Thursday, December 2, 2021Rabia II 27, 1443 AH

SPORTGULF TIMES

FOOTBALL

Hafi di nets brace in Morocco’s big win over PalestinePage 3

days to go

354

SPOTLIGHT

Afi f urges teammates to show more focusBy Sports ReporterDoha

Star striker Akram Afi f has urged his teammates to show more focus in the upcoming matches as Qatar aims for its maiden Arab Cup ti-

tle. The hosts secured a morale-boosting 1-0 win against Bahrain in their opening match at the Al Bayt Stadium on Tues-day. Qatar’s dominance, however, didn’t translate into goals and Felix Sanchez’s side had to wait until the second half for their opening strike. Abdulaziz Hatem was their hero, scoring in the 69th

minute off an assist from Afi f.With two more tough match-

es against Oman at Education City Stadium tomorrow and Iraq

at Al Bayt Stadium on Monday to come, Afi f said the team needs to im-prove their performance if they are to reach the knockout stage. Qatar are on top of Group A with three points, with

Oman and Iraq on one point each after playing out a draw on Tuesday.

“We wasted lots of opportunities against Bahrain but the opening matches are always diffi cult. We have to take col-lective responsibility. We will be more focused in the upcoming matches,” he said. “Our desire is to win the title but we will take one match at a time,” he added.

The 2019 Asian player of the year was excited to play in front of a packed crowd at the newly-built Al Bayt Stadium, which was inaugurated on Tuesday night with one year to go for the FIFA World Cup Qatar. “The fans were great and the stadium atmosphere was electric. The Arab Cup under the umbrella of FIFA is a distinct and unique idea and I hope that this event will continue,” he said.

Meanwhile, Qatar coach Felix Sanchez praised his team, saying the players were under pressure to win in front of home fans and they took the challenge well. “The players suff ered from pressure during this match, but they were up to

the responsibility and enjoyed playing and performing with high professional-ism in front of this huge number of fans who supported them from the begin-ning to the end,” the Spaniard added.

Sanchez was satisfi ed with the win over Bahrain, saying a positive start was important for the home side. “Arab Cup is a special challenge for us as it will be the last major tournament before the World Cup. Starting this event with a win is important,” said the coach.

“The match was diffi cult for the two teams, especially since the two teams know each other well, and all the cards are open. The task was diffi cult in the fi rst half and a change in strategy by relying on speed in building attacks re-sulted in the goal,” he said.

We were very close to snatching a draw: Bahrain coach

Meanwhile, Bahrain coach Helio Sousa was not disappointed by his team’s performance, hoping his players will

bounce back from the defeat. “We always knew we were facing a very strong opponent but at the same time we played well. We were very close to snatching a draw and we had more than one chance to score,” the coach said.

“I think we provided an ideal first half in which there were no clear op-portunities for the Qatari team except for some attempts from long balls. But in the second half we lost the fierce-ness and we no longer pressured them enough. They knew in the second half how to control the match and snatched a goal,” he added.

Bahrain will meet Iraq in their second group match at the Al Thumama Sta-dium tomorrow, and Sousa said his team must produce a winning display. “We must overcome the loss and start think-ing about the next match. The other match (between Iraq and Oman) in the group ended in a draw. This also means that we have to win in order to keep our chances alive,” he said.Akram Afif.

Afsha penalty gives Egypt narrow win over Lebanon

By Yash Mudgal Doha

Egypt registered a hard-fought 1-0 victo-ry over Lebanon in their opening Group D match of the FIFA Arab Cup yesterday.

At the Al Thumama Stadium, a pow-erful penalty shot by Mohamed Afsha was enough to beat a resolute Lebanon defence led by goalkeeper Mostafa Matar in an encounter which was witnessed by vociferous fans of both sides.

Carlos Queiroz’s side was playing without Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Arsenal’s Mo-hamed Elneny, Galatasaray’s Mustafa Mohamed, Stuttgart’s Omar Marmoush, and Altay’s Ahmed Yasser Rayan and it was refl ected in their rusty performance.

