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JEDDAH: The Saudi Arabian national football team were put through their paces at a training camp in Jeddah on Sunday in preparation for the upcoming third and fourth rounds of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Green Falcons are gearing up for two key matches, hosting Japan on Oct. 10 and Bahrain five days later. Both fixtures are taking place at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.
Head coach Roberto Mancini has called up 28 players for the games, with the squad featuring notable names such as Salem Al-Dawsari, Firas Al-Buraikan, and Saud Abdulhamid.
Saudi Arabia are in Group C in the third phase of the Asian qualifiers, and face strong competition from Japan, Australia, Bahrain, China and Indonesia as they aim to secure a place at the World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico in two years’ time.
MULTAN: Pakistan captain Shan Masood warned on the eve of Monday’s first Test in Multan that his side would still be facing a formidable England, despite the absence of their captain Ben Stokes.
Ollie Pope will again lead England after deputising successfully in the recent 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka as Stokes, 33, was ruled out as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
“We all know the quality of Ben Stokes,” said Masood on Sunday ahead of the start of the three-Test series. “He is one of the top all-rounders of the world.”
“England’s strength will not lessen with one individual (missing),” he warned. “They are still very competitive.
“If you look at their playing eleven then it’s very balanced with all-rounders, and they have two spinners and three fast bowlers with deep batting, so their loss is that of an individual.”
Stokes led England to an emphatic 3-0 Test series victory on England’s last tour in 2022, the first time Pakistan had been swept at home.
England return with Pakistan on a painful losing streak — winless in their last 10 home Tests and suffering a humiliating 2-0 home defeat to Bangladesh last month.
“They’ve obviously not had their strongest run recently, but we still see them as a highly skilled side,” said Pope. “They are a team we don’t take lightly.”
Pakistan named their team with a bowling attack of two fast bowlers in Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, medium-pacer Aamer Jamal and frontline spinner Abrar Ahmed.
An impressive Jamal took 18 wickets against Australia in three Tests in his debut series earlier this year, but missed the Bangladesh series with a back problem. He also contributed 143 runs.
“With Jamal we get an edge in the seam department,” said Masood.
With James Anderson and Stuart Broad retired, Mark Wood injured and Ollie Robinson not selected, none of England’s pace bowlers from the 2022 series remain.
But Masood cited Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse as threats.
“You cannot under-estimate anyone and need to be more cautious against any unknown player,” said Masood.
The second match is also in Multan, from October 15, with the final Test in Rawalpindi beginning October 24.
Squads
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmad
England: Ollie Pope (captain), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jack Leach, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes
SHANGHAI: Sharjah Team’s Rusty Wyatt extended his lead in the 2024 UIM F1H2O World Championship with victory in the Grand Prix of Shanghai, where hazardous conditions brought the race to an early finish.
Just 11 of the scheduled 32 laps had been completed when the Grand Prix was halted for safety reasons, with Team Abu Dhabi’s Thani Al-Qemzi and defending world champion Jonas Andersson among those to suffer as the weather took its toll.
After climbing two places to sixth as he looked to fight his way through the storm, Al-Qemzi slipped to a 10th-place finish, while Andersson narrowly avoided a spectacular crash and conceded second place in the title race as conditions deteriorated.
Under pressure from fellow-Swede Erik Stark, Andersson dramatically saved himself after spinning sideways, but was unable to prevent the Victory Team driver nudging him down to third spot in the Grand Prix, and the championship.
It was a tough weekend all round for Team Abu Dhabi, with Alberto Comparato finishing 14th and, like Al-Qemzi, he will be aiming for a big lift when the penultimate round takes place in Zhengzhou in two weeks’ time.
Championship rookie Wyatt was the driver who coped best throughout as the weather first ruled out the first free practice session, and yesterday forced the cancellation of the two sprint races.
He was fastest in the second practice session before clinching pole position and built a comfortable lead from the Grand Prix start, eventually finishing with a 7.2-second advantage over Stark, and now leads him by 17.5 points in the championship.
Twice a Grand Prix winner in China, veteran Emirati driver Al Qemzi will seldom have raced in more challenging conditions during an F1H2O career stretching back to 2000.
