DOHA: Louis van Gaal’s gambles at both ends of the field paid off for the Netherlands.
Up front, Memphis Depay returned from injury as a second-half substitute to help spark the attack into life as the Netherlands scored two late goals to beat Senegal 2-0 Monday at the World Cup.
At the back, Netherlands goalkeeper Andries Noppert pulled off three key saves to keep the African champions at bay after Van Gaal decided to give him his international debut in a key World Cup game and just two months after he was called into the national squad for the first time.
“His quality is he can stop balls and he did that three times today,” the Netherlands coach said, “and he did it perfectly.”
Cody Gakpo and substitute Davy Klaasen provided the late goals to ensure the Dutch team’s winning start at its first World Cup appearance since 2014, when Van Gaal was also coach.
Gakpo rose to glance a header in from a cross by Frenkie de Jong in the 84th minute with the team’s first effort on target. Klaasen added a second right at the end of eight minutes of stoppage time by slotting in after Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy only weakly blocked a shot from Depay.
The orange-shirted Dutch fans had been subdued until the late strikes as Senegal was the more energetic team. The Senegalese drums and chants were the dominant sound from the stands for much of the game.
But Senegal’s main problem was predictable: Without injured forward Sadio Mane, it couldn’t convert any of its chances.
“I think we gave everything and I think we deserved at least a point from this game,” Senegal coach Aliou Cisse said. “But, of course, Sadio being missing is a problem for us.”
Depay, who has only just recovered from a hamstring injury, was put on by Van Gaal with about 30 minutes to go after the veteran coach said the day before that he wasn’t sure if the Barcelona forward was ready for action.
He decided to see if he was and Depay responded by playing parts in both goals.
First, he linked up with De Jong near the edge of the area before the midfielder crossed to Gakpo for the first goal. Depay’s run and shot deep in injury time led to the second goal for Klaasen — one of four substitutes in the match. It sealed a Dutch victory and a 16th game unbeaten for the Netherlands since the 71-year-old Van Gaal, the oldest coach at the World Cup, returned from retirement last year to lead his country for a third time.
The substitutions provided “the breakthrough,” Van Gaal said. “Memphis was a big part of that.”
The long injury time — it stretched out to nearly nine minutes — was partly because of a serious-looking injury to Senegal central midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, who left on a stretcher clutching his right leg. Cisse watched solemnly as one of his most important midfielders was carried off in the first game since the team lost Mane for the entire World Cup to a right leg injury.
Senegal won the African Cup at the start of the year and was heralded as maybe the best African team to ever come to a World Cup. Without Mane and now with an opening game loss, it’s in a scrap to make it out of the group stage.
Few people were talking about the Dutch coming into this World Cup, but their record is highly impressive under Van Gaal and they’re now through what he had identified as their toughest test of the group stage.
“A 2-0 victory against the champions of the African Cup. I can be very very pleased,” Van Gaal said.
The Netherlands can secure a place in the round of 16 if the team beats Ecuador in its next game. Senegal faces a must-win against host Qatar.
“That,” Cisse said, “is like a final now.”
Netherlands strikes late to beat Senegal 2-0 at World Cup
https://arab.news/z4bk4
Netherlands strikes late to beat Senegal 2-0 at World Cup
Leao and Pulisic inspire AC Milan comeback in 3-2 win over Inter in Italian Super Cup final
Milan came back from two goals down to beat city rivals Inter Milan 3-2 and win the Italian Super Cup on Monday.
Rafael Leao came off the bench and played a part in all three of Milan’s goals from Theo Hernandez, Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham.
Conceicao was hired to replace the fired Paulo Fonseca last Monday and also led the Rossoneri to a comeback win over Juventus in the semifinals.
This time, Lautaro Martinez and Mehdi Taremi put Inter ahead with goals on either side of halftime.
Leao then earned a foul that resulted in a free kick which Hernandez curled in around Inter’s wall.
Then Pulisic finished off a counterattack by shooting through Augusto’s legs on a play that began with Leao.
For the third goal, Leao provided a through ball for Pulisic, who crossed to Abraham, who tapped into an empty net in stoppage time.
It was the fifth time in the last seven years that the competition was played in Saudi Arabia, and the second year of an expanded four-team format.
