LONDON: Major League Soccer (MLS) offers a tougher challenge than the English Premier League and will soon be one of the best domestic competitions in world football, according to Chelsea great Didier Drogba.
The former Ivory Coast striker has just completed a successful first season with the Montreal Impact after leaving Chelsea in May.
“It’s a different challenge (in the US),” Drogba said in an interview. “People think it’s easy to play there. Believe me, it’s more difficult than playing in the Premier League because of the travel.
“You can stay at an airport for three or four hours if you miss your flight, so that is what is really leveling the game.
“There are not a lot of away wins because when the teams arrive they are tired. There are also some very good players in the league,” Drogba said.
“It’s a growing league and I think it’s going to be one of the most important and decisive leagues in the world in a few years.”
Montreal qualified for the playoffs by finishing third in the Eastern Conference.
They beat Toronto FC in the knockout round before going out in the two-game Eastern Conference semifinals where they lost to Columbus Crew.
Drogba scored 12 goals and claimed one assist in 14 regular season and playoff games for Montreal. His overall contribution helped the team out of a slump and ignited a stirring late-season run after they had failed to reach the playoffs in 2014.
The Ivorian said he was unsure what the future held beyond the one year remaining on his Impact contract.
“I will have time during this year to think about whether I want to carry on or not,” said the striker.
“I’m just enjoying playing, running everywhere, defending, scoring goals, traveling, going to new cities, discovering new plans and a new way of life.”
In two spells at Chelsea, Drogba won the Premier League four times, the FA Cup four times and the Champions League in 2012 when he scored a late equalizer against Bayern Munich and then converted the winning penalty in a memorable shootout.
He hit 164 goals in 381 appearances for the London team and the fans showed their appreciation in 2012 by voting him the club’s greatest ever player.
In his new autobiography ‘Commitment’, published by Hodder and Stoughton, Drogba said Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had promised him a role at the club once his playing days were over.
He was twice named African Player of the Year, won 104 caps and scored a record 65 goals for his country but the Ivorian is much more than just a footballer.
The 37-year-old is a United Nations goodwill ambassador while his Didier Drogba Foundation is building health clinics in his native country.
Drogba has given millions of dollars to charity over the years and his new book describes how all of his commercial earnings since 2007 have gone to his foundation.
Asked about his plans beyond his playing days, the man Time Magazine selected in 2010 as one of the world’s 100 most influential people for his humanitarian work said he wanted to leave a lasting legacy.
“What I really want is to have an impact on people, to be able to have an impact on social things like my foundation or to be able to change things,” explained Drogba. “I want to help people.”
However, a career in politics is not on the agenda.
“No, that’s not what I want to do,” said Drogba. “I want to keep my freedom.
“I want to be able to touch more people, not just the people who believe in me. I want to be able to make people understand that they don’t have to believe in me but I’m there to help.”
MLS is tougher than Premier League: Drogba
MLS is tougher than Premier League: Drogba
Al-Jabalain’s Leo Lacroix targeting another King Cup upset against Al-Raed
- The first division team have already beaten Al-Fayha and Al-Ettifaq in the competition to reach Monday’s quarterfinal
LONDON: Only twice in the history of the King Cup has a club from outside the Saudi Pro League made it to the competition’s final, with Al-Riyadh in 1978 and Al-Taawoun in 1990 doing so but suffering defeat at the last hurdle.
This year, Saudi First Division team Al-Jabalain is the unlikely outfit aiming to follow in those footsteps. Having already beaten professional league opposition in the first two rounds — Al-Fayha and then Al-Ettifaq — Jorge Mendonca’s players now face Al-Raed in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Al-Jabalain, currently seventh in the first division table — but just four points off the automatic promotion places — is the final second-tier side left standing in the 2024-2025 King Cup. Despite being the overwhelming underdogs, Swiss defender Leo Lacroix — scorer of the opening goal against Ettifaq in the last 16 — insists the pressure is off him and his teammates when they travel to Buraidah.
“We won our last league game (1-0 against Al-Jandal) and the team is feeling very confident,” Lacroix told Arab News in an exclusive interview. “We can’t wait to play the game and we know that, like the last rounds, we don’t have any pressure because normally the pro league team needs to win.
