JEDDAH: Pak Shaheen, Al-Burj and UT Lines recorded wins over their respective opponents in the 6th week matches of the Jotun Paints Saudi Cup cricket tournament.
Jotun Paints Saudi Arabia sponsored the tournament under the aegis of Jeddah Cricket Association (JCL).
Pak Shaheen recorded a 27-run win over Jamoom Fighters with openers Faisal Khan (106 off 43 balls) and Raweed (87 – 47 balls) putting on a 178-run opening wicket partnership.
Al-Burj beat Kashmir Strikers by a huge margin of 190 runs behind Waseem’s hurricane knock of 118 (42 balls, 16 fours, 6 sixes).
Naseem Al Zahra’s Amer Wahla played a scintillating knock of 154 off 55 balls and Khalid took 5 wickets for 2 runs to bundle out Pak Makkah for 126 runs and win by 183 runs.
Makkah Kings beat Al Zafer by 65 runs with Zuber (3 for 32) and Naeem (3 for 24) bowling their hearts out. ARM United’s Nazeer excelled scoring 74 to guide his team to a seven-wicket win against Kashmir Stags. Makkah Eagles a record a facile seven-wicket win over AEC thanks to Irfan who excelled with ball and bat, taking 2 for 40 and scoring 30. UT Lines raced to a six-wicket win against Saudi Oil with the help of Usman’s 64 runs.
Match summaries:
Pak Shaheen beat Jamoom Fighters by 27 runs
Pak Shaheen 282 for 6, Faisal Khan 106, Raweed 87, Usman 28, Riaz 2 for 61. Jamoom Fighters 255 all out Aslam 67, Naeem 43, Usman 45, Afzal 36, Faisal Khan 2 for 42 and Ahmed 3 for 44 and Ali 2 for 20.
Al-Burj beat Kashmir Strikers by 190 runs
Al-Burj 280 for 4 in 20 overs Kamran 43, Waseem 118, Usman 39NO, Rehan 24, Farhan 2 for 60, Ashfaq 2 for 47. Kashmir Strikers 90 all out Arif 20, Adnan 3 for 14, Khalid 2 for 22, Rehan 2 for 1.
Naseem Al-Zahra beat Pak Makkah by 183 runs
Naseem Al-Zahra 309 for 2 Amir Wahla 154, Qamar Javed 41, Usman 59, Khalid 34. Pak Makkah all out 126 Burhan 43 NO, Khalid took 5 for 2.
Makkah Kings beat Al-Zafer by 65 runs
Makkah Kings 192 for 8, Irfan 43, Imran 25, Usman 22 and Rahim 29 runs, Samit 2 for 40, Shamsuddin 2 for 34. Al-Zafer 127 all out Samit 62, Nahid 22, Zubair 3 for 32, Naeem 3 for 24, Anees 2 for 22
ARM United beat Kashmir Stags by 7 wickets
Kashmir Stags 179 for 7 Sajid 42, Khurshid 39, Naseer 25, and Mansoor 2 for 30. ARM United 181 for 3 in 16.4 Overs Nazeer 74, Qureshi 52NO,
Makkah Eagles beat AEC XI by 7 wickets
AEC XI 154 all out Abid 56, Atif 31, Wajid 30, Malik Aijaz 3 for 38, Irfan 2 for 40. Makkah Eagles 155 for 3 in 13 Overs Saad 46, Irfan 30, Shahzad 35, Wajid 2 for 21.
UT Lines beat Saudi Oil Co. by 6 wickets
Saudi Oil 158 for 9 Humayun 30, Khaled 24, Aijaz 25, Ayaz 20, Nazir 2 for 25, Sardar 2 for 21. UT Lines 159 for 4 in 17.3 Overs Usman 64, Shad Mohamed 29, Bilal Khan 39NO.
Big wins for Pak Shaheen, Al -Burj, UT Lines in Jotun Paints Saudi Cup
Big wins for Pak Shaheen, Al -Burj, UT Lines in Jotun Paints Saudi Cup
Kosovo players walk off in Romania game after ‘Serbia’ chants
Bucharest: A Nations League game between Romania and Kosovo in Bucharest was suspended on Friday in injury time after fans in the crowd shouted “Serbia!.”
The Kosovo players left the pitch after the chants, leading to the game to be paused with the score 0-0.
Animosity between Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in the late 1990s.
Kosovo and Serbia do not play each other in UEFA and FIFA tournaments.
Football’s world governing body opened disciplinary proceedings against Serbia during the 2022 World Cup after the team hung a flag in their changing room depicting Kosovo as part of Serbia.
Kosovo joined FIFA and European confederation UEFA in 2016.
When Romania played in Pristina, they beat Kosovo 3-0.
Ronaldo shines as Portugal rout Poland to reach Nations League last-eight
PORTO, Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Portugal staged a second-half supershow to crush Poland 5-1 and reach the Nations League quarter-finals on Friday.
Portugal join France, Germany, Italy and Spain in the last-eight while Poland’s hopes of going through from Group A1 were ended.
