziva

1-0-10-0

ZimbabweBrendan Taylor c Shakib b Saifuddin ...............0

Hamilton Masakadza b Aminul .......................25

Regis Chakabva b Shakib ...................................0

Sean Williams c Afif b Shafiul ............................ 2

Tinotenda Mutombodzi c Najmul b Aminul ..11

Ryan Burl b Shafiul ...............................................1

Richmond Mutumbami c Saifuddin b Shafiul 54

Neville Madziva run out ......................................9

Kyle Jarvis c Sub b Mustafizur .........................27

Ainsley Ndlovu b Mustafizur .............................. 2

Chris Mpofu (not out) ..........................................0

Extras (B1, LB1 W3) ........................................... 5

Total ( all out) ........................................ 136Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-2, 3-8, 4-35, 5-37 (Burl),

6-44, 7-66, 8-124, 9-136, 10-136

Bowling: Saifuddin 4-0-14-1, Shakib 4-0-28-1,

Shafiul 4-0-36-3 (w1), Mustafizur 4-0-38-2 (w1) ,

4-0-18-2 (w1)

SCOREBOARD

Bangladesh’s Mahmudullah plays a shot during the fourth Twenty20 international match of a tri-nation series against Zimbabwe at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram, yesterday.

Guangzhou end Kashima’s reign as Asian championsAFP KASHIMA

World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro moved a step closer to AFC Champions League glory as his Guangzhou Evergrande side stunned Asian champions Kashima Antlers yesterday on away goals to reach the semi-finals.

The Chinese giants, who won the competition in 2013 and 2015, go through after drawing 1-1 in Japan following a goalless stalemate in Guangzhou three weeks ago.

Cannavaro, who lifted the 2006 World Cup as Italy’s captain, will be thanking his goalkeeper Zeng Cheng, who pulled off a string of world-class saves to keep his side in the match after they grabbed the crucial away goal before half-time.

A cagey start and mostly tepid first half from the two renowned attacking sides sparked into life when Talisca put the visitors ahead in the 40th

minute. The bleach-blond Bra-zilian midfielder rose highest to meet Huang Bowen’s corner on the right and head home unstop-pably from close range.

Lacklustre Kashima had won their last six home games in the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League, keeping three clean sheets, and the goal

served to wake the Japanese giants.

They laid siege to the Guangzhou goal after half-time and it took just six minutes of the

second period to equalise.Leo Silva’s speculative shot

was deflected past the unlucky Zeng off another Brazilian, Serginho, who was credited with the goal.

Kashima needed to score again to keep their title defence alive and coach Go Oiwa threw on his dual attacking threat of Yuki Soma and Ayase Ueda with 20 minutes to go as he went all out in search of the winner.

It almost paid off immedi-ately as Oeda started a smooth passing move that culminated in Serginho rattling the crossbar with a superb 20-yard left-foot curler that had Zeng for once stranded.

Kashima kept pressing and Guangzhou and Zeng desperately kept them at bay until a dramatic fourth and final minute of added time.

With just 10 seconds remaining Leo Silva danced into the box on the left flank, cut back towards the penalty spot and beat Zeng with a right-foot shot

only to see it blocked on the line by a sprawling defender.

It was hacked clear as the referee blew for full-time and the Guangzhou players to man collapsed to the turf in relief and a large contingent of trav-elling fans from the southern Chinese city danced in the stands.

They go through to a semi-final against fellow two-time champions Urawa Red Dia-monds from Japan next month, with the winners meeting either Al Sadd from Qatar or Saudi Ara-bia’s Al Hilal in November’s two-legged final.

AFC Champions League

Chinese giants Guangzhou, who won the competition

in 2013 and 2015, go through after drawing 1-1 in Japan following a goalless stalemate in Guangzhou

three weeks ago.

Guangzhou’s forward Al Kesen (centre) shoots during the AFC Champions League quarter-finals second leg match against Kashima Antlers of Japan at the Kashima Stadium in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, yesterday.

