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
New Al-Hilal kit unveiled in New York gives a nod to club’s heritage
- The event featured a KidSuper x Puma Football tournament as Saudi giants continue their FIFA Club World Cup campaign
RIYADH: The new 2025-26 season Al-Hilal kit has been revealed by PUMA and American artist, fashion designer and musician KidSuper as the Saudi club continues its FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the US.
The strip pays tributed to the club’s “heritage, artistry and global ambition,” and takes its cue from its name — Al-Hilal means “crescent moon” in Arabic. The symbol is highlighted in toning blues with a glowing lunar graphic, while the goalkeeper’s jersey has an alpine snow base with blue and navy blue details.
To bring a regional flavor to the global collaboration, PUMA Middle East invited Zeynab El-helw — a Dubai-based fashion entrepreneur known for her bold, and distinct style — along with Shouq, a rising Saudi voice recognized for her expressive and forward-thinking fashion content, and Noura Joubran, a content creator celebrated for her fusion of elegance and contemporary style, to New York City for the proceedings.
The three brought the PUMA x KidSuper Al-Hilal collection to life with a content shoot celebrating the fusion of fashion and football, while also highlighting the club’s growing global footprint and milestone presence at the FIFA Club World Cup.
The trio joined PUMA’s global team for an exclusive launch event, attended by creators, media and football fans, and which featured a KidSuper x PUMA football tournament. They also attended one of Al-Hilal’s Club World Cup matches.
Colm Dillane, aka KidSuper, said: “I’ve always wanted to merge the worlds of art and football, and with PUMA, we’re doing just that. This collection is about more than just the game. It’s about expressing yourself, taking risks, and standing out. Whether on the pitch or off, football is an art form, and this collection shows that.”
The collection also features limited-edition kits and lifestyle pieces for six other PUMA-sponsored clubs — Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, FC Salzburg, Mamelodi Sundowns, Palmeiras and Monterrey.
5 things we learned from Al-Hilal’s draw with Red Bull Salzburg at FIFA Club World Cup
- Frustration for Inzaghi, goalscoring issues and another goalkeeping masterclass from Yassine Bounou
DC: Al-Hilal dominated Red Bull Salzburg on Sunday night in the second group match of the FIFA Club World Cup. The match was played at Audi Field, a mere three kilometres south of the White House in Washington, D.C.
Yet while they ultimately failed to capitalise on possession, they could even have lost were it not for another superb performance from stand-out Yassine Bounou in goal.
The 0-0 draw means no team from Group H has yet confirmed their place in the Round of 16, but with Hilal facing bottom-placed CF Pachuca on Thursday and Salzburg facing Real Madrid, the Riyadh club will be quietly confident of progressing, as long as they can find the net.
Another draw and frustration for Inzaghi, but all is not lost
New coach Simone Inzaghi knew his Al-Hilal team could not afford to lose if they were to stand any chance of progressing to the knock-out stages of this revamped 32-team tournament. The Italian went as far as to publicly say that anything less than victory would void all that was achieved against Real Madrid on Wednesday. A stalemate then against Salzburg — with strong emphasis on the word “stale” — did little to clarify who might progress to the Round of 16. Inzaghi, however, must surely be privately if not publicly the happier of the two coaches.
It was the fifth scoreless draw of the tournament so far, but it means Inzaghi’s side are alive going into the final Group H match with Mexico’s CF Pachuca. Now in third place with two points, the 2021 AFC Asian Champions League winners will progress should they win in Nashville by two clear goals. Madrid and Salzburg, tied on four points, will face off in Philadelphia with the Spanish giants’ plus-two goal difference giving them an edge should they draw.
Issues in attack continue
Inzaghi will be keen to sharpen his attack before Thursday. Hilal failed to fire against an Austrian side that conceded 27 goals in just eight games during this season’s revamped UEFA Champions League group stage. Yes, Aleksandar Mitrovic is missing, but Brazilian striker Marcos Leonardo has scored 25 in 40 for the Riyadh club since joining last September. Getting the former Santos and Benfica forward firing will be key. Leonardo had Hilal’s best chance against Salzburg, but his shot was blocked by Jacob Rasmussen.
This is the second successive match where Hilal have dominated possession, but struggled in front of goal. Brazilian Malcom and captain Salem Al-Dawsari combined to score 39 goals and claim 35 assists in all competitions last season, but it is now close to 200 minutes in the United States without the team bulging the net from open play. Against Salzburg in the heat, that drought rarely looked like ending. For all the possession and 18 shots at goal, they managed only four on target, only one from inside the penalty area, and none truly troubled Christian Zawieschitzky.
