Category: Football

SAN JOSE: Brazil edged past Columbia to reach the semifinals of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup with Tarciane de Lima scoring the lone goal of the second quarter-final on Sunday.

De Lima blasted the ball into the nets after Brazil was awarded a penalty shot in the 26th minute as Columbian defender Baron tackled Analuyza inside the area.

Columbia failed to claw back their way back into the game after the lead as Brazil effectively neutralized their attempts for an equalizer.

With the win, Brazil booked their spot in the second semifinal scheduled on Friday awaiting to compete against the winner of the fourth quarter-final between Japan and France.

Meanwhile, Spain also reached the semi-final after they beat Mexico 1-0 in the first quarter-final on Saturday.

The action-filled tournament is being telecasted live on Pakistan’s first HD Sports channel – A Sports and will be simultaneously streamed on the digital platform of ARY Digital Network – ARY ZAP in crystal clear HD quality.

READ: Abdullah Shafique set to make ODI debut for Pakistan against Netherlands

SAN JOSE: Inma Gabbaro’s stellar effort earned Spain the semifinal ticket in FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup as they edged past Mexico 1-0 in the first quarter-final, here on Saturday.

Gabbaro scored her fifth goal in four appearances at the event. The Sevilla striker now leads Esther Onyenezide, her nearest rival for the Golden Boot, by a margin of two goals.

In addition, Gabarro is one goal short of tying Patricia Guijarro’s mark for the most goals scored by a Spanish player in a single FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

The two teams engaged in a thrilling see-saw battle throughout the game with Gabbaro striking from the box to finish off the low cross and beat Mexican goalkeeper Celeste.

Mexico, on the other hand, failed to claw back their way back into the game after the 25th-minute lead as Spain effectively neutralized their attempts for an equalizer.

With the win, Spain qualified for the first semifinal scheduled on Friday.

Meanwhile, Brazil also confirmed their spot in the semifinal after they beat Columbia by 1-0 in the second quarter-final.

The remaining two semifinalists will be decided after today’s quarter-final matches as the Netherlands will take on Nigeria and Japan will compete against France to book spots in the final four.

The action-filled tournament is being telecasted live on Pakistan’s first HD Sports channel – A Sports and will be simultaneously streamed on the digital platform of ARY Digital Network – ARY ZAP in crystal clear HD quality.

READ: Real Madrid crush Celta Vigo 4-1 to secure second win in La Liga

VIGO: Defending champions Real Madrid continued their title defence in style as they cruised to a comprehensive win over Celta Vigo 4-1 on Saturday in La Liga’s second week of the season.

Karim Benzema scored the opening goal of the game on a penalty before Iago Aspas equalized for the home side, but then Madrid upped the ante and drifted the game away from Celta Vigo’s reach.

With goals from Luka Modric, Federico Valverde, and Vinicius Junior, Real Madrid earned its second victory of the season and signalled the intention to continue its domination over the title.

In the absence of Toni Kroos and Casemiro, with the latter transferred to Machester United for £70 million, Modric remained phenomenal as he gave Madrid the lead with a signature curling shot just before halftime, and he later set up Vinicius Junior with a brilliant pass to make it 3-1 after the break.

With all eyes focused on Casemiro’s replacement, Aurelien Tchouameni showed strength as his forward strides propelled Real Madrid’s fourth goal, finished off by Fede Valverde.

Meanwhile, in other matches of the day, Osasuna thump Cadiz 2-0 in a home game while Real Betis edged past the home side Mallorca 2-1 with Borja Igleasis scoring twice after being awarded penalties.

The action-filled tournament is being telecasted live on Pakistan’s first HD Sports channel – A Sports and will be simultaneously streamed on the digital platform of ARY Digital Network – ARY ZAP in crystal clear HD quality.

READ: Pathirana receives maiden call-up as Sri Lanka reveal squad for Asia Cup

CATALONIA: Rayo Vallecano strikers Isi Palazon and Pathe Ciss struck in the first and second half respectively to bolster their side to beat Espanyol 2-0 in a heated La Liga clash on Friday as both sides ended with 10 men each.

After holding the strong Barcelona for a goalless draw in their opening match of the La Liga 2022-23 campaign, Rayo Vallecano tasted their first defeat as they outclassed Espanyol 2-0 to secure the top spot in the standings.

Rayo’s encounter got off to an unfavourable start when defender Florian Lejeune was sent off after getting his second yellow card in two minutes.

