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CIVIDALE DEL FRIULI, Italy: Dutch rider Koen Bouwman won a sprint finish in the mountains for stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia at Santuario di Castelmonte on Friday as Richard Carapaz held the leader’s pink jersey.
Ecuador’s 2019 Giro winner Carapaz holds a slim three-second advantage on Australian Jai Hindley two days before the race finishes with a time-trial in Verona.
Bouwman negotiated the jostling on a sharp final bend to beat his four breakaway companions for his second stage win after Potenza in southern Italy two weeks ago.
Quick Step’s Mauro Schmid of Switzerland was just behind with Italian Alessandro Tonelli of Bardiani three seconds off the pace.
“After I won one stage I said anything else would be a bonus,” said Jumbo-Visma’s Bouwman who is assured of the top climber’s blue jersey providing he finishes the race.
“Today I rode for the Maglia Azzurra and I’m glad I secured it.
“I knew about the last corner but I didn’t expect it to be that sharp.
“I had to break but it’s great that I was in the best position there. That gave me the win. I’m delighted.”
Carapaz survived the setback of losing his key mountain lieutenant Richie Porte early in the 178km stage from Marano Lagunare which included four climbs and crossed into neighboring Slovenia.
Ineos Grenadiers rider Porte was dropped from the peloton on the first climb of the day, the third-category Villanova Grotte, after 70km of racing. Organizers later confirmed the 37-year-old Australian had withdrawn from the Giro.
“It’s been a pretty hard stage,” said Carapaz.
“It’s a pity that we lost Richie Porte early in the race but the team has done a great job and Pavel Sivakov is in a great shape.
“All top three riders, we’re together. It’s fine with me. Whatever happens tomorrow will be fine with me too.”
A 12-man breakaway approached the main climb of the day, the Kolovrat over 10.3 km and with a 9.2 percent gradient, with more than nine minutes on the peloton.
The four survivors only lost a little over a minute on this climb near Caporetto, the site of a historic defeat for the Italians in the First World War.
Neither Carapaz nor Hindley tried to pull ahead in the final climb having made several attempts earlier along with Spaniard Mikel Landa, third in the standings.
The Giro will go down to the wire with Saturday’s stage in the Dolomites now looking crucial to the outcome.
The 20th stage, the last in the mountains, includes three great climbs — the San Pellegrino, the Pordoi for the highest point of this year’s race at 2,239 meters above sea level concluding at the Fedaia, with a spectacular steep climb in the last 5,400 meters.
Sunday’s final stage is a 17.4km individual time-trial into Verona where Ecuadorian Carapaz claimed overall victory three years ago.
DUBAI: More than half of all players at the finals of last year’s European Championship and Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) were subjected to some form of discriminatory abuse online, a report published by global soccer governing body FIFA has revealed. The independent report used artificial intelligence to track over 400,000 posts on social media platforms during the semifinal and final stages of the two competitions and found the majority of abuse to be homophobic (40 percent) and racist (38 percent). It added that much of the abuse came from players’ home nations and took place before, during and after games. England’s Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who are Black, were bombarded with online abuse after missing their spot-kicks in a shootout against Italy which settled the July 11 European Championship final after the game finished in a draw. The report said a substitute player from Egypt was the most abused player at the AFCON finals this year. “Our duty is to protect football and that starts with the players who bring so much joy and happiness to all of us by their exploits on the field of play,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement on Saturday. “Unfortunately, there is a trend developing where a percentage of posts on social media channels directed toward players, coaches, match officials and the teams themselves is not acceptable, and this form of discrimination — like any form of discrimination – has no place in football.” The report added that the abuse on Twitter was constant across the period of its study while Instagram abuse was “event driven” — like losing a final — and more than 75 percent of comments on the platform included emojis. Reuters has contacted Twitter and Instagram for comment. Ahead of the World Cup starting in Qatar in November, FIFA said it would work with players’ body FIFPRO to implement a plan to protect teams, players, officials, and supporters from abuse on social media during international tournaments. The two bodies will launch moderation tools and offer educational support and mental health advice to players at FIFA tournaments.