He will now look forward to his 157th race start in Zhengzhou with the intention of adding to a Grand Prix record that includes 10 race victories and 45 podium finishes.
With the threat of a typhoon ever present in Shanghai, his Abu Dhabi team-mate Comparato had joined race and team officials to carry out a safety check on the circuit in a rescue boat, before the decision was taken to cancel Saturday’s sprint races.
“It was very bad,” he said. “It was even tricky with the rescue boat, For me, it was too dangerous.”
2024 UIM F1H2O World Championship standings
Rusty Wyatt (CAN) 87pts
Erik Stark (SWE) 69.5
Jonas Andersson (SWE) 69
Peter Morin (FRA) 54.5
Bartek Marszalek (POL) 48
Stefan Arand (EST) 34.5
Marit Stromoy (NOR) 32
Sami Selio (FIN) 31
Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) 27.5
Ben Jelf (GB) 26.5
MULTAN: The history of Tests between England and Pakistan is resplendent with memorable matches since the very first series in 1954.
Ahead of their three-match series starting on Monday in Multan, AFP Sports recalls five of the most exciting Tests between the two countries:
Pakistan had been playing Tests for less than two years when Fazal Mahmood took 12 wickets to beat England by 24 runs in the final Test at The Oval — a shock the home media dubbed “England Fazalled” as it gave Pakistan a 1-1 series draw.
Chasing just 168, England were cruising at 109-2, but lost their last eight wickets for 34 as seam-bowler Fazal took 6-46 making Pakistan only the second country to win a Test on their maiden tour of England after Australia.
Fazal also bagged 6-53 in the first innings, figures that Wisden noted “would have been much better but for dropped catches.”
After two tame draws, Pakistan were chasing a modest 231-run target at Headingley to win a series in England for the first time.
England captain Ray Illingworth removed three of the top order with his off-spin as Pakistan were reduced to 65-4, but Sadiq Mohammad and Asif Iqbal put their side back on course with a fifth-wicket stand of 95.
All-rounder Iqbal was out for 33 but opener Sadiq was still there, batting serenely.
After Sadiq fell, caught and bowled by Basil D’Oliveira for 91 with 44 more still needed, England paceman Peter Lever ripped through the tail and the visitors were all out for 205 to lose by 25.
Pakistan squeezed home by two wickets in a pulsating second Test at Lord’s where pace spearheads Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis starred with ball and bat to create the legend of the “two Ws.”
The menacing Waqar had match figures of 5-91 and 2-40, while left-armer Wasim returned 2-49 and 4-66 as England collapsed from 108-3 in their second innings to 175 all out.
Chasing just 138 to win, Pakistan were in trouble at 95-8 when Waqar joined Wasim at the crease.
Wasim hit 45 and Waqar 20 as they put on an unbroken 46 for a famous victory.
England bowled out Pakistan for 158 on the final day leaving them 176 to win in only 44 overs, in fast fading light.
Pakistan skipper Moin Khan employed every time-wasting trick in the book to escape with a draw, appealing to the umpires that it was too gloomy for his fielders to see the ball near the end.
But the officials and Graham Thorpe were having none of it and kept going as dusk closed in.
From 65-3, Thorpe steadily accelerated as the light grew dimmer, putting on 91 with Graeme Hick off 21 overs to take England within 20 of only their second win on Pakistan soil, and on a ground where the hosts had been unbeaten for a staggering 34 Tests.
Nasser Hussain joined Thorpe at the crease and the pair gleefully reached the target less than three overs later in almost total darkness with Thorpe a triumphant 64 not out.
England were denied a Lord’s victory as Pakistan completed a 75-run win in a thrilling first Test largely due to slow bowler Yasir Shah’s 10 wickets in the match.
Pakistan’s bowling attack was too powerful for England with pace trio Rahat Ali, Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir, who was returning to Test cricket after serving a ban for spot-fixing, supporting leg-spinner Yasir.
Chasing 283 to win on the fourth day, Alastair Cook’s side collapsed from 195-6 with victory sealed by Amir on his first Test appearance since 2010 when he shattered last man Jake Ball’s stumps.
