TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2020 16

Leaders Hidd triumph as East Riffa, Riffa stay close Sousa keeping a close eye on situation FIFA and AFC postpone upcoming qualifiers for World Cup, Asian Cup

TDT| Manama required standards and that the member associations due to play ahrain national football each other mutually agree, the team head coach Helio match(es) may still be played BSousa is closely moni - during the international win- toring the situation following dows of March or June 2020, the announcement yesterday but always subject to prior ap- that FIFA and the Asian Foot- proval from both FIFA and the ball Confederation (AFC) have AFC,” it was stated on the FIFA Action from Hidd’s win over Shabab agreed to postpone the upcom- website. TDT | Manama hand, suffered their seventh ing joint-qualifiers for the FIFA It added: “FIFA and the AFC loss and they stayed on seven World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian will continue to assess the sit- l