LONDON: Erik ten Hag insists Cristiano Ronaldo still has a future at Manchester United after the Portugal star suffered the embarrassment of being dropped for his side’s rousing 2-1 win against Liverpool.
United looked far more dynamic without Ronaldo as they stunned Liverpool to end a dismal run of two successive defeats at the start of the Premier League season.
With the aging Ronaldo reduced to a substitute appearance in the closing minutes at Old Trafford on Monday, United were finally able to successfully deploy Ten Hag’s aggressive game plan.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga formed an attacking triumvirate that gave United the pace and energy they lacked in the 2-1 defeat against Brighton and the subsequent 4-0 humiliation at Brentford.
Vindicating Ten Hag’s decision to axe Ronaldo and igniting fresh debate about his future, it was Sancho who scored United’s opener and Rashford who doubled their lead.
After missing United’s pre-season tour due to “family reasons” amid reports he had told the club he wanted to leave, Ronaldo was already unsettled heading into the new season.
United’s failure to qualify for this season’s Champions League convinced Ronaldo he should quit a club without a major trophy since 2017, giving Ten Hag a major headache just weeks after his arrival from Ajax.
But, with United insisting Ronaldo is not for sale, the former Real Madrid and Juventus striker has found himself in limbo.
The 37-year-old, who finished as United’s top scorer last term, hardly appeared committed to the Ten Hag regime when he walked out of Old Trafford before full-time after being substituted during a pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecano.
A limp substitute appearance in the second half of the Brighton defeat was further evidence of a potential rift between the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and his manager.
Ronaldo played the entire 90 minutes of United’s loss against Brentford, but he offered little attacking threat in one of the club’s worst results in recent memory.
That left Ten Hag with a major decision to make as he pondered his team for the crucial clash with Liverpool.
Dropping Ronaldo and then watching United lose to their arch rivals would have put huge pressure on Ten Hag.
But the Dutch coach refused to be cowed by the situation as he left out by Ronaldo and England defender Harry Maguire, a bold move that paid dividends as United climbed out of the relegation zone with their first win this season.
Now United have won impressively without Ronaldo — surely consigning him to the bench for the immediate future — there could be fresh impetus from the striker and his agent Jorge Mendes to force through a transfer.
It is hard to imagine Ronaldo being able to adapt to Ten Hag’s high-tempo philosophy in the twilight of his career.
But, publicly at least, Ten Hag is adamant Ronaldo has a part to play in his plans.
“I think he can. In his whole career he did it under several managers, in several styles and systems. He always performed so why can’t he do this? His age is not an issue,” Ten Hag said after the Liverpool game.
“We have a squad and we have a way of playing, a style and a game plan. You look at what is the best approach to the game. Today it was those players, Saturday it could be different.”
In Ronaldo’s absence, United’s defiant attitude against Liverpool provided the template for the Ten Hag era.
New signing Casemiro, recruited from Real Madrid, epitomises that spirit and Ten Hag wants to see the same from Ronaldo.
“We were talking about leadership, today we had leadership on the pitch, he is one as well,” Ten Hag said of Casemiro.
“Ronaldo has it, so you need some and it is like guidance for young players who didn’t achieve the trophies.”
Pressed on Ronaldo and Maguire’s future, Ten Hag added: “I don’t have to mention Harry Maguire and Ronaldo, they are amazing players and they will play a role in the future, the short (term) future as well.
“It is always difficult (to leave them out) but I have decisions to make.”
Whether that olive branch is enough to stop the Ronaldo dilemma from derailing Ten Hag’s United revolution remains to be seen.
Ronaldo has Man Utd future despite Liverpool axe: Ten Hag
https://arab.news/zqvht
Ronaldo has Man Utd future despite Liverpool axe: Ten Hag
- It is hard to imagine Ronaldo being able to adapt to Ten Hag's high-tempo philosophy in the twilight of his career
- “He always performed so why can't he do this? His age is not an issue," Ten Hag said after the Liverpool game
Australian Open: Ben Shelton will face defending champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals
Sinner looked and played much better than he did — hand trembling, head dizzy — during a four-set struggle against Holger Rune in the fourth round
MELBOURNE: Ben Shelton’s Australian Open quarterfinal foe, Lorenzo Sonego, produced the shot of the tournament — diving to his left for a volley with so much spin that the ball bounced on one side of the net, then floated back over to the other — but it was the American who ended up with the victory Wednesday.
