You are here

  • Home
  • Uzbek fans predict Al-Ittihad win over Navbahor in AFC Champions League
SPL Al-ittihad
SPL Al-ittihad

Uzbek fans predict Al-Ittihad win over Navbahor in AFC Champions League

Uzbek fans predict Al-Ittihad win over Navbahor in AFC Champions League
Ittihad's French forward #09 Karim Benzema (L) and Ittihad's French midfielder #07 N'Golo Kante (2R) celebrate after a goal during the FIFA Club World Cup first round football match (AFP)
Short Url

https://arab.news/9r5df

Updated 12 February 2024
Arab News
Follow

Uzbek fans predict Al-Ittihad win over Navbahor in AFC Champions League

Uzbek fans predict Al-Ittihad win over Navbahor in AFC Champions League
  • Young fans interviewed on the streets of Tashkent revealed their rising interest in Rosh Saudi League clubs
Updated 12 February 2024
Arab News
Follow

TASHKENT: Football fans in Uzbekistan have revealed their admiration for Saudi Arabian football ahead of Al-Ittihad’s AFC Champions League Round of 16 first leg against Navbahor on Thursday night, Arriyadiyah has reported.

The Roshn Saudi League enjoys a high degree of popularity in the central Asian nation and a number of young fans interviewed on the streets of Tashkent conceded that the reigning Saudi champions are heavy favorites to beat Navbahor when they clash in the city of Namagan, a four-hour drive to the east of the capital.

 

 

The fans revealed that the popularity of Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad, in particular, has risen since the influx of international stars over the last year.

Not surprisingly, many highlighted Al-Nassr as their favorite Saudi team thanks to the exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo, while others praised the Brazilian Fabinho and Frenchman N’Golo Kante at Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal’s array of foreign stars, led by Neymar.

Most of the fans interviewed by Arriyadiyah on Babur Street emphasized their interest in the AFC Champions League, predicting an Al-Ittihad win against Navbahor over the two legs, referencing Al-Hilal’s recent 2-0 win against the same opponents in the group stage.

The return leg will see Al-Ittihad host Navbahor in Jeddah on Feb. 22. 

Topics: SPL Al-ittihad AFC Champions League

Related

Benzema’s Instagram deletion spree angers Al-Ittihad fans
Sport
Benzema’s Instagram deletion spree angers Al-Ittihad fans
Al-Nassr keeper Ospina could return to first team by end of February
Saudi Football
Al-Nassr keeper Ospina could return to first team by end of February

Dortmund holds on with 10 men for 1st away win in Bundesliga

Dortmund holds on with 10 men for 1st away win in Bundesliga
Updated 6 sec ago
AP
Follow

Dortmund holds on with 10 men for 1st away win in Bundesliga

Dortmund holds on with 10 men for 1st away win in Bundesliga
  • Dortmund climbed to sixth ahead of the league’s winter break, but it’s not where the club aspires to be after a shaky start to the league
Updated 6 sec ago
AP

BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund held on after Pascal Groß’ sending off to beat Wolfsburg 3-1 for its first Bundesliga away win of the season on Sunday.
Donyell Malen got the visitors off the mark with a volley to a corner in the 25th, three minutes before Julian Brandt played in Maximilian Beier to score Dortmund’s second goal. Beier, who scored with the outside of his boot in off the left post, celebrated with a throwing-dart gesture.
Beier returned the favor for Brandt to score Dortmund’s third two minutes after that.
Despite the commanding lead, the visitors were second-best for long periods thereafter as Wolfsburg improved dramatically.
Coach Ralph Hasenhüttl made two changes at the break, including sending on Lukas Nmecha to face his brother Felix Nmecha, who was playing for Dortmund.
Denis Vavro pulled one back in the 58th, four minutes before Groß was sent off for a foul on Lukas Nmecha when the Wolfsburg forward was through on goal.
The home team pushed hard but Dortmund managed to hold on to ease the pressure on coach Nuri Sahin.
“A 3-0 lead should mean you can get through the game with confidence,” said Brandt, who complained about his team’s drop in performance. “We’re to blame for that. It’s not good, we need to play more confidently, we need to grow up.”
Dortmund climbed to sixth ahead of the league’s winter break, but it’s not where the club aspires to be after a shaky start to the league.
“We’ll try a reset and to play better in the new year,” Beier said. “It can’t be our goal to be sixth.”
Bochum celebrates
Bottom club Bochum defeated relegation rival Heidenheim 2-0 for its first win of the season.
“When we play like we did today it means there are lots of possibilities for the next 19 games,” said Bochum coach Dieter Hecking. “From that point of view I’m also glad we won because I couldn’t have handled many more games without a win.”
It was the visitors’ seventh straight Bundesliga defeat, the culmination of a busy schedule after clinching European qualification from its league debut last season and the offseason loss of star players like Jan-Niklas Beste, Tim Kleindienst and Eren Dinkci.
“We’re at the end of another ‘English week’ (with midweek games) again,” Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt said. “Everyone did their best, but we have to be honest – it wasn’t enough.”

