NORTHERN IRELAND vs. SWITZERLAND
Northern Ireland is within reach of its first World Cup in 32 years after hitting its target of second place in a group won by defending champion Germany. Switzerland, ranked No. 4 in August, finds itself in a tense playoff despite nine straight wins to start qualifying. On Monday, Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic was still looking back to the 2-0 loss at Portugal last month, saying he had imagined playing a “nice friendly” game this week. He acknowledged his team was too passive against Portugal, and challenged players he did not identify to take more responsibility now. The Swiss need to forget about that match before the first leg Thursday at Windsor Park, where only Germany has beaten Northern Ireland in a competitive match in the past four years. Switzerland has a nine-game winning streak at home in tournament qualifiers, and hosts the return on Sunday in Basel.
Fixtures
Today: Northern Ireland vs. Switzerland
Sunday: Switzerland vs. Northern Ireland
CROATIA vs. GREECE
Greece is bidding to reach a major tournament again after an embarrassing qualification campaign for the 2016 European Championship. Crucially, it will be without defender Kostas Manolas, who is banned from the first leg. He is out because FIFA suspended him for trying to manipulate his disciplinary record by deliberately earning a yellow card against Cyprus on Oct. 7. The decision compounded problems for coach Michael Skibbe, who is missing midfielder Petros Mantalos and striker Tasos Donis because of injury. Croatia is set to miss defensive midfielder Milan Badelj for both matches against Greece. The Croatians and the Greeks were in the playoffs for the 2014 tournament
in Brazil. Croatia eliminated Iceland 2-0
on aggregate, while Greece beat Romania 4-2
on aggregate.
Fixtures
Today: Croatia vs. Greece
Sunday: Greece vs. Croatia
SWEDEN vs. ITALY
Four-time champion Italy has participated in every World Cup since failing to qualify for the 1958 tournament, which coincidentally was held in Sweden. But Italy has showed poor form recently, ever since a 3-0 loss to Spain in September. After that match, Italy edged Israel 1-0, drew 1-1 with Macedonia and beat Albania 1-0. While Sweden didn’t qualify for the last two World Cups, it impressed in qualifying with a win over France and finished ahead of the Netherlands. “We are winners just by being here,” Sweden coach Janne Andersson said. Sweden went unbeaten at home in qualifying at Friends Arena and striker Marcus Berg scored eight times in nine matches.
Fixtures
Tomorrow: Sweden vs. Italy
Monday: Italy vs. Sweden
DENMARK vs. IRELAND
Being in the playoffs for a major tournament is nothing new for Ireland. This will be the team’s ninth time, and they have lost five of them — including against France ahead of the 2010 World Cup when Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball in the buildup to the crucial goal. Ireland has effectively already won one playoff — by beating Wales 1-0 in its final qualifier — and will most likely rely on the counterattacking tactics that worked so well in Cardiff. While there are no real stars in the Ireland team, Denmark has a standout in Christian Eriksen — one of European soccer’s best playmakers over the past few years at Tottenham. He scored eight times from midfield in qualifying. The Danes’ 4-0 win over Poland in group play highlights their potential and they are also higher in the FIFA rankings, at No. 19 compared with Ireland’s No. 26. The managers — Martin O’Neill and Age Hareide — are former teammates at English club Norwich.
Fixtures
Saturday: Denmark vs. Republic of Ireland
Tuesday: Republic of Ireland vs. Denmark
AUSTRALIA vs. HONDURAS
This is the scenario Australia aimed to avoid when it switched from Oceania to the Asian Football Confederation after the 2006 World Cup: A last-ditch intercontinental playoff in the Americas for a spot at soccer’s marquee event. Australian players traveled from three continents to assemble in Honduras this week to prepare for Friday’s first leg. It was a similar scenario when the Australians played Uruguay for a place at the 2006 tournament. Uruguay won 1-0 in Montevideo, and Australia leveled it up with a 1-0 win in Sydney before advancing 4-2 on penalties. It ended a long drought for the Socceroos, who had failed to advance from the last playoff stage in 1986 (against Scotland), in 1994 (against Argentina), in 1998 (against Iran), and in 2002 (against Uruguay). Tim Cahill, the only player still active from that playoff series in 2005 and now Australia’s all-time leading scorer, is in doubt because of an ankle injury.
Fixtures
Tomorrow: Honduras vs. Australia
Wednesday: Australia vs. Honduras
NEW ZEALAND vs. PERU
New Zealand will return to the scene of one of its greatest triumphs when it hosts Peru on Saturday.
