SPORTSaturday 16 June 2018

PAGE | 19 PAGES | 20-21Coach expects

Salah to play against Russia

Argentina seek Messi magicagainst Iceland

PORTUGAL SPAIN

3 3Ronaldo - 4' PEN

Ronaldo - 44'Ronaldo - 88'

24' - Diego Costa 55' - Diego Costa58' - Nacho

E | 19 PAGExpects o play

Russia

ArgenMessiagain

TODAY'S FIXTURESGROUP C

Kazan Arena, KazanFRANCE vs AUSTRALIA

1.00pm

GROUP DSpartak Stadium, MoscowARGENTINA vs ICELAND

4.00pm

GROUP CMordovia Arena, Saransk

PERU vs DENMARK7.00pm

GROUP DKaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad

CROATIA vs NIGERIA10.00pm

YESTERDAY'S RESULTSGROUP A

EGYPT 0-1 URUGUAY

GROUP BMOROCCO 0-1 IRAN

GROUP BPORTUGAL 3-3 SPAIN

Portugal’s forward Cristiano Ronaldo

celebrates after scoring his third goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group B match against

Spain at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi yesterday.

Hat-trick hero Ronaldo savesPortugal in Sochi thriller

AFP

SOCHI: Cristiano Ronaldo scored a stunning hat-trick as Portugal snatched a 3-3 draw with Spain in a World Cup classic yesterday.

Real Madrid star Ronaldo crashed in an 88th minute free-kick to snatch a point for Por-tugal after a second-half goal from Nacho put the Spaniards 3-2 ahead.

Ronaldo’s late equaliser capped a storming encounter which came after a chaotic few days which saw Spain coach Julen Lopetegui sacked and Fernando Hierro appointed as his replacement.

Earlier, Ronaldo had twice put the European champions in front only for Diego Costa to bring Spain level on each occasion on a steamy night on Russia’s Black Sea coast.

But then Ronaldo stepped up to send his free-kick from 25 yards up over the wall and into the net, as the Iberian neighbours settled for a point apiece in this Group B encounter.

It was a remarkable signal of intent from the current Ballon d’Or winner, who had never made a serious impact in any of his previous three World Cups, only managing to score one goal in each.

In one night the Real Madrid superstar doubled his

World Cup finals goal tally, and made history by scoring at an eighth consecutive major tour-nament going back to Euro 2004, when he was still a teenager.

It was typical of the now 33-year-old to take the head-lines after news from the Spain camp had dominated the build-up to this game.

The evening had started in style for Ronaldo, as he scored a fourth-minute penalty after going down in the box under a foul from Nacho, playing at

right-back with Dani Carvajal not fit.

Hierro, who cut an ani-mated figure as he stood on the touchline with his sleeves rolled up, must have wondered at that point what he had let himself in for.

Yet Spain responded well and had the better of the game, as they drew level for the first time in the 24th minute via a trademark piece of centre-forward play by Costa.

He left Pepe on the floor as the pair challenged for a high

ball, before breaking into the box and planting a low shot into the bottom corner.

The Portugal players were furious that no foul was given as Costa led with his forearm into the challenge on Pepe, but the officials let the goal stand without feeling the need to call on the Video Assistant Referee.

Spain then thought they had taken the lead as Isco smashed in a shot that bounced down onto the line off the underside of the bar, yet this time goal-line tech-

nology showed it was not in.With Andres Iniesta, Isco

and David Silva pulling the strings, Spain were on top, but Portugal went back in front just as half-time approached.

Goncalo Guedes teed up his captain Ronaldo, whose shot from 20 yards was straight at David De Gea, but the Man-chester United goalkeeper could only help it on its way.

It looked like Ronaldo’s first-half efforts might be in vain, as Spain regrouped at the interval and drew level 10 minutes into the second half with a textbook set-piece counter.

A free-kick floated into the area was headed back across the face of goal by Sergio Bus-quets and Costa was there to turn it in. Three minutes after that, Nacho’s glorious effort from 22 yards made it 3-2, his half-volley curling into the net off the left-hand post.

That looked to be that, but Ronaldo had the last word, and Morocco -- beaten 1-0 by Iran earlier on Friday -- will not look forward to facing him in their next game.

Spain’s forward Diego Costa (left) scores their second goal against Portugal yesterday.

Cristiano Ronaldo scores their third goal during yesterday’s match.

Cristiano Ronaldo scores three goals

as Portugal snatch a 3-3 draw with Spain

18 SATURDAY 16 JUNE 2018SPORT

FIFA probes empty seats in YekaterinburgAP

YEKATERINBURG: More than 5,000 people with tickets skipped Uruguay’s 1-0 win over Egypt in Yekaterinburg yesterday, the worst-attended World Cup game in eight years.

FIFA said it is investigating why, with “no-shows” one of the factors.

Pockets of orange seats were clearly visible in the lower tiers of the Yekaterinburg Arena, which has a 33,061 capacity for World Cup games. The temporary stands behind the goals for Russian fans appeared to be fuller.

FIFA said it allocated 32,278 tickets and the official attendance was 27,015 for the 5 p.m. kickoff. Egypt forward Mohamed Salah didn’t play in the game because of a shoulder injury.

“There were some bald spots and

it wasn’t very pleasant,” regional sports minister Leonid Rapoport told Russia’s RIA Novosti state news agency.

“We thought Salah would play.” Yekaterinburg is the furthest east

of Russia’s 11 host cities and is about 1,400 kilometers (880 miles) east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains, which are traditionally considered the border between Europe and Asia.

FIFA records show the last World Cup match with a smaller crowd was Paraguay’s 2-0 win over Slovakia in South Africa in 2010, which attracted 26,643 fans.

Five days before that game, 23,871 attended a 1-1 draw between New Zealand and Slovakia, the smallest number recorded for any World Cup game this century.

At the last World Cup in Brazil, no game had fewer than 37,000 people in the crowd.

General view of Empty seats during the World Cup Group A match between Egypt and Uruguay at the Ekaterinburg Arena, Yekaterinburg, Russia, yesterday

Saudis to hold players ‘accountable’ for Cup drubbing against RussiaAFP

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s sports authorities threatened yesterday to hold members of the national football team “accountable” after their crushing defeat against hosts Russia in the opening match of the World Cup.

Russia defied expectations as the lowest-ranked side in the tournament by thrashing Saudi Arabia 5-0 in front of an ecstatic home crowd in Moscow on Thursday.

The match was attended by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who sat a couple of seats away from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The result was disap-pointing and unsatisfactory,” Adel Ezzat, president of the Saudi Football Federation, told Al-Arabiya television yesterday.

A “number of players” including goalkeeper Abdullah

Al-Mayouf would be held accountable, he added.

The team had been trained

so they could rise to the occasion, Ezzat said.

“The collapse was not

because of fitness, but errors in passing the ball, technical errors,” he added.

Alongside the goalkeeper, Ezzat named two other players -- defender Omar H o s a w i a n d s t r i k e r Mohammed al-Sahlawi -- without specifying what action would be taken.

Saudi sports authority chief Turki al-Sheikh, who is leading the kingdom’s multi-billion dollar push for global footballing influence, said he took “full responsibility” for the defeat.

But he also lashed out at the players.

“We did everything for them... we provided them the best coaching staff,” Sheikh said in a video posted on Twitter.

“Let no-one tell me (Argentinian coach Juan Antonio) Pizzi is not a known coach. But these are our players. They did not do even five percent of what was required of them. This is a reality that we should admit.”

Regional Arab media also

blasted the “Green Falcons” for their humiliating defeat.

“Falcons brought down to earth”, read a headline in the English-language Arab News, a Saudi daily, quoting fans’ dismay over the poor showing.

“The bear eats the falcons”, said Kuwaiti newspaper al-Anba, while the Oman Daily called the defeat “the peak of disap-pointment” for Arab fans.

Privately-owned Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm decried the “painful fall of Saudi Arabia”.

This year is the first World Cup finals tournament Saudi Arabia has reached since 2006. Football’s global governing body FIFA last week ranked the team 67th in the world, ahead of Russia in 70th.