I know Al Shahania are a good side but we’re targeting a top position in the standings. Our goal is three points: Hallgrimsson

People know what I’m capable of. I just want to concentrate on my work and show my capabilities to 100%. I think I managed that today: Ter Stegen

11THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2019 SPORT

QSL: Al Arabi, Al Gharafa look to continue fine form in Round 4FAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

Al Arabi and Al Gharafa are occu-pying the top two spots in the QNB Stars League (QSL), and both the teams are aiming to continue their good start in the new season as they meet their respective opponents in Round 4 matches today.

Al Arabi, who have 7 points from two wins and a draw from their first three games, are on top of the standings and are ahead of Al Gharafa on basis of scoring more goals as ‘The Cheetahs’ also have two victories and a draw.

Al Arabi will meet struggling Al Shahania at Al Janoub Stadium while Al Gharafa will take on Al Ahli in today’s second game at Al Sadd Stadium.

Al Arabi coach Heimir Hall-grimsson said his team was looking forward to stay on top of the standings.

“I know Al Shahania are a good side but we’re targeting a top position in the standings. Our goal is three points,” Hall-grimsson said at a pre-match press conference yesterday.

Al Arabi coach said his target for the entire season was to maintain good form in all games that will help his side finish among the top four sides.

“We’re building a team for the future and that’s one of my priorities. I think it’s great if we finish the season among the top four,” he said.

The former Icelandic player said though Al Shahania have lost all their first three matches and are reeling on the bottom, his team cannot afford to take them lightly.

“Every game is a test for us and I think it depends on the mentality of the players and their ambition. It’s mostly about

determination. Even if we suffer a setback, we must come back strongly,” said Hallgrimsson.

On the other hand, Al Sha-hania coach Jose Murcia hoped his team will rectify mistakes in today’s encounter and will bounce back strongly.

“We’ve tried to correct the mistakes we made in the past games and we’re trying to get a positive result from this game in order to improve our posit ion,” Murcia said yesterday.

“We must’ve a strong deter-mination and positive spirit. We trained well though we had no special preparations. We’re taking this game very seriously,”

he added. Meanwhile, Al Gharafa coach Slavisa Jokanovic said his team was ready to put a good performance against Al Ahli.

“We play against a difficult and strong team, a good test for us. We have prepared for this match as usual. We will face a different team than the other opponents we faced so far,” said Jokanovic

“Al Ahli are strong in attack and we are ready to put up a good performance. We will see what happens in the game,” he added.

“The Al Ahli match, despite its difficulty, is only about three points. We are ready to make an effort to win. We are trying to

develop our overall level,” said Al Gharafa coach. However, Al Ahli coach Ruben de la Barrera, whose team jumped to 4th in the standings with back-to-back wins, was upbeat ahead of the match.

“Al Gharafa are a new chal-lenge for us. A strong match and I know the quality of Al Gharafa players and their coach. We have won the last two games, which gave us more confidence to build on in the next game and we hope to achieve a positive result,” said De la Barrera.

“Our new recruit Abel Mathias is starting to show his seriousness and he is the striker I was waiting for. The players must have more time for harmony among themselves, as well as get used to the atmos-phere in the stadiums,” he added.

Round 4 QSL FixturesToday

4:50pm: Al Arabi vs Al Shahania at Al Janoub Stadium7:00pm: Al Gharafa vs Al Ahli at Al Sadd Stadium

Tomorrow

4:50pm: Al Sadd vs Umm Salal at Al Janoub Stadium7:00pm: Al Sailiya vs Qatar SC at Al Sadd Stadium

On Saturday

4:50pm: Al Rayyan vs Al Khor at Al Janoub Stadium7:00pm: Al Wakrah vs Al Duhail at Al Sadd Stadium

Ajax’s emphatic win does not win many plauditsREUTERS AMSTERDAM

Ajax Amsterdam might have made an emphatic start to their Champions League group campaign by blitzing Lille 3-0 on Tuesday, but coach Erik ten Hag was far from pleased with some aspects of their play.