In 2009, New Zealand beat Bahrain 1-0 in front of a crowd of 35,000 at the Wellington Regional Stadium to qualify for the World Cup for the second time. It had previously qualified in 1982, the same year in which Peru made its last World Cup appearance. The return leg will be in Peru on Wednesday. Rory Fallon, who scored New Zealand’s winning goal in that match eight years ago, has been recalled to the All Whites after a one-year absence. He is currently playing for Dorchester in the seventh tier of English soccer. That win over Bahrain briefly put soccer center-stage in a rugby-mad country and Saturday’s match will likely do so again. The match is a sellout. Peru, ranked No. 10, starts as the overwhelming favorite against 122nd-ranked New Zealand but has a significant setback, with striker Paolo Guerrero ruled out after failing a doping test. Guerrero scored six goals in qualifying.
Fixtures
Saturday: New Zealand vs. Peru
Thursday: Peru vs. New Zealand
AFRICA
Africa’s last three World Cup places will be decided on the final group games in qualifying, when Ivory Coast could miss out and Congo could qualify for the first time since 1974. Two of the five groups are settled, with Nigeria and Egypt already through. Tunisia and Congo will tussle for a place from Group A. Tunisia has a three-point advantage, so Congo needs to beat Guinea and hope Tunisia loses at home to Libya. If that happens, the World Cup place will go to the team with the best goal difference. Morocco and Ivory Coast face a straight shootout in Group C when Morocco travels to Abidjan. Ivory Coast must win to sneak through to the World Cup and deny former coach Herve Renard, now with Morocco. Senegal can seal its place on Friday in a contentious qualifier against South Africa, a game ordered by FIFA to be played again because of match-fixing by the referee. Senegal lost the initial game but if it wins on its second chance, it’ll be through to the World Cup. That will lead to serious discontent from the other teams. Burkina Faso, hoping to go to the World Cup for the first time, has already appealed against FIFA’s decision.
Fixtures
Tomorrow: South Africa vs. Senegal
Saturday: Congo vs. Guinea, Tunisia vs. Libya, Ivory Coast vs. Morocco
— AFP
The race to join Saudi Arabia at the FIFA World Cup hots up this week
The race to join Saudi Arabia at the FIFA World Cup hots up this week
Saudi artist on track as work displayed at Jeddah Corniche Circuit
- Race Through Art competition launched in cooperation with Ministry of Sport
- ‘This message reflects our culture to the whole world,’ says winner Yara Al-Harthi
JEDDAH: Yara Al-Harthi, the winner of the Race Through Art competition, has captured the spirit of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in a powerful piece of artwork at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Al-Harthi’s artwork was displayed at the circuit ahead of the arrival of the pinnacle of motorsport in Jeddah.
The Race Through Art competition was launched in cooperation with the Ministry of Sport, which invited amateur and professional artists to participate in designing artistic works that reflected the unique culture of the Kingdom. The winning artwork was displayed in the run-off area at the circuit ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian GP, which takes place on Sunday.
The aim of the competition was to provide a platform for creative Saudi talent to showcase their work. It was open to all Saudi nationals over the age of 18, living anywhere in the world, who wanted the opportunity to present their vision of the historic sporting occasion.
Al-Harthi said: “This design is not just an artwork: It is a message, and this message reflects our culture to the whole world, especially in the fifth edition (of the grand prix).
“I used bold colors at the circuit to reflect the spirit of enthusiasm and to increase the energy of fans, and also to make them notice the integration of culture … and the main landmarks in Saudi Arabia with the race.
“I am very happy and proud that I won the competition.”
UAE appoint Romanian Olaroiu to replace Bento as head coach
- The 55-year-old Romanian takes over from Portuguese Paulo Bento
- Olaroiu has spent the last three-and-a-half seasons with UAE club Sharjah
DUBAI: Cosmin Olaroiu has been appointed United Arab Emirates head coach, the country’s FA announced on Saturday.
The 55-year-old Romanian takes over from Portuguese Paulo Bento, who was fired last month despite a last-gasp win over North Korea in Asia’s World Cup qualifiers.
The UAE are third in Group A of the preliminaries for the 2026 finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The first two finishers in each of Asia’s three groups progress automatically to the World Cup while the third- and fourth-placed teams advance to another round.
Iran have already claimed one of the two berths available from Group A while second-placed Uzbekistan are four points clear of the UAE with two matches remaining.
Olaroiu has spent the last three-and-a-half seasons with UAE club Sharjah, and last week guided the team into the final of the AFC Champions League Two.
He has worked extensively in the Gulf region, coaching Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, Qatar’s Al-Sadd and Emirati side Al-Ain before moving to China, where he won the Chinese Super League title with Jiangsu Suning in 2020.