Head coach Pizzi took over the Saudi team in November last year after the football federation sacked Edgardo Bauza, a fellow Argentinian who had only been in charge for two months.

Saudi Arabia’s midfielder Taisir Al-Jassim controls the ball during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A match against Russia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Thursday.

Russia’s Cheryshev erases years of misfortune with spectacular displayREUTERS

MOSCOW: Russia winger Denis Cheryshev has had a career littered with mishaps but he thrust himself into the limelight with two spectacular goals from the bench in the host nation’s rampant 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia in Thurs-day’s World Cup opener.

A promising career as a thrusting, speedy winger has been continually interrupted by a series of muscle injuries, which led to him barely fea-turing for current club Vil-larreal for 18 months as he went in and out of surgery.

The 27-year-old only made nine starts for the La Liga side last season and was in danger of being left out of the World Cup squad after not starting for the national team for four years and being dis-carded for last year’s Confed-erations Cup.

But Cheryshev emphati-cally seized on the opportunity which Russia midfielder Alan Dzagoev’s injury presented him by producing a mesmer-izing piece of skill to dance past two Saudi Arabia defenders in

the area before smashing the ball into the roof of the net for Russia’s second goal of the game.

Just as stoppage time was approaching in Moscow he struck again, pinging in the fourth goal with a swipe of the outside of his boot from distance to take the party atmosphere inside the Luzhniki Stadium to the next level.

“I couldn’t have imagined a day like this in my wildest dreams. I’m just happy to have been able to help my team and my family. They have suffered a lot,” Cheryshev told a news conference after being named man of the match in the biggest win in a World Cup opener since 1954.

Cheryshev is one of only two members of Stanislav Cherchesov’s squad to play outside of Russia and he has spent most of his life in Spain, moving to the Iberian penin-sular when his father Dmitri signed for Sporting Gijon in 1996.

The winger only made a handful of appearances for Real Madrid but is etched into

their history for the wrong reasons after he inadvertently got them thrown out of the King’s Cup in 2015-16 for playing against Cadiz when he was in fact suspended.

He was sent on loan to Valencia and was subjected to humiliating taunts in a game at the Nou Camp from

Barcelona fans, who chanted “Cheryshev we love you” for his role in one of their rivals’ most embarrassing episodes in recent memory.

But that incident and his litany of injuries faded into insignificance after he helped fire his country to a remarkable win, their first in nine months.

“I remember his condition before the Confederation’s Cup and compared to his shape now it’s two different people,” added Russia coach Cherchesov.

“He knows it. He thanked me with two goals for helping him to achieve his dream and play at the World Cup.”

Sacked Lopetegui gets behind SpainAFP

SOCHI, RUSSIA: Julen Lopetegui (pictured) has given his backing to Spain at the World Cup, despite being fired as coach just 48 hours before their opening game at the tournament in Russia.

Lopetegui was sensationally sacked on Wednesday after the announcement that he would be taking over at Real Madrid following the World Cup, with Fernando Hierro hastily brought in to replace him.

“All the best in this World Cup to Fernando and a magnificent team and group of people: our Spanish national team,” wrote Lopetegui on Twitter.

“We will feel part of your strength, union and passion,” added Lopetegui, who was unveiled by Real on Thursday after his sudden dismissal from the Spain camp in Russia.

La Roja had been unbeaten in 20 games under the former goalkeeper fol-lowing his appointment two years ago, and came to the World Cup among the favourites as a result.

Russia’s midfielder Denis Cheryshev celebrates after scoring their fourth goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A match against Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Thursday.

REUTERS

SARANSK: It’s a long way from the Andes mountains to the Russian steppes, but Gino Huaneo was not going to miss watching Peru make their first appearance in the World Cup finals in 36 years.

The 27-year-old engineer travelled from his hometown of Cuzco to Lima, Amsterdam and Moscow by plane, then took a nine-hour train ride to Saransk in the Republic of Mordovia, where Peru take on Denmark today in their first Group C match.

“I had to save a lot to make this trip,” he said. “But we have great possi-bilities. We have a good team.”

He was one of several hundred Peruvians who have made their way to Saransk, seemingly all dressed in the red-and-white national colours, some sporting distinctive Indian-style woolly hats and some even feathered head-dresses.

One man carried an inflatable llama.

The Thursday evening plane from Moscow to Saransk was almost entirely full of Peruvians. They clapped when it took off, cheered when it landed, and even broke into chants when the bus dropped them off at the terminal.

“After 36 years, we have to give it everything,” Huaneo said, speaking outside the stadium on the eve of the match.

He was delighted by the return of star player and captain Paolo Guerrero, who has been involved in a doping incident with a particularly Andean twist.

Guerrero was banned after he tested positive for a cocaine byproduct con-tained in a tea he said he had drunk unwittingly. In Peru and other Andean nations, coca leaves are often consumed legally with hot water as a kind of tea.

The suspension was temporarily suspended pending appeal, allowing him to play in the tournament.

“He is our best player, a Peruvian Messi. Tomorrow when we sing our national anthem, the whole world will feel it,” Huaneo said.

Huaneo was following the team through its three

games, which also include France in Yekaterinburg and Australia in Sochi.

“One is in Asia, the other is Europe,” he said with just a hint of trepidation.

Other fans milled around outside the Mor-dovia Arena on the out-skirts of the quiet city dom-inated by Soviet-style architecture.

Milagros Huaita, a 24-year-old student from Lima, had come with her mother Berta, her uncles and cousin, also after making the long journey by plane and train.

“It’s the first time in my life Peru have been in the finals,” she said. “The team is very good. We haven’t lost in 14 games. We are going all the way to the final.”

She picked out mid-fielder Edison Flores as another player to watch.

19SATURDAY 16 JUNE 2018 SPORT

Coach expects Salah to play against Russia

Egypt’s forward Mohamed Salah

walks on the pitch after the final

whistle of their 2018 World Cup Group A match against

Uruguay at the Ekaterinburg Arena

in Ekaterinburg yesterday.

Peruvians bring high hopes to Saransk

AP

YEKATERINBURG: Egypt coach Hector Cuper couldn’t say for certain whether Mohamed Salah’s absence was the thing cost his team during its 1-0 loss to Uruguay at the World Cup.

But he also wasn’t sure that his star striker couldn’t have helped the Pharaohs pull off an upset in their Group A opener.

“Mo Salah is an important player for us, that is without a doubt,” Cuper said after Friday’s match. “Perhaps if Mo had been on the pitch today the outcome could have been different, but we’ll never know that.” The odds of Salah sitting out back-to-back World Cup games with his injured left shoulder are even slimmer.

On Thursday, Cuper was optimistic that Salah would play in the opener. But he said the decision was made to be cautious on Friday. Though he quickly added he thinks Salah will be ready for Tuesday’s crucial match against Russia in St. Petersburg.

“The decision is always taken by myself and the staff, especially in a case like Mo Salah’s case,” Cuper said. “Yesterday we were quite certain during that training session he would play. After the session there was question whether if he fell if he could get another injury.

“So we decided not to take that risk because we want to be sure we have him in top form in our match

against Russia and Saudi Arabia.” Egypt had only eight shots on goal and three on target against Uruguay as it struggled to create opportunities inside Uruguay’s well-organised defense.

Marwan Mohsen did his best to push the action in Salah’s place. It just wasn’t the same.

“I think we have what we have, and we try to do our best with what we have,” Cuper said. “I think we do have good forwards and good players to do a good job here at the World Cup.... Perhaps we should have attacked more, but I think today we did go on the offensive.”

When Egypt did find a few openings in Uruguay’s defense, their attempt to play the ball into dangerous positions were thwarted by deflections or eventually smothered by multiple defenders.

As Salah looked on from the bench and several times tried to clap his teammates into one final push, the Pharaohs spent most of their energy in the second half simply trying to fend off Uruguay’s increasing pressure on their end.

The effort was clearly there. Their luck and time simply ran out.

