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Drivers Al-Attiyah, Alvarez go head-to-head for FIA World Cup glory in Saudi desert

Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah during a test-drive session ahead of the Hail Cross-Country Rally. Al-Attiyah leads the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies driver standings. (Supplied)
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Updated 08 December 2021
Arab News
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Drivers Al-Attiyah, Alvarez go head-to-head for FIA World Cup glory in Saudi desert

  • Saudi ace Yazeed Al-Rajhi eyes a top finish in bid to overhaul Alvarez and snatch second place
Updated 08 December 2021
Arab News

HAIL: Competitive action gets underway on Wednesday at the Hail Cross-Country Rally, the final round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies.

Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Argentina’s Lucio Alvarez both drive V8-engined Toyota Hiluxes, built in conjunction with Toyota Gazoo Racing and Overdrive Racing, and they will go head-to-head to decide the outcome of the 2021 FIA World Cup Drivers’ Championship.

To win his first FIA World Cup title, Alvarez needs to overturn a 28-point deficit. The Argentine will need to win the rally outright and score at least three additional bonus points for daily stage performances and, even then, the outcome will depend on whether Al-Attiyah finishes lower than eighth overall and fails to secure a single bonus point.

Al-Attiyah said: “I won in Hail back in 2008 and 2011 and with Matthieu (Baumel), my current co-driver, we won the first of the Bajas last December. We will do our best to take the win again and seal the championship. We have a good car. The rally is also very useful experience for us before the Dakar Rally in January.”

It will be a big ask for Alvarez, but the battle has at least confirmed that Overdrive Toyotas should fill the top two places in the points’ standings unless Russia’s Denis Krotov can seal a top-four result and Alvarez fails to finish. Krotov drives an X-raid Mini and starts the rally four points adrift of local hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi. The Saudi knows that a top finish could also see him overhaul Alvarez and snatch second place in the series.

Hoping to upset the applecart and challenge for honors in their own right are the Orlen Team’s Jakub Przygonski and Argentina’s Sebastian Halpern in their X-raid Minis and Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal in a Ford F-150. Former Spanish enduro rider Laia Sanz also joins the German X-raid team to drive a Mini John Cooper Works Rally in readiness for the Dakar challenge that awaits.

With the FIA T3 and T4 championships already settled in favor of Spain’s Cristina Gutierrez and America’s Austin Jones, pride and pre-Dakar experience are at stake in both the hotly contested categories.

Eight teams line up in the T3 section, with Russian Pavel Lebedev leading the way in his Can-Am and facing competition from local favorite Saleh Al-Saif, fellow Saudis Mashael Al-Obaidan, Dania Akeel, Esra Aldkheil, and Hamed Al-Harbi, Germany’s Annett Fischer, and Uzbekistan’s Anvar Ergashev.

Al-Obaidan said: “This is a great opportunity for me to test for Dakar. This is my third race after Sharqiya and Aragon in Spain. It’s the first time that Jacopo (Cerutti), my co-driver, and I have participated together. I’ve been here a couple of times but never in an official race. There are three Saudi females, including myself. The sport is really booming here. I believe there is a really bright future in the Kingdom for everyone.”

Six crews will battle it out over the next four days for T4 honors. South Racing Middle East’s Thomas Bell tops the field and faces competition from Poland’s Marek and Michal Goczal, Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri, Australia’s Molly Taylor, and Ukraine’s Levgen Kovalevych.

There is also a National Rally running behind the main FIA rally, a separate event for motorcycles and quads, a truck category, and dispensation for several 2022 specification machines to compete with teams carrying out pre-Dakar testing.

Czech WRC star Martin Prokop wheels out the latest Ford Raptor Cross-Country, running under the Benzina Orlen Team banner, both Frenchman Ronan Chabot and Argentina’s Juan Cruz Yacopini try out Overdrive Racing’s latest Toyota Hilux T1+, and Sweden’s Sebastian Eriksson gets his hands on the latest T3-2022 South Racing Can-Am Maverick.

The Hail Cross-Country Rally is being organized by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation under the supervision of the Hail Regional Development Authority in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Sports.