“I think it’s history for the club already to play a King’s Cup quarterfinal; to reach the semifinal will be something very massive for the players and for Al-Jabalain.”
When they faced Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq in the last 16 back in October, few gave Jabalain any chance of victory. Although Demarai Gray, Karl Toko Ekambi and Jack Hendry did not feature, Ettifaq still had an 11 stacked with Vitinha, Alvaro Medran, Gigi Wijnaldum, Seko Fofana and Joao Costa, while striker Moussa Dembele came off the bench.
But a spirited performance at their Prince Abdulaziz bin Musaed Sports City Stadium saw the team from Hail — in the Kingdom’s northwest — cause a major King Cup upset. Lacroix, the former Basel and Hamburg center-back, set Jabalain on their way with the game’s opening goal, before second-half strikes from Kaka Mendes and Saad Al-Selouli secured the historic victory.
“I think nobody except us believed that it was possible to win the game,” Lacroix said. “But the team was focused and ready to play a big match. On a personal level I really enjoyed this challenge because when I was playing in Basel, Hamburg, every weekend you had a big team with a top striker and you must be 100 percent focused.
“Obviously you see Steven Gerrard on the side of the pitch and then players like Moussa Dembele, who I played against when I was at Saint-Etienne and he was at Lyon. I love playing against these big strikers.”
Lacroix will have his hands full again on Monday, with Karim El-Berkaoui likely to be leading Al-Raed’s line. The Morocco forward has netted five goals in seven Saudi Pro League games this season, including one against reigning champions Al-Hilal last time out in December.
But this is nothing new for Lacroix, who has been required to mark some of the game’s best forwards during his career. He has also faced Neymar and Edinson Cavani at PSG and, most memorably, legendary Manchester City marksman Sergio Aguero.
Two years after helping FC Sion to a pair of creditable Europa League draws with Liverpool, Lacroix was on loan at FC Basel when the Swiss champions faced City in the 2017-2018 UEFA Champions League last 16. He played both legs of the tie, with the first ending in a 4-0 humbling but the second seeing Basel claim an impressive 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium.
“I always wanted to play in a Champions League game and this was an amazing experience,” Lacroix said. “Just to listen to the music before the game was a big dream. Then you are playing against only big players: Aguero, (Ilkay) Gundogan, (Leroy) Sane, (Raheem) Sterling, (Kevin) De Bruyne, Fernandinho, (Vincent) Kompany.
“Aguero was of course challenging. With strikers like him, if you give them 10 cm they can do something that you have never seen before and score. You have to try to live in their mind and anticipate what they want to do but it is not easy.
“I will remember forever playing this game against a team that I think was the best in the Champions League, even though they didn’t go on to win it that year.”
With his extensive European experience — and the fact he speaks six languages — it is no surprise that Lacroix has emerged as a leader both in the Al-Jabalain dressing room and on the pitch for his Portuguese coach Mendonca. It is a responsibility that the defender relishes.
“I’m always talking with everyone and I don’t like it if you see a group of Saudi players and then a group of foreign players,” Lacroix said. “Any good team needs to feel this sense that you are a community together. When you do this in football you can achieve great things.
“I have really enjoyed working with the Saudi players. Guys like (midfielders) Eyad Madani and Abdulaziz Majrashi, and our striker Fahad (Al-Juhani) who really has such a great mentality. There is also our winger Khalil (Al-Habsi) — a player I think can have a really big career in Saudi Arabia or even outside.
“I want to help them but of course I can learn from them too and we can find solutions together.”
Lacroix and his teammates will certainly need to be united if they are to cause another King Cup upset on Monday, though with Al-Raed currently sitting 12th in the Saudi Pro League table it feels somewhat achievable for Al-Jabalain.
The center-back thinks his team has nothing to lose and hopes that another positive result can also help ignite a successful league promotion challenge.
“The great thing about football is that you never can say ‘this team is going to win for sure,’” Lacroix said. “Anything can happen and I think Monday we go there to play the best we can to make another special day for this club.
“I’m very glad to be here and hope in five months we can speak about promotion. We have shown in the Cup that we can compete with these teams and of course this is the goal.
“I think we are in good shape and I hope we can see that the players fight to make something historic for the club against Al-Raed. I am sure that if we can qualify for the semifinal, the people and other clubs in Saudi Arabia will start to see Al-Jabalain with different eyes.”