Afterward, even Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez conceded that the result might have been different had Salah been on the field.

“Today,” he said, “could have easily been a draw.”

Supporters of the Peruvian team cheer during a gathering in central Moscow, Russia on Thursday.

Uruguay coach refuses to blame SuarezREUTERS

YEKATERINBURG: Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez was at a loss to explain how Luis Suarez missed three golden chances in his side’s 1-0 win over Egypt in their opening World Cup Group A game but refused to blame his leading striker.

The usually ruthless Barcelona forward was saved embarrassment for his profligacy by a late header from centre back Jose Gimenez which earned the twice world champions a first ever victory in a World Cup opener.

“I don’t know what happened but I will not speculate. I have seen many great players like (Lionel) Messi and (Diego) Maradona not living up to their potential in matches. It is not a sin,” Tabarez told a news conference.

“Suarez, as you say, was not playing as well as he normally does but he had three scoring opportunities. The goalkeeper saved a couple of them. That happens to strikers.”

Egypt coach Hector Cuper opted against risking his side’s talismanic forward Mohamed Salah as he continues his recovery from a shoulder injury, making Suarez the main attraction in his first World Cup match since biting Giorgio Chiellini in a last-16 game in Brazil four years ago. Suarez was immobile for large parts of the game had three glorious opportu-nities, hitting the side netting in the first half and failing to beat Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy twice in the second from close range.

His struggles in front of goal mirrored his dreadful start to last season with Barca after rushing back to action following a knee injury and Tabarez appeared to suggest his striker was lacking confidence in front of goal.

“In good times, everything goes into the back of the net while at other times the goal seems smaller. As long as he gives his all we are happy,” added the 71-year-old coach, who is suffering from Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare degenerative disease, and had to be helped into his dugout before the game.

“I don’t discuss individual players in press conferences. I don’t point fingers. I don’t discuss players who have given glory to Uru-guayan football.”

Russian views of their team go from shame to prideREUTERS

MOSCOW: Millions of Russians have listened to and laughed at a song deriding their football team but the side’s 5-0 thumping of Saudi Arabia in the World Cup’s opening game on Thursday has suddenly filled them with pride and hope.

The national team, ranked the weakest in the tournament by FIFA, had until Thursday not won a single match since last October and has long been derided by many Russians.

In the last three days alone, almost 8 million people have watched a Russian comic’s song on YouTube mocking the team as an embarrassing failure packed with irresponsible losers.

The margin of their victory over the Saudis - the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament - and the flair some of the Russian players showed on the pitch, however, has triggered an outpouring of national

pride and the start of what looks like a re-evaluation of Russia’s team.

Ekaterina Andreeva, the but-toned-down veteran newsreader on the main evening news show Vremya (Time), told viewers how pleasant it was to announce that Russia had won 5-0, while popular pro-Kremlin Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid lashed out at the team’s critics.

“Everyone who didn’t believe in our team, take that - 5-0!,” its front page read on Friday.

Chants of gratitude from Russian supporters in the stands had not been heard since 2012 when Russia beat the Czech team, it said.

“This victory was important and essential for us to believe in our strength once again,” it reported.

Even the normally staid gov-ernment newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, a staple with senior gov-ernment officials, had a big picture of a Russian player scoring a goal mid-air as well as an image of

President Vladimir Putin watching the game.

Russia had “flattened” Saudi Arabia, it told readers.

Yesterday, a reporter saw a van in central Moscow with the game’s score spray-painted onto the side, while celebrations in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg about 1,500 km (930 miles) east of Moscow went on into the small hours, with cars honking their horns and fans repeatedly shouting “Russia!”

Vitaly Milonov, an outspoken lawmaker from the ruling pro-Putin United Russia party, suggested Rus-sians who insulted and ridiculed the Russian team should be fined 10,000 roubles ($160) and said he had drawn up draft legislation to that effect.

“They (the team) represent our state,” Milonov told Komsomolskaya Pravda.

“So the reptiles pouring insults on our team are insulting the whole country.”

Russian fans celebrate the fifth goal against Saudi Arabia during the World Cup Group A match, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia on Thursday.

Argentina seek Messi magic against Iceland

AFP

MOSCOW: Lionel Messi’s Argen-tina aim to put a shambolic

World Cup build-up behind them and make

a statement in their opening match against tournament debutants Iceland today.

The two-time champions arrived in Russia dogged by poor form, injuries and controversy.

But Messi is a man on a mission as he chases his first World Cup winner’s medal and will not toler-ate complacency against the minnows at Moscow’s Spartak stadium.

“Iceland showed they could compete with any-one at the last Euros,” he said, referring to their giant-killing run at the 2016 European Champion-ship in France.

Messi was devastated by Argentina’s loss to Ger-many in the 2014 World Cup final, with the agony compounded by back-to-back Copa America defeats to Chile in 2015 and 2016.

Despite his achieve-ments with Barcelona, the five-time world player of the year is yet to win a

major international tournament and time is running out as his 31st birthday looms.

He briefly retired from interna-tional football after the 2016 Copa America and has hinted he will do so permanently if the campaign in Russia ends in failure.

The Group D clash pits an Argen-tine side that critics say is too focused on superstar Messi against a band of grafters who pride themselves on teamwork.

On paper, the South Americans should have little trouble disposing of Iceland, an island nation of 330,000 that is the smallest country to ever reach the finals.

But the Icelanders revel in their underdog status and showed at Euro 2016 they will not be cowed on the big stage.

Spurred on by their fans’ thun-derous “Viking clap”, they earned a 1-1 draw with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal then famously dumped out England to reach the quarter-finals.

“We kept Ronaldo quite quiet so hopefully we can do the same against Messi,” said Burnley winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson.

“We know we’re probably going to be defending for a lot of the time and obviously he’s one of the best players in the world and he can turn it on.”

Iceland, ranked 17 places behind Argentina at 22nd in the world, topped their group in European

qualifying with comfortable wins over Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey.

Argentina reserve goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman said the squad would do everything in their power to give Messi the success he craves but they are expecting a tight match against Iceland.

“We must show patience and move the ball around to try and find space, and look to get in behind with speed,” said Guzman, who plays for Mexican club Tigres.

“It will be a very tight game in which we’ll also have to control our nerves.”

Argentina only made it to the finals courtesy of a Messi hat-trick in their final qualifier against Ecuador.

Subsequent friendlies have given cause for concern -- there was a 4-2 loss to Nigeria in November and a 6-1 humiliation by Spain in March, although Messi did not play in either match.

Argentina’s final warm-up against Israel in Jerusalem was can-celled after protests from Palestinians, miring the team in con-troversy and leaving players short of match practice.

To further compound their prob-lems, goalkeeper Sergio Romero and midfielder Manuel Lanzini both fell victim to late injuries.

Accusing Argentina of over-reli-ance on Messi may seem unfair to a team boasting the sharp attacking talents of Sergio Aguero, Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain but it is a view coach Jorge Sampaoli him-self has expressed.

“He can carry the team on his shoulders,” Sampaoli said of the player who scored 45 goals in 54 games for Barcelona this season.

“This is going to be his team.”

���������������������

��������������

���

���������

��������������

����������������� ������

���������������������������������

�

!��!��"

!��#��$

%%�����&

'(����)��

���

��������

�������������

������������

�!����"�#$��%&���'�!����"�#$��%&���'

�� �����(�)�!*�#(�$

20 SATURDAY 16 JUNE 2018SPORT 21SATURDAY 16 JUNE 2018 SPORT

A mural depicting Argentina’s football star Lionel Messi, created by Russian street artist Sergey Erofeev is seen in Bronnitsy near Moscow, ahead of the Russia 2018 World Cup.

���������������������

��������������

��'�

���+��

��������������

����������������� ������

���������������������������

�

!��*��*

�'

+��$��#

%%�����&

'(����)��

��'

��,��+�

�������������

������������

�!����"�#$��%&���'�!����"�#$��%&���'

��"(��(�)�-� ���(

AP

KALININGRAD: The youngest team at the World Cup will need to grow up fast.

