LONDON: Saudi Arabia have been told not to get ahead of themselves as they prepare to face North Korea in their Group E opener today.
The Green Falcons head into the tournament as one of the favorites to lift the trophy come Feb. 1. On the back of a first win at the World Cup — a 2-1 victory over Egypt in Russia last June — Juan Antonio Pizzi’s players have enjoyed a successful past six months, losing just once to Brazil.
But perhaps only too aware that among those results have been four draws and that this tournament has already thrown up some surprising results — the most striking of which was Jordan’s 1-0 win over Australia on Sunday — the coach has warned his side they must take it game by game to avoid an early exit.
“I am personally considering each game as an important one. The match against North Korea will be important to us,” Pizzi said.
“Once we get through them then we will focus on our next games.”
The last time Saudi Arabia played in a tournament opener it ended in an embarrassing 5-0 defeat at the hands of hosts Russia at last year’s World Cup. From that moment on it was always unlikely the Green Falcons would fly in to the knockout stages, even if improved performances in their matches against Uruguay and Egypt have proved to be a valuable springboard to this month’s Asian Cup.
With lessons learned from the showpiece in Russia and with the players’ feet ordered to be planted firmly on the ground Pizzi, while preaching caution, cut a confident figure ahead of the North Korea clash.
“(The match against North
Korea) is going to be important and personally we prepared very well for the tournament,” Pizzi said. “With trust in the team, I would like to repeat that with ambition and confidence we will hope to achieve our goals.”
The commonly used but generally accurate mantra for every coach and team heading into a tournament is to avoid defeat in the first match. North Korea, while not a continental powerhouse like their southern neighbors, are savvy operators and will likely prove obdurate opponents in their clash at Dubai’s Rashid Stadium.
That quality is not lost on the Green Falcons coach who said the standard of Asian football has risen substantially in the past few years — an improvement witnessed at the World Cup when the continent had five representatives for the first time.
“Recently Asian football had improved a lot and it would be a good tournament to participate in,” Pizzi said.
The one downside the coach has had to deal with heading into the opener is an injury to Salman Al-Faraj. The midfielder was Saudi Arabia’s standout player at the World Cup but has failed to recover in time to make the starting line-up.
“We took maximum time to decide on Salman. We tried in all manners to have him with our squad. We also appreciate the effort by Salman to try to be with us,” Pizzi said.
“Unfortunately he did not pass the final training session.”
Juan Antonio Pizzi upbeat ahead of Saudi Arabia opener against North Korea
Juan Antonio Pizzi upbeat ahead of Saudi Arabia opener against North Korea
- Green Falcons coach confident side can make statement of intent at Asian Cup.
- Pizzi's players to face North Korea in Dubai on Tuesday.
Backups bring down the house, Pacers take 2-1 NBA Finals lead with 116-107 Game 3 victory
- Thanks to 27 points from Mathurin and the kind of pyrotechnics the Pacers have grown to adore from reserve point guard McConnell, Indiana have the advantage in the best-of-seven series
INDIANAPOLIS: Backup guards Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell helped Indiana’s bench break out with 49 points as the Pacers topped the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 on Wednesday to claim a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
Thanks to 27 points from Mathurin and the kind of pyrotechnics the Pacers have grown to adore from reserve point guard McConnell, Indiana have the advantage in the best-of-seven series.
Tyrese Haliburton provided heroics with 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds while Pascal Siakam added 21 points for the Pacers, who haven’t lost back-to-back games since December.
Jalen Williams led the Thunder with 26 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24 points. Chet Holmgren compiled 20 points and 10 rebounds but shot 0-for-6 from 3-point range.
Game 4 is scheduled for Friday in Indianapolis.
The Thunder trailed 110-102 with three minutes to go, but Alex Caruso tried to keep the Pacers from a premature celebration with a steal and breakaway into the open court. Two steps into the paint, Aaron Nesmith closed and forcefully brought both arms down on Caruso to prevent the shot attempt and take him to the floor. Following a review, no flagrant foul was called.
Caruso made both free throws and Indiana’s Myles Turner subsequently lost the ball out of bounds. However, Turner, who missed eight of his first 10 shots, came up with two blocks of Holmgren on the same possession to keep the lead at six.