The left-handed Shelton did some entertaining of his own, including earning cheers by doing a couple of push-ups after tumbling in the concluding tiebreaker, and he reached his second Grand Slam semifinal at age 22 by beating the unseeded Sonego 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4).
“I’m relieved,” said Shelton, who will meet No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy on Friday for a spot in the final. “Shout out Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis.”
Sinner, the defending champion at Melbourne Park, completely overwhelmed the last Australian in the men’s bracket, No. 8 Alex de Minaur, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 at night.
“It’s been too many times playing him and seeing the same thing. So I’m not even surprised anymore when I face him,” said de Minaur, who is now 0-10 against Sinner over their careers. “Matches like these happen.”
Sinner looked and played much better than he did — hand trembling, head dizzy — during a four-set struggle against Holger Rune in the fourth round. After giving himself a bit of a break on Tuesday, sleeping in and only hitting on court for about 30 or 40 minutes, Sinner said his body was much better.
“For sure, was (my) best match of the tournament so far,” said Sinner, who stretched his unbeaten winning streak to 19 matches dating back to last season.
Shelton, who is seeded 21st, closed the first set against Sonego with a 144 mph (232 kph) ace, tied for the fastest serve over the past 1 1/2 weeks, and flexed his left arm after smacking a powerful forehand to close a 22-stroke point and earn a break in the second. His father Bryan, a former tour pro who is Ben’s coach, grinned, too, while patting his own right biceps.
A few points from the end, Shelton sprinted to get his racket on a seemingly unreachable ball, and fell into a courtside advertising board as Sonego hit an easy winner to take the point.
Shelton stayed on the ground for a bit, then earned applause for his effort — and post-fall calisthenics.
When Shelton closed things with a 26th forehand winner — he had zero via backhands — he flexed again and sneered until his expression morphed into a smile.
At his news conference, Shelton offered some unprompted comments critical of some of the people handling on-court post-match interviews.
As good as Shelton is with his serves and forehands, his improving return game is a significant part of what carried him to the final four at the Australian Open for the first time.
He did just enough in that department, accumulating 11 break points and converting three, against Sonego, an Italian ranked 55th. Shelton entered the match coming through on 52 percent of his break chances, the highest rate among the eight men’s quarterfinalists.
Shelton lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2023 US Open semifinals.
The other semifinal will be Djokovic vs. No. 2 Alexander Zverev. Djokovic continued his pursuit of an 11th Australian Open title, and unprecedented 25th major trophy, by overcoming a leg injury and Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in a quarterfinal that began Tuesday night and ended at nearly 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
The women’s semifinals Thursday night are No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the tournament winner in each of the last two years, against No. 11 Paula Badosa, and No. 2 Iga Swiatek against No. 19 Madison Keys.
The crowd-pleasing factor was high for Shelton vs. Sonego, who never before had made it this far at a major.
Sonego went 67-for-90 on trips to the net, and his highlight-reel volley came at the outset of the second set. It was so remarkable that Shelton acknowledged the effort by offering a congratulatory handshake.
There was another terrific shot by Sonego in the fourth set, when he raced with his back to the net and spun to hit a hook shot of sorts that resulted in a winner.
It’s Shelton, though, who will get to keep playing in Melbourne this year.
Lewis Hamilton waves to fans as he drives a Ferrari F1 car for the first time
- Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track
- The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators
MODENA, Italy: Lewis Hamilton greeted a crowd of waiting fans on Wednesday as he drove a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time since joining the Italian team for the 2025 season.
Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track, and wore a new helmet design in yellow with a prominent Prancing Horse logo.
The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators, who had gathered on a nearby bridge despite the cold and wet weather.
Part-way through the day, Hamilton headed over to fans who had waited for hours in the wet conditions since early morning for a glimpse of him behind the wheel. Wearing a jacket in Ferrari red, he waved, gave a thumbs-up gesture and put a hand to his heart.
There was excitement Wednesday from one of Italy’s biggest sports stars, too.
After reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was asked by an Italian reporter if he had seen anything on social media about Hamilton’s Ferrari debut.
“It’s still pretty strange to see him in red,” Sinner said, “but it’ll be a great season.”
Hamilton has shaken up F1 with his move to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world titles. He has said he’s fulfilling a childhood dream.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved things in my career I never thought possible, but part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in red. I couldn’t be happier to realize that dream today,” he said Monday after arriving at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters for his first day at work with the new team.
F1 tightly restricts teams from testing current-specification cars but the rules are more loose for older cars like the SF-23 that Hamilton drove Wednesday. The F1 regulations for 2025 allow Hamilton to drive up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) over four days in older F1 cars under the “testing of previous cars” rule. The SF-23 is the most recent Ferrari that’s eligible.