Nigeria will rely heavily on 31-year-old captain John Obi Mikel to marshal the youngsters when the Super Eagles meet Croatia and its star-packed midfield in Kaliningrad tonight.

The opening Group D match pits mid-fielder John Obi Mikel and the young lineup against a Croatia team powered by one of the tournament’s strongest and most expe-rienced midfields: Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic of Real Madrid, alongside Ivan Rak-itic of Barcelona.

“We’re a very young team and we have to play without pressure,” said Mikel, the former Chelsea midfielder who now plays in China. “We have energy in this team, we want to fight, we’re determined to do well and we know we can do well.”

Nigeria was the first African nation to qualify for Russia, but the team has sput-tered in preseason matches with losses to both England and the Czech Republic.

Croatia, meanwhile, needed a playoff victory over Greece to qualify for the World Cup. After scoring just 15 goals in its

qualifying campaign, questions have been raised about Croatia’s attack.

Nikola Kalinic, who plays for AC Milan, believes Croatia’s strikers can score.

“Problems scoring goals? I would not say there is any issue about it,” he said. “We scored four goals against Greece in the play-off game. We are always at our best when we need to be.”

Group D is strong with Lionel Messi’s Argentina and an Iceland team that is likely to have a well-drilled defense, so Nigeria and Croatia both need a strong showing in their opening match.

“It’s important to get something out of this game,” said Nigeria goalkeeper Francis Uzoho. “Croatia have good players in top teams in the top leagues, but this is another tournament.”

Croatia finished third in its inaugural World Cup - in France in 1998 - but has been eliminated at the group stage in 2002, 2006 and four years ago in Brazil.

Nigeria has never advanced beyond the round of 16 in its five World Cup appearances.

Nigeria left back Brian Idowe should feel at home during this World Cup. The defender was born in St. Petersburg and has lived and

played in Russia his whole life. He currently plays for Amkar Perm at the club level. Ahmed Musa, the Leicester City forward, played the second half of this season on loan to CSKA Moscow.

He also played there before moving to the Premier League.

“So many signs, the team have a real relationship with Russia,” said the Super Eagles’ German coach Gernot Rohr.

Zlatko Dalic turned around Croatia’s qualifying campaign just in time. Now he needs to find a winning formula in Russia.

Dalic was appointed less than a year ago when Croatia was in second place in its World Cup qualifying group and facing a tough match against Ukraine. Croatia won that match 2-0 and then beat Greece 4-1 on aggregate in the playoffs to earn a berth in Russia.

Dalic had been coaching clubs in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia since 2010 when he was plucked from relative obscurity to lead Croatia. Modric called the new coach “phenomenal” as he helped book Croatia’s World Cup ticket.

“This first match is very important, it will set the tone for the rest of our tournament,” Dalic said.

Iceland charms before facing Messi in World Cup debutAP

MOSCOW: Iceland is showing the charming, funny, friendly style that has won friends worldwide before the team’s World Cup debut against Argentina.

In a witty meeting with international media yesterday, Iceland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson began by welcoming the room in Russian, praised his team’s hosts and its first opponent, then disarmed his inquisitors by heading off the usual ques-tion about his day job.

“I am still a dentist and I will never stop being a dentist,” the coach said in Icelandic.

Hallgrimsson acknowledged his coaching staff has a “headache” prepar-ing to face Lionel Messi today in “the biggest game in the history of Icelandic football.”

He also knows the Nordic island of 330,000 people has global support from its fairytale run to the 2016 European Championship quarterfinals.

“It’s a pretty little nation and pretty

people in general. You can’t but love us,” the coach said at a packed news confer-ence at Spartak Stadium.

A reporter from Colombia, which is also at the World Cup, told Hallgrimsson and captain Aron Gunnarsson they had “many supporters” in his country and across South America.

“People like that such a sparsely populated nation is in the World Cup,” the coach said. “We feel it, not just from Colombia, but all over the world.”

If peace-loving Iceland really is

every neutral’s favorite, it might be the only army it needs.

“We haven’t attacked anyone. We haven’t been at war with anyone,” Hall-grimsson said, before citing a 1970s fisheries dispute with Britain. “We have only had the Cod War and nobody got hurt there.”

One obvious question that did get asked arises before every game involv-ing Messi - how to stop the five-time world player of the year.

Argentina stumbled through the

18-game South American qualifying group and needed Messi’s seven goals in a relatively low tally of 19 to advance to Russia.

“I don’t have any magic formula,” Hallgrimsson said. “Everybody has tried everything against him and he always managed to score.”

It would be “not fair” to assign one player to stop Messi, he said, so Iceland will take a collective approach as a team that served it well in recent years.

Gunnarsson said there was no

pressure on the players, who have landed in a tough Group D which also has Nigeria and Croatia.

“We have nothing to lose. We feel good,” said the midfielder, who will lead the postgame clapping ritual that closely bonds fans and players.

The so-called Thunderclap helped define the team at Euro 2016 in France where Iceland stunned at its first tour-nament appearance.

“We went on adrenalin in everything we did,” said Hallgrimsson.

Time for France to show their world-class pedigreeAFP

KAZAN: The ego-driven problems of the past that saw France players go on strike at the 2010 World Cup are well and truly consigned to the past as the latest crop of Les Bleus target a repeat of their 1998 glory.

But coach Didier Deschamps, who captained France to World Cup victory in Paris two decades ago, faces a dilemma on the eve of a campaign which begins with a potentially tricky opener against Australia today: mak-ing sure his wealth of young French talent live up to their heady reputation.

Having steered France to the cusp of Euro 2016 glory, Deschamps watched in dismay as Portugal pun-ished France in extra-time at the Stade de France.

Two years on, France arrive in Rus-sia with high hopes of young players like Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele although it remains to be seen whether those are sufficient when it comes to meeting the big guns of Ger-many, Spain, Brazil and Argentina in the later stages.

“You don’t win competitions on tal-ent alone,” 1998 World Cup winner Christope Dugarry warned. “You win because you’ve got the right mentality.”

Fluffing their lines against Group C minnows Australia at the Kazan Arena would be unthinkable for most French fans, although the Socceroos -- who have talked up how they will fight tooth and nail to get a result -- have pledged to provide the first hurdle.

“(Against France) we’re going to be ready, and giving ourselves opportu-nities to win this game,” warned Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan.

“We can’t wait for Saturday.”Bold predictions aside, on paper

France should breeze through a Group C which also features Peru and Denmark.

Antoine Griezmann, who announced on Thursday he was resist-ing advances from Barcelona and

staying at Atletico Madrid, is one of he hottest properties in world football and, as he did at Euro 2016, is expected to shine in Russia.

Two years after a disappointing Euro 2016, Manchester United mid-fielder Paul Pogba could finally shine on the big stage, along with 19-year-old Paris Saint-Germain striker Mbappe, who will be making his World

Cup debut.In comparison, Australia coach Bert

van Marwijk has yet to decide who will lead the Socceroos’ attack, with former A-League reject Andrew Nabbout appearing to be leading the race ahead of Tomi Juric, who plays for Swiss side Lucerne.

The Aussies’ defensive game, a top priority for Van Marwijk since he was parachuted in to replace Ange Postec-oglou in January, is still a work in progress.

Australia have few big name stars, but Nabbout insists the gulf in class is not an issue.

“We’ve got a job to do against France,” said Nabbout, who is now with J-League side Urawa Reds.

“We’re aware of the big name play-ers, the calibre they have. But we have a structure and a strategy, and if we execute that to the best of our ability then we can cause them some problems.”

Australia defender Josh Risdon, who postponed his honeymoon after a call-up to Van Marwijk’s squad, admitted: “It’s going to be a tough one to kick off our campaign.”

But he added: “The bigger the occa-sion, the tougher the opponent, the better we get up for the game.”

Eight years on from an infamous France players’ strike in South Africa, from where striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home in disgrace after insulting then coach Raymond Domenech, Deschamps is in charge of a comparatively better behaved and respectful team.

“The behaviour has been excep-tional, they’re polite and respectful,” said French Football Federation pres-ident Noel Le Graet.