“It is natural for us to be unhappy about not scoring goals,” Inzaghi said. “This is a crucial match, and we put in a lot of effort, and we are working on improving and developing our performance as a team. We have only worked together for a week. I had a week in Saudi Arabia, and we have been in America for 10 days now. I am happy and convinced with all the decisions I have made.”
‘Bono’ stars again
While Inzaghi will be quietly content that his new charges can still progress, he must be thankful once again to goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, because despite Hilal’s dominance, only the Moroccan stopper prevented a tournament-ending defeat. Man of the match against Madrid, he replicated the feat in Washington with impressive saves from captain Mads Bidstrup and Karim Onisiwo, before saving his best for early in the second half.
When Ghanaian striker Edmund Baidoo’s shot fell at the feet of substitute John Mellberg, the son of former Juventus midfielder Olof must have thought he would open the scoring with practically his first touch. His first-time drive from just a few yards out though was somehow repelled at point-blank range by Bounou before the loose follow-up was cleared off the line by Kalidou Koulibaly. It seemed like desperate defending, but it retained a clean sheet and ultimately secured a point.
Neves pulls strings and plays defence
Ruben Neves, who scored from the spot against Madrid, again showed his importance to the Riyadh club. The Portuguese midfielder expertly connected defence with attack, spraying passes wide to the likes of Al-Dawsari, Renan Lodi, Malcom, and Joao Cancelo. With nobody able to capitalise on the Portuguese playmaker’s distribution — including a first-half corner from which Sergej Milinkovic-Savic should have tested Zawieschitzky — Neves’s most important play arguably came early in the second half.
Samson Baidoo broke through and was ready to open the scoring before Neves showed he is more than just a clever passer, demonstrating surprising pace and a perfectly timed challenge to block the shot. When Hassan Al-Tambakti was forced off through injury, it was Neves who was dropped into the centre of defence alongside Koulibaly.
Inzaghi said post-match that while he believes Al-Tambakti just needs rest, he is happy with his defensive options in Ali Lajami and Khalifa Al-Dawsari for the next match should he not recover in time.
Heat a real hindrance
With the match described by some pundits as the most boring of the tournament so far, the temperatures certainly did not help. Kicking off at 6pm with the temperature at 32°C — and feeling much hotter — the intensity levels dropped the longer the game went on. In the hydration breaks players covered their heads and necks with cold towels, while others sought short refuge in the shade.
The Salzburg side that looked so energetic and dangerous against Pachuca failed to turn up. With 25 minutes remaining, the Austrians’ coach, Thomas Letsch, removed Karim Onisiwo and Oscar Gloukh — his two goalscorers in the 2-1 win over Pachuca. If the move was supposed to reinvigorate the Salzburg attack, it fell flat. Hilal meanwhile looked leggy, which could be why the only efforts of note came from distance — Milinkovic-Savic and Joao Cancelo forcing comfortable saves from Zawieschitzky.
“One point is still OK,” Milinkovic-Savic told DAZN at full-time. “We did a lot of things nice. It was just missing the goal. We created, kept the ball, and defended well, so I’m happy. Let’s go to the last game — we need to win.”
Hilal’s final match is in Nashville with an 8pm local time kick-off, which will hopefully bring a little respite from the soaring temperatures.
Gündogan has two goals, Haaland scores as Man City routs Al Ain 6-0 at the Club World Cup
- Man City produced a dominating performance that sent both the English club and Italian squad Juventus to the Round of 16
ATLANTA: lkay Gündogan had a pair of goals, Erling Haaland scored on a penalty and Manchester City locked up its spot in the knockout round of the Club World Cup with a 6-0 rout of Al Ain on Sunday night.
Claudio Echeverri, Oscar Bobb and Rayan Cherki also scored for City, which is trying to put an encouraging capper on a disappointing season.
The English powerhouse finished third in the Premier League after four straight championships and went down to Real Madrid in the knockout playoff of the UEFA Champions League.
With an entirely new lineup after a 2-0 win over Morocco’s Wydad in the group opener, Man City produced a dominating performance in Atlanta against an overmatched club from the United Arab Emirates.
The time of possession was a staggering 74 percent in favor of the English side, which outshot Al Ain 21-5.