Ten Hag said Ajax’s per-formance could have been better had they stuck to pre-arranged instructions before the Group H game against last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up at the Amsterdam Arena.

“We could have been a lot better organised. Lille played very attacking and gave us a lot of space for counter attacks,” he told reporters afterwards.

“That’s when you need players to move up quickly towards their goal, but we did it too quickly at times. We dis-cussed beforehand that we might need to put the brakes on a bit so as not to lose possession again and get caught out.

“That almost happened to us in the last minute of the first half and would have spoilt our half-time lead.”

Criticism was echoed by midfielder Hakim Ziyech, who told Dutch TV there was too much showing off at times from the youthful outfit, seeking to emulate their heroics of last season when they went from the early preliminary rounds right through to the semifinals.

“We did our thing, but sometimes we overdid it and at times there was too much circus,” he said, referring to cute passing moves and attempted backheels that did not work out for Ajax.

But Ten Hag described the overall result as “fantastic”.

“I saw a lot of good things in our attacking play. The second goal from Edson Alvarez, for example, was well set-up,” added the coach.

The Mexican scored early in the second half, his goal sandwiched between Quincy Promes’ 18th minute effort and the third from Nicolas Tagliafico.

Inter’s Conte blames wrong kind of football for European frustrationREUTERS MILAN

Milan’s false start in the Cham-pions League with a home draw against Slavia Prague has only strengthened the idea that coach Antonio Conte is good in Serie A but less so in Europe, which the Italian had dismissed as a cliche before the match.

After winning their first three domestic league matches under Conte, Inter might have expected to cruise past the Czech cham-pions whose close season transfer spending of around eight million euros was around one eighth of what the Italian side spent on forward Romelu Lukaku alone.

Instead, Inter -- eliminated in the Champions League group stage last season -- needed a stoppage-time equaliser to draw 1-1, dropping two points they could ill afford to lose in a group that also includes Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona.

Conte then offered the curious explanation that, basi-cally, Inter’s opponents played the wrong kind of football.

“This is not the kind of football we train for,” he said.

“I’m the one to blame because I didn’t make the right choices before the game and I didn’t correctly understand the type of match I was going to play.

“Slavia Prague certainly played the European way, attacking and playing with high intensity and pressing.

“In other matches, we have played teams who have waited in their half of the pitch, but Slavia attacked us and we should have found dif ferent solutions.”

]Conte made his name by winning three successive Serie A titles with Juventus but his two European campaigns with the

Turin side ended in a quarter-final and group stage elimination.

It was a similar story at Chelsea where he won the Premier League in his first season but saw his side knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16.

On the eve of Tuesday’s match, Conte was asked about his reputation of being a domestic, rather than European, coach.

“People live by cliches,” he said. “As soon as someone says something on the television, eve-ryone else starts copying it.”

Conte noted that every time he was in the Champions League it was with a team still being put together, a claim he could also make about the current Inter side on which over 150 m euros in transfers was spent in the summer window alone.

“You have to work in the Champions League,” he said. “

Inter Milan’s Italian head coach Antonio Conte reacts during the UEFA Champions League Group F match against Slavia Prague on Tuesday at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.

Ter Stegen stakes claim to be Germany’s No. 1AP. DORTMUND, GERMANY

Whether Germany coach Joachim Löw was watching or not, Marc-André ter Stegen delivered his message.

The Barcelona goalkeeper produced a player-of-the-match performance to help the Spanish team escape with a 0-0 draw at Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League group opener on Tuesday.

It was Ter Stegen’s first game since he voiced discontent with his backup role to Germany No. 1 Manuel Neuer.

Ter Stegen saved a penalty from former Borussia Mönchengladbach teammate Marco Reus and made a string of saves to deny the home side.

Ter Stegen was already known for his prowess facing penalties before he left Gladbach for Barça in 2014.

His save against Reus - diving to his left, then calmly snapping up the rebound on the line before any of the onrushing Dortmund players could reach the ball - was his fourth from six penalties he has faced in the Champions League.