Indiana got another stop, and Siakam lit up the stadium for good with an easy basket that gave the Pacers a 112-104 lead with 69 seconds left.
McConnell was seemingly everywhere, and he came up with massive defensive plays all game.
He ripped off Caruso’s bullet inbounds pass with two hands at point-blank range under the basket and pumped in a layup to tie the game at 95 early in the fourth quarter.
Mathurin cashed a trey off a McConnell assist, putting the Pacers up 98-96.
Haliburton entered for the first time in the fourth quarter, took a handoff at the top of the key, stopped, squared and splashed his fourth 3-pointer of the game for a 101-98 lead with 6:42 remaining.
Indiana’s Aaron Nembhard made a 12-foot jumper from the left elbow and the Pacers got it back after a missed 3-point attempt, taking a touchdown lead (107-100) on Obi Toppin’s two-hand dunk off of a miss with 4:23 to go.
Nesmith caught a skip pass on the right wing and drained a trey on Indiana’s next possession for an eight-point lead.
McConnell hit a running right-handed layup between two clutch buckets by Mathurin as the Pacers stayed close, down 93-91, with 10 minutes to play.
Oklahoma City had surged ahead for its biggest lead of the second half — 89-84 — to end of the third. Williams hit a long 3-pointer came after an and-1 baseline dunk by Holmgren, who moved through the swiping hands of McConnell to finish.
Williams played a lot of the game with the ball in his hands as the Pacers worked to keep Gilgeous-Alexander in check.
McConnell leads NBA reserves in assists per game in playoffs (4.1).
Apathy and anger cloud US team a year out from World Cup
- Kasey Keller: I think it is the most embarrassed I have been for the US national team in a long time
- There were thousands of empty seats in Nashville for the Switzerland defeat after poor turnouts for March’s games in Los Angeles
MIAMI: A run of four straight losses, including a 4-0 hammering from Switzerland on Wednesday, has left Mauricio Pochettino and his US team feeling the wrath of critics a year out from the World Cup they will co-host.
The US head into their opening game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday having lost on home soil to Panama and Canada in the Nations League in March before friendly losses to Turkiye and the debacle against the Swiss.
“I think it is the most embarrassed I have been for the US national team in a long time,” said Kasey Keller, who played in goal for the US 102 times between 1990 and 2007.
While there were plenty of American fans venting similar feelings on social media after the loss, what will perhaps be more concerning for the US Soccer Federation is supporters voting with their feet and not attending games.
There were thousands of empty seats in Nashville for the Switzerland defeat after poor turnouts for March’s games in Los Angeles.
“There’s just a sense of apathy around the United States men’s program and I don’t think that’s a hot take,” former striker Taylor Twellman told NBC Sports.
Alexi Lalas, a star of the US team the last time they hosted a World Cup in 1994, has built a career in ‘hot takes’ for Fox Sports but even he was struggling to fire himself up for a Star Spangled rant after the latest disappointment.
“I’m having a hard time even conjuring up that and that makes a little sad. In the past when I was angry at what was going on, I felt compelled to express it and now they are not even worth that, not worth me expressing how disappointing this is right now,” he said on his podcast ‘State of the Union’.
Pochettino has been forced to field a largely second string squad in this month’s games with the likes of Tim Weah and Weston McKennie on Club World Cup duty with Juventus while captain and talisman Christian Pulisic has opted to take some rest along with some other members of the first choice squad.
That latter decision prompted fierce criticism from some ex-players, including Landon Donovan, the country’s all-time joint top scorer who during commentary of Portugal’s win in the UEFA Nations League hit out at the absentees.
“[Ronaldo is] 40 years old. He’s played a long-ass season. He’s tired. He’s out there grinding. Hurt himself in the process, and I can’t help but think about some of our guys on vacation, not wanting to play in the Gold Cup. It’s pissing me off,” he said.
That led to a sarcastic reply on social media from Pulisic’s father Mark who posted a reminder of Donovan’s own ‘sabbatical’ from the US team.
But there is also pressure mounting on Pochettino, the Argentine former Tottenham Hotspur manager, who was appointed to the US role in September.
The coach said he would take the blame for the showing against Switzerland where the US were 4-0 down by halftime.
“It’s my responsibility the choice of the starting 11. I wanted to give minutes to certain players, but we were never in the game,” the Argentine said.