Topics: Bundesliga Borussia Dortmund Wolfsburg

Related

Leipzig lose ground on Bayern, Dortmund and Leverkusen win
Sport
Leipzig lose ground on Bayern, Dortmund and Leverkusen win
Musiala saves Bayern from Klassiker defeat in draw at Dortmund in Bundesliga
Sport
Musiala saves Bayern from Klassiker defeat in draw at Dortmund in Bundesliga

Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa

Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
Updated 10 min 29 sec ago
AFP
Follow

Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa

Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
Updated 10 min 29 sec ago
AFP
JOHANNESBURG: Rising star Saim Ayub hit his second century of the series — and his third in five innings — as Pakistan completed a series cleansweep over South Africa in the third one-day international at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday.
Left-handed opening batsman Ayub made a sparkling 101 off 94 balls in a Pakistan total of 308 for nine.
Heinrich Klaasen thrashed 81 off 43 balls for South Africa — but the hosts were beaten by 36 runs chasing an adjusted target of 308. The match was reduced to 47 overs a side because of rain.
Ayub, 22, hit 113 not out in the second one-day game against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo last month and 109 in the series opener against South Africa in Paarl last week.
In between his one-day appearances he made an unbeaten 98 in the second Twenty20 international against South Africa in Centurion.
In contrast to Ayub’s form, his opening partner Abdullah Shafique was out for his third successive duck after Pakistan were sent in to bat.
But Ayub was seldom troubled as he played shots all around the wicket in partnerships of 114 with Babar Azam (52) and 93 with captain Mohammad Rizwan (53).
Ayub fell to debutant Corbin Bosch, caught behind attempting an audacious flick to leg, after hitting 13 fours and two sixes.
Bosch, the son of the late Test and one-day international player Tertius Bosch, received a call-up after injuries hit South Africa’s fast bowling resources.
For the third successive match, Klaasen was the only South African to make a half-century. He kept South Africa ahead of the required run rate until he was sixth man out, caught on the square leg boundary off Shaheen Shah Afridi with the total on 194 in the 29th over.
Ayub followed up his century by taking one for 34 in 10 overs with his mixture of off-spin and carrom balls, claiming the key wicket of David Miller and producing the most economical figures by any bowler in the match.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 308-9 in 47 overs (Saim Ayub 101, Mohammad Rizwan 53, Babar Azam 52, Salman Agha 48; K. Rabada 3-56) v South Africa 271 in 42 overs (H. Klaasen 81, C. Bosch 40 not out)
Result: Pakistan won by 36 runs (DLS method)
Series: Pakistan won the three-match series 3-0
Toss: South Africa

Mbappe back from ‘bottom’ as Real Madrid down Sevilla

Mbappe back from ‘bottom’ as Real Madrid down Sevilla
Updated 28 min 46 sec ago
AFP
Follow

Mbappe back from ‘bottom’ as Real Madrid down Sevilla

Mbappe back from ‘bottom’ as Real Madrid down Sevilla
  • Mbappe, back after a brief absence with a thigh injury, scored for Madrid in midweek as they won the Intercontinental Cup
Updated 28 min 46 sec ago
AFP

