MANCHESTER: Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was at pains on Sunday to dismiss suggestions that Mohammad Amir’s agitated gesticulation after the defeat against India was a result of his frustration at his team mates.
Even if it was, Pakistan’s pace spearhead could hardly be faulted.
The 27-year-old left-arm quick has found himself saddled with the burden of a misfiring bowling unit, which simply refuses to complement his effort.
Pacers hunt in pairs but Amir has been Pakistan’s lone ranger with the ball with no significant assistance from the other end.
Figures from Pakistan’s last two matches, against Australia and India, prove how toothless the attack is without Amir.
In those two defeats, Amir returned a combined figure of 20-3-77-8 while others put together managed an embarrassing 79-0-554-7.
With 13 wickets from four matches, Amir shares the top wicket-taker’s position with Australian Mitchell Starc.
The next Pakistani on the list is Wahab Riaz, way behind with five wickets from four matches.
“He’s got 13 wickets in four games. Other bowlers should also chip in,” spinner Imad Wasim said after the defeat by India.
Riaz, whose hostile spell to Australian Shane Watson in the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup was one of the highlights of the tournament, has struggled for success.
The left-arm quick had vowed to prove coach Mickey Arthur wrong after being left out of the original squad but has done little to justify his late inclusion.
Fellow quick Hasan Ali, who bled 84 runs in his nine overs against India, has not done any better with two wickets from four matches.
Against a bowling attack of such nature, the opposition strategy has been fairly simple — to treat Amir with respect and others with disdain.
KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma did exactly that on Sunday during their 136-run opening stand, even allowing Amir to begin with a maiden over.
As conditions demand, Amir has bowled a fuller length and kept it tight at both ends of the innings but his pace colleagues have bowled noticeably short.
Rohit, whose 140 helped secure India’s comprehensive victory, was asked if he was pleasantly surprised by the short length which allowed him to cut and pull with impunity.
“I really can’t read into what was going in their mind, whether to bowl up or to bowl short,” the right-hander said.
“As a batsman, you’re ready to just pounce on it when given or bowled to your strength. It’s my strength when someone bowls short to me.”
Pakistan paying price for over-reliance on lone ranger Amir
Pakistan paying price for over-reliance on lone ranger Amir
- In this world cup Amir shares the top wicket-taker’s position with Australian Mitchell Starc
- Left-arm quick saddled with burden of misfiring bowling unit which refuses to complement his effort
Turkiye rally for 2-1 win in friendly against US, who lose 3rd straight under Pochettino
- With a year to go before co-hosting the World Cup, the US play Switzerland on Tuesday at Nashville, Tennessee, in another friendly, then open the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Trinidad and Tobago on June 15
- Preparing for the start of their World Cup qualifying campaign in September, Turkiye have six wins, one loss and one draw in their last eight games
EAST HARTFORD, Connecticut: Turkiye took advantage of a sloppy defense to beat the US 2-1 in a rainy friendly on Saturday, dealing the Americans their third straight loss as Arda Guler and Kerem Akturkoglu scored in a 2-minute, 20-second span midway through the first half.
Jack McGlynn scored 59 seconds in for the US, who were missing many regulars as coach Mauricio Pochettino revamped his roster following a dismal performance at the CONCACAF Nations League final four in March.
With a year to go before co-hosting the World Cup, the US play Switzerland on Tuesday at Nashville, Tennessee, in another friendly, then open the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Trinidad and Tobago on June 15.
The Americans dropped to 5-4 under Pochettino, who took over after first-round elimination last year’s Copa America led the US Soccer Federation to fire coach Gregg Berhalter. They have lost three straight for the second time in a year.
Pochettino changed eight starters from the Nations League loss to Canada in March, keeping only left back Max Arfsten, winger Diego Luna and forward Patrick Agyemang.
Defender Alex Freeman, a 20-year-old son of former NFL All-Pro receiver Antonio Freeman, started in his US debut. Matt Freese, a starter at Major League Soccer’s New York City, made his debut in goal. Matt Turner, the usual starter since 2022, didn’t play for Crystal Palace after March 1.
