Mancini says Saudi Falcons ready for match against China in Asian 2026 World Cup qualifiers

Mancini says Saudi Falcons ready for match against China in Asian 2026 World Cup qualifiers
Mancini spoke at a press conference on Monday. (@SaudiNT)
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Updated 19 September 2024
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Mancini says Saudi Falcons ready for match against China in Asian 2026 World Cup qualifiers

Mancini says Saudi Falcons ready for match against China in Asian 2026 World Cup qualifiers

RIYADH: Saudi national football team manager Roberto Mancini spoke at a press conference on Monday about the Green Team’s preparations for the upcoming match against China in the second round of the third stage of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

He said: “The Chinese team has a good squad despite their recent loss against the Japanese team. I expect that the Chinese team will be better than the last match tomorrow, so we must be prepared well and take advantage of all opportunities.

“We are training intensively on scoring, and we must continue to create opportunities. I am confident that we will make better use of chances in the upcoming matches.

“Our match against the Chinese national team will be different for both teams. I hope our performance will be the same as it was in the second half of the last match and that we will create opportunities and score.”

Player Saleh Al-Shehri also addressed the match, saying: “It will be a tough match. We must be well-prepared tomorrow and work hard because the match will not be easy.”


Aryna Sabalenka relishes ‘much-needed’ tennis rivalry with Iga Swiatek

Aryna Sabalenka relishes ‘much-needed’ tennis rivalry with Iga Swiatek
Updated 28 sec ago
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Aryna Sabalenka relishes ‘much-needed’ tennis rivalry with Iga Swiatek

Aryna Sabalenka relishes ‘much-needed’ tennis rivalry with Iga Swiatek
  • Top-ranked Iga Swiatek is absent from the field in Wuhan and withdrew from the China swing after splitting with her coach
  • Sabalenka has a chance to close the gap on the Polish world number one with a strong run in Wuhan
WUHA, China: World number two Aryna Sabalenka said Wednesday that she believes her rivalry with top-ranked Iga Swiatek is “much-needed” in women’s tennis.
The Belarusian advanced to the Wuhan Open third round with her 50th victory of the season, 6-4, 6-4 against Katerina Siniakova.
Swiatek is absent from the field in Wuhan and withdrew from the China swing after splitting with her coach of three years Tomasz Wiktorowski.
Sabalenka has a chance to close the gap on the Polish world number one with a strong run in Wuhan, with the battle for the top spot likely to come down to the wire at the season-ending championships in Riyadh next month.
“Having this rivalry with Iga is something big for tennis and something much-needed, I would say, in women’s tennis.
“To keep this competition going would be really good for tennis,” said Sabalenka, who will next face Yulia Putintseva in the last 16.
Sabalenka, 26, spent eight weeks at the summit of the rankings last season and says reclaiming the world number one spot is one of her biggest goals.
“I hope she’ll figure out the coach situation and she’ll be back in the finals in her best shape.
“Hopefully we can play against each other there in... a fight for world number one.”
Coco Gauff followed up her China Open title in Beijing on Sunday with a smooth 6-1, 6-2 win over Viktoriya Tomova.
Gauff has a seven-match win streak and faces 13th seed Marta Kostyuk in the last 16.
Kostyuk received a walkover after her opponent Amanda Anisimova withdrew with a left hip injury.
“Both mentally and physically I’m a little tired, if I’m being honest,” said Gauff. “But when I got on the court, I felt fine.
“How I approached Beijing, I was like, I want to approach this how I would play tennis as a kid.
“Sometimes I try to go back into that mindset and realize at the end of the day this is my dream now, and it was my dream as a kid.
“If I don’t want to do it for myself now, I can definitely do it for myself then.”
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova crashed out to American qualifier and world number 102 Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 7-5 in just 94 minutes.
Seventh seed Krejcikova let a 3-1 lead slip in the opening set, as well as a 5-3 advantage in the second.
The 22-year-old Baptiste will next take on Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova for a place in the quarter-finals.

