MADRID: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti predicted Friday that Kylian Mbappe and football’s other brightest young stars would bounce back strongly after disappointing showings in the Champions League. All four quarterfinal first leg matches thrilled supporters this week but some of the brightest names in the game were below their best on the biggest stage. … Read more
LONDON: Mohamed Salah scored one goal and set up three to help Liverpool demolish Sparta Prague 6-1 and march into the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday. After winning 5-1 the opening leg of their last 16 tie in Prague, Liverpool scored four in the opening 14 minutes at Anfield to advance on a massive 11-2 … Read more
PARIS: Kylian Mbappe returned to the starting lineup and took just 14 minutes to score as Paris Saint-Germain beat Nice 3-1 to reach the French Cup semifinals on Wednesday. He started the past two league games on the bench as part of coach Luis Enrique’s rotation policy, which most observers accept involves leaving out Mbappe … Read more
LONDON: Darwin Nunez scored twice to help Liverpool rout Sparta 5-1 and take a big step closer to the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday. Nunez’s right-footed shot from 25 meters (yards) flew past goalkeeper Peter Vindahl to double Liverpool’s early lead after Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty in Prague in the first leg of the round … Read more
LONDON: My cricket column this week referred to a follow-up hearing on Feb. 20 by the UK House of Commons Parliamentary Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport into racism in cricket. It focused specifically on what measures had been put in place since its initial hearing in November 2021, and after the recommendations of … Read more
Erling Haaland looks determined to make up for lost time. The Norway striker scored five goals to power Manchester City into the quarterfinals of the FA Cup in a 6-2 win against Luton on Tuesday. It was his eighth hat trick in a season-and-a-half with City and the second time he has scored five in … Read more
CARSON, California: Olivia Moultrie scored twice in her first national team start and the US defeated the Dominican Republic 5-0 on Tuesday night in the inaugural CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup tournament. Moultrie, 18, making just her third appearance with the national team, scored her first goal in the seventh minute when she stretched to tap … Read more
ABU DHABI: The last couple of months have admittedly been “surreal” for Saudi tennis player Yara Alhogbani. The 19-year-old got to witness live tennis matches between Ons Jabeur and Aryna Sabalenka, and Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, at home in Riyadh, for the very first time. She interacted with the stars and was given the … Read more