McGlynn scored when he ran onto a pass from Malik Tilman, took several touches, cut inside and curled a left-footed shot from just outside the penalty area inside the far post for his second goal in five international appearances. It was the earliest US goal since Shaq Moore scored 20 seconds in against Canada during the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Turkiye tied it in the 24th minute when Freese tapped the ball to Johnny Cardoso, whose pass ricocheted off a leg and past Freese for Guler’s fifth international goal.
Then in the 27th, Miles Robinson tried to clear Oguz Aydın’s shot and the ball went to Akturkoglu, who one-timed a bouncing shot past Freese for his 12th international goal and sixth in eight games.
Turkiye goalkeeper Berke Ozer also made his international debut. Preparing for the start of their World Cup qualifying campaign in September, Turkiye have six wins, one loss and one draw in their last eight games.
Manassero, Fox share PGA Canadian Open lead with plenty in pursuit
- Manassero, a five-time winner on the DP World Tour, is seeking his first US tour title
MONTREAL: Italian veteran Matteo Manassero was poised to challenge for his first US PGA Tour title after conjuring seven birdies in a six-under par 64 to share the 54-hole lead at the Canadian Open with New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.
Fox also fired seven birdies and a bogey at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley, their 14-under par total of 196 putting the leaders one stroke clear atop a congested leaderboard, with 22 more players within four strokes of the lead.
On a day when as many as 11 players shared the lead at one point, Manassero was the first to reach 14-under with his sixth birdie of the day at the 15th.
He bogeyed 17, where he was in the left rough off the tee and missed a four-footer to save par, but he birdied the par-five 18th.
“It was a really good round,” Manassero said. “I missed the short one on 17, and I did miss a couple more short ones today. I try to think of them just like a shot really, like a driver, like a six-iron, whatever. It’s just a shot.
“It wasn’t that hard for me to stay focused into what I was doing and not ruining (it) at the end.”
Manassero, a five-time winner on the DP World Tour, is seeking his first US tour title. The 32-year-old Italian has revived his career after briefly walking away from the game in the midst of a prolonged slump. He claimed his first DP World Tour victory in more than a decade in March of 2024.
“It’s definitely made me more mature and much better perspective toward golf, which at one point was everything,” he said of the ups and downs of his career. “I have a better perspective toward, for example, a day like tomorrow.”
Fox, 38, is aiming to build off his first US PGA Tour title, captured in a playoff at the Myrtle Beach Classic last month.
He launched his round with three straight birdies and had five on the front nine, bouncing back from a bogey at 11 — where he was in the water — with birdies at 12 and 18.
“To be honest, everything went pretty right,” Fox said. “I drove it great. I think, if you do that round here, you give yourself lots of chances.
“Had a lot of good wedge shots, holed a few putts early. Just played really solid kind of stress-free golf for the most part.”
Americans Lee Hodges and Mat McCarty and Taiwan’s Kevin Yu were tied for third on 13-under 197.
Hodges bookended his seven-under 63 with eagles at the first and 18th, with three birdies in between.
Yu had eight birdies and a bogey in his 63 while McCarty had seven birdies in his 64.
Canadian Mackenzie Hughes and Americans Jake Knapp and Andrew Putnam were tied on 12-under, one stroke clear of a group of seven players on 11-under 199.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry headlined a group of nine players on 200.
Fox said his victory last month had him feeling “more comfortable in my own shoes,” but he with so many within striking distance he said that Sunday promised to be a shoot-out.
“Obviously there’s a lot of good players behind me,” he said. “I feel like it’s going to take a pretty low (score) to get the job done.”
Tuchel slams England’s lack of ‘seriousness’ in win over Andorra
- Tuchel’s side were booed at the final whistle in Barcelona after Harry Kane’s 50th minute tap-in saved England from a humiliating draw
- “I liked the attitude how we started the game, the first 25 minutes, but I didn’t like the last 25 minutes, the last half an hour,” Tuchel said
BARCELONA: Thomas Tuchel slammed England’s attitude and accused them of a lack of “seriousness” during Saturday’s lacklustre 1-0 win against minnows Andorra.
Tuchel’s side were booed at the final whistle in Barcelona after Harry Kane’s 50th minute tap-in saved England from a humiliating draw with a team ranked 173rd in the world.