“There’s been a clear change when you consider the unbelievable stuff that went on in 2010. It couldn’t have been worse.

“Didier (Deschamps) has done eve-rything to make sure the (squad) conditions are optimal.”

It is now up to Deschamps’ young team to perform on the pitch.

France’s forward Ousmane Dembele (L) and forward Kylian Mbappe (centre) attend a training session with team-mates at the Kazan Arena in Kazan yesterday, ahead of their World Cup 2018 Group C match against Australia.

���������������������

��������������

'�����'����

��������������

����������������� ������

%�����

�(�������

$,#*

$,,#

���

�

������������������������

�

!��$��#

#"��-��$

%%�����&

'(����)��

+'

��'�

���

�������������

%������

�������

�(���������

�������������

�(�������

%�����

�!����"�#$��%&���'�!����"�#$��%&���'

��(�*��)��%���(#�(

Nigeria’s forward Victor Moses (right) attends a training session with team-mates at Essentuki Arena in southern Russia yesterday, ahead of today’s World

Cup clash against Croatia.Youthful Nigeria brace for Croatia impact

Peru set for Eriksen challengeREUTERS

SARANSK: Peru’s long-awaited return to the World Cup could turn sour at the Mordovia Arena against Denmark today if they cannot keep play-maker Christian Eriksen in check and fail to nullify their opponents’ height advantage.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Eriksen has arrived in Russia on the back of fine campaigns for both club and country. He was the joint third-best scorer in European qualifying with 11 goals behind Robert Lewandowski (16) and Cristiano Ronaldo (15).

The 26-year-old also scored 10 league goals for Spurs last season and will carry the hopes of an entire nation when Denmark start their cam-paign against Peru.

“Eriksen is a very important player, very well known and he will be a key player and we have to be able to face players like him,” Peru coach Ricardo Gareca told reporters yesterday.

“But we also have players at that level. He won’t be the player we have to concentrate on. Playing against players like him will allow us to grow and learn.”

With France, one of the pre-tournament favourites, also in Group C, Peru cannot afford to drop points against Denmark if they are to progress to the knockouts on their return to the global stage after a 36-year absence.

Today’s match at the 44,000-capacity sta-dium could prove decisive for both Peru and Denmark as both sides will fancy their chances to then pick up full points against Australia and progress from the group stages.

Schooled in the ways of total football during a three-year spell at Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam, Eriksen won praise from no less a judge than former Netherlands great Johan Cruyff for his skill and technique.

With his set-piece prowess and two-footed technical excellence, Eriksen will be the engine driving Danish hopes in Russia.

If dealing with Eriksen on the ground is a chal-lenge, Peru will also have to ensure they are up for the battle in the air when the Spurs play-maker delivers from set-pieces.

Denmark boast one of the tallest teams in the tournament with an average height of 185cm while Peru, who became the final team to qual-ify for the World Cup through a two-legged inter-continental playoff, are the shortest at 178.

Denmark will look to take advantage by win-ning the aerial battles, their Norwegian coach Age Hareide predicted yesterday.

But Gareca said: “We know they are taller. We are used to playing teams that are good and have tall players and are very good in the air.”

“Up to now, we have been able to overcome this challenge. I think we ready to stop that kind of game.

“Fortunately our sport is made for players of any size. Football is not like that. One of the char-acteristics of football is that anyone can play.”

(Against France) we’re going to be ready, and giving ourselves opportunities to win this game. We can’t wait for Saturday: Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan

e’ree’ree’ree’ree’ree’re

eseseseses ininininintt ttt

er rrr rrr

22 SATURDAY 16 JUNE 2018SPORT

India hammer Test minnows Afghanistan AFP

BENGALURU: Afghanistan’s fairytale entry into Test cricket ended in a bruising defeat inside two days by world number one team India yesterday.

India bowled out Afghanistan twice in a day as they completed a crushing innings and 262 runs win over the outclassed debutants.

Cricket has become the national sport of the country torn apart by decades of war but the first five-day game turned into a Test of fire for the Afghans.

Ravindra Jadeja took four wickets as India skittled out Afghanistan for 103 in the final session while following on at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The second innings lasted just 38.4 overs with Hashmat-ullah Shahidi top-scoring with an unbeaten 36.

Earlier the Afghans fell for 109 in 27.5 overs in their first innings, seeking to counter a for-midable Indian score of 474.

It was the 21st time that a Test had finished inside two days and just the fourth that a team was bowled out twice in a day. Afghanistan also batted the fewest overs for a team in their Test debut.

“We were surprised by how quickly things ended because we were a good team,” said Afghan skipper Ashgar Stanikzai.

“Test cricket is totally dif-ferent from T20 and one day matches. But this was good for us and good for the future. We

have a lot of time and we will work on our weaknesses” he added.

Ravichandran Ashwin got last man Wafadar bowled for nought to complete the win after Umesh Yadav rattled the Afghan top order with three early strikes.

Hashmatullah Shahidi stuck around for 88 balls trying to salvage some pride by taking the match into a third day but the I n d i a n b o w l i n g w a s unforgiving.

Jadeja returned figures of 4-17 with his left-arm spin after Ashwin had also got four wickets in Afghanistan’s first innings.

The Afghan players, many of whom learned their cricket in refugee camps in Pakistan, got a bitter taste of the rigours of the five-day game early on day one.

“The learning curve is huge, it’s a mountain to climb. But they want to succeed and they work very hard but now we know that we have to work five times as hard,” said Afghanistan coach Phil Simmons.

“I believe we will get there,” the former West Indian all-rounder added.

Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay laid the foundations of the big win during with a 168-run part-nership on day one that exposed the Afghan bowlers ’ inexperience.

Dhawan, who smashed a merciless 107, and Vijay, who made 105, hit the Afghan spinners including teen sen-sation Rashid Khan to all parts

of the ground. Afghanistan took four Indian wickets late on Thursday to raise hopes of a fightback.

But Hardik Pandya’s aggressive 71 kept the hosts in control of the one-off game.

India skipper Ajinkya Rahane felt for his opponents and said

Afghanistan will make the step up. “The more and more they play, they will learn. It’s just the beginning for them,” Rahane told reporters. “You cannot blame them,” he added. “They tried their best. Test cricket is all about attitude and patience and they have been playing a lot of T20

cricket. “With their bowling they can damage any team. They need to learn with their batting. If two or three guys can bat for a long period then they can be a decent side,” said India’s stand-in skipper.

Afghan paceman Yamin Ahmadzai made his presence felt with figures of 3-51 while fellow

paceman Wafadar and spin sen-sation Rashid Khan picked up two wickets each.

Afghanistan were only made full members of the Interna-tional Cricket Council last year along with Ireland, who lost their debut Test to Pakistan last month.

Indian cricketers walk back after their victory on the second day of one-off Test against Afghanistan at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru yesterday.

England’s Alex Hales during nets at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Britain, yesterday.

Sri Lankan Test greats snub national selectorsAFP

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan cricket legends Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Mura-litharan have rejected a request to provide consultancy services to the struggling national team, saying they had no “trust in the system”.

National selectors made a formal request Thursday to hire several former players, including Jayawardene, Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakkara, for a special committee that would advise the team on how to return to winning ways.

Last year, Sri Lanka suffered a Test and one-day whitewash to India on home soil, lost a home ODI series to bottom-ranked Zimbabwe, and crashed out of the Cham-pions Trophy in the group stage.

They were also soundly beaten in the first Test on the tour of the West Indies last weekend, and skittled for 253 in the first innings of the second Test on Thursday.

Muralitharan, 46, retired from interna-tional cricket in 2010 after becoming the

world’s highest Test wicket taker with a haul of 800. “I am of the view that it (the invi-tation) is an insincere, cunning move, to use us when the cricket administration is in such a deplorable state,” the spin maestro said in a statement on Friday.

Late last year, Jayawardene was appointed to a special panel to advise the then-sports minister on corrective measures.

He turned down the latest request saying his recommendations in the past had been ignored and that he did not want a repeat of the experience.