Olaroiu’s first game in charge of the UAE will be their World Cup qualifier at home to Uzbekistan on June 5. They then visit Kyrgyzstan in Group A five days later.
Former Croatia midfielder Nikola Pokrivač dies in car accident at age 39
- The federation announced that Pokrivač died Friday night in a car accident
- Pokrivač made 15 appearances for Croatia’s national team
ZAGREB: Nikola Pokrivač, a former Croatia national team midfielder who played at the 2008 European Championship, has died in a car accident, his country’s soccer federation said. He was 39.
The federation announced that Pokrivač died Friday night in a car accident in the city of Karlovac.
Pokrivač played for Dinamo Zagreb, Monaco and Salzburg before being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2015.
Pokrivač made 15 appearances for Croatia’s national team.
Marijan Kustić, president of the Croatian Football Federation, called Pokrivač a “great football player” who “showed great courage in life by overcoming a terrible disease.” He offered condolences to Pokrivač’s family.
Dinamo said in a statement that Pokrivač was a talented midfielder who played 69 times for the team and participated in four championship titles.
F1 fans enjoy start of Saudi Arabian GP weekend at fan zone
JEDDAH: Fans from around the world enjoyed the first day of the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race weekend on Friday at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit fan zone.
The site, next to the racetrack, offered a range of experiences including F1 interactive simulators, sim racing, a pit stop challenge, an F1 show car, driver selfies in augmented reality and a virtual pit tour, all designed to bring fans closer to the sport.
There were also food trucks, live music, cutting-edge driving simulators, virtual racing games and several F1 cars for photo opportunities.
Many fans who spoke with Arab News said they had traveled from places such as Riyadh, Dammam, Hail, Taif, Madina and Jizan to experience the race in Jeddah.
“It is an amazing event and as a family we are really enjoying every bit of it. I was really looking forward to seeing a racing car close up, and this is what Formula 1 is all about,” said local Saudi businessman Fahad Al-Malki, there with his family from Jeddah.
He added: “It is an amazing experience from the moment you start arriving around the road. It is so organized. I love the way everyone is so cooperative while you walk in, people are smiling and everyone is welcoming you, I enjoy that. My family is here and you get different ages of groups and families are sitting together and they are enjoying it. It is an amazing experience.”
Meanwhile, Jimmy from Glasgow, Scotland, described the Formula 1 weekend as “amazing.”
“This is my first time to attend the F1 race and I am glad to see it here in Jeddah,” he said. “Besides watching the (racing) I also had the chance to explore the fan zone. It is incredible and the food court is fantastic. Simply, my friend and I are just having fun and enjoying everything here.”
Laisly, from the Philippines, said: “I am very surprised. I was really looking forward to seeing a racing car from close up, it is really an interesting event. I’m really excited to see the race and at the same time enjoy the atmosphere of the fan zone.”
She added: “For us as Filipinos who are working here in Saudi Arabia, it is really one of a kind and hopefully these kinds of events will continue and recently there are many opportunities to see a race like this.”
Dortmund to treat every game as a final in bid for top four, says Gross
- “In this stadium, with the fans, you can beat any team in the world. (Missing out) on that would hurt a lot,” Gross told reporters on Saturday
Borussia Dortmund will approach every match like a final as they push for a top four finish in the Bundesliga, midfielder Pascal Gross said ahead of Sunday’s home game against seventh-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Dortmund are eighth in the table with 42 points from 29 games, their worst position since 2014-15 when they finished seventh. They trail fourth-placed RB Leipzig by six points with five games remaining in the season.
Dortmund’s confidence in securing a European spot has grown, with Gross seeing his side’s 3-1 midweek home win over Barcelona in the Champions League as a boost, despite the side losing 5-3 on aggregate, which eliminated them from the competition.
“In this stadium, with the fans, you can beat any team in the world. (Missing out) on that would hurt a lot,” Gross told reporters on Saturday.
“That’s why we need to do everything in our power in the final five games to get as many points as we possibly can. This season is crazy. We’ve almost lost too many games already to be able to reach that goal.
“But when you look at the table, you can see that anything is possible. The next five games are all finals for us.”
The 33-year-old added that the team was more cohesive now, “I feel like we’re more solid now. If one person makes a mistake, someone else smoothes it out for him. That helps you to trust in what you’re doing.”
Dortmund manager Nico Kovac called for more passion and aggression in the next five games and said captain Emre Can and midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka, who missed the Barcelona game with injury, are in contention to feature against Gladbach.