While Pochettino’s job may be safe, some are wondering if he might not need some assistance.
“It looks like he doesn’t know the team, it looks like he doesn’t scout the players, has no idea of the pieces he has at his disposal,” said former USA forward Hercules Gomez on You Tube.
“The US Soccer Federation, why not place somebody who has some experience with the player pool to help Pochettino out because it looks like he has no idea who his players are? With a World Cup on home soil that is a disaster,” he added.
The US will co-host the World Cup with Mexico and Canada.
25 years after Tiger’s romp, a huge fan, Chase Johnson, is US Open’s only player of Black heritage
- A quarter-century after Woods made history, Johnson is not trying to be the next Tiger, only trying to show what can happen for a young player with a good work ethic and a love of the game
- Johnson’s path was literally inspired by Woods. He recalls watching the 15-time major champion not as one of his first golf memories, but one of his first memories of anything
OAKMONT, Pennsylvania: One of the first memories for the last man to make the field at this year’s US Open was watching Tiger Woods.
In that respect, Chase Johnson has plenty of company. In another, he has none.
On the 25-year anniversary of Woods’ historic dismantling of Pebble Beach in the US Open — a milestone win that some thought might puncture golf’s stereotype as a sport for rich, white men — Johnson is the only player of Black heritage in the 156-man field at Oakmont.
That’s hardly the only valid storyline for the 29-year-old former standout at Kent State who:
• Adopted a cross-hand chipping style to avoid the shanks.
• Beat players like Max Homa and Rickie Fowler in qualifying to earn an alternate’s spot that eventually got him in the field.
• Made a whirlwind trip from qualifying in Ohio to the US Open in Pennsylvania with detours to Arizona for a tournament, then to Michigan to celebrate his fiancee’s birthday.
But neither does Johnson shirk from his position at the national championship this week.
He is the 2025 season points leader on the Advocates Professional Golf Association, a nonprofit tour that promotes diversity in golf. He landed there after short stints on the Korn Ferry Tour. He also plays on the developmental PGA Tour Americas circuit.
A quarter-century after Woods made history, Johnson is not trying to be the next Tiger, only trying to show what can happen for a young player with a good work ethic and a love of the game.
“We’re going to keep on working on it, but hopefully I can continue to build my platform and build that platform for other players to just continue to grow the game,” Johnson said.
Diversity has been a work in progress for golf for ages — one that took on new meaning when Woods burst on the scene with his Masters win in 1997, then backed it up in 1999-2000 with four straight major victories, including the 12-shot win at Pebble Beach.
Two years ago, when not a single Black player qualified for the US Open at the Los Angeles Country Club, USGA president Fred Perpall, who is Black, said it was a disappointment and he found it hard not to wish “we could just press the magic wand” to make those numbers look better.
On the eve of the first round at Oakmont, with Perpall’s term coming to an end, he and CEO Mike Whan touted some encouraging signs: Of the 24 million Americans who said in a recent survey that they’re “extremely interested” in playing golf, 24 percent are Black and Hispanic. Perpall said the USGA’s 2-year-old US National Development Program will be the pathway for America’s elite for the next 100 years.
“It’s not going to be a fast road,” Perpall said of the effort to make golf more diverse. “I mean, we didn’t get here overnight. We will not get out of here overnight. But if you get down to the junior level and you get down to the elite junior level, I think you’re going to see a lot more diverse game than you see out there” at country clubs and at Oakmont this week.
Johnson’s path was literally inspired by Woods. He recalls watching the 15-time major champion not as one of his first golf memories, but one of his first memories of anything.
In the Woods video game Johnson played as a kid, the game gave “trophy balls” as prizes. Johnson’s father, Mel, gave out “Daddy Trophy Balls” as rewards to motivate his kid.
Like Woods, Johnson is mixed race. His father his Black and his mother, Cheryl, is white. The entire family, along with fiancee, Katie Howarth, will be on hand for either two or four rounds this week.
“I was a little shocked with my dad’s response” upon finding out he had qualified, Johnson said. “He was like: ‘This is amazing. It’s Father’s Day weekend. I couldn’t ask for anything more.’ I was like, ‘I think we could think of one thing by Sunday that we could get for you.’”