NEWCASTLE: Excitement for the new Premier League season is increasing on Tyneside. As is the to-do list for Newcastle United’s owners. Less than two weeks away from the return of the first-team squad to the club’s current ‘under-development’ training facility in Benton, North Tyneside, next season’s top flight fixtures have been released. Newly-promoted Nottingham Forest, back in the top division for the first time in more than two decades, are first up at St. James’ Park, while a tough first month also sees Manchester City visit Newcastle, as well as a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool. Head coach Eddie Howe is keen to hit the ground running in the coming season, in stark contrast to the debacle overseen by Steve Bruce at the start of the last one. Pre-takeover, and in the first few weeks after the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia swept through the doors, Newcastle failed to win any of their opening 14 games of the 2021/22 season — the worst start of any team in Premier League history to have subsequently avoided relegation. And Howe is keen to avoid any such issues this time out as he looks to build a squad capable of flirting with, if perhaps not yet reaching, the Premier League’s European places. But what is required this summer to even get close to that? Here, we take a look at what Howe, co-owner Amanda Staveley and newly-appointed sporting director Dan Ashworth need to prioritize before the new season kicks off. An injection of goals needed One thing Newcastle United seriously lacked last season was goals. Only the bottom six plus Brighton and Wolves scored less in the 38-game campaign. And one of the biggest headaches for Howe — and Bruce before him — last season was the fitness, or lack of it, of center forward Callum Wilson. At his fit-and-firing best the big number nine is a match for any English striker in the division, with the exception of Harry Kane. But his injury record is cause for concern. Wilson missed four months of last season and more than two months the season before, but still managed to finish both seasons as the club’s top goalscorer. Sadly, there is no reason to think that Wilson’s injury record will significantly improve next season, but this summer United have the power to arm themselves for when the inevitable injury absence crops up. While Chris Wood gave his all as a stand in from January onwards, he is a limited striker and United must look to upgrade. Clear out the dead wood This may be Ashworth, Howe and Staveley’s most difficult mountain to climb this summer. In order for United to add quality to their 25-man Premier League squad they must trim some fat, and that’s without even starting to look at those players who sit outside the main group. The likes of Dwight Gayle, Federico Fernandez and Javier Manquillo are players likely to prove surplus to requirements this summer — but all three have years left on their deals and are sitting pretty on significant wages. Gayle was a saleable asset when Newcastle first looked to move him on under previous owner Mike Ashley. But with Ashley unwilling to accept offers in the region of $18million from the likes of Fulham and West Bromwich Albion for the player — and manager Rafa Benitez failing to trust Ashley would allow him that money to find a replacement — Gayle became United’s great survivor. Three or four years later, with little to no playing time under his belt, and even less goals, United are going to find it tough to find takers for a player who is on an inflated Premier League wage but looks most comfortable operating at Championship level. Fernandez and Manquillo were both handed new deals under Bruce, and are also on top flight wages. It may be that Newcastle have to agree to pay a percentage of their wages, just to get them off the books. Outside of the 25, there are the likes of Freddie Woodman, Ciaran Clark, Jeff Hendrick, and others who could boost the coffers for a summer first-team revamp. Go deep or stand still Howe’s biggest issue with his Newcastle squad is that he does not believe it has the depth enjoyed by, for example, Brighton, Wolverhampton Wanderers or Aston Villa — never mind the top six or seven clubs in the division. There is a sense that an injection of confidence and team spirit carried the side through the back end of the last campaign, driving the club from a likely bottom-four finish to 11th place. If United want to take that next step, they need to add depth, particularly in key positions. For example, should goalkeeper Martin Dubravka get injured, Newcastle must be able to call on a better deputy than 31-year-old Karl Darlow, as good a servant as he has been to the club. As mentioned, an understudy to Wilson is also a must, as is cover for another of United’s injury-prone stars, winger Allan Saint-Maximin. Some depth in the center of defense is also necessary. Don’t accept the ‘Newcastle Tax’ This summer’s transfer window is as important as any in the club’s history, and it is paramount that they do not set a dangerous precedent. Overpay for players this summer and they will be overpaying for the next 10 years; smash the wage structure for a single player and they will have 10 more knocking on the door for a raise. The club’s phones will also be hot with agents from around the world looking for their cut of the action. Newcastle’s custodians, led by Staveley and husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi, seem to have their heads firmly on their shoulders and want the club to build sustainably. They do not want a quick fix of the kind that happened at Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, nor do they want to fall into the Financial Fair Play trap that Everton find themselves in at the moment. It needs to be made clear this summer that Newcastle is not a cash cow ripe for milking. They must not be taken for a ride in the transfer market. Resolve ticketing issues and shine a light on future plans Newcastle United had more than 120,000 ticket requests for the first game after the Saudi-financed takeover, a home loss to Tottenham Hotspur back in October. There is clearly