On Wednesday, competitors will tackle the first of four selective sections through the Al-Nafud desert. The competitive stage starts 82.59 kilometers from Rally HQ, includes a passage control and refueling point after 173 km, and runs for 258.14 km. A liaison of 47.31 km guides competitors back to the bivouac.

FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – driver standings:

1.Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT) 92.5 pts

2.Lucio Alvarez (ARG) 64.5 pts

3.Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU) 57 pts

4.Denis Krotov (RUS) 53 pts

5.Mattias Ekstrom (SWE) 27 pts

FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – co-driver standings:

1. Matthieu Baumel (FRA) 92.5 pts

2. Armand Monleon (ESP) 64.5 pts

3. Konstantin Zhiltsov (RUS) 53 pts

4. Michael Orr (GBR) 35.5 pts

5. Emil Bergkvist (SWE) 27 pts

Topics: Hail Cross-Country Rally 2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies

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Bangladesh revamps worker training for Saudi 2034 FIFA World Cup projects

Updated 03 January 2025
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Bangladesh revamps worker training for Saudi 2034 FIFA World Cup projects

  • Govt to prepare training centers with focus on Saudi market demands
  • Reskilling, upskilling services to be provided to migrants already residing in the Kingdom
Updated 03 January 2025
SHEHAB SUMON

DHAKA: Bangladeshi authorities are revamping training for prospective migrant workers and will offer upskilling programs to those residing in Saudi Arabia to tap into the labor market ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which the Kingdom will host in 2034.

Last month, the football governing body confirmed that Saudi Arabia had won the bid to host the world’s largest sporting event.

With the bid proposing to hold games across 15 stadiums in five cities, many new migrant workers will be involved in building new sports and transport networks, as well as hotel infrastructure.

In Bangladesh, which has a major expat community in Saudi Arabia, the trend is viewed as an “opportunity” for the country’s migrant workers, according to A.Z.M. Nurul Huq, joint secretary at the employment wing of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

“It’s a huge task, and a lot of construction works will take place targeting this World Cup event. Here lies the opportunity for us as our migrants have been working with much goodwill in many sectors of the Kingdom for many years,” Huq told Arab News.

“Saudi Arabia has to build over a dozen new stadiums, renovate existing ones and develop numerous new accommodation facilities, along with necessary infrastructure and connectivity.”

Some 3 million Bangladeshi nationals live and work in Saudi Arabia. They are the largest expat group in the Kingdom and also the biggest Bangladeshi community outside Bangladesh.

Many are employed in the construction sector as masons, electricians, pipe fitters, plumbers and electricians.

“Bangladeshi migrants can be more actively employed in the construction work for the FIFA World Cup,” Huq said.

“Works are underway for providing reskilling and upskilling services to migrants who are already in the Kingdom. In this way, our workers will be able to secure their jobs and earn more.”

For the past few years, as Saudi Arabia is prioritizing efforts to improve the professional competence of employees under its Vision 2030 program, the expatriates’ ministry has been collaborating with the Kingdom’s skills verification authority, Takamol.

The agency, which manages migrant skill certification based on the needs of Saudi employers, provides Bangladesh’s 113 technical training centers with a list of the Kingdom’s latest workforce requirements.

“Our centers tailor their programs to equip workers with the necessary skills. Upon completing the training, the prospective migrants receive certification through Takamol, which is recognized by Saudi authorities,” said Shah Zulfiquer Haider, deputy secretary at the ministry’s training wing.

As demand is set to increase in line with 2034 World Cup projects, more Bangladeshi training centers will focus on the Saudi market in particular.

“We are planning to strengthen our collaboration with Takamol,” Haider said. “Currently, a dozen technical training centers are preparing skilled workers to meet Saudi Arabia’s demands. We will soon increase the number of training centers, which will produce more skilled migrants tailored to the needs of the Saudi labor market.”