It sparked a joyous celebration which culminated in the entire Pakistan team doing military-style press-ups on the outfield. A brilliant series went on to be drawn 2-2.
PARIS: Monaco went top of the Ligue 1 table on Saturday with a 2-1 win away to Rennes, moving three points ahead of reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Goals from Thilo Kehrer and Folarin Balogun sent the principality side to 19 points. PSG, who are on 16 with a better goal difference, will have the chance to overtake them when they play Nice on Sunday.
“After seven games, we have 19 points, that’s the reality and the truth, and we’re really happy about that,” said Monaco coach Adi Huetter.
However, he added: “The championship is not a 100-meter sprint, it’s a 400-meter race, and we’ve started very well.”
Monaco’s match in the rain in Brittany was decided early in the first half. Kehrer opened the scoring before Ludovic Blas levelled and Balogun then tucked home the winner, all in the first 22 minutes.
Continuing his fine start to the season, Monaco youngster Eliesse Ben Seghir had a part in both of his side’s goals.
His sixth-minute corner met the head of Kehrer, who glanced it into the back of the net despite the efforts of a defender on the line.
Blas put Rennes back on terms five minutes later with a rocket of a left-foot strike from more than 35 yards that flew past Philipp Koehn.
But Balogun wrapped up the points for Huetter’s side when he clipped the ball past an advancing Steve Mandanda in the 22nd minute after a defense-splitting pass from Ben Seghir.
Earlier on Saturday, Lille moved up to fourth, coming from behind to win at home against lowly Toulouse.
Zakaria Aboukhlal gave the 16th-placed side a surprise lead six minutes before the interval when he squeezed a shot on the rebound over the line from a tight angle.
But former Manchester United playmaker Angel Gomes levelled for Lille on 57 minutes when he prodded home Osame Sahraoui’s lofted pass from close range.
Mitchel Bakker made it two wins in a week at home for Lille — after Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League — with a composed finish in the 72nd minute, rounding off a swift counter-attack.
A hat-trick from Zuriko Davitashvili propelled Saint-Etienne out of the relegation zone as they beat Auxerre 3-1 at home.
The Georgian opened the scoring first after a quarter of a hour with a thumping finish after carrying the ball 40 yards into the visitors’ penalty area.
He hit his second on 54 minutes after again cutting in from the left flank and taking aim with his right foot.
Theo Bair halved the deficit with 15 minutes remaining, before Davitashvili completed his triple with a dinked finish on 87 minutes.
On Sunday, Lyon host Nantes while Reims and Lens are also in action, before PSG travel to ninth-placed Nice.
TORONTO: Leo Campana took a pass from Luis Suárez and scored in the third minute of second-half stoppage time, 38-year-old goalkeeper Oscar Ustari had seven saves and a clean sheet in his first start in the league, and Inter Miami put a damper on Toronto FC’s playoff hopes with a 1-0 victory on Saturday.
Campana scored for the eighth time this season for Inter Miami (21-4-8), which has already wrapped up the Supporters’ Shield and the top seed in the postseason that comes with it. Suárez notched his seventh assist to go with 18 goals after subbing into the match in the 71st minute.
Toronto (11-19-4), which played without top scorer Federico Bernardeschi after he drew a red card in a match against the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday, will have to way until the end of the day to find out whether it has been eliminated from the postseason. A win or draw by the Philadelphia Union or D.C. United would end Toronto’s slim playoff hopes. Both clubs also have a game in hand on Toronto, which has a bye Oct. 19 on Decision Day.
Sean Johnson finished with one save in goal for Toronto.
Lionel Messi, coming off a two-goal effort in Inter Miami’s win over the Columbus Crew on Wednesday, entered in the 61st minute. He has 17 goals and 15 assists in 18 appearances this season.
Inter Miami is off until Oct. 19 when it will host the New England Revolution to close out the regular season. A victory would give the club 74 points, one more than the New England Revolution had in their record-setting 2021 season. Inter Miami is the fourth team in history to top 70 points.