Australia set sights on world domination after taming India
- Australia surged into June showdown against South Africa after six-wicket win over India on Sunday
- South Africa booked their spot under WTC’s average points system when they beat Pakistan last month
SYDNEY: Cricket’s World Test Championship final is still five months away but it is already playing on the mind of Australia skipper Pat Cummins, saying the defense of their title is “a huge goal” after conquering India.
Australia surged into a June showdown against South Africa at Lord’s with a six-wicket victory in the fifth Test against India in Sydney on Sunday.
The thrilling win sealed a first series triumph against their South Asian rivals in a decade.
It also confirmed their place in a clash against South Africa that will determine the world’s most consistent red-ball side over the last two years from the nine teams contesting the WTC.
“To hold the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is an amazing feeling, and the extra layer is now securing a spot again in the World Test Championship final, which was always a huge goal for us in this cycle,” Cummins said.
“We talk about the World Test Championship a lot. It’s a trophy we’re really proud to hold so we want to go back and defend it.
“I think it’s a great tournament in that you’ve got to play well consistently and across all different conditions against different teams.
“We can’t wait to get over there.”
South Africa booked their spot under the WTC’s average points system when they beat Pakistan in a dramatic two-wicket win at Centurion late last month.
Australia play two Tests in Sri Lanka starting later this month before a lengthy red-ball break heading into the WTC final.
Cummins appears likely to miss the Sri Lanka tour for the birth of his second child, with Steve Smith in pole position to take over as captain.
But the Australian skipper is adamant that after four year in the role, he has no plans to hand over the armband permanently anytime soon.
“First of all, I absolutely love what I do. That’s the biggest driver in wanting to play Test cricket and work with this team and support staff,” Cummins said.
“I absolutely love everything about it, it’s that much fun. If I can keep doing it for a while, even better.”
Cricket Australia meanwhile said nearly 838,000 spectators attended the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, despite two matches ending within three days.
The numbers were boosted by the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne going all five days, with a record 373,691 people turning out across the match.
Dembélé scores last-gasp winner as PSG wins Champions Trophy
- The match was played at Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar, with PSG owned by Qatar-based QSI since 2011
PARIS: Ousmane Dembélé scored a stoppage-time winner as Paris Saint-Germain beat Monaco 1-0 to win the Champions Trophy on Sunday.
The France winger was unmarked at the back post to meet a low cross from the left by Fabian Ruiz in the second minute of added time.
PSG won the trophy, also known as the super cup, for the third straight time and a record-extending 13th overall. PSG won the league and cup double last season, with Monaco finishing second in the league.
The match was played at Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar, with PSG owned by Qatar-based QSI since 2011.
Désiré Doué hit the crossbar early on for PSG and Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Köhn made several saves.
Monaco improved after the break and hit the post through Eliesse Ben Seghir and Brazilian defender Vanderson.
Although Köhn made a fine save to deny Achraf Hakimi in the 74th minute, he failed to properly read Ruiz’s cross and Monaco missed out on winning the trophy for the first time since 2000.
Later Sunday, Marseille looked to strengthen its grip on second place in Ligue 1 with a home win against lowly Le Havre.
French league
Marseille looks to strengthen its grip on second place in Ligue 1 with a home win against lowly Le Havre later Sunday.
Toulouse climbed up to eighth place with a 1-0 win at seventh-place Lens, which leads Toulouse on goal difference.
Striker Zakaria Aboukhlal scored a penalty in the 73rd.
The goal came shortly after Lens midfielder David Pereira da Costa was shown a second yellow card following a video review and was sent off.
Angers beat Brest 2-0, and Strasbourg rallied to win 3-1 at home to Auxerre and move into 10th spot.
Esteban Lepaul scored early on for Angers and fellow striker Ibrahima Niane, who replaced Lepaul in the 75th, wrapped up the win in stoppage time.
Strasbourg’s goals came from captain Habib Diarra, Félix Lemarechal and forward Emanuel Emegha, after Hamed Traore gave Burgundy side Auxerre an early lead in Alsace.