“I don’t have any trust in the system. If any one wants to buy time please don’t use us!” the former Sri Lanka captain said on Twitter.

Jayawardene scored 11,814 Test runs in 149 matches. He also appeared in 55 Twenty20 internationals and 448 ODIs, scoring a century in Sri Lanka’s defeat by India in the 2011 World Cup final.

There was no immediate response from Sangakkara and Sri Lankan cricket authorities.

England pacer Willey is glad he made IPL ‘no-brainer’ move in April

AFP

LONDON: England all-rounder David Willey has insisted playing in this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League was a “no-brainer” even if it put his county contract with Yorkshire at risk.

The 28-year-old is adamant he’s a better player for the expe-rience of working under Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming, the former New Zealand captain, even though his stint with the IPL champions amounted to just three games.

Now Willey, the son of the ex-Test batsman and former international umpire Peter Willey, is looking to put that experience to good use by helping England win their first World Cup title when they stage the 2019 showpiece tournament.

A call to go to Chennai as an injury replacement came at the start of the English season and meant Willey angered missed several weeks of Yorkshire’s county campaign.

It was a move that angered the Headingley hierarchy, although he has since signed a new Yorkshire deal, but Willey, asked if it had been a difficult decision replied: “It was a no-brainer. You don’t get the chance to go and play in the biggest Twenty20 competition in the world every day. I was threatened with them ripping my contract up -- which wasn’t great -- but that has all been resolved now.”

Willey, however, said playing in the IPL had seen him learn “a lot from a tactical, mental and skill point of view” in a career that has so far yielded 36 one-day international appearances and 20 in Twenty20 internationals for England.

“I found my love for the game again while I was out there, and I really do think I’ve become a student of the game again,” he added. “I’ve signed another year at Yorkshire -- which is going through today -- and I still want to play all formats.”

Ponting wants Maxwell to be batting lynchpinAGENCIES

LONDON: Former captain Ricky Ponting believes Glenn Maxwell has nothing to prove to anyone and wants the big-hitting 29-year-old to become Australia’s batting mainstay in one-dayers.

Maxwell topscored for Australia with 62 in Wednesday’s first ODI against England which the visitors lost by three wickets.

Ponting, who is assisting head coach Justin Langer for the tour, called for con-sistency from the explosive Victorian.

“He (Maxwell) is at his best when the team is in trouble. When he goes out at 250 for three, that is when he makes silly mis-takes,” Ponting told reporters.

“Well done to Glenn (for his knock), but I am sure he will be analysing his own innings and thinking he could have done a bit better.”

Ponting also said the top-order must deliver “big runs”.

Ponting, one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation, has joined the backroom staff of new Australia coach and former Test team-mate Langer for the tour.

Reflecting on Australia’s slump to 90 for five on Wednesday, Ponting said: “It high-lighted again the importance of our top-order batsman taking responsibility and getting some big runs.”

After the early loss of Travis Head, Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh put on 40 for the second wicket only for both batsmen to be dismissed by Ali.

“We lost an early wicket but I thought Marsh and Finch’s partnership looked really promising. But both of them getting out in successive overs to Moeen Ali, and all of a sudden we are behind the eight ball,” explained Ponting.

“It’s just little moments like that were someone just has to put their hand up and say ‘Right, I am going to be the man that’s going to get through here and do what my team needs me to do’ and it didn’t happen,” he added.

“These players need to be hard on them-selves and work out how they can improve on a daily basis,” insisted Ponting, who made a brilliant 140 not out when Australia beat India in the 2003 World Cup final in Johan-nesburg. Nevertheless, Ponting was confident of an improvement.

“It didn’t happen (Wednesday) but there is certainly enough skill and talent there to push on and win some games through the remainder of this series,” he said.

Reigning world champions Australia take on England in the second ODI at Cardiff today.

India (I innings)M Vijay lbw b Wafadar ....................................... 105S Dhawan c Nabi b Ahmadzai............................ 107L Rahul b Ahmadzai ............................................. 54C Pujara c Nabi b Rahman ................................... 35A Rahane lbw b Khan ............................................10D Karthik run out ..................................................... 4H Pandya c Zazai b Wafadar ................................71R Ashwin c Zazai b Ahmadzai .............................. 18R Jadeja c Shah b Nabi .........................................20I Sharma lbw b Khan .............................................. 8U Yadav not out .....................................................26Extras (B1, LB12, NB1, W2) .................................16Total (all out)......................................... 474Fall of wickets: 1-168, 2-280, 3-284, 4-318, 5-328, 6-334, 7-369, 8-436, 9-440, 10-474.Bowling: Ahmadzai 19-7-51-3 (w1), Wafadar 21-5-100-2 (w1, nb1), Nabi 13-0-65-1, Khan 34.5-2-154-2, Rahman 15-1-75-1, Stanikzai 2-0-16-0.Afghanistan (I innings)M Shahzad run out .................................................14J Ahmadi b Sharma .................................................. 1R Shah lbw b Yadav ...............................................14A Zazai b Sharma .................................................... 6H Shahidi lbw b Ashwin .........................................11A Stanikzai b Ashwin ..............................................11M Nabi c Sharma b Ashwin .................................. 24

R Khan c Yadav b Jadeja .........................................7Y Ahmadzai c Jadeja b Ashwin ............................. 0M Rahman st Karthik b Jadeja ............................. 15Wafadar (not out) ................................................... 6Total (all out) .........................................109Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-21, 3-35, 4-35, 5-50, 6-59, 7-78, 8-87, 9-88, 10-109.Bowling: Yadav 6-1-18-1, Sharma 5-0-28-2, Pan-dya 5-0-18-0, Ashwin 8-1-27-4, Jadeja 3.5-1-18-2.Afghanistan (II innings)M Shahzad c Karthik b Yadav ............................... 13J Ahmadi c Dhawan b Yadav ...................................3R Shah c Rahane b Sharma ................................... 4M Nabi lbw b Yadav ................................................ 0H Shahidi not out .................................................. 36A Stanikzai c Dhawan b Jadeja ............................ 25A Zazai b Jadeja ........................................................ 1R Khan b Jadeja ......................................................12Y Ahmadzai b Sharma ............................................. 1M Rahman c Yadav b Jadeja ...................................3Wafadar b Ashwin .................................................. 0Extras (B4, LB1) ......................................................5Total (all out) .........................................103Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-22, 3-22, 4-24, 5-61, 6-62, 7-82, 8-85, 9-98, 10-103.Bowling: Sharma 7-2-17-2, Yadav 7-1-26-3, Pandya 4-2-6-0, Ashwin 11.4-3-32-1, Jadeja 9-3-17-4.

SCOREBOARD

23SATURDAY 16 JUNE 2018 SPORT

French players yesterday warm up during the captain’s run training session at Westpac Stadium in Wellington ahead of their second Test match against All Blacks today.

Wallabies expecting Irish to bounce back in second TestAFP

MELBOURNE: The Wallabies are prepared for a sterner contest from Ireland with adverse weather conditions expected for the pivotal second Test in Melbourne, skipper Michael Hooper said yesterday.

There is a forecast for hail during today’s international with the Six Nations champions needing to win to keep the three-Test series alive after losing the first Brisbane Test 18-9 last week.

Hooper, who with fellow flanker David Pocock did much to negate the Irish ball in the rucks and mauls in Brisbane, said he was expecting Ireland to bounce back strongly in Mel-bourne after their first defeat in 13 Tests.

Irish coach Joe Schmidt has reacted to the first Test loss by making eight changes, including the significant return of experi-enced duo Johnny Sexton and Cian Healy.

“They’re such a class team the Irish and (I’m) expecting them to bring out some real heat and some good firepower and play,” Hooper told reporters.

“We’ve got to be able to weather that and also put out our stuff.”

Hooper said the Wallabies were “fully aware of the threat” from Sexton.

“We know that he’s very experienced and I know from playing with experienced players that he’ll have a big impact on the game.”

Ireland will also be well suited to the playing conditions with rain and wind forecast for

today’s game, ideal for Sexton’s kicking game.