A throw-in led to Inter’s opener as Taremi fed the ball inside the area to Lautaro, who cut back before shooting through Hernandez’s legs on Inter’s only real chance of the half.
Taremi, who was playing in place of the injured Marcus Thuram, finished off a counterattack right after the break.
Milan play their first Serie A match under Conceicao against Cagliari on Saturday. The Rossoneri are in eighth place but will return to league action with much more confidence.
Al-Rajhi, Sanders win 48-hour stages at Dakar Rally
- For this long stage, which started on Sunday, the competitors had to bivouac in the desert
BISHA, Saudi Arabia: Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi held on to his overnight lead to win the second stage of the Dakar 2025 rally on Monday, the fearsome “48-hour Chrono” while defending champion Carlos Sainz limped in 1h 30min behind.
The 43-year-old racing in his home country completed the 967km special stage, spread over two days, in 10h 56min 54sec, despite a 2min penalty for speeding.
He was followed by South African Henk Lategan at 4min 16sec with Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah, who overtook Al-Rahji briefly to hold the lead for 142k, finishing third.
“It was really, really hard. I feel like this is our tenth day on the Dakar,” said Al Rajhi on his arrival at the bivouac of the rally, which began on Friday.
“The navigation was very, very difficult in some places, due to the divots and dust. You needed a rocket, not a car to pass through them. It wasn’t easy.”
For this long stage, which started on Sunday, the competitors had to bivouac in the desert and did not benefit from the assistance of their teams at the night stop.
Sainz seriously damaged his Ford Raptor when he rolled it on Sunday but managed to finish the stage although the Spaniard is now 26th in the standings.
Nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, who is still looking for his first Dakar victory, was half an hour behind at the camp on Sunday evening, after a fan problem caused his engine to overheat.
But the Frenchman had a better Monday, making up much of the deficit to finish seventh, 13min 10sec behind the leader.
South African Lategan tops the provisional standings, 4min 45sec ahead of Al Rajhi with Al Attiyah in third. Loeb is sixth, 18min 56sec off the lead.
“We looked after the car for the stage because we knew it was really, really long,” said Lategan.
“If you don’t look after the car, it won’t look after you. It’s actually a big surprise to be first because we haven’t been really focusing on it. But I’m happy with that.”
Australian Daniel Sanders continues to dominate on the bikes, his victory in their “48-hour Chrono” making it three in a row after he also won the prologue and first stage.
It is the first time any rider has taken the first three stages since Spaniard Joan Barreda in 2017 between Bolivia and Argentina.
“It wasn’t too bad, pretty hard in the soft dunes, it was very tough for a lot of us,” said Sanders.
“When opening, you didn’t know if it was going to be a soft dune or a hard dune. It was pretty tough. The dust kind of ruined it a lot. Everyone was bunched up fighting in the dust for the opening bonuses. It was a bit tough on that side.”
Sanders took victory on his KTM in a time of 11hr 12min 13sec, 6min 45sec ahead of Frenchman Adrien van Beveren (Honda) with American Skyler Howes (Honda) in third.
Sanders, who is aiming to become the second Australian to win the Dakar on a bike after Toby Price, holds a 12min 36sec lead over Howes in the provisional overall standings.
Botswana’s Ross Branch (Hero) lies third, 4sec behind the American.
Tammy Abraham says it would mean everything to win first trophy for AC Milan in Saudi Arabia
- AC Milan play city rivals Inter in Riyadh on Monday night in Italian Super Cup final
- Abraham says victory would be ‘amazing’
RIYADH: Tammy Abraham said it “would mean everything” to win his first trophy for AC Milan.
The former Chelsea striker, on loan at the San Siro from Roma, played a key role in AC Milan qualifying for the Italian Super Cup final against city rivals Inter in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Monday night.
England striker Abraham came off the bench for the final half-hour against Juventus in Thursday’s semifinal with AC Milan 1-0 down. But his forward play helped the Rossoneri overturn the deficit to win 2-1, with the equalizer netted by fellow former Chelsea player Christian Pulisic.