Gauff inspires Team USA to United Cup triumph
- Gauff opened with a statement 6-4, 6-4 win over Swiatek in 1hr 51min of hard-hitting tennis to fire a warning shot ahead of the Australian Open
SYDNEY: Coco Gauff roared past Iga Swiatek to inspire Team USA on Sunday before Taylor Fritz sealed the United Cup title with victory over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in Sydney.
Gauff opened with a statement 6-4, 6-4 win over Swiatek in 1hr 51min of hard-hitting tennis to fire a warning shot ahead of the Australian Open.
Big-serving Fritz then battled through against Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4) to spark wild celebrations as the Americans won the mixed-teams cup for the second time in three years after winning the inaugural event in 2023.
For Poland it meant falling at the final hurdle again after losing to Germany 12 months ago.
Gauff set the ball rolling with a second victory in a row over Swiatek after beating the former world No. 1 at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on her way to the title.
Gauff had won all six of her previous singles and doubles matches this week and continued her streak when Swiatek double-faulted on match point at 4-5, 30-40 in the second set. “I have the belief that I am one of the best players in the world, and when I play good tennis, it’s hard for me to be beaten,” said Gauff, who won the award as player of the tournament.
The 20-year-old will go into the first Grand Slam of the year next Sunday unbeaten in singles since losing to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Wuhan semifinals in October, and brimming with confidence. “Today I think I played great tennis, and I’m happy to get a point,” she said. “It was tough today. I’m not gonna lie.”
Gauff’s victory left the US one win away from lifting the title for the second time, and Fritz delivered after edging a third-set tiebreak to seal a tense encounter.
“It’s been a great week,” said Fritz. “They’re an incredibly tough team and the margins are very small,” he added after a serve-dominated match that featured 30 aces and just three break points.
“I feel like it could have always gone either way. Just want to say thanks to my whole team.”
Earlier, Swiatek took a medical timeout at 5-4 down in the second set to have strapping put on her niggling left thigh which has bothered her all week in Sydney.
After losing to Gauff, Swiatek left the court in tears, walking gingerly, but returned laughing and joking during the trophy presentations.
Red-hot Gauff, who did not drop a set in five singles matches, goes into the Australian Open as world number three.
She enjoyed United Cup singles wins over Leylah Fernandez, Donna Vekic, Zhang Shuai, Karolina Muchova and Swiatek.
Fritz, who is at career-best number four in the rankings, dropped his opening United Cup match to Felix Auger-Aliassime but then won four straight.
Dakar Rally defending champion Sainz flips in dunes, is an hour off lead
- Sainz was within five minutes of the leaders after more than 200 kilometers, but his Ford Raptor turned upside down in the dunes at 327 kilometers
BISHA, Saudi Arabia: Defending champion Carlos Sainz was nearly an hour off the pace in the Dakar Rally after his car flipped in the Saudi Arabia dunes on Sunday.
Local driver Yazeed Al Rajhi led the race at the mandatory evening rest stop north of Bisha on the nearly 1,000-kilometer second stage, which started early Sunday and finishes late Monday.
But his lead was only 79 seconds over five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Sainz was within five minutes of the leaders after more than 200 kilometers, but his Ford Raptor turned upside down in the dunes at 327 kilometers. Teammate Mitch Guthrie helped Sainz right the car after 20 minutes but broken rear parts were left behind and Sainz limped to the rest area at 620 kilometers, more than 59 minutes behind.
Another title contender who suffered was Sebastien Loeb, who won this stage last year. The Frenchman broke down with fan issues at 409 kilometers and arrived more than 32 minutes back.
Al-Attiyah led Al Rajhi by four minutes in the early going but Al Rajhi turned the tables about 350 kilometers in and held on.
Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom was running third, nine minutes back. He was the only driver within 10 minutes of Al Rajhi.
First stage winner Seth Quintero was 48 minutes back.
Australian rider Daniel Sanders continued to set the pace in the motorbike class, even after starting at the back from winning the first stage.
Racing a different course to the cars, Sanders was only 40 seconds ahead of American titleholder Ricky Brabec.
Ross Branch, second last year, lost some time but was still third.
The 48-hour chrono stage was introduced last year, sending racers into the desert overnight with minimal team help. What organizers call “the quintessential rally-raid experience” was the stage in which Al Rajhi’s car somersaulted and he was forced to abandon the 2024 race.
The stage resumes at dawn on Monday.