MADRID: Kylian Mbappe said he had bounced back from hitting rock bottom after helping Real Madrid thrash Sevilla 4-2 on Saturday to move second in La Liga above stuttering rivals Barcelona.
After Atletico Madrid beat Barca on Saturday to claim top spot at Christmas, Carlo Ancelotti’s side also took advantage with a comfortable home win which leaves them a point behind the leaders.
Madrid coach Ancelotti said ahead of Sevilla’s visit that Mbappe’s adaptation period had ended following his summer switch from Paris Saint-Germain and the French forward proved the coach right with a strong performance and his 14th goal of the season across all competitions.
Fede Valverde also netted a brilliant effort from range, with Rodrygo Goes and Brahim Diaz on the scoresheet for the hosts too, the latter assisted by a clever Mbappe pass.
Isaac Romero and Dodi Lukebakio scored for Sevilla, although they were thoroughly outplayed on veteran defender Jesus Navas’ final game for the club.
“I think that we know each other better, my arrival changed a lot of things, and now, as the coach said, the adaptation is over and I feel very good in the team,” Mbappe told Real Madrid TV.
“We can see on the pitch that I click better with my team-mates and now we’re all playing better.”
Mbappe, back after a brief absence with a thigh injury, scored for Madrid in midweek as they won the Intercontinental Cup.
It was welcome relief for the forward after missing two penalties in recent weeks against Liverpool and Athletic Bilbao, as well as suffering criticism for his form.
“I know I’ve got much more in my legs than I’m showing, but in the last games I’ve played better,” Mbappe added.
“The Bilbao game was good for me, I hit the bottom, I missed a penalty and it was a moment to realize that I have to give everything for this shirt and show my personality.”
With Vinicius Junior suspended, Mbappe took the reins and broke the deadlock in the 10th minute as Madrid brought the ball out from the back and worked it to Rodrygo on the left flank.
The Brazilian squared to Mbappe on the edge of the area, who took one touch to control, another to set himself and with his third, smashed a fierce effort past the helpless Alvaro Fernandez.
“I think (Mbappe) has been self-critical, he’s come out of a situation that could have been complicated for him,” Ancelotti told reporters.
“Yesterday I said his adaptation period was over, today he showed it, sometimes I’m not wrong.”
The coach said Madrid had found their footing after struggling at times in the first half of the season.
“We’re running a bit more, playing with more intensity, we’re doing things well again, as we have to do — they’ve been complicated months,” Ancelotti added.
Madrid’s second, 10 minutes later, was even better, with Valverde firing a screamer into the top corner from over 30 yards out after a short corner.
Ancelotti’s side were in full flow and the third followed in the 34th minute when Lucas Vazquez crossed for Rodrygo.
Sevilla hit back within a minute, with Romero nodding home from Juanlu Sanchez’s cross.
Madrid stretched their lead after the break with Mbappe dinking a superb pass through for Diaz to finish clinically.
Sevilla brought on Navas after the hour mark and he was applauded by the Santiago Bernabeu, with this his 705th and final appearance for the club, far more than any other player.
Madrid and Sevilla players together gave the retiring Spanish great — a World Cup winner in 2010 and two-time Euros champion — a guard of honor at the start of the game.
Navas, 39, won four Europa Leagues and two Copa del Rey trophies with Sevilla, but his final appearance ended in disappointment for the Andalusians.
Lukebakio pulled one back late on for Sevilla as Madrid were able to finish an impressive year, in which they became Spanish and European champions, with positive vibes.
“Today was a spectacle, I haven’t seen anything like that in my life at an away ground, it was crazy,” an emotional Navas told reporters.
“I was thinking of all the moments that I’ve lived through, the joys I’ve given to my Sevilla and my national team.”

Topics: La Liga Kylian Mbappe real madrid Sevilla

Related

Atletico snatch late win at Barca to top La Liga
Sport
Atletico snatch late win at Barca to top La Liga
Bellingham and Mbappe strike as Real Madrid beat Girona
Sport
Bellingham and Mbappe strike as Real Madrid beat Girona

Joao Fonseca follows Sinner as landmark NextGen champion in Jeddah

Joao Fonseca follows Sinner as landmark NextGen champion in Jeddah
Updated 35 min 30 sec ago
AFP
Follow

Joao Fonseca follows Sinner as landmark NextGen champion in Jeddah

Joao Fonseca follows Sinner as landmark NextGen champion in Jeddah
  • Brazil’s Fonseca, 18, came through 2-4, 4-3 (10/8), 4-0, 4-2 to see off his left-handed American opponent
Updated 35 min 30 sec ago
AFP