Having won trophies at both Stamford Bridge and Roma — who loaned him out to AC Milan at the start of the season — the 27-year-old, 11-times capped England striker dearly wants to add to his medal collection in Riyadh.
“It would mean everything to me to win my first trophy in a Milan shirt. I’m a player who always wants to win. I’ve won a few trophies in the past, and I want to keep building the cabinet. It would be amazing to lift my first trophy for Milan,” Abraham said.
“I’m a player that always wants to win. I want to help my team as much as possible. Against Juventus in the second half, I had to bring my energy and bring some belief to my team. I’m proud of my team but the job is not finished, and we have a really big job in the final.
“We played Inter earlier in the season and we won. We are ready and we have to be ready. They had a day extra to recover and prepare, but that’s no excuse for us. We want to go back home with the trophy.”
Inter beat Atalanta 2-0 on Thursday with a double from Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries to qualify for the final. All matches are taking place at Al-Awwal Park — the home of Cristiano Ronaldo and his Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr. Inter are going for three Super Cups in a row in Riyadh and a record four wins in succession.
The Italian Super Cup is being staged in Saudi Arabia — where some 80 percent of the population either play, attend, or follow football — for the fifth time.
Sri Lankan Embassy holds cricket tournament to mark ties with Saudi Arabia
- Competition marks 50 years of diplomatic ties
- Plans to bring big names from Sri Lankan cricket to promote annual event
RIYADH: The Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh recently held a cricket tournament to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the Asia nation and Saudi Arabia.
The embassy organized the event in collaboration with the Sri Lankan Cultural Forum in Riyadh. Last year marked the half century of ties between the two nations.
The tournament was an 11-a-side competition with a maximum of five overs per innings, held from Dec. 3 to 27. The final resulted in the Riyadh Lankans beating the Gulf Lions.
A total of 25 teams drawn from the Sri Lankan community in Riyadh participated.
Sri Lanka’s Ambassador Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad told Arab News on Monday that the plan is to make it an annual event.
“We are planning to bring some big names from Sri Lankan cricket in the final of the tournament in the future, in order to promote cricket among the Sri Lankan community in Saudi Arabia as well as promote cricket ties with the Kingdom.”
He added that since Saudi Arabia also has a cricket federation, the plan is to “explore opportunities” for cooperation in the game.
Ajwad said the Riyadh Lankans, who clinched the trophy, had showcased exceptional talent and teamwork.
The envoy expressed delight that Saudi Arabia was becoming a global sports hub and would be hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup, 2029 Asian Winter Games and 2034 Asian Games.
South Africa wrap up Test series win over Pakistan
- Forced to follow on 421 runs , Pakistan battled to 478 all out
- South Africa easily knocked off a target of 58 on the fourth day
CAPE TOWN: South Africa eased to a 10-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second Test on Monday in Cape Town to secure a 2-0 series win despite second-innings resistance from the tourists.
Forced to follow on 421 runs behind on the first innings, Pakistan battled to 478 all out but South Africa, who qualified for the World Test Championship final last week, easily knocked off a target of 58 late on the fourth day.
David Bedingham hit 44 not out off 30 balls as South Africa sealed victory in just 7.1 overs.
Bedingham was opening in place of Ryan Rickelton, who suffered a hamstring strain in the field after scoring 259 in South Africa’s first innings of 615.
Captain Shan Masood led Pakistan’s fightback, scoring 145.
Masood fell to the second new ball, trapped leg before wicket by 18-year-old debutant Kwena Maphaka.
Masood’s dismissal came three balls after Kagiso Rabada had Saud Shakeel caught at second slip for 23, ending a 51-run fourth-wicket stand.
Pakistan, a batter short after Saim Ayub suffered a broken ankle while fielding on the first morning, were still 92 runs in arrears after the double blow.
But Mohammad Rizwan (41) and Salman Agha (48) put on 88 for the sixth wicket and Aamer Jamal hit a quick 34 before the innings was ended.
South Africa’s bowlers received virtually no assistance from a placid pitch.
Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who had been expected to be a major factor on a fourth day pitch, achieved minimal spin and toiled for 45 overs to take three for 137.
South Africa will go into the Test championship final against Australia at Lord’s in June on the back of seven straight wins — the second most successful sequence in their history.