Coach Michael Cheika has admitted his Wallabies kicked more than he expected in Brisbane and Hooper gave the clearest indication yet that they would run the ball more in the

second match of the series.“We saw a lot of opportu-

nities to run the ball (in the first Test review),” Hooper said.

“We put a lot of kicks up in the air and that worked for us, and then you look at if you didn’t kick there, maybe the next phase we could have got them with running or shifting the ball and changing the picture there.

“It was a good review to have, but there’s also so much that we can get better at.”

Hooper said he expected more involvement from No.8 Caleb Timu in attack this weekend.

“We’ve worked on a couple of ways to find him carrying the ball more,” Hooper said.

“He’s such a threat with ball in hand.

“Probably our back five -- talking from four to eight -- didn’t carry the ball as much as we would have liked.

“However, we were able to explore some of the wide channels and get to the guys who are really dangerous,” he said.

“It was Caleb’s debut game as well last week, so he was getting a feel for it,” Hooper said yesterday, adding he was “expecting him to understand the pace now.”

Also uppermost in Ireland’s thoughts is that they have not won in 11 internationals in Aus-tralia dating back to 1979.

Australia’s rugby player Marika

Koroibete yesterday passes the ball

during a visit to Melbourne Grammar School in Melbourne

as the team prepares to take on Ireland in the second Test

match today.

Under-20 side inspire French ahead of All Blacks clashREUTERS

WELLINGTON: The French under-20 team’s victory over New Zealand earlier this week has provided the senior side with some inspiration ahead of their second test against the All Blacks, captain Mathieu Bastareaud has said.

Led by a superb forward pack and a try from inside centre Romain Ntamack, the son of former French winger Emile, the French upset the ‘Baby Blacks’ 16-7 in Perpignan to advance to their first World Rugby under-20 Championship final in the tour-nament’s 10-year history.

“We watched the game together, Wednesday morning. It was a good game for us. They played with passion and they showed they love this game,” Bastareaud told reporters in Wel-lington yesterday.

“It’s why I said to the team we have to play with passion and take pleasure on the field, play together, bleed together.

“Rugby is that (and) we have to show that we are a team not just a selection of players.

“We have a good atmosphere in the group but we have to show that on the field.”

Bastareaud’s side face a battle to stop the All Blacks from clinching the series in Wellington with a game to spare.

They were resolute in their defence for the first 50 minutes during last week’s first test in Auckland before being over-run in the final 30 minutes to lose 52-11.

Coach Jacques Brunel swung the axe this week with five changes to the starting lineup, with the loose forwards the main focus as both flankers Fabien Sanconnie and Judicael Cancoriet were dropped.

Mathieu Babillot and Kelian Galletier, who were not con-sidered for the first test after they played in the Top-14 final and arrived late in New Zealand, have been named to replace the pair on the side of the French scrum.

“We are upset with the flankers in the first test, and that is the reason why I have made the changes,” Brunel said in Auckland on Thursday.

“The new players will be fresh, bring enthusiasm and had good seasons for their clubs.”

Brunel added that he had told his side they needed to perform from the opening whistle until the 80th minute if they were to keep the series alive heading into next week’s third test in Dunedin.

“We were lucky the All Blacks made the same mistakes as us in the first half (last week),” he added. “But why did we concede a lot of points ... in the second half?

“There was limited commu-nication on the field between our players and the All Blacks were of a higher standard.”

England’s hopes of series win on the line in BloemfonteinAFP

JOHANNESBURG: England have turned to snakes as they try and turn the tables on hosts South Africa in Bloemfontein after an extraordinary first match last weekend in the three-Test series.

Another defeat today in the second showdown and English dreams of winning a series in the republic for the first time will disappear, reducing the Cape Town Test to a dead rubber.

They looked to be heading for a handsome first Test triumph when leading by 21 points after just 18 minutes in Johan-nesburg only to collapse and lose 42-39.

To get their minds off a fifth consecutive beating this year, the players opted for a snakes-and-spiders show.

“We had a reptile show and a barbecue so that the boys could get their minds away from what happened in Johannesburg,” said defence coach Paul Gustard.

“There were some long green snakes, some long black-and-white ones too. The players chose to do it and organised the show.

“They reacted differently to the slippery guests. Some seemed comfortable close to the snakes while others were quite nervous.”

Head coach Eddie Jones hopes the rep-tilian diversion works as he tries to snap a run of defeats since February by Scotland, France, Ireland, the Barbarians and South

Africa. While his position does not appear to be in immediate danger, the Australian knows he was hired to transform England into world rugby heavyweights, not bum-bling middleweights.

Media reports suggest all may not be well in the England camp with Gustard leaving after the tour -- the latest departee from the coaching staff.

The training methods of the Australian have also come under fire from an English club boss with 15 players returning injured

from camps since Jones took charge two years ago.

But the most pressing problem is on the field with England winning 24 of 25 Tests under Jones before failing in the last four.

He wants England to dominate South Africa early on at the 45,000-capacity Free State Stadium in central South Africa, but not crumble this time.

“When you win like South Africa did last Saturday you go into the next game with a bit of confi-dence so we have to make sure we dent that confidence early on,” he said.

“Bloemfontein lies at altitude and the ground is very fast. It has an average of 60 points per Test so we are anticipating an ebb-and-flow game like we had in Johan-

nesburg. We were brilliant at times early on in the first Test. Perhaps we got a bit seduced by our start, leading to uncharacteristic and costly errors.”

Jones resisted calls from some pundits to wield the axe mercilessly, making two changes to the starting line-up, both in the pack. Flanker and former captain Chris Robshaw is dropped for the first time by Jones, making away for New Zealand-born Brad Shields, who gives England an extra lineout option.

France’s Uini Atonio warms up during the captain’s run training session at Westpac Stadium in Wellington ahead of their second Test match today.

Nottingham: Nottingham WTA re-sults yesterday (x denotes seeding):

Quarter-finalsAshleigh Barty (AUS x1) bt Katie Boulter

(GBR) 6-0, 6-2Naomi Osaka (JPN x3) bt Mihaela Bu-

zarnescu (ROM x5) 6-4, 6-1Johanna Konta (GBR x4) bt Dalila Ja-

kupovic (SLO) 6-4, 6-2Donna Vekic (CRO x6) bt Mona Barthel

(GER) 7-5, 6-1

Stuttgart: Results at the ATP Stuttgart Cup yesterday (x denotes seed):

Quarter-finals Roger Federer (SUI x1) bt Guido Pella

(ARG) 6-4, 6-4Nick Kyrgios (AUS x4) bt Feliciano Lopez

(ESP x8) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3Milos Raonic (CAN x7) bt Tomas Ber-

dych (CZE x3) 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/1)Lucas Pouille (FRA x2) bt Denis Istomin

(UZB) 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3

Kyrgios stands in Federer’s path to No.1 in StuttgartAFP

STUTTGART: Roger Federer edged closer to displacing Rafael Nadal at the top of the world rankings as he hammered Guido Pella 6-4, 6-4 yesterday at the Stuttgart Cup.

Top seed Federer needs to win today against Australian fourth seed Nick Kyrgios, who put out 2017 finalist Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, if the Swiss is to return to the No.1 spot for the second time this season.

“I didn’t think of number one during the match today, I was focused on the task at hand,” said Federer.

“But when you play for number one (next match) I’m sure it will be in the back of my head.”

The quarter-final victory in 55 minutes, which ended on a backhand, featured two breaks of serve for the Swiss, who exe-cuted well in his second match in three months after skipping the clay season and last playing in March.

“I was in good control throughout,” added Federer. “I served well and didn’t give him too many chances to get into my service games. I thought I was able to stay aggressive, and cut down the length of the points, which I wanted to do.”

Federer said that he was able to train briefly on the grass court of a friend in Switzerland but said that fitness work was the major part of his preparation after his absence from the clay court campaign.

“We used to have a shorter turnaround from clay to grass. Now we have many weeks to get ready (three weeks between the end of the French Open and start of Wimbledon). I was lucky to be able to get a few days on the grass before here, that was helpful.”