Although England have won all three of their World Cup qualifiers since Tuchel took charge, they have struggled to fulfil the German’s desire for a more attacking style of play.
Their labored efforts against Andorra infuriated Tuchel, who saw alarming signs that his players threw in the towel in the closing stages.
“I didn’t like the attitude how we ended the game,” he said.
“I liked the attitude how we started the game, the first 25 minutes, but I didn’t like the last 25 minutes, the last half an hour.
“I think we lacked the seriousness and the urgency that is needed in a World Cup qualifier.
“We played with fire and I didn’t like the attitude in the end. I didn’t like the body language and I think it was not what the occasion needed.”
England sit top of Group K as they progress toward next year’s World Cup, yet they will need to improve signficantly to make an impact in the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Tuchel was relieved to secure the victory after Andorra pushed for a late leveller, but he conceded his team had played with a lack of energy.
“In the end we played with fire, honestly. I felt it almost like in a cup game where the favorite does not smell the danger,” he said.
“I didn’t feel a team that is aware it’s only 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier because we were not happy with ourselves.
“I’m not blaming them. I even feel like they felt ‘OK, we’re not happy and this is stuck today, it will not happen today’.
“Step by step the energy dropped. We needed exactly the opposite but we couldn’t deliver and so we got away with a win.”
Tuchel had admitted before the game that it might be hard to crush Andorra by a huge margin because his players were tired after a draining domestic campaign.
Nine of England’s squad will jet off to the Club World Cup after Tuesday’s friendly against Senegal in Nottingham.
First, Tuchel will demand a more positive performance at the City Ground next week.
“We will not stop to encourage them and make clear after we have a proper look at the match what we want from them,” he said.
England supporters made up the majority of the crowd at the RCDE Stadium and their displeasure was audible throughout a limp game that felt more like a pre-season friendly.
Tuchel could not blame them for expressing their frustration, with jeers for the team mixed with abusive songs about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“The booing is OK.”
“They were underwhelmed and not happy with our performance, especially how we ended the first half, so I don’t think we can blame them for that,” he said.
“We cannot even blame them how we ended the match. In the opposite. I thought they were fantastic throughout the whole match.
“I did not hear anything about what you said about abusive songs or chants (about the Prime Minister), so if it happens of course it’s not acceptable but I didn’t hear it.”
Coco Gauff handles bad memories and top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka to earn first French Open title
- The second-ranked Gauff made fewer mistakes and kept her emotions in check to get the better of Sabalenka
PARIS: Drawing on the painful memory of her defeat three years ago in the French Open final gave Coco Gauff just the motivation she needed to win the clay-court major for the first time.
The 21-year-old American defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday for her second Grand Slam title, two years after winning the US Open.
“I think (the US Open victory) was more emotional but this one was harder,” said Gauff, who managed to handle the elements and the momentum swings better than Sabalenka. “I knew it was going to be about will power and mental (strength).”
The victory put to rest the bad memories of her 2022 French Open final loss to Iga Swiatek when, as an 18-year-old, Gauff felt overwhelmed even before stepping onto Court Philippe-Chatrier.
“It was a tough time, I was doubting myself,” Gauff recalled. “I was crying before the match, and so nervous, literally couldn’t breathe and stuff.”
Gauff said that the lopsided loss rocked her confidence to such an extent that she was left “in a dark place” and feared she was not cut out for winning major titles.
“I thought if I can’t handle this how am I going to handle it again?” she said.
She handled it just fine on Saturday.
The second-ranked Gauff made fewer mistakes and kept her emotions in check to get the better of Sabalenka again at major final, having come from a set down to beat the Belarusian in the 2023 US Open final.
Gauff raised the winners’ trophy aloft, then kissed it several times. She held her hand over her heart when the US national anthem played.
“This one is heavy,” Gauff said. “It feels great to lift it.”
She is the first American woman to win at Roland-Garros since Serena Williams in 2015.
It was the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 final in Paris since 2013, when Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, and just the second in the last 30 years.
After Sabalenka sent a backhand wide on Gauff’s second match point, the 21-year-old American fell onto her back, covering her face with both hands as she started to sob, then got up and held her hand over her mouth. She continued to sob as she patted the clay with her left hand.