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson set for six weeks out

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson set for six weeks out
Updated 7 min 12 sec ago
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Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson set for six weeks out

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson set for six weeks out

LONDON:Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker is expected to be sidelined for around six weeks with a hamstring injury, which would rule him out of matches against Chelsea and Arsenal.
The 32-year-old Brazil international was hurt during last weekend’s 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace and went off late in the second half.
Reports in the British press say tests have shown Alisson is not likely to be fit to play until after next month’s international break.
That would mean the first match he would potentially be available for would be the trip to Southampton on November 24.
Arne Slot’s Premier League leaders face Chelsea on October 20 and Arsenal a week later, while their next two Champions League fixtures pit them against RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen.
Caoimhin Kelleher, who missed the Palace match through illness, will be expected to deputise, as he did last season when Alisson was ruled out with another hamstring injury.
Speaking after the victory at Crystal Palace, Slot predicted a lengthy lay-off for his number one goalkeeper.
“We have to wait and see but it will be a few weeks for him to be back. I think it is, yes (his hamstring),” he said.
“He’s clearly our number one, he’s the best goalkeeper in the world. It’s always a blow when he gets injured, not only for him but us as a team.”
Liverpool have 18 points from seven Premier League matches — one more than defending champions Manchester City and Arsenal.


Saudi Arabia pays for naming rights to Atletico Madrid's stadium for 9 years

Saudi Arabia pays for naming rights to Atletico Madrid's stadium for 9 years
Updated 31 min 52 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia pays for naming rights to Atletico Madrid's stadium for 9 years

Saudi Arabia pays for naming rights to Atletico Madrid's stadium for 9 years

MADRID: Saudi Arabia has consolidated its branding push with Atletico Madrid by paying for naming rights to the Spanish club’s stadium for the next nine years.
Atletico, which has been sponsored by Riyadh Air since last season, said Wednesday that its Metropolitano stadium will be known as the Riyadh Air Metropolitano henceforth until 2033.
Atletico did not say how much it was receiving for the new agreement “which makes the Saudi Arabian company the most important sponsor in the club’s history.”
The deal for shirt sponsorship from 2023-27 was already worth a reported 40 million euros a season to the club.
“The final installation of the new name of the stadium on the main, northeast and southeast facades will take place in the next few weeks,” Atletico said.
The establishment of Riyadh Air was announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March 2023. It is yet to begin commercial operations.


Top tennis player Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals

Top tennis player Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
Updated 09 October 2024
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Top tennis player Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals

Top tennis player Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
  • Jannik Sinner put some old demons to rest in overcoming American Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-6 (7/1)
  • Medvedev and Sinner have met four times this year already in the final stages of tournaments

SHANGHAI: World number one Jannik Sinner will face Daniil Medvedev in the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals, after both had straight sets victories on Wednesday.
Sinner put some old demons to rest in overcoming American Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), while Medvedev took out Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
Shelton, ranked 16, knocked Sinner out at the same stage last year, but on Wednesday the Italian looked confident from the start as he won in 88 minutes.
The US Open champion pulled ahead in the ninth game of the first set, breaking when Shelton hit long, then dominated the second set tiebreak.
“It was very tough, you don’t have so much control when you play against him... I just tried to stay strong mentally,” said Sinner.
World number five Medvedev and Tsitsipas were meeting for the 14th time.
Tsitsipas started the second set strongly, breaking in the first game, but Medvedev broke in the fourth and eighth to progress.
Medvedev and Sinner have met four times this year already in the final stages of tournaments.
Sinner beat Medvedev in the semifinals at Miami, the quarter-finals at the US Open and in the Australian Open final, but the Russian ended the Italian’s hopes in the last eight at Wimbledon in an epic five-set battle.
Also in action on Wednesday are world number two Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Sinner in the China Open final a week ago, four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic and world number three Alexander Zverev.


