HOUSTON: Curacao coach Dick Advocaat believes the tiny Caribbean island can “steal some points” from four-time winners Germany on their tournament debut on Sunday. The 78-year-old Dutchman will also become the oldest coach in World Cup history and will take charge of a third different nation at a World Cup after the Netherlands and South Korea. Despite…
Faizan Afridi, Shayan Afridi lead province’s medal charge as officials call for greater support PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa junior tennis team delivered a remarkable performance at the National Junior Tennis Championship held in Sahiwal from June 2 to 7, winning a total of seven medals and establishing itself among the tournament’s top-performing contingents. The K-P side…
VANCOUVER: Australia combined defensive discipline with clinical finishing to secure a 2-0 victory over Turkey at BC Place, upsetting their more fancied opponents as coach Tony Popovic praised his side’s grit and organisation. Pre-match attention had centred on Turkey’s Arda Guler, but it was Australia’s youthful attack that made the difference. Popovic’s side set up to absorb pressure…
LONDON: Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu on Saturday described WataruEndo as “hurt” and apologised after torpedoing the captain’s World Cup dreams on the eve of the tournament. The Liverpool midfielder abruptly announced on Thursday that his international career was over, having failed to recover from injury ahead of Japan’s opening match of the tournament against the Netherlands in Dallas on Sunday….
NEW YORK: Kylian Mbappe heads into France’s World Cup opener against Senegal on Tuesday with questions swirling around him after a season that has left the country’s biggest football star under immense pressure. The France captain drew a blank in warm-up games against Ivory Coast and Northern Ireland and ended the season at Real Madrid…
LONDON: Portugal’s World Cup squad will wear commemorative wristbands in tribute to late former teammate Diogo Jota, midfielder Vitinha said on Saturday, as they prepare to open their Group K campaign against DR Congo next week. The wristbands, a gift from Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, carry the names of all squad members alongside that of former Portugal forward Jota,…
LONDON: Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu said that she is back to her best after the British star won twice in the space of just six hours to earn a Queen’s Club final clash with Croatia’s Donna Vekic. Raducanu reached the first grass-court final of her career by thrashing American sixth seed Iva Jovic…
SANTA CLARA: Qatar’s Boualem Khoukhi stunned Switzerland with a late equaliser as the sides played out a 1-1 draw in their opening Group B match at the World Cup on Saturday. A Breel Embolo penalty had broken the deadlock for Switzerland early in the first half in the San Francisco Bay Area, before the wasteful…
Folarin Balogun led the line for a rampaging United States against Paraguay. Photo: AFP LOS ANGELES: The United States could scarcely have scripted a better start to their World Cup as a Folarin Balogun brace and Gio Reyna curler fired the co-hosts to a 4-1 drubbing of Paraguay in front of Hollywood royalty in Los…
KARACHI: A peon entered the room and told Shaharyar Khan, “Sir, Younis Khan is here to meet you.” The PCB chairman was busy in another meeting at the time, so he replied, “Ask him to wait for five minutes, I’ll call him in.” When this message was conveyed to Younis Khan, he became furious. “I…