Topics: Bangladesh Saudi World Cup 2034 bid

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Arsenal must ‘flip coin’ in Premier League title race, says Arteta

Updated 58 min 17 sec ago
AFP
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Arsenal must ‘flip coin’ in Premier League title race, says Arteta

  • Mikel Arteta says Arsenal must “flip that coin” as they hunt down Premier League leaders Liverpool in a quest to be crowned champions of England after two agonizing near-misses
Updated 58 min 17 sec ago
AFP

LONDON: Mikel Arteta says Arsenal must “flip that coin” as they hunt down Premier League leaders Liverpool in a quest to be crowned champions of England after two agonizing near-misses.
The second-placed Gunners, runners-up to Manchester City over the past two seasons, are six points behind Arne Slot’s rampaging Liverpool, who have a game in hand, having played half their league fixtures.
Stumbles in October and early November left Arsenal playing catch-up and Arteta on Friday pleaded for consistency from his men, who travel to face mid-table Brighton on Saturday.
“We have to show the same level of consistency and a bit more, because the last year we have been the best team in the league, broken various records and still haven’t won a major trophy, so something is missing,” said the Spaniard.
“It’s going to be very thin, small details, you can pick up certain games and situations. But at the end, we’re so close and we just have to flip that coin to the other side to make it happen.
“That’s only going to happen if we do what we have to do and what we can control. The rest is out of our hands.”
Arsenal are bidding to win their first Premier League title since 2004 but are set to be without Bukayo Saka until March after the England winger suffered a hamstring injury against Crystal Palace last month.
“There’s not one player that’s going to play nine games in a row in that position, it’s impossible,” said Arteta.
He added: “We need more threat, we need more players fit and rotation in that unit. In relation to that, we will make decisions and as well, players’ performances, that’s simple.”
The Arsenal boss said he was unsure whether the club would strengthen in the January transfer window.
“The focus is on the players that we have,” he said. “When something is in the market that we can afford and believe is going to have a real impact on the team, we have to be open to that possibility.
“We have the ability to change the squad in the windows, but at the moment the focus is on what we have.”

Topics: Arsenal Premier league

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Slot says Alexander-Arnold ‘fully committed’ to Liverpool amid Real Madrid interest

Updated 03 January 2025
AP
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Slot says Alexander-Arnold ‘fully committed’ to Liverpool amid Real Madrid interest

  • Madrid reportedly wants to sign him and the European champions were reportedly rebuffed when they made an initial enquiry about Alexander-Arnold in late December
Updated 03 January 2025
AP

LIVERPOOL: Trent Alexander-Arnold is fully committed to Liverpool, manager Arne Slot said Friday, amid interest in the England right back from Real Madrid.
Alexander-Arnold’s contract with Liverpool expires at the end of the season so he is now free to sign a pre-contract agreement with another club if he wishes.
Madrid reportedly wants to sign him and the European champions were reportedly rebuffed when they made an initial enquiry about Alexander-Arnold in late December.
Slot was asked about the defender’s situation in a news conference ahead of Liverpool’s match against Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday, and he said he had had a conversation with Alexander-Arnold but would not divulge any details.
Asked if Alexander-Arnold would be staying at Liverpool beyond January, Slot only said: “I can tell you he is playing on Sunday, and hopefully he brings the same performances he brought in the past half-year.
“Because everybody saw how great a first half of the season he had, how much he is here, how much he wants to win here. I see him on the training ground every day ... he is fully committed to us.”
Slot is sure Madrid’s pursuit of Alexander-Arnold isn’t affecting the defender.
“If it would destabilize players at Liverpool that other people talk about them, then we would really have a problem,” Slot said, “because if you play for one of the biggest clubs in the world, everybody always, for 12 months long, will talk about you, sometimes in relation to other clubs.
“That happens so, so, so many times for our players, so if that destabilizes them then we really would have had a problem, not only now but the past six months.”
Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk also are out of contract at Liverpool at the end of the season.

