Category: Football

Holders Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Mallorca, damaging their bid to defend the La Liga title as Barcelona extended their lead at the top after defeating Sevilla 3-0 on Sunday. 

Barcelona went eight points clear of their arch-rivals and second-placed Real Madrid and stretched their La Liga winning streak to five games.

Jordi Alba, Gavi and Raphinhea scored second-half goals to thrash Sevilla following a disappointing outcome for Real earlier in the day.

A bizarre own goal from Nacho in the 13th minute spoiled the game for Real, who couldn’t find the equalizer rest of the way.

Nacho left everyone stunned when he tried to clear a cross and headed the ball into the nets, going over the head of his own goalkeeper.

Real failed to make a breakthrough despite having perfect control and about 70% of the possession. At the hour mark, they had a fantastic opportunity, but Predrag Rajkovic made a brilliant save to deny Marco Asensio a penalty goal.

Meanwhile, at Camp Nou, the host also witnessed Robert Lewandowski’s two attempts getting blocked by  Yassine Bounou in the first half.

However, Barcelona rebounded sharply after the break and broke the deadlock in the 59th minute when substitute Franck Kessie showed great skills to set up the ball for Alba, who breached Sevilla’s defence to slot it in from close range.

Gavi doubled the lead twelve minutes later with a beautiful low cross from Raphinha, who then hit the third goal in the 79th minute with a point-blank strike, through Alba’s assist.

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AL-HASA: Cristiano Ronaldo got off the mark for his new Saudi paymasters Al Nassr on Friday with a stoppage-time penalty that rescued a 2-2 away draw against Al Fateh.

The Portuguese, who turns 38 on Sunday, buried the spot-kick in the 93rd minute for a point that left the Riyadh club joint top of the Saudi Pro League with a game in hand over Al Shabab.

Ronaldo broke his duck in his third appearance, after he fired blanks in the January 22 league win over Ettifaq and in this week’s Super Cup loss to Al Ittihad.

Days before his Al Nassr debut, he scored twice for a Saudi composite team in an entertaining 5-4 loss to a Paris Saint-Germain side featuring his great rival Lionel Messi.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who holds the all-time records for Champions League and international goals, will bank more than 400 million euros for his surprise move to Saudi, according to sources close to Al Nassr.

The giant sum includes 200 million euros for promoting Saudi Arabia’s expected joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, the sources told AFP.

Ronaldo has become a figurehead for the conservative kingdom’s push to improve its reputation through sports — a process that has drawn accusations of “sportswashing”, or trying to sanitise its human rights record.

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PARIS: Neymar will miss his second straight game for Paris Saint-Germain after being ruled out of Saturday’s match at home to Toulouse because of a groin problem, the club announced.

The Brazilian has been receiving treatment and training individually this week. He sat out Wednesday’s 3-1 victory in Montpellier, in which Kylian Mbappe picked up a thigh injury.

Mbappe faces three weeks on the sidelines and will be unavailable for the first leg of PSG’s Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich on February 14.

Neymar is expected to resume full training next week, as is Sergio Ramos who also came off against Montpellier after suffering a groin strain.

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RIYADH: Star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo met his new Saudi club Al Nassr’s women’s side on Thursday to boost the players’ confidence before their next games.

Ronaldo, who signed a lucrative deal with the club worth around 200 million Euros in December last year following his bitter exit from Manchester United, has been in Riyadh since January and has so far played two games for the side.

He also faced off long-standing competitor Lionel Messi on January 17 when Qatar-owned PSG toured Saudi Arabia and played a friendly match against a select side made up of players from Al Nassr and their Saudi rivals Al Hilal.

In a video posted by Al Nassr on Thursday on their official Twitter account, Ronaldo was seen motivating the club women’s team and wishing them luck for their remaining two matches of the Saudi Women’s Premier League.

‘Keep going’ he said while giving a thumbs up to the team.

Our women stars have their support from the greatest 🤩

Ronaldo meets #AlNassr’s women football team ⚽️
And gives a message for the two remaining matches 💪🔝 pic.twitter.com/6KT4YMY4D2

— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) February 2, 2023

It is worth mentioning here that at his opening press conference in Riyadh last month, Ronaldo expressed his desire to be an inspiration, not just for young boys but also for female footballers in the country.

“I’m grateful that Al-Nassr gave me this opportunity to show and develop not only the football, but also for the generation, the young generation, the woman’s generation as well,” he had said.

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MADRID: Marco Asensio and Vinicius Junior scored second-half goals to put Real Madrid’s La Liga campaign back on track as they sealed a dominant 2-0 win over struggling Valencia on Thursday. 

The defending champions jumped to 45 points in second place, five behind table leaders Barcelona. who beat Real Betis on Wednesday.

Valencia, who sacked manager Gennaro Gattuso the previous day, were handed their fifth straight defeat last night and are 14th in the standings with 20 points, one clear of the relegation zone.

Valencia defender Gabriel Paulista was sent off with a straight red 18 minutes from final time as he chopped down Vinicius with a ruthless tackle, almost starting a brawl among players on the pitch.

Real controlled the game for most parts but wasted a few opportunities in the first half.  VAR ruled out Antonio Rudiger’s goal just before the break for a Benzema foul in the build-up.

Real rebounded strongly after half-time as they scored two in two minutes, an excellent curling shot into the top corner by Asensio after 52 minutes followed by Vinicius’ close-range smash to finish off a swift counter-attack.

Real Madrid will next face Mallorca on Sunday.

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PARIS: France centre-back Raphael Varane, a World Cup winner in 2018 and runner-up last year, announced Thursday his retirement from international duty at the age of 29.