“People know what I’m capable of. I just want to con-centrate on my work and show my capabilities to 100%. I think I managed that today,” Ter Stegen said.

Ter Stegen, undisputed No. 1 at Barcelona, is finding it much harder to break through for Germany. The 27-year-old goal-keeper expressed disap-pointment with his reserve role after last week’s European qual-ifiers against the Netherlands and Northern Ireland.

The 33-year-old Neuer, who is also Germany’s captain, kept his place between the posts to leave Ter Stegen on the bench,

as he has been for every com-petitive international game since October 2017.

“It’s not easy to find an explanation for it. I give my best in every game to make the decision more difficult,” Ter Stegen said.

“These international games were a tough blow for me.” Bayern Munich goalkeeper Neuer showed little sympathy after his team’s 1-1 draw at Leipzig in the German league on Saturday.“He never said any-thing about it when we were on international duty. Basically I think that we should always appear as a team, and I don’t know if this helps,” Neuer said.

“I’m a team player and always think of what’s best for the team.” Neuer referred to the duel between Germany goal-keepers Jens Lehmann and long-time No. 1 Oliver Kahn before the 2006 World Cup, and the praise Kahn paid his rival for a brilliant performance in the quarterfinal win over Argentina.

Ter Stegen hit back at the notion he wasn’t a team player.

“If you think of the past years, you can see how I’ve carried myself. So these com-ments are not appropriate,” the German said.

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde thanked the goal-keeper for “his outstanding saves” against Dortmund,

Guangzhou’s midfielder Anderson Talisca (right)

heads to score a goal in front of Kashima’s

goalkeeper Kuwon Sun-Tae during the AFC Champions

League quarter-finals second leg match against

Kashima Antlers of Japan and Guangzhou Evergrande of China at the Kashima Stadium in Kashima, Ibaraki

prefecture, yesterday.

Al Gharafa players celebrate after scoring a goal during the QNB Stars League match in this file picture.

AHENCIES PARIS

Angel Di Maria produced a vintage performance with two goals to help Paris St Germain claim a 3-0 home win over Real Madrid in their Champions League Group A opening game yesterday.

In the absence of the for-midable trio of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Edinson Cavani, Di Maria provided two first-half goals as PSG suffocated Real throughout and Thomas Meunier added a third in stoppage time.

Zinedine Zidane’s Real, who eliminated PSG in the last 16 in 2017-18 and were also missing key players at the Parc des Princes, failed to muster a shot on target and suffered their first defeat of the season.

PSG lead the standings on three points, ahead of Club Brugge and Galatasaray, who played out a goalless draw earlier yesterday.

Elsewhere, in Madrid, Héctor Herrera scored in the 90th minute as Atlético Madrid salvaged a 2-2 draw against Juventus.

Cristiano Ronaldo was held scoreless in his return to Madrid, but Juventus was

able to open a 2-0 lead with goals by Juan Cuadrado and Blaise Matuidi in the second half.

Sefan Savic pulled Atlético closer in the 70th and Herrera got the equalizer with a late header.

In the other group match, Lokomotiv Moscow won 2-1 at Bayer Leverkusen.

Bayern Munich kicked off their Champions League campaign by easing to a 3-0 victory over Red Star Bel-grade on Wednesday in a one-sided Group B encounter.

Kingsley Coman headed them into the lead in the 34th minute from a fine Ivan Perisic cross and the Bundes-liga’s leading scorer Robert Lewandowski slid in for the second goal in the 80th.

Thomas Mueller, who became the club’s record C h a m p i o n s L e a g u e appearance maker when he came on as a substitute for his 106th game in the com-petition, volleyed in his first goal of the season in stoppage time.

Tottenham gave up a two-goal lead and had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Olympiakos.

Harry Kane scored a clinical penalty in the 26th

minute after being carelessly brought down by Yassine Meriah, and Lucas Moura made it 2-0 four minutes later with a strike from 20 meters (yards).

Meanwhile, Club Brugge

and Galatasaray played out a goalless stalemate in their opening Champions League Group A game at the Jan Breydelstadion yesterday.