Having struggled to plant a shot on target in the first half, Portugal stepped on the accelerator after the break.
Rafael Leao broke the deadlock in Porto just before the hour mark after starting and finishing the move.
The AC Milan striker raced away and passed to Nuno Mendes whose cross from the left was headed powerfully past Marcin Bulka in the Portugal goal.
Thirteen minutes later, skipper Ronaldo got his name on the scoresheet, converting a penalty after Jakub Kiwior was penalized for a handball in the area.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes made it 3-0 in the 80th minute, scoring after a clever run by Vitinha.
Pedro Neto added the fourth three minutes later after Ronaldo’s fine pass which left the Polish defense stranded.
As Polish spirits sank, Ronaldo added his second and Portugal’s fifth in the 87th minute with a spectacular overhead kick before Dominik Marczuk tucked away a consolation goal for the visitors.
Poland had enjoyed the better chances before falling behind but their potency in front of goal was blunted by the absence of record goal-scorer Robert Lewandowski who was sidelined with a back injury.
Moments before Leao’s goal, Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa pulled off a fine save to deny Marczuk having also been alert to deny Nicola Zalewski in the first half.
Portugal’s best chance in the first 45 minutes had fallen to Ronaldo who fired a close-range effort over the bar from close range.
Japanese soccer player Kazuyoshi Miura says he will play next season at age 58
- Miura will turn 58 in February
- He intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka
TOKYO: Japanese soccer player Kazuyoshi Miura is several generations older than his teammates. His contemporaries retired decades ago. Lionel Messi is 37, and Cristiano Ronaldo is 39 — mere youngsters compared to Miura.
Miura will turn 58 in February, and the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported this week that he intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka. It will be his 40th season playing in professional soccer.
Miura is widely listed as the oldest active professional soccer player.
Miura scored 55 goals in 89 appearances and was a star with Japan’s national team in the 1990s.
He has played professionally in Brazil, Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal. He made his debut in 1986 with Brazilian club Santos, a side made famous by Brazilian star Pelé.
Japan beat Indonesia 4-0 to extend group lead in Asian World Cup qualifying
- Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round.
- Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have 6 points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with 3
JAKARTA: Japan defeated Indonesia 4-0 on Friday to move seven points clear at the top of Group C in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Two goals in each half mean the Samurai Blue stays on course for an eighth successive World Cup appearance.
After a bright start from the home team, the 78,000 fans at a sold-out Gelora Bung Karno Stadium were silenced after 35 minutes as Daichi Kamada broke down the left and sent a cross which defender Justin Hubner put into his own net from close range.
Takumi Minamino then scored from inside the area off Kaoru Mitoma’s pass to extend the lead five minutes before the break.
Hidemasa Motira took advantage of an errant pass from Indonesia’s goalkeeper to make it 3-0 early in the second half and Yukinari Sugawara rounded out the scoring in the 69th minute.
Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round. Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have six points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with three.
The top two from each of the three groups will be guaranteed a place at the World Cup, with the third- and fourth-place teams progressing to the next stage.
Pogba and Juventus end contract mutually before he returns from doping ban
- The Serie A club never seemed overly enthusiastic about welcoming Pogba back
- “Juventus Football Club and Paul Pogba announce that they have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of Nov. 30, 2024,” the Bianconeri said
TURIN, Italy: Paul Pogba will no longer be a Juventus player from next month.
Juventus announced on Friday they came to “a mutual agreement” with Pogba to cancel his contract despite the France World Cup winner having a ban for doping slashed last month.
The Serie A club never seemed overly enthusiastic about welcoming Pogba back after his four-year ban for doping was reduced to 18 months following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The 31-year-old Pogba, who will be free to resume his career in March 2025, had said he was ready to give up money to play for Juventus again.
“Juventus Football Club and Paul Pogba announce that they have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of Nov. 30, 2024,” the Bianconeri said in a brief statement. “The club wish Paul the very best for his professional future.”
Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August last year and the Juventus midfielder was handed the maximum punishment by Italy’s anti-doping court.
But CAS judges cut Pogba’s ban as they acknowledged a lack of intent and said his positive test was the result of erroneously taking a supplement prescribed to him by a medical doctor in Florida.
Pogba’s contract with Juventus was set to expire in June 2026.
“My time at Juventus has come to an end. It has been a privilege to pull on the shirt of the Bianconeri and to share so many special memories together,” Pogba said in a statement.
“I cherish the memories we made. They live on. Even in the most difficult moments over the past year, your support was crucial and I want to thank Juve fans around the world for their compassion.”
Pogba was the most expensive soccer player in history when he joined Manchester United from Juventus for a fee of 105 million euros ($113 million) in 2016.
He starred in France’s World Cup triumph in 2018 and returned to Juventus as a free agent in 2022. But injuries limited him to just eight Serie A appearances in his second spell at the club before his ban last year.
“I am looking forward to the next chapter of my career and to stepping out on the pitch with my next club,” Pogba added.