Haaland buried the penalty for his 32nd goal of the season across all competitions after a video review found that Rami Rabia took down City’s Manuel Akanji in the area on a corner kick. Cherki, one of City’s high-profile signings, scored his first goal for his new club in the waning minutes.
The expected result sent Man City and Italian club Juventus (both 2-0-0) to the Round of 16 from Group G. Al Ain has been blown out twice, losing 5-0 to Juventus in its opener.
Manchester City is the reigning club champion, winning the title in 2023 under the former seven-team format.
Key moment
After Gündogan flicked in an early goal over the head of keeper Khalid Eisa, Echeverri assured this would be an easy night for City in the 27th minute. With a free kick from just outside the area, he curled a shot over the wall that left Eisa frozen on one knee while the ball ripped the back of the net.
Takeaways
Man City will face Juventus on Thursday in Orlando to determine which team claims the top spot in the group. Then the real work begins.
They said it
“We played a little bit better than the first game, especially in the second half, but still there are a few things you have to improve.” — Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola.
“We know where our level is, but you cannot be happy ... because against this team, you must be disciplined from the first until the last second of the game.” — Al Ain coach Vladimir Ivić.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 29 points and Thunder beat Pacers 103-91 for NBA title
- The Pacers without star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who suffered an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game
- It’s the 2nd championship for the franchise, which first won the NBA title in 1979 when it was still the Seattle SuperSonics
OKLAHOMA CITY: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished off his MVP season with 29 points and 12 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA championship, pulling away in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers 103-91 on Sunday night.
Jalen Williams scored 20 and Chet Holmgren had 18 for the Thunder, who were pushed to a Game 7 brink in the NBA Finals — but finished off a season for the ages. Oklahoma City won 84 games between the regular season and the playoffs, tying the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls for third-most in any season.
Only Golden State (88 in 2016-17) and the Bulls (87 in 2015-16) won more.
It’s the second championship for the franchise. The Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA title in 1979; the team was moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. There’s nothing in the rafters in Oklahoma City to commemorate that title.
Next October, a championship banner is finally coming. A Thunder banner.
It was not easy to secure.
The Pacers led 48-47 at the half even after losing star guard Tyrese Haliburton to what his father said was an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game. But they were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter as the Thunder built a 13-point lead and began to run away.
Bennedict Mathurin had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, which still is waiting for its first NBA title. The Pacers — who were 10-15 after 25 games and were bidding to be the first team in NBA history to turn that bad of a start into a championship — had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the series, but they simply didn’t have enough in the end.
Home teams are now 16-4 in NBA Finals Game 7s. And the Thunder became the seventh champion in the last seven seasons, a run of parity like none other in NBA history.
Pacers forward Pascal Siakam was part of the Toronto team that won in 2019, Thunder guard Alex Caruso was part of the Los Angeles Lakers team that won in the pandemic “bubble” in 2020, Milwaukee won in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Pacers forward Thomas Bryant and Denver prevailed in 2023, and Boston won last year’s title.
The Thunder are the ninth franchise to win a title in NBA Commissioner Adam Silver 12 seasons leading the league. His predecessor, David Stern, saw eight franchises win titles in his 30 seasons as commissioner.
Gold Cup: Saudi Arabia tie Trinidad, advance out of Group D
- Firas Al-Buraikan found the all-important equalizer for Saudi Arabia to notch a 1-1 draw with Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday
Firas Al-Buraikan found the all-important equalizer for Saudi Arabia to notch a 1-1 draw with Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday in Las Vegas, ensuring the CONCACAF’s guests would advance to the knockout stage of the Gold Cup.
While the United States won Group D with a perfect 3-0-0 record, Saudi Arabia finished 1-1-1 (4 points) to place second. Trinidad and Tobago (0-1-2, 2 points) would have leapfrogged Saudi Arabia for second with a victory.
Justin Garcia nearly put Trinidad ahead in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, but his point-blank shot from the center of the box caromed off the crossbar.
Al-Buraikan’s tying goal also involved the woodwork. Saleh Al-Shehri received a pass down the center lane, dribbled around one defender and watched his ensuing shot hit the crossbar and stay out of the net. Al-Buraikan ran in to collect the ball and tap it behind goalkeeper Marvin Phillip (two saves).
Dante Sealy staked Trinidad to a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute on a left-footed rocket from outside the box.
Nawaf Al-Aqidi made two saves for Saudi Arabia.