JEDDAH: Joao Fonseca became the second youngest champion of the NextGen ATP tournament on Sunday when he defied his lowly ranking of 145 to defeat Learner Tien in the final.
Brazil’s Fonseca, 18, came through 2-4, 4-3 (10/8), 4-0, 4-2 to see off his left-handed American opponent.
He is the youngest champion at the event since current world number one Jannik Sinner claimed the title also at the age of 18 five years ago.
“I was really nervous before the match. I knew it was going to be so difficult,” Fonseca said before lifting the trophy with tennis legend Rafael Nadal watching on from the stands.
“I played a final against Learner in juniors at the 2023 US Open and I know the way he can play. He is such a nice guy and a great player, so I knew it was going to be difficult, mentally and physically. But I got through.”
Fonseca, the lowest-ranked player in the eight-man field, won all five matches he played this week at the Red Sea venue.
He began the year ranked at 730 in the world and having made a maiden ATP quarter-final in Rio this year, he will be aiming to make significant progress in 2025.
“I need to believe when I go before a tournament that I can win,” Fonseca said.
“But now I have won it I am thinking, ‘Wow, I made it’. I am very proud of myself.”

Topics: tennis Saudi Arabia ATP 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals

Related

Rafael Nadal delights fans after landing in Jeddah for Next Gen ATP Finals photos
Sport
Rafael Nadal delights fans after landing in Jeddah for Next Gen ATP Finals
‘Hate it’: Tien beats friend to set-up NextGen final against Fonseca
Sport
‘Hate it’: Tien beats friend to set-up NextGen final against Fonseca

Green Falcons fall to defeat against Bahrain in opening Gulf Cup match

Green Falcons fall to defeat against Bahrain in opening Gulf Cup match
Updated 22 December 2024
John Duerden
Follow

Green Falcons fall to defeat against Bahrain in opening Gulf Cup match

Green Falcons fall to defeat against Bahrain in opening Gulf Cup match
Updated 22 December 2024
John Duerden

KUWAIT CITY: Saudi Arabia lost 3-2 to Bahrain on Sunday to get their challenge for the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup off to the worst possible start.

The defeat at the hands of their rivals in 2026 World Cup qualification leaves Herve Renard’s men with it all to do if they are to finish in the top two places in Group B and progress to the semi-final.

It also means that the Green Falcons have won just one of their last eight competitive matches.

Bahrain, who drew with Saudi Arabia in October in the final match of Roberto Mancini’s troubled tenure, took the lead in the 19th minute in Kuwait City with a well-worked corner.

Mahdi Al-Humaidan swung over a cross from the right and there was Mahdi Abduljabbar to met the ball at the near post and send a powerful header into the opposite top corner.

Seven minutes before the break and Bahrain extended their lead. Mohamed Marhoon’s low cross from the right took a slight touch from Ali Lajami to help the ball on its way to Humaidan who shot past Nawaf Al-Aqidi from close range.

Saudi Arabia have not won the trophy for 20 years and Renard had selected a strong team to start this campaign and they got back into the game with 17 minutes remaining. 

Bahrain failed to deal with a ball into the area and there was Musab Al-Juwayr to side foot the ball beautifully home from the right side of the area. 

Suddenly the Saudi Arabian fans in the Jaber International Stadium were on their feet but not for long as three minutes later, Marhoon restored Bahrain’s two-goal cushion in exquisite fashion.

Mohamed Al-Romaih’s volleyed pass from midway in the Saudi Arabian half floated over the heads of the green backline for Marhoon to gently lift the ball over Al-Aqidi.

To Saudi Arabia’s credit, they kept coming back and were given a penalty with four minutes remaining as Amine Benaddi handled in the area. It looked as if Salem Al-Dawsari was going to take the kick but the star of the team, who missed from the spot against Indonesia and Bahrain in recent World Cup qualifiers, handed the ball to Salem Al-Shehri who made no mistake.

The 2004 champions were unable to get the third goal that would have earned a point and now face Yemen, who earlier lost 1-0 to Iraq, in need of improvement, a lift and — most importantly — a win.

Topics: football soccer Saudi Arabia Bahrain Gulf Cup 26th Gulf Cup

Related

Renard confident Green Falcons ready for Gulf Cup challenge
Sport
Renard confident Green Falcons ready for Gulf Cup challenge
Green Falcons arrive in Kuwait for 26th Arabian Gulf Cup
Sport
Green Falcons arrive in Kuwait for 26th Arabian Gulf Cup

Latest updates

Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 35
Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 35
Saudi Arabia embassy resumes diplomatic activities in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia embassy resumes diplomatic activities in Afghanistan
Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
Journalists arrested in Turkiye over Syria drone deaths demo
Journalists arrested in Turkiye over Syria drone deaths demo
Mbappe back from ‘bottom’ as Real Madrid down Sevilla
Mbappe back from ‘bottom’ as Real Madrid down Sevilla

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2024 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.