Lebanon defence was up to the mark during most part of the match, but lack of aggres-sion and a costly foul late in the second-half led to their defeat as they conceded a penalty and Egypt seized the opportunity to earn their first points.

Defender Ayman Ahsraf’s foul on Egypt’s Ahmed Fatouh in the 73nd minute undid all their eff orts. Ahsraf brought down midfi elder Fatouh inside the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot and Mohamed Afsha found the net with a low shot to goalkeeper Matar’s right.

Egypt controlled the possession for most of the match and their forwards raided the rival’s penalty area regularly, but Matar and his defend-ers foiled their eff orts every time.

Egypt continued to dominate the possession but with limited opportunities to move forward, while Lebanon couldn’t fi nd a way through as they started their campaign with a defeat.

Afsha admitted that Egypt did not play at its best and promised fans better performances in the next two matches. “All the teams are very strong. We were able to win and that’s the most important thing. In the coming matches, we have to improve. Every game has its own circum-stances and every team has a way,” he said.

“All matches are diffi cult and we are now thinking about the next game against Sudan

and god willing we will win. We have all the re-spect for all the teams, but we play in the name of Egypt. We have to be responsible and achieve something good in the tournament,” Afsha said.

Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy felt the team was unlucky against Leba-

non due to the amount of shots they missed during the game. “We wasted a lot of chances in the fi rst-half as

well as the second. We were unlucky,” El-Shennawy said.

“We faced a respectable team, and I thank the fans. Hopefully the next period will be bet-ter. We had to start with a victory in the tourna-ment, and that was our goal. We are focused on the tournament, and everyone gave their best,” he added.

The match started with a couple of stoppages soon after the kick off due to injuries to Egypt’s Amr El Soulia and Lebanon’s Kassem El Zein. But it then picked up pace with The Pharaohs putting pressure on their opponents.

In the 13th minute Al Ahly midfielder Mo-hamed Sherif came close to scoring twice

but his touches went just over the wood-work. An ambitious hit on target by a dis-tance from Zamalek midfielder Mostafa Fathi was stopped by Matar. At the half-hour mark, Egypt already had nine attempts with four shots on target as they enjoyed around 75 per-cent of ball possession.

In the 33rd minute, Felix Michel Melki cleared the ball in a dangerous attack after Matar missed a touch in a goalmouth melee. Egypt missed an-other opportunity to score after Sherif’s attempt sailed just over the crossbar following a fi ne as-sist by Mohamed Magdi, three minutes before half-time.

The Africans started the second half with the same approach with El Soulia launching a strike but Matar was better placed to stop the ball. Leb-anon started to counter attack and made a couple of attacks, though they did not pose much of a threat to the Egyptians.

In yet another threatening attack by Egypt, substitute Ahmed Refaat’s touch from near the penalty spot was well saved by Matar in the 55th minute. Looking to break the deadlock, Queroz sent in Zizo in the 65th minute while calling back Marwan Hamdy.

The defeat leaves Lebanon with much to do if they are to advance to the quarter-fi nals with Algeria taking the early lead in Group D after de-feating Sudan 4-0.

Coach Ivan Hasek will be hoping for improve-ment when his team faces favourites Algeria in their second match of Group D – dubbed the toughest group in the tournament – on Saturday.

Egypt and Lebanon players in action during the FIFA Arab Cup Group D match at the Al Thumama Stadium yesterday. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil

‘We were able to win and that’s the most important thing. In the coming matches, we have to improve’

Egypt’s Mohamed Afsha celebrates after scoring against Lebanon during the FIFA Arab Cup at the Al Thumama Stadium yesterday.