Pre-season testing for the new season’s cars is from Feb. 26 through 28 in Bahrain.
India win toss and bowl first against England in first T20 as fit-again Shami left out
- India is the reigning world champion at the T20 format
KOLKATA: India won the toss and chose to bowl first in the series-opening T20 against England’s cricketers in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Mohammed Shami missed out for India despite the fast bowler being available after more than a year on the sidelines.
India is the reigning world champion at the T20 format.
It is Brendon McCullum’s first white-ball match since becoming England’s all-format coach.
Teams:
India: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Azar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.
England: Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
Struggling Dortmund sack coach Sahin after four-game losing run in 2025
- “Borussia Dortmund have released head coach Nuri Sahin with immediate effect,” said the club
- Dortmund said current Under-19 coach Mike Tullberg would be in charge
BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund have fired coach Nuri Sahin, the German soccer club said on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s shock 2-1 loss to Bologna in the Champions League that stretched their losing run to four games across all competitions.
“Borussia Dortmund have released head coach Nuri Sahin with immediate effect following an internal analysis of recent sporting developments,” said the club in a statement.
The Ruhr valley club, last year’s Champions League finalists, conceded two goals in two minutes in the second half against the Italians after taking a 15th minute lead.
They have also lost all three league matches in 2025, dropping down to 10th place in the Bundesliga and putting their participation next season in Europe’s premier club competition at risk.
“After four defeats in a row and only one win from the last nine games ... we have unfortunately lost faith in being able to achieve our sporting goals in the current constellation,” Dortmund managing director Lars Ricken said in the statement.
“This decision also hurts me personally, but it was no longer avoidable after the game in Bologna.”
Dortmund said current Under-19 coach Mike Tullberg would be in charge for their league game against Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Sahin, 36, leaves the club just a little over half a year after being appointed to replace Edin Terzic as the new coach.
The German-born former Türkiye international was a former youth and senior player at the club. He became an assistant coach at Dortmund in 2024 after a two-year coaching spell at Türkiye’s Antalyaspor. He had signed a contract to 2027.
Pakistani cricketers Saud Shakeel, Noman Ali break into ICC top 10 Test rankings
- Saud Shakeel and Noman Ali were both instrumental in Pakistan’s recent Test win against West Indies in Multan
- Shakeel moves up to number 8 in batter’s rankings as Noman Ali moves to number 9 in ICC bowler’s rankings
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani cricketers Saud Shakeel and Noman Ali have broken into the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) top 10 Test batter’s and bowler’s rankings, the cricket governing body said on Wednesday, after their recent heroics against the West Indies at home.
Shakeel, Ali and spinner Sajid Khan were instrumental in Pakistan’s 127-run convincing victory against the West Indies in Multan last week. Noman grabbed six wickets in the Test match, including a fifer in the West Indies’ first innings that helped dismiss the Caribbean team before they could amass a sizable lead over Pakistan’s first innings total.
Shakeel scored a heroic 84-run knock to steer Pakistan out of the woods in the first innings, helping the team reach 230 runs before they were dismissed.
“Batter Saud Shakeel and bowler Noman Ali are Pakistan’s big movers in the newly updated ICC Men’s Test Rankings,” the ICC said in a report on its website. “Saud Shakeel (753 ratings points) scored 84 in the first innings, climbing three Rankings spots to 8th on the batting list, moving above Steve Smith (746, 9th) and Rishabh Pant (739, 10th).”
Ali, with 761 points to his credit, broke into the top 10 by securing the number nine position. India’s Jasprit Bumrah with 908 points and Australia’s Pat Cummins with 841 points occupy the first and second position, respectively.
“Other notable movers include Pakistan’s Sajid Khan (621), who climbed 18 places to No. 23 after his standout performance in Pakistan’s victory in the first Test,” the ICC said.
Pakistan, who lead 1-0 in the two-match Test series, will next face the West Indies in Multan for the second Test on Jan. 25. Both teams are placed at the bottom of the World Test Championship after successive losses to other teams.
Pakistan are expected to head into the second Test with both Khan and Ali in the playing XI. The South Asian team have been making spin-friendly tracks in Multan and other venues across the country ahead of Test series to capitalize on its home conditions.
Pakistan beat England 2-1 in a three-match Test series at home, capitalizing again on the spin-friendly tracks. However, the South Asian team lost to South Africa 2-0 in an away Test series this month.