Gauff greeted Sabalenka at the net with a warm hug and thanking the umpire, Gauff screamed out with joy and relief, then got to her knees and crouched forward, continuing to cry as she savored the win.
She hugged later film director Spike Lee and celebrated with her entourage in her box before thanking the fans.
“You guys were cheering for me so hard,” she said. “I don’t know what I did to deserve so much love from the French crowd.”
One thing Gauff could not manage — yet — was a victory speech in French.
“I completely tanked on that,” she said, adding that she will try in the future. “I don’t think I could do a whole speech but maybe a good something to say to the French crowd.”
Sabalenka praised Gauff for being a “fighter” and said she deserved the win, but added that the windy conditions made for an error-strewn contest.
“This will hurt so much,” Sabalenka said. “Coco, congrats, in the tough conditions you were a better player than me.”
Both players were sloppy in the first set, conceding 21 break-point chances and making 48 unforced errors between them, with Sabalenka making 32 yet still winning the set. She made 70 altogether in the match, compared to 30 overall for Gauff.
Sabalenka was often frustrated, remonstrating and shouting at herself and frequently turning around to look at her team with an exasperated look on her face. She put her head on her hands a couple of times, and at one point raised her shoulders as if to say “What’s going on?”
Gauff said she paid no attention, knowing full well that Sabalenka could find her best game at any moment.
The first set looked to be heading Gauff’s way when she led 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but Sabalenka steadied herself and clinched it with a forehand volley at the net.
Gauff leveled the match with a smash at the net. But Sabalenka stuck to her high-risk approach in the deciding set.
One superb rally in the third game drew loud cheers.
After an intense exchange of drop shots, Gauff hit a lob that Sabalenka chased down before attempting a shot between her legs — only for Gauff to intercept it at the net.
It was a rare highlight on a day when swirling wind troubled both players with the roof open.
“It was tough to plant your feet, the ball was moving so much,” Gauff said. “It was not a day for great tennis, honestly.”
Italy already fear missing yet another World Cup after Norway nightmare
- Norway already had two wins under their belt in Group I before Friday’s match in Oslo
- A 2-1 defeat at the San Siro in the first leg left Italy chasing the tie in Germany
OSLO: Italy’s World Cup qualification campaign has barely begun and already the country is worried about the shocking possibility of failing to reach the final tournament for a third consecutive time after a humiliating defeat by Norway.
Norway already had two wins under their belt in Group I before Friday’s match in Oslo, while Italy had yet to play, having been involved in the Nations League quarter-finals in March, losing out to Germany.
A 2-1 defeat at the San Siro in the first leg left Italy chasing the tie in Germany and they found themselves 3-0 down at the break before staging a second-half comeback to salvage a draw, and some pride.
It was the same story on Friday for Italy at the Ullevaal Stadium, at least as far as the opening act went. Norway roared into a 3-0 lead in the first half but this time there was no Italian fightback in a goalless second half.
“Enough!” screamed the Gazzetta dello Sport front page on Saturday, after Italy suffered their third loss in a four-game winless run, with the newspaper adding that for Italy the “World Cup is already at risk.”
Next year’s World Cup takes place in the United States, Canada and Mexico but in the two decades since Italy won the tournament for the fourth time, they have struggled to perform or, more recently, to even get there.
Berlin 2006 seems a lifetime ago now, with Zinedine Zidane sent off for his head butt to Marco Materazzi’s chest and Italy lifting the trophy after a penalty shootout win over France.
The next two World Cups saw Italy exit at the group stage, and while they triumphed at Euro 2020, on either side of that success they missed out on the World Cup after playoff defeats to Sweden and North Macedonia.
With Italy now playing catch-up and only the group winners qualifying automatically, La Repubblica’s front-page headline “Azzurri humiliated in Oslo, the playoff nightmare returns” hints at the frightening possibilities ahead.
Italy’s loss came less than a week after Inter Milan’s 5-0 mauling at the hands of Paris St. Germain in the Champions League final and on both occasions the tired-looking losers were outclassed by a hungrier, more creative side.
Italy manager Luciano Spalletti was spared following last year’s dismal Euros but is now under real pressure and nothing but a convincing win at home to Moldova on Monday will do, with media and fans increasingly calling for a change of leadership.