MATCH REPORT

Yesterday’s resultsGroup CMorocco 4 (Abdelilah Hafidi 56’ & 64’, Mohamed Nahiri 31’, Badr Benoun 87’) bt Palestine 0

Jordan 1 (Mahmoud al-Mardi 62’) bt Saudi Arabia 0

Group D Algeria 4 (Baghdad Bounedjah 11’ & 37’, Djamel Benlamri 43’, El Arabi Soudani 46’) bt Sudan 0

Egypt 1 (Mohamed Afsha 71’) bt Lebanon 0

November 30 – December 18

Gulf Times Thursday, December 2, 20212

Al-Attiyah title favourite at this week’s Oman RallyBy Sports ReporterMuscat, Oman

Qatar’s rallying icon Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah will be the title favourite when

Oman Rally Sohar International 2021 gets underway with a cer-emonial start at Al-Qurum from 6pm to evening.

Organised by the Oman Au-tomobile Association, the 12-stage event is the fi nal round of the 2021 FIA Middle East Rally Championship has attracted a dozen crews in the interna-tional section and a further 11, who will tackle the second and third rounds of the Oman Rally Championship.

Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel, behind the wheel of their Toyota Hilux, last month won 30th Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Al-Attiyah, a three-time Dakar Rally champion, won the drivers’ title with a winning margin of 21 mins 12 secs ahead of Argentina’s Lucio Alvarez and Spain’s Armand Monleon in a Toyota Hilux Overdrive.

Slight revisions to the route mean that competitors will now tackle 214.38 competitive kilo-metres in a route of 685.97km, organisers said in Muscat yester-day. Repeat runs through three gravel special stages make up the route for tomorrow’s action with

the 22.04km of the Al-Khoud stage getting the on-stage drama underway at 09.33hrs.

A fi rst run through the Mis-fah and Saal specials precedes a lunchtime return to service be-fore the three tests are repeated in the afternoon. Runs through Abyad (13.09km), Qalqal (17.17km) and Nakhal (19.26km)

are on the agenda for Saturday morning, before another regroup and service stop.

The three specials are re-peated in the afternoon before the prizegiving and podium fi n-ish take place at Al-Qurum from 16.52hrs onwards.

While 17-time regional rally champion al-Attiyah is the fi rm

favourite for overall honours in the main FIA event this week, there are numerous contenders for honours in the Oman Rally Championship section that runs behind.

Four Mitsubishi Lancers, a pair of Toyota Yaris, a Kia Rio, two Can-Ams and as many Yamahas grace the national entry.

AFPGalle

Ramesh Mendis led the Sri Lanka fi ght-back at Galle with a six-wicket haul to bowl out the West Indies, but the hosts stumbled after returning to bat in the

second Test yesterday.Sri Lanka were 46-2 at stumps on day three,

trailing by just three runs. But they lost Dimuth Karunaratne, who made six before he was run out in a superb piece of fi elding by Kyle Mayers.

Karunaratne was man of the match in the fi rst Test with scores of 147 and 83 but paid the price for attempting a quick early single as Mayers ran in and found him well short of the crease.

Oshada Fernando too was run out after being turned back by non-striker Pathum Nissanka.

With Angelo Mathews out with a hamstring injury, losing two early wickets was a massive blow for Sri Lanka. They have never lost a home Test to West Indies. Earlier, off -spinner Mendis belatedly found his line and length, dismissing Nkrumah Bonner to end his 75-run stand with West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite.

It broke a two-session drought for Mendis, who then ran through the tourists’ middle order, ending with fi gures of 6-70 as the West Indies were all out for 253 after tea - a lead of 49.

The West Indies fell apart against the bounce of the new ball, though Mendis was denied a sev-enth wicket when wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandi-mal dropped Kemar Roach on eight.

The second Test has been plagued by inclem-ent weather and bad light, and yesterday was the fi rst full day played.

Sri Lanka lead the two-Test series 1-0.

SIGHTS FROM DAY TWO OF ARAB CUP

PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil and Shemeer Rasheed

MOTORSPORTS

WTA suspends events in China over Peng Shuai situationReutersLondon

The Women’s Tennis As-sociation (WTA) said yesterday it has decid-ed to suspend tourna-

ments in China due to concerns over the safety of former dou-bles world number one Peng Shuai.