Later at the half-hour mark, the two sides squared off in terms of their fielders as Espanyol defender Sergio Gomez received a red card for a rough tackle.

Spanish striker Palazon scored in the 40th minute to give Rayo an early 1-0 lead and bolstered the side to finish the first half on a high.

A few minutes into the second half, the Senegalese midfielder Ciss struck from the corner to propel Rayo to a dominating 2-0 lead that lasted till the final whistle.

Iraola added veteran Radamel Falcao as a late replacement, and although being active, he was twice flagged for offside. Whereas, Espanyol was denied a consolation goal in the closing minutes as Javier Prado hit the post.

Meanwhile, in another match, Real Valladolid failed to taste a much-awaited victory over Sevilla as the promoted side had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Valladolid, which last defeated Sevilla 10 years ago, were looking solid to run away with an anticipated victory when Anuar Mohamed Tuhami netted the ball in the 80th minute.

Karim Rekik, however, stunned Valladolid as he cut their celebrations six minutes later with an astounding equalizer and powered his side to hold on for a draw.

After Sevilla’s season-opening loss against Osasuna by a score of 2-1 and Valladolid’s defeat by Villarreal by a score of 3-0, the outcome earned both teams their first point of the year.

The action-filled tournament is being telecasted live on Pakistan’s first HD Sports channel – A Sports and will be simultaneously streamed on the digital platform of ARY Digital Network – ARY ZAP in crystal clear HD quality.

READ: South Africa thrash England as ‘Bazball’ era comes back down to earth 

AMSTERDAM: Pakistan cricket team under the supervision of manager Mansoor Rana visited the headquarters of AFC Ajax here on Friday.

The national players including Pakistan captain Babar Azam, vice-captain Shadab Khan, Imam-ul-Haq, Haris Rauf, and Abdullah Shafique also paid a visit to the Dutch football club headquarters.

The national team visited the practice and High-Performance centre of the football club. Whereas, manager Mansoor presented the CEO of AFC Ajax with a commemorative bat – signed by the Pakistan contingent, which would be kept at the headquarters.

Taking to Twitter, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also shared glimpses of the team’s memorable visit to the football club’s headquarters.

Bonding across sports 🤝

🔊🔛 Enjoy highlights of the 🇵🇰 team's trip to the home of @AFCAjax 👏 pic.twitter.com/Y0d0eje3hH

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 19, 2022

 

The captains of the Pakistani team and Ajax swapped signed jerseys before posing with them.

The CEO of AFC Ajax and a former goalkeeper Van der Sar addressed Babar as the Lionel Messi of Cricket amid his interaction with the touring team.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan’s side is on a tour of the Netherlands to compete in a three-match ODI series. The touring side leads the series 2-0 with a game to spare.

READ: New Zealand A squad for India tour includes Netherlands’ van Beek

SAN JOSE: Defending champions Japan thumped the United States 3-1 to lead group D standings before the Netherlands crushed Ghana 4-1, on the final day of the group stage of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.

Manaka Maksuboko, Shinomi Koyama and Haruna Tabata scored apiece to steer Japan to a comfortable win over the US as they qualified for the quarter-final round of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands cruised past the group laggers Ghana to reach the quarter-finals as they finished second in the group standings with six points.

Liz Rijsbergen scored the opening goal of the match in the 28th minute to give the Dutch side a 1-0 lead over the opponents before halftime.

Ziva Henry then doubled the lead six minutes into the second half before Ghana retaliated after two minutes with Doris Boaduwaa finding the nets to restrict the lead to 2-1.

Rijsbergen had her second in the 65th minute to put her side back on track with Marit Auee scoring a penalty in the 85th minute to finish the game with a comprehensive lead.

Moreover, France edged South Korea 1-0, whereas Nigeria remained undefeated in Group C as they beat Canada 3-1 in their final game of the group stage.

France secured the second spot in group C while Nigeria topped the group to qualify for the quarter-finals of the event.

Japan will be facing France while the Netherlands compete against Nigeria in the quarter-finals on Monday.

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WASHINGTON: Elon Musk tweeted on Tuesday that “I’m not buying any sports teams”, calling a viral post about him purchasing Manchester United a joke.

The world’s richest man has a habit of posting provocative statements on Twitter for fun and Musk was at it again when he told his more than 103 million followers: “Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome.”

The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO made the comment in reply to another of his tweets, about supporting both of the United States two major political parties.