Man City’s Rico Lewis eyes ‘dream’ of playing for England in an international tournament

Man City’s Rico Lewis eyes ‘dream’ of playing for England in an international tournament
Updated 09 October 2024
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Man City’s Rico Lewis eyes ‘dream’ of playing for England in an international tournament

Man City’s Rico Lewis eyes ‘dream’ of playing for England in an international tournament
  • The 19-year-old is in the Three Lions squad for the Nations League B games against Greece on Thursday and Finland on Sunday

MANCHESTER: It was 10 years ago when Rico Lewis had his first experience of a World Cup.

Aged 9, he was banking on Brazil to win the trophy on home soil so he could earn a prize in the shape of a packet of sweets.

With Neymar and Thiago Silva out injured, the Selecao could not deliver. They fell 7-1 in the semifinal against Germany, who would go on to beat Argentina and claim international football’s biggest honor for a fourth time.

England won their only World Cup in 1966, but Lewis wants to be a part of their bid to end a 60-year wait when the US, Canada and Mexico stage the tournament in two years’ time.

“Of course it’s everyone’s dream to play in an international competition with your country,” Lewis told Arab News exclusively.

“It would be amazing to play in that kind of environment and see how different it is, and also try to win something.

“Watching the World Cup, it makes you strive to do as best as you can and get picked for these squads to get to play in that.

“I think that’s what everyone wants to do, and to go and win a tournament with your national team.

“My earliest memories of a World Cup were in 2014, I remember being in a sweepstake for it.

“I had Brazil and they got beat by Germany 7-1 in the semifinals. I’d have probably won a bag of Haribo’s or something like that if they had won it.”

The 19-year-old, who made his international debut under Gareth Southgate against North Macedonia last November, added: “It was amazing to be called up for England, a unique feeling.

“It’s something you dream of and not many professional footballers get there. You’ve got to be very lucky and I was very lucky to get to that position.

“But once you are there you just enjoy it. It almost makes it easier because you can enjoy it.”

Lewis is certainly enjoying himself this season. And an ability to play confidently in a multitude of roles at such a tender age is not just down to luck.

Having established himself as a key component in Manchester City’s title-winning machine, whether at right-back or in midfield, he has been given an opportunity to transfer his talents to the international stage.

He can do so with Nations League B games against Greece on Thursday and Finland on Sunday.

England’s interim boss Lee Carsley, who replaced Southgate after the Three Lions lost the Euro 2024 final to Spain, turned to Lewis to help solve the side’s troublesome left-back position, where there has been no regular starter.

The youngster impressed in the 2-0 win over Finland last month and has settled well with a squad featuring current City team-mates Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish, and an old one in Chelsea forward Cole Palmer.

“Of course I feel comfortable now,” said Lewis. “When you’ve been with people like that for so long — and this is my third year with the City first-team now — I feel a lot closer with everyone and that makes it easier to play with them and at this level.

“I just want to play football and if that means I play in a different position to get more game time then that’s fine with me.

“I like playing fullback and like playing in midfield, but I don’t really mind where I play.”

That approach has typified Lewis’ amazing rise since his City debut two years ago at the age of 17.

His first season in the first-team ranks saw him lift a historic Treble as the Etihad outfit memorably won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

That was followed by the UEFA Super Cup and then the Club World Cup, with City beating Fluminense in Saudi Arabia.

Lewis also helped City lift the English title for a fourth successive time last season and admitted: “I want as many trophies as I can get. It’s everything I’ve dreamed of. When you break it down, it’s difficult to put into words what I’ve done.

“So that’s what I don’t really do, I don’t really think about it too much. That will probably come later on in life when I look back in my career.

“Right now I just want to focus on putting out consistent performances and being the best I can be.”

He added: “Of course there’s extra pressure. Once you’ve done it, then comes the expectation to do it again.

“When you are playing in a squad like at City you can stick out like a sore thumb if you don’t perform because of how many good players there are. Yes there’s pressure, but that comes with being at a club like this,” Lewis said.

“I think I enjoy it. I think everyone enjoys a little bit of pressure, being able to prove people wrong, stuff like that, but that comes with being a footballer.”