“I don’t see how I can ask our athletes to compete there when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to

contradict her allegation of sexual assault,” WTA Chief Ex-ecutive Steve Simon said in a statement. “Given the current state of aff airs, I am also greatly concerned about the risks that all of our players and staff could face if we were to hold events in China in 2022.”

The whereabouts of Peng be-came a matter of international concern for nearly three weeks after she posted a message on social media alleging that China’s former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli had assaulted her.

On Nov 21, IOC President

Thomas Bach had a 30-minute video call with Peng - a three-times Olympian who support-ers say may be under political duress - during which she told him she was safe and with fam-ily and friends. But Simon, who said the decision to suspend tournaments in China had the full support of the WTA Board of Directors, is not convinced all is well with Peng.

“While we now know where Peng is, I have serious doubts that she is free, safe, and not subject to censorship, coercion, and intimidation,” said Simon.

TENIS

Day 3: Sri Lanka wobble aft er Mendis scalps six wickets

CRICKET

TENNIS

Algeria ride on Bounedjah’s brace to thump Sudan

We are incredibly proud of Al Bayt and 974 stadiums, says al-Thawadi

Jaziri fuels Tunisia’s Arab Cup ambitions

‘We have picked up three points and that’s what we were looking for’By Rizwan RehmatDoha

Striker Baghdad Bounedjah lived up to his fearsome reputation yes-terday as Algeria crushed Sudan 4-0 in their opening FIFA Arab

Cup match.Bounedjah, who plies his trade with

Qatari football giants Al Sadd, produced a slick brace as Algeria launched their Group D campaign with a stellar show at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.

The 30-year-old forward – declared man of the match – yesterday opened the scoring in the 11th minute and then added one more in the 37th to give Algeria a 2-0 cushion in quick time. Djamel Benlamri added the third in the 43rd minute before El Arbi Hilal Soudani made it 4-0 in the 46th minute.

“It was a good win. We achieved our target from this match,” Bounedjah said after the match. “We have picked up three points and that’s what we were looking for. We are happy with our good start in this tournament,” the Al Sadd star said.

Algeria arrived for their fi rst match on the back of an 18-game unbeaten run in all competitions and exhibited fi ghting form to control the match from the fi rst minute. Sudan, on the other hand, have now lost seven straight matches whereas in-form Algeria have found the net 20 times in their last fi ve fi xtures.

Bounedjah could have scored the most spectacular goal of the tournament but his bicycle from inside the box in the 9th minute but the ball hit the goalpost to the right of the Sudanese keeper and bounced back.

The Algerian opened the scoring in the 11th minute after receiving a smart cross from Hilal Soudani stationed close to the half line. Bounedjah anticipated the cross well, outpaced his marker as he charged towards the Sudan box. Sudan keeper Ali Abdallah charged out and ended up out of his box. Bounedjah hoodwinked Abdallah and sent the ball into the net with a low fast-paced shot that crashed into the net.

With momentum on their side,

Bounedjah scored the second goal in the 37th minute after a pass from Al Rayyan’s Yacine Brahimi. The ever-alert Bounedjah fi red a powerful right-footed low shot from inside the penalty area into the net.

Qatar SC defender Benlamri added the third goal for the Algerian team two min-utes before the end of the fi rst half after an indirect defl ection by Sofi ane Bend-ebka on a corner kick. Benlamri, standing

next to the goalline, produced a neat but low header by defl ecting the ball into the Sudanese goal from close range.

One minute after the start of the sec-ond half, Soudani, striker of Saudi side Damak, scored Algeria’s fourth goal af-ter taking advantage of a mistake by a Sudanese defender just a few feet out-side the box.

Hilal Soudani wasted little time as he curled in a low left-footed drive from

outside the box and sent the ball into the net.