“I’ve been thinking about it for several months and I decided it was the right time for me to retire from international football,” Varane wrote on Instagram.

The Manchester United defender made his France debut in 2013 and won 93 caps for Les Bleus. He had been in the running to take over as captain following the retirement of Hugo Lloris last month.

“To represent our magnificent country for a decade has been one of the greatest honours of my life. Each time I wore this special blue shirt I felt immense pride,” said Varane.

Varane’s decision to call time on his France career leaves Kylian Mbappe as the frontrunner for the captaincy, with Didier Deschamps’ side set to begin Euro 2024 qualifying at the end of March with a double-header against the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland.

The former Real Madrid star played every minute of his country’s triumphant 2018 World Cup campaign as France defeated Croatia 4-2 in the final.

He was one of five French players who also started the 2022 final defeat by Argentina on penalties, recovering from a leg injury that ruled him out of the start of the tournament.

“I’ll definitely miss these moments with you, but the time has come for the new generation to take over,” he said, thanking Deschamps and his coaching staff as well as the supporters.

“We have a group of talented young players who are ready to step up and who deserve their chance.”

Deschamps paid tribute to Varane and praised him for the leadership qualities he had brought to the team throughout his time with France.

“I cannot turn this page without some emotion, given the bonds we have formed,” said Deschamps, who gave Varane his international debut in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Georgia.

“I respect his decision even if it may seem a bit unfortunate given everything he was able to do with the national team through to the World Cup, during which he behaved like the leader we know he is from start to finish.”

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SEVILLE: Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski struck a goal each to take Barcelona 2-1 up against Real Betis on Wednesday and extend their lead to eight points at the top of La Liga.

Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva made a string of excellent saves to deny Pedri before Raphinha scored from Alejandro Balde’s cross.

Betis created their chances too on and almost scored through Borja Iglesias and Sergio Canales but found Jules Kounde to block their effort.

It took 65 minutes for Barcelona to break the stalemate with Raphinha tapping the ball into the nets from close range before Lewandowski scored his 14th goal of the season to make it 2-0, 15 minutes later.

Kounde’s own goal in the 85th minute threatened to spoil the party for Barcelona but the visitor hung on to claim three points.

Following the win, Barcelona cemented their position at the top with 50 points from 19 matches, eight points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who will host Valencia on Thursday.

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MANAMA: Saudi Arabia has won a bid to host the 2027 Asian Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Wednesday.

The announcement was made at the AFC Congress in the Bahraini capital of Manama.

Saudi Arabia was the sole bidder after India withdrew in December.

“We are excited to deliver the greatest tournament in the competition’s history,” the kingdom’s sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal said after the announcement.

“The kingdom is transforming before our eyes and we are filled with excitement for what it will look like in 2027.”

The world’s biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia has thrown hundreds of millions at sports deals including the acquisition of Cristiano Ronaldo, Formula One in Jeddah and the lucrative LIV Golf tour.

In the coming years the Saudis, who watched as neighbours Qatar hosted the World Cup in November and December, will hold the women’s Asian Cup, the Olympic-sized Asian Games and even the Asian Winter Games on artificial snow.

The desert kingdom is also eyeing a World Cup and Summer Olympics, perhaps even a Winter Olympics, together with a swathe of other major events.

It is all part of grand plans by the de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to modernise the Saudi economy and end its reliance on oil before the world moves on to other fuels.

“I’m sure Saudi Arabia will host a fantastic Asian Cup,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said at the Manama congress.

The 2023 Asian Cup will be hosted by Qatar. It was previously set to be held in China but the country withdrew because of Covid.

The Asian Cup is staged every four years. Qatar won the tournament’s last edition, in 2019, which was hosted by the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia has won three AFC Asian Cup titles.

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MANAMA: Asia’s football chief and FIFA’s second-in-command Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa won a new four-year term on Wednesday.

The Bahraini royal, who has led the Asian Football Confederation since 2013, was elected at the Asian Football Confederation Congress in his home country.

“I’d like to thank you all for placing your faith in me for another four-year term,” he said after the vote which saw him stand unopposed.

“Asian football is entering a new era.”

The Bahraini royal was a rival candidate to Infantino when the Italian-Swiss was elected FIFA president in 2016 after a major corruption scandal ended the reign of Sepp Blatter.

Sheikh Salman, whose confederation includes 47 of FIFA’s 211 associations, has said he backs Infantino’s bid for a fresh mandate this year.

Infantino congratulated al Khalifa and praised the rise of Asian football, pointing in particular to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“Obviously, the men’s World Cup in Qatar was the best World Cup ever,” Infantino said.

“It will be difficult to meet this benchmark.”

The AFC was in chaos when Sheikh Salman took charge after predecessor, Qatari businessman Mohamed bin Hammam, was banned from football for life following bribery claims and conflict-of-interest violations.

After completing the last two years of bin Hammam’s term, Sheikh Salman was re-elected unopposed in 2015 and 2019.

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LONDON: Chelsea have signed World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for a British-record 121 million euros ($131 million), the Portuguese club announced early on Wednesday.

The midfielder, 22, was named Best Young Player of the World Cup for his displays during Argentina’s successful campaign in Qatar.

The £106.8 million fee eclipses the previous record of £100 million that Manchester City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in 2021.

Fernandez only joined the Portuguese giants in July last year, for a reported fee of around £10 million.

He has signed an eight-and-half-year deal that will run until 2031.

Todd Boehly’s consortium has spent hundreds of millions since buying Chelsea at the end of last season in the hope that his extra splurge will lift the club from 10th place in the Premier League.

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