The 51-year-old, who is embroiled in a lawsuit over his bid to buy Twitter, was subsequently asked on the platform if he was serious about owning Manchester United.

“No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams,” Musk replied after his original tweet garnered nearly 500,000 “likes” in a matter of hours.

“Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid.”

Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in world football but suffering a prolonged slump, are owned by the Glazer family. They have been targeted by angry fans.

There was no immediate reaction from United or its owners to Musk’s tweets.

Shares of the team listed on the New York Stock Exchange are down year to date, but ended Tuesday flat, with a market capitalization of $2.1 billion.

Despite calling it a joke, Musk’s tweet could land him in trouble with US regulators.

The Glazers are the focus of fan fury after the team’s dramatic fall from grace.

The Americans also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an NFL franchise in Florida.

United fans have protested against the team’s senior management for poor performances in recent years, as well as their involvement in a plan to start a new “Super League” of Europe’s richest teams.

The Red Devils finished last season a lowly sixth in the English Premier League.

United have made another poor start to the campaign under their new coach Erik ten Hag and are bottom of the table after two defeats in as many games.

Fresh protests against the Glazers are planned ahead of United’s next game, at home to fierce rivals Liverpool on August 22.

Musk, who recently sold nearly $7 billion worth of Tesla shares, is in a major legal battle in the US state of Delaware over his aborted plan to buy Twitter.

READ: Pakistan to play more than half of its matches at home during 2023-27

SAN JOSE: Brazil outclassed Costa Rica 5-0 to end the hosts’ World Cup journey on a low note as the side remained winless throughout the tournament.

Rafaela Marostica starred with his double strikes while Patricia Maldaner, Aline Amaro and Milena de Oliveria scored apiece to crush the hosts in their final game of the group stage of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.

Whereas, Spain thumped Australia by 3-0 to eliminate them from the tournament and lead the group A standings, in another encounter of the day at Aljuella.

Inma Gabbaro’s stellar hat-trick propelled her side to an astounding win in the final encounter of group A and reach the quarter-final round of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Mexico edged past Germany 1-0 to qualify for the quarter-finals while Columbia remained undefeated as they ended on a 2-2 draw against New Zealand, in the group B matches held on Tuesday.

Brazil will now face group leaders Columbia meanwhile Mexico will lock horns against Spain in the quarter-final round scheduled on Sunday.

The action-filled tournament is being telecasted live on Pakistan’s first HD Sports channel – A Sports and will be simultaneously streamed on the digital platform of ARY Digital Network – ARY ZAP in crystal clear HD quality.

READ: Fakhar, bowlers power Pakistan to edge past Netherlands in first ODI

SEVILLE: Juanmi starred with double strikes as Real Betis sweep Elche 3-0 in the final game of the opening week of La Liga season 2022/23, here on Monday.

The home side looked in complete control of their opponents after Elche were left short of a man as John Nwankwo was handed a red card early in the game.

Borja Iglesias scored the opening goal of the match in the 26th minute after a brilliant assist from Nabil Fekir. Iglesias guided the ball into the bottom right corner to give his side a 1-0 lead.

Juanmi then doubled the lead six minutes before half-time after he received a deep pass from William Carvalho and finished exquisitely with the right foot into the bottom left corner.

Betis continued to dominate Elche in the second half and tested Elche’s defence a few times before Juanmi finally scored his second in the 60th minute to give his side a comprehensive 3-0 lead.

With the conclusion of the first week’s game, Villarreal stays at top of the La Liga standings followed by Athletico Madrid at second while Real Betis in the third. Real Madrid are placed fourth while Barcelona secured the 11th position as they finish on a draw in their first game.

The action-filled tournament is being telecasted live on Pakistan’s first HD Sports channel – A Sports and will be simultaneously streamed on the digital platform of ARY Digital Network – ARY ZAP in crystal clear HD quality.

REAL: FIFA suspends Indian football federation over third-party influences

PARIS: FIFA on Monday suspended the Indian football federation with “immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties”, jeopardising the country’s staging of the U-17 Women’s World Cup in October.

World football’s governing body called the infraction a “serious violation of the FIFA Statutes”.

The suspension will remain in place until the All India Football Federation (AIFF) regains full control of its daily affairs, FIFA said in a statement.

The AIFF is in disarray and being run by administrators after former chief Praful Patel stayed in office beyond his term without fresh elections, which courts ruled invalid.

India is due to host the U-17 Women’s World Cup from October 11-30. The 2020 tournament in India was cancelled and then postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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