Federer is aiming for a first title in Stuttgart after losing in the 2016 semis to Dominic Thiem and going out in an opening match a year ago to close friend Tommy Haas.

The 36-year-old won his 19th match from 21 played this season as his Wimbledon build-up con-tinues on track.

At the All England club next month, the 20-time Grand Slam champion will be seeking a ninth title at the grass-court major.

Kyrgios turned in a much more relaxed performance against Spain’s Lopez, admitting he even had fun on court.

“Today was fun, I played better than the first match,” Kyrgios said. “It will be exciting to play Roger -- for both of us.”

At the bottom of the draw, Milos Raonic reached his second semi-final of the season to set up a clash with defending champion Lucas Pouille.

Raonic used his big-serving game to dominate a pair of tie-breakers in a 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/1) defeat of Tomas Berdych.

REUTERS

YEKATERINBURG, RUSSIA: Uruguay’s Jose Gimenez scored with a thunderous 89th-minute header to deal Egypt a 1-0 defeat in their World Cup opener yesterday, just as the North Africans appeared to have escaped with a point despite missing key striker Mohamed Salah.

Gimenez rose perfectly to meet a Carlos Sanchez free kick and score the goal that broke a 48-year Uruguayan curse of failing to win their opening game at World Cup finals.

“In the history of football we have broken a spell,” said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez.

“We either die or we kill, we have to keep progressing,” he told reporters after a result that improved Uruguay’s already strong chances of advancing to the last-16 stage from Group A which also includes hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Egypt came within minutes of surviving largely thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy, who bravely dived to snatch the ball from Luis Suarez’ feet and flung himself through the air to tip a Edinson Cavani volley wide.

Cavani also hit the post as Uruguay gained in strength and purpose the longer the game progressed, seemingly buoyed by the realisation that Salah

would not even make an appearance from the bench.

Until Uruguay’s second-half surge, Egypt had rarely looked in trouble in a scrappy match at the less-than-packed Yeka-terinburg Arena, though without Salah they also did little to threaten their oppo-nents’ goal.

Speculation over the Liv-erpool striker, who injured his shoulder in the Champions League final against Real Madrid last month, had dominated the build-up to the match and obsessed the several thousand Egyptian fans who travelled to Yekaterinburg from as far afield as Texas and Sydney.

“Perhaps if Mo had been on the pitch today, the outcome would have been different but we can’t know that,” Egypt coach Hector Cuper told reporters.

The man who scored 44 goals for Liverpool last season would be fine for the next match against Russia, Cuper said, but he had decided after training on the eve of the Uruguay game not to take a risk with his talisman.

“At the end of the training session we examined him and there was some doubt if he fell or was hit by another player, and we wanted to avoid a risk today,” Cuper said.

“We want to have him in top form for Russia and Saudi

Arabia.” For Uruguay, Suarez had a disappointing match with several missed opportu-nities. In the first half he fired into the side-netting when he found himself unmarked after the ball broke loose after a corner, but he forced a good save from El-Shenawy in the

opening moments of the second period.

“Suarez, as you say, was not playing as well as he nor-mally does but he had three scoring opportunities... the goalkeeper saved a couple of them. That happens to strikers,” Tabarez said.

“In good times, everything goes into the back of the net while at other times the goal seems smaller. As long as he gives his all, we are happy.”

Egypt next play Russia in St Petersburg on Tuesday, giving Salah four more days to work on his fitness while Uruguay take on Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in Rostov.

URUGUAY EGYPT

1 0Gimenez - 89

SPORT 24SATURDAY 16 JUNE 2018

In the history of football we have broken a spell. We either die or we kill, we have to keep progressing: Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez.

Gimenez goal helps Uruguay beat Salah-less Egypt 1-0

Uruguay’s defender Jose Gimenez (third left) scores the opening goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A match at the Ekaterinburg Arena in Ekaterinburg, yesterday.

Iran stun Morocco with stoppage-time goalAFP

SAINT PETERSBURG: Iran’s players stormed the pitch at full-time as if they had won the World Cup rather than just their opening match after an own goal from Morocco’s Aziz Bouhaddouz gifted them a dramatic 1-0 victory yesterday.

Wasteful finishing looked to have consigned this compelling contest at the Saint Petersburg Stadium to a goalless draw but Bouhaddouz’s mistake in injury-time means Iran emerge as the early challengers to Spain and Portugal in Group B.

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz, once of Real Madrid and Man-chester United, insisted the chaos that has engulfed Spain this week offered no boost to these teams’ chances, but this victory certainly cranks the pressure up a notch.

When Bouhaddouz nodded in at the near post, Iran’s substi-tutes could not resist rushing

onto the field and when the final whistle blew moments later they were sprinting over again in delight.

Morocco should at least take heart from a blistering first half an hour, during which their zip and zest deemed them virtually unplayable. But Hakim Ziyach, Ayoub El Kaabi and Mehdi Benatia all failed to capitalise.

Instead, Iran showed the same grit that had frustrated Argentina for 91 minutes four years ago but while Lionel Messi was the difference that day, this time it was their turn to snatch a last-gasp winner.

Their build-up had not been smooth. Nike had blocked the players’ supply of boots four days previous while further back, friendlies against Greece and Kosovo were cancelled.

It gave Queiroz good reason for positioning his team as the group’s outsiders but both teams had cause for optimism after his side strolled through 18 games of Asian qualifying without defeat while Morocco were unbeaten too, with the added coup of not conceding a single goal.

Morocco’s fans, at a World Cup for the first time in 20 years, belted out their own national anthem and then applauded Iran’s, the 67,000-seater arena

a sea of red and white, and buzzing with the hum of vuvuzelas in a throwback to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The only shame was the large number of empty seats at kick-off, with many supporters still queueing to get through security 15 minutes before kick-off.

Morocco started brilliantly, hounding Iran’s every touch and

swarming forward with such ferocity that on the line, Queiroz spent most of the opening 20 minutes urging his players to pause, and take a breath.

The only surprise was Morocco were not ahead as Ziyach kicked the air from a well-worked corner, El Kaabi sliced wide and a penalty-box scramble saw shots from

Younes Belhanda and Benatia blocked.

The onslaught finally eased after half an hour and by the interval Iran had not only survived but finished the stronger, Sardar Azmoun, the ‘Iranian Messi’, spurning a one-on-one after a scintil-lating break.

Perhaps tired from the first

period or, more likely, reminded of their defensive duties during the interval, both teams were more cagey after the restart.

They each made substitu-tions as the game drifted past the hour and the closest it had come to a winner was when a fizzing Ziyach drive had to be tipped around the post by Ali Beiranvand.

Iran’s players celebrate at the end of the Russia 2018 World Cup Group B match against Iran at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in Saint Petersburg yesterday.

Ronaldo agrees to €18.8m tax paymentREUTERS

MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo has reached a deal with Spanish authorities to settle a tax evasion case by paying an €18.8m fine and accepting a suspended jail sentence, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday.

Real Madrid’s all-time highest scorer, who played in Portugal’s opening World Cup match against Spain yes-terday, is the latest in a long line of top soccer players to be accused of tax evasion since a crackdown by Spanish courts.

The source confirmed Spanish newspaper El Mundo’s report of the deal but said it had yet to be signed by the lawyers.

The 33-year-old is accused of evading 14.7m euros in taxes. He has denied the allegations.

Under the deal, Ronaldo would get a two-year jail sen-tence, but is unlikely to go to prison as Spanish law states a sentence of under two years for a first offence can be served on probation.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi was handed a 21-month prison sentence in 2017 on similar charges but under Spanish law was able to exchange the penalty for a fine.

Ronaldo clouded fans’ delight in Real’s 3-1 win over Liverpool in the European Champions League final in Kiev in May by hinting he was about to leave the club.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, was named the world’s most popular athlete by ESPN on the basis of his social media following, endorsement deals and search score.

IRAN MOROCCO

1 0Bouhaddouz

- own goal