And the Sudanese team had the op-portunity to score a goal, but Mohamed Abdel Rahman Youssef missed a penalty kick in the 70th minute as the Algerian keeper dived to his right to slap the ball away. Coached by Majid Bougherra, Al-geria will now play Lebanon on Saturday, while Sudan take on Egypt take on the same day.

Football has plenty of signature moves that are synonymous with players. The way Zidane

pirouetted with the ball is now known as the Zidane roulette. The Panenka penalty is named after Antonin Panenka.

Back-heeled goals are asso-ciated with the former Algeria star Rabah Madjer, who scored a magnifi cent goal this way for Porto against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League fi nal. Now, every time a player scores a back-heel, Madjer’s name comes up.

Those fortunate enough to watch Tunisia’s opening game against Mauritania were also treated to the best of the beau-tiful game. The match produced six goals, fi ve for the Eagles of Carthage and one for their oppo-nents. Among that quintet was a back-heeled eff ort by Seifeddine Jaziri, who improvised inside the six-yard area box to convert Madjer style.

Speaking to FIFA.com after the game, Jaziri commented on his beautiful strike, saying: “I knew that Fakhreddine Ben Youssef would put the ball in that area. I followed up on the rebound that came off the keeper and a back-heel was the only possible way to score.”

Tunisia impressed everyone with their strong off ence against Mauritania. They registered fi ve goals but could have won by an even greater margin had they taken all the chances.

Asked about the team’s main strengths, Jaziri said: “We have a very good group of players. The strong bond we have is the secret to our success. Young players re-spect older ones, and that respect is reciprocated. The atmosphere on the pitch is wonderful and we hope it continues like that and that we continue to win.

“We’re fully focused and will deal with each game as it comes. Today’s victory was great, but it’s only the start, and we still have a long way to go. At these kinds of tournaments, winning your fi rst game is very important, and that’s what we did, but we still

have two games against Syria and the UAE, and we must keep up the good work for the remainder of the tournament.”

Having scored the fi rst goal in the Arab Cup in its fi rst edition under the auspices of FIFA, Jaziri made a little bit of history. Asked about Tunisia’s opponents, he said: “Mauritania are a good team but now we’re going to fo-cus on the Syria match, which we want to win.”

The Zamalek player made clear his desire to win this much coveted title. “Our goal is to win the competition. The Tunisian people deserve the joy it would bring, and we’ll do all we can here to make them happy,” he ex-plained.

Asked which team he thinks will go far in the tournament, he said after a long pause: “I hope we’ll play Algeria in the fi nal.”

Jaziri struggled at the begin-ning of his football career until he joined Zamalek, one of the most reputable clubs in Egypt and the Arab footballing world. He pre-viously played for Club Africain, where he was hampered by some misfortunes. He then had stints at CS Hammam-Lif and US Ben Graden in Tunisia before signing for Egypt’s Tanta.

He then returned to his home country to play for Stade Gabe-sien and, after several spells on loan, moved to El Mokawloon, where he became a standout player. That ultimately led to him move to Zamalek, where he be-came one of the club’s best play-ers and earned an international call-up.

Asked what he did to fi nally reach the top, the 28-year-old said: “When you work hard and set yourself a goal, nothing can stop you or stand in your way. You must persevere to reach the summit and, regardless of the obstacles you face, you’ll ulti-mately achieve your aim.”

Speaking of his individual ambitions in the tournament, Jaziri concluded: “I want to fi n-ish the event as the top scorer. I’ve scored two already and I hope to do even better in the coming games.”

The stunning Al Bayt Stadium – which will host the fi rst match of next year’s FIFA World Cup – was unveiled by Qatar on the opening

day of the FIFA Arab Cup. The 60,000-ca-pacity venue – designed to resemble the tents historically used by nomadic people in the Gulf region – hosted Qatar’s 1-0 vic-tory against Bahrain as the 16-team tour-nament got off to an exciting start.

The inauguration of Al Bayt was attend-ed by the His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who offi cially announced the start of the tournament.