Nothing wrong with dreaming big.
But in the game he’s playing, a victory might also look like a couple of young kids seeing someone who looks like them playing at the US Open — then picking up a club themselves.
“I want to see what he does with this platform,” Johnson’s coach, Kyle VanHise, said in a 2023 profile in Golf Digest. “The amount of people he’s going to help and influence will be incredible. Who is the one kid that, because he met you, his life was changed forever?”
Esports World Cup Foundation, Amazon announce pact to take gaming mainstream
- Three-year plan to boost Esports World Cup’s global reach
- Key locales include US, Europe, Middle East, India and Canada
RIYADH: The Esports World Cup Foundation has announced a three-year collaboration with Amazon Ads.
The pact announced on Tuesday by the EWCF combines the Esports World Cup’s premier event with Amazon’s full-funnel advertising and entertainment services.
The world cup will be held in Riyadh from July 7 to Aug. 24.
The organizations hope to deliver compelling fan experiences and expand the tournament’s global reach across Twitch, Prime Video, Alexa and Wondery.
The two organizations collaborated last year on the inaugural Esports World Cup, which featured the launch of a tournament hub on Amazon.sa and Amazon.ae.
“Esports is redefining how a new generation consumes entertainment — always on, always accessible, and deeply social,” said Mike McCabe, chief operating officer at the EWCF.
“With Amazon, we are bringing esports into everyday digital lives for millions of people around the world — whether you’re catching highlights on Prime, or a livestream on Twitch, or asking Alexa for updates — creating an immersive, multimedia experience that’s shaping its place in global culture.”
The organizations will extend the reach of the Esports World Cup across key locales, including the US, Europe, Brazil, Mexico, the Middle East and North Africa, Turkiye, India and Canada.
Rayan Karaky, managing director, EMEA & Southeast Asia at Amazon Ads, said: “We are excited to continue our collaboration with EWCF to shape how esports is experienced globally.
“Our collaboration will power immersive fan experiences across multiple touchpoints and create exceptional value for brands.”
The Esports World Cup 2025 will feature 2,000 elite players and 200 clubs from over 100 countries, competing in 25 tournaments across 24 games for a record-breaking $70 million prize pool.
Al-Nassr lead the way as Saudi teams score big in global football social media rankings
- Riyadh side ranks 16th globally in terms of followers, with more than 62m across platforms including X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube
- Other Saudi clubs in top 100 include Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli; teams from other Arab nations include Al-Ahly and Zamalek of Egypt, and Moroccan side Raja Casablanca
RIYADH: Saudi clubs made a strong impression in the latest global social media rankings for football teams, with Al-Nassr confirmed as the most-followed Arab club worldwide.
In a report published on Wednesday by the Football Observatory, a research group within the International Centre for Sports Studies, Al-Nassr, who finished third in the Saudi Pro League this season, ranked 16th globally in terms of followers, having amassed more than 62 million across platforms including X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
The club’s regional online dominance was widely attributed to the global appeal of star striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who signed for the team in December 2022, and its rapidly growing fanbase.
Al-Hilal, this season’s runners-up in the league, ranked 24th, with 37.7 million followers, driven by strong social media engagement linked to success in continental competitions and a squad featuring a number of international stars.
Pro League champions Al-Ittihad took 49th spot in the rankings with 15.5 million followers, ahead of many European and American clubs, thanks to recent high-profile signings and domestic success. Al-Ahli ranked 66th with 10.7 million followers, their digital success bolstered by a recent return to the Saudi Pro League and a vibrant presence on TikTok and Instagram.
Several clubs in other Arab countries also appeared in the top 100, including Egyptian side Al-Ahly, who with 57.7 million followers ranked 18th globally and were the top African side, fellow Egyptian club Zamalek (45th, 17.2 million followers) and Moroccan team Raja Casablanca (59th, 12.3 million).
The researchers said the rankings reflected the growing global reach and digital influence of Arab football, with Saudi clubs in particular gaining ground on traditional powerhouses in Europe and the Americas such as Real Madrid, who topped the rankings with 473.7 million followers, Barcelona (2nd, 427.4 million), Manchester United (3rd, 233.6 million) and Flamengo of Brazil, the highest-placed South American team, who ranked 15th with 66.4 million followers.