huge demand for tickets in the city and beyond. Anyone who knows English football knows Newcastle United. Even though Newcastle is only a small city, home to less than 300,000 people, it has one of the largest and loyalist fan bases in the world. Give them hope and they will come. But the issue surrounding tickets needs to be resolved quickly. The Magpies have always, from the 1990s onwards, had a steady stream of more than 30,000 season ticket holders, which has maxed out — due to the need for away allocations, corporate seating, et cetera — at more than 40,000 as recently as during Benitez’s reign. The stadium itself only holds 52,000. So here’s the issue: How do the 10,000 or so tickets sold on a matchday get divided up next season? Will they go on general sale on a game-by-game basis or will season ticket opportunities be opened up again? Keeping the fans happy on this divisive subject is going to be a tough issue to navigate. A clear long-term plan for stadium redevelopment needs to be outlined, as demand is already far outweighing supply — and that’s before the party has even started. Delegation: The need for an improved football executive Ashworth’s appointment as sporting director has taken some of the summer transfer burden off Howe. But United must go further. Staveley and Ghodoussi have been acting as co-chief executives at the club, with no one left to do the job. They allowed former managing director Lee Charnley to leave not long after completing the purchase of the club. A new MD needs to found. And that needed to be done yesterday. Running a football club is no easy business, and it is even harder when feet are light on the ground. An immediate beefing-up of the whole football operation is required and some delegation of tasks needed to free Staveley and Ghodoussi to do what they do best. Continue to build on the foundations — the Ashworth effect When Ashley departed, he left a near-clean slate behind him: A stadium ripe for improvement, a training ground in a similarly unloved state, a youth setup in need of direction; and a first team lacking any clear plan or purpose. While some of those issues have already been addressed, others cannot be allowed to drift. And that’s where Ashworth — a pioneer of the Football Association’s ‘England DNA’ program — steps in. Training ground developments must go much further than the material, there must be a structural framework implemented that squeezes the most from the football-mad region that Newcastle United is at the heart of. Newcastle and its surrounding areas have produced some of the most revered talent in English football history. Two of the nation’s 1966 World Cup-winning starting XI were Geordies — the brothers Jack and Bobby Charlton — and generational talents including Alan Shearer, Paul Gascoigne and Peter Beardsley all hailed from the city and its surrounds. The next Shearer, Beardsley or Gazza is out there, but this club, for too long, has been unable to unearth them. That has to change, especially if the future is to shine as brightly as PIF, PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media want it to.
DUBAI: Sadio Mané looks to be headed for Bayern Munich, ending his trophy-filled six-year spell at Liverpool in a move that would finally split up one of the most devastating forward lines in the history of English soccer. A person familiar with the situation said on Friday that Liverpool reached an agreement with the German champion for the transfer of the 30-year-old Senegal forward in a total package worth 41 million euros ($42.9 million). The person spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the deal, which has not yet been completed. Liverpool will receive 32 million euros ($33.5 million) up front for Mané, with a further 6 million euros ($6.3 million) due when he meets a specified appearance clause and an additional 3 million euros ($3.15 million) based on individual and team achievements. Mané just completed arguably the best season of his career, converting the clinching penalty in a shootout to win the African Cup of Nations for Senegal, helping his country qualify for the World Cup, and starring for Liverpool in a campaign where the club nearly achieved an unprecedented quadruple of major trophies. His last game for Liverpool was the 1-0 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League final last month. He has won every major honor with Liverpool — the Champions League and World Club Cup in 2019, the Premier League in 2020 and both the FA Cup and League Cup in 2022 — and looks to be seeking a fresh challenge with what is likely to be the last major move of his career. Along with Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, Mané was part of a front three that led Liverpool to most of those titles and had pretty much everything — power, pace, great movement and combination play. Firmino was marginalized last season because of injury and the performances of Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz — attackers who have joined Liverpool over the past two years — and could be the next of the established trio to leave. Firmino and Salah have one year left on their current deals. Mané mostly played as a left winger for Liverpool after joining from Southampton in 2016 but converted to a central striker for the second half of last season following the signing of Diaz. He impressed in his new role, scoring nine goals in his last 14 games in all competitions, and could continue there at Bayern amid uncertainty over the future of striker Robert Lewandowski. The prolific Poland striker said last month he wants to leave Bayern and has been linked with a move to Barcelona. Liverpool have already signed a replacement for Mané in Darwin Núñez, the Uruguay international who has joined from Benfica.
With qualification for the World Cup, triumphs in the AFC Champions League and a thrilling title race and relegation battle, these are exciting times for Saudi Arabian football. Sunday could be the icing on the cake with a major tournament final.
It could also be third-time lucky for coach Saad Al-Shehri and a team of young Saudi footballers.