Straight after Al Bayt’s inauguration, Stadium 974 also hosted its fi rst game. The 40,000-capacity venue, made primarily from shipping containers, staged the Unit-ed Arab Emirates’ 2-1 victory against Syria. Stadium 974 is the fi rst fully demountable stadium in FIFA World Cup history and was named after the number of shipping containers used in its development and Qatar’s international dialling code.

The FIFA Arab Cup opening ceremony was held prior to the match at Al Bayt – which means ‘the home’ in English – and included performances by Rahma Riad, Abdulaziz Louis and Cheb Khaled. The crowd also enjoyed a national anthem medley of all 23 countries involved in the tournament and qualifying, along with stunning choreography and a mesmerising pyrotechnics display.

Hassan al-Thawadi, Secretary-Gen-eral of the Supreme Committee for De-livery & Legacy (SC), said: “The FIFA Arab Cup is off to a fl ying start with four exciting matches and the inauguration of two stadiums that will be used dur-ing next year’s FIFA World Cup. We are incredibly proud of both venues. Al Bayt pays tribute to Qatari and Arab culture, while Stadium 974 is a beacon of inno-vation and sustainability. We are sure fans from all over the world will enjoy visiting these state-of-the-art ven-

ues during both the Arab Cup and next year’s World Cup.”

Yasir al-Jamal, Chairman of the SC’s Operations Offi ce and Vice Chairman, Technical Delivery Offi ce, said: “See-ing both Al Bayt and Stadium 974 host matches on the opening day of the FIFA Arab Cup is exciting for football fans and everybody involved in FIFA World Cup preparations. All eight of our tournament venues for next year’s World Cup have been completed and we look forward to hosting many more matches to fi ne-tune our planning for next year’s tournament. I would like to thank everybody involved in bringing these stadiums to life – including the various project teams and our trusted stakeholders.”

Nasser al-Khater, CEO, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC, said: “The atmosphere at Al Bayt was incredible for the inauguration ceremony and throughout the match. It was wonderful to see so much passion for football during this momentous occasion, which off ered a glimpse of the World Cup we will host in 2022. The FIFA Arab Cup is off to a great start and we look forward to more exciting matches between now and the fi nal on 18 December.”

Located in the northern city of Al Khor, Al Bayt will host nine matches dur-ing next year’s FIFA World Cup, includ-ing the tournament opener on November 21. During the FIFA Arab Cup, Al Bayt will host fi ve matches, including the fi nal on December 18.

Stadium 974, meanwhile, is located in Ras Abu Aboud, only 4km from Ha-mad International Airport. The stadium boasts stunning views of the West Bay skyline and will host seven matches up to the round of 16 stage during Qatar 2022. Stadium 974 will host six matches during the FIFA Arab Cup, including the third-place play-off .

All eight of Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadiums have now been completed. The inaugurations of both Al Bayt and Stadium 974 mean that only Lusail Stadium – the venue for next year’s FIFA World Cup fi -nal – is left to be unveiled. Main works at Lusail were recently completed as the SC announced the readiness of all stadiums a full year before the World Cup.

MATCH REPORT

FOCUS

SPOTLIGHT

November 30 – December 18

Gulf Times Thursday, December 2, 2021

Algeria’s forward Baghdad Bounedjah (right) attempts to get past Sudan defenders during the FIFA Arab Cup Group D match at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium yesterday. PICTURE: Shemeer Rasheed

Al Bayt Stadium is lit up during the opening ceremony of the FIFA Arab Cup on Tuesday.

Tunisia’s Seifeddine Jaziri scored a brace against Mauritania.

Jordan opened their FIFA Arab Cup campaign with a 1-0 win over youthful Saudi Arabia side at the Education City Stadium yesterday. Midfielder Mahmoud al-Mardi (right) scored the winner in the 62nd minute as Jordan went level with Morocco on three points in Group C. (AFP)

AL-MARDI STRIKE HELPS JORDAN BEAT SAUDI