Both teams hit the woodwork in an otherwise

uneventful match ahead of the much-awaited clash between Paris St Germain and Real Madrid in the same group.

Getting two goals away from home that’s not bad, but overall we’re disappointed because this is the kind of game we’d want to be winning: Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane after drawing against Olympiakos

It’s not about tactics, it’s not about quality players, it’s about the quality of preparing yourself to be ready to fight: Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino

This is not the kind of football we train for. I’m the one to blame because I didn’t make the right choices before the game and I didn’t correctly understand the type of match I was going to play: Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte

SPORTPAGE | 07 PAGE | 08Osaka beats

Tomova to storm into Pan

Pacific quarters

Hamilton hopes to shine under Singapore floodlights

Thursday 19 September 2019

Barca’s Alba sidelined with hamstring injuryREUTERS DORTMUND

Barcelona defender Jordi Alba injured his hamstring in the 0-0 draw at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, his team said in a statement yesterday, with Spanish media reporting that the Spain international will be out for around two weeks.

The left back was forced off in the 40th minute of Tuesday’s Group F game and replaced by Sergi Roberto.

Barca’s statement did not say how long Alba would be out, but newspaper AS said he would be sidelined for two weeks, ruling him out of Barca’s La Liga games at Granada, at home to Villarreal and away to Getafe.

He is expected to return in time for Barca’s next Champions League game at home to Inter Milan on October 2.

Alba’s injury hands an opportunity to Junior Firpo, the left back who joined Barca from Real Betis for €18m ($19.88m) in the close season but who has only played nine minutes of first team football so far.

Barca are fifth in the La Liga standings on seven points after four games.

Barcelona’s Jordi Alba

reacts as he is being substituted

due to an injury

during Tuesday’s

match against

Borussia Dortmund.

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Al Arabi coach Heimir Hall-grimsson yesterday said the club wished the retired Qatari great Khalfan Ibrahim (pictured) stayed with them, instead of calling time on his playing career.

Speaking at a press con-ference ahead of their QNB Stars League (QSL) Week 4 match against Al Shahania, the Icelandic tactician said he and other team members respect the former Qatari international’s decision to retire.

In an Arabic message posted on Al Kass’ Twitter handle, Ibrahim was quoted as saying: “I am announcing my retirement from football. I hope that everyone respects my decision that I took after years of thinking. All due respect to the clubs - Al Sadd, Al Rayyan and Al Arabi - that helped me in my career.”

“It’s the player’s decision and we can’t interfere in it. It’s unfortunate and I can’t go deeper because he’s the decision-maker, but we wished he stayed with us. We were hoping he would go back on his decision. But

only Khalfan can make the best decision for himself,” Hullgrimsson said.

Ibrahim’s surprise retirement came just a week

after he announced he was joining Al Arabi for the new QSL season that kicked off last month.

The 31-year-old was named the Asian Player of the Year in 2006, becoming the first Qatari to win the title. Al Sadd’s Abdelkarim Hassan won the same award last year.

Other top awards for Ibrahim include QSL Young Player of the Year 2006, Best Arab Player 2007 and Qatar Player of the Year 2013.

In 2011, Ibrahim won the AFC Champions League title with Al Sadd.

Olympiakos’ Portuguese midfielder Daniel Podence celebrates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Champions League Group B match against Tottenham Hotspur at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens yesterday.

Di Maria shines as PSG crushReal; Atletico hold Juventus

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS Club Brugge 0-0 Galatasaray Olympiakos FC 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur Atletico Madrid 2-2 Juventus Bayer Leverkusen 1-2 Lokomotiv Moscow Bayern Munich 3-0 Crvena Zvezda Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 Atalanta PSG 3-0 Real Madrid Shakhtar Donetsk 0-3 Manchester City

Coach Hallgrimsson respects Khalfan's retirement decision

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Paris Saint-Germain’s Argentine midfielder Angel Di Maria celebrates after scoring against Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions league Group A match played in Paris, yesterday.