Saudi Arabia meet hosts Uzbekistan in the final of the U-23 Asian Cup in Tashkent, full of confidence and belief after an almost perfect run in the tournament. The young Green Falcons topped their group then defeated Vietnam and Australia in the knockout stages to book the big date.
All this was done without conceding a single goal. Meeting the host nation in the last game of a major competition is always going to be a big challenge, and Al-Shehri is not going to be taking anything for granted as he knows all about getting to within touching distance of a trophy and then falling just short.
Saudi Arabia have now won all three semifinals they have contested in this competition but have yet to win a final.
On a personal level, the 42-year-old Al-Shehri has been here before as well, twice in fact, and lost both times. The first final loss was back in 2016 at the Asian U-19 Championship. Then Saudi Arabia made it all the way, thanks to an unforgettable 6-5 victory in the last-four clash with Iraq, and then met Japan. The game in Bahrain ended goalless with the Samurai Blue triumphing on penalties.
The second final was just as painful for the boss and came at the previous tournament in 2020, the last major meeting before COVID-19 wreaked havoc on international football. There was a semifinal win over Uzbekistan, then the defending champions, which booked another final. This time South Korea were the opposition and once again it ended goalless after 90 minutes but Jeong Tae-wook struck after 113 minutes to win the game for the East Asians.
It is not only a chance for the coach to win at the third time of asking but the team, too, as Saudi Arabia U-23s also made the final of the 2013 Championships and lost the final to Iraq. The past runs to the final have not been as impressive as this one with the attack scoring 11 times and the defense yet to be breached.
“The difference with this team and the ones that reached the 2013 and 2020 finals is that they had good preparations,” Al-Shehri said. “We didn’t have much time together ahead of this tournament and we found it difficult to settle at the start of every game. However, the players were able to adapt as we went along and I am counting on this to win the title.”
After struggling through qualification, Saudi Arabia have come good at the right time.
“We have gone five games without conceding a goal and the players are working hard to keep our perfect record intact,” said Al-Shehri. “We are just thankful for not letting in goals.”
That defensive record has been the foundation of the success. Goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi has been imperious and the backline has been boosted by the addition of center-back Hassan Tambakti in the knockout stages as he finished a Spain training camp with the senior team. Winger Haitham Asiri has not recovered from the injury that led to his withdrawal early in the semifinal win over Australia but there is strength in depth in the squad and determination.
Midfielder Hamid Al-Ghamdi was the man of the match against the Olyroos and is ready for Uzbekistan.
“We have kept five clean sheets so far and we owe it to ourselves for all the hard work. We have one more game now that we really need to win.”
The Ettifaq man wants victory for Al-Shehri. “Our head coach has helped us a lot throughout this tournament. We both understand what is needed from each other and we plan to give him the title.”
It won’t be easy. Hosts Uzbekistan have also been impressive on the road to the final, topping their group and beating the highly fancied Japan in the semifinals. There was drama in the quarter-final with the team needing penalties to overcome Iraq, but that experience may stand them in good stead for the big game.
Jasurbek Jaloliddinov scored a spectacular goal as the Central Asians defeated Japan 2-0 in the other semifinal. It was his third strike so far in the tournament, and the 20-year-old will be a threat and knows all about Saudi Arabia after scoring in the 2-2 draw between the two teams in qualification for this tournament last October.
“When we faced them in the qualifiers, it ended 2-2 and I scored. If I could do it before, there is no reason for me not to be able to do it again,” he said. “At least I hope I can, for the people of Uzbekistan. No matter where we are, we feel the support of 35 million Uzbekistan fans.”
There is a similar number back in Saudi Arabia, willing the team and the coach on to a long-awaited victory.
Saudi Arabia’s national team have kicked off their participation in the Jiu-Jitsu Thailand Open Grand Prix 2022 by winning one gold and four silver medals on Friday.
The female and male teams from the Kingdom had the distinction of reaching five finals in five different weights on Day 1 of the tournament in Bangkok.
The medals came from Abdulmalik Al-Murdhi, who won a gold in the -62 weight category, while Abdulaziz Al-Haidari won silver in the -56kg division. Badie Idris won two silver medals (U18 Jiu-Jitsu -73kg and U18 Jiu-Jitsu -73kg), while in the women’s competition, Lina Al-Hakeem won the silver in the +70kg division.
Hamad Al-Saad, the director of the national teams, said that the successes were a result of the early and extensive preparation for the tournament by the Saudi Jiu-Jitsu Federation, and echoed the team’s silver at the 2021 Jiu-Jitsu World Championship in the UAE last November, and gold at the 2022 Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Bahrain in March.