Topics: Liverpool Trent Alexander-Arnold

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Young Maphaka makes debut as South Africa win toss and bat 1st in 2nd Test against Pakistan

Updated 03 January 2025
AP
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Young Maphaka makes debut as South Africa win toss and bat 1st in 2nd Test against Pakistan

  • The 18 years and 270 days old broke Paul Adams’ South Africa record of youngest Test player
  • South Africa made three changes after sealing its place in June’s World Test Championship final
Updated 03 January 2025
AP

CAPE TOWN: Kwena Maphaka became the youngest South African to make a Test debut as the Proteas won the toss and elected to bat in the second and final Test against Pakistan on Friday.
The 18 years and 270 days old Maphaka broke Paul Adams’ South Africa record of youngest Test player, who played his first Test against England in 1995 at the age of 18 years and 340 days.
South Africa made three changes after sealing its place in June’s World Test Championship final with a dramatic two-wicket win in the first Test at Centurion inside four days.
Australia, India and Sri Lanka all still in the race for the Lord’s WTC final against South Africa in June. Australia could advance to face South Africa if it wins the fifth Test against India in Sydney.
“It’s hot and we expect the wicket to break up,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said at the coin toss. “We’ve had time to wrap around what we’ve achieved, the preparations for this Test have been the priority … a chance to finish off with a good note.”
Fast bowler Mohammad Abbas brought Pakistan close to its first Test win in South Africa in 18 years with 6-54 in the second innings at Centurion but tailenders Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen shared a half century ninth-wicket stand and quashed the visitors hopes.
The home team, which has six successive Test wins, opted to go with the express pace of Maphaka in place of Dane Paterson, who was dropped after picking up his second successive five-wicket haul at Centurion.
Corbin Bosch was left out after making a stunning Test debut in the first Test where he took a wicket with his first ball and then made a scintillating unbeaten half century in the first innings which gave South Africa a match-winning lead of 90 runs.
Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj has recovered from a groin injury and replaced Bosch. Opening batter Tony de Zorzi had a thigh strain and was replaced by Wiaan Mulder as the all-rounder recovered from a finger injury and returned to the playing XI.
Pakistan, which has won just two of its last nine Test matches in this WTC cycle, once again went without a specialist spinner. It rested fast bowler Naseem Shah and brought in left-arm fast bowler Mir Hamza.
“A bit less grass than usual, but we would have had a bowl,” Pakistan captain Shan Masood said.

Topics: Pakistan vs South Africa Pakistan cricket Kwena Maphaka

Liverpool’s Slot says Man Utd ‘much better’ than league table shows

Updated 03 January 2025
AFP
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Liverpool’s Slot says Man Utd ‘much better’ than league table shows

  • Arne Slot says crisis-hit Manchester United are “much, much better” than their shocking position in the Premier League suggests
Updated 03 January 2025
AFP

LIVERPOOL: Arne Slot says crisis-hit Manchester United are “much, much better” than their shocking position in the Premier League suggests as he prepares his Liverpool team for a clash against their fierce rivals on Sunday.
Liverpool are six points clear at the top of the Premier League table — and are hot favorites to land a 20th English top-flight crown, which would pull them level with record-holders United.
United, by contrast, are 14th in the table after five defeats in their past six league games under new manager Ruben Amorim.
But Slot, also in his first campaign in England, is adamant he will not take his opponents lightly at Anfield, when asked if he might rest players at Friday’s pre-match press conference.
“No, of course I’m not going to plan to rest any player because it’s a big game and I think it’s for me I said it before the first fixture (a 3-0 win at Old Trafford) and I can say it one more time, that they have much better players in my opinion than maybe the league table shows at the moment.
“I think it’s going to take a while maybe for Ruben Amorim to bring this out of the players... but they will definitely go up and they are much, much, much better than the league table shows at the moment.”
The Dutchman said he had sympathy with his rival in the Old Trafford hot seat, who joined United from Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon in November.
“I think every manager sympathizes with every other manager, because we all know how much pressure this job brings,” said Slot.
“That’s not different for him than for me, or for any other manager that works in the Premier League, or somewhere else around the world.”
Slot was asked whether he could categorically state that Liverpool would not let Trent Alexander-Arnold leave in the January transfer window, with the defender heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid.
Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and captain Virgil van Dijk are all out of contract at the end of the season and can now talk to foreign clubs.
Slot said Alexander-Arnold was “fully committed” to Liverpool and would be playing on Sunday.
“Hopefully he brings the same performances as he brought in for the last half-year, because I think everybody saw how great a first half of the season he had, how much he is here, how much he wants to win here,” said Slot.”

Topics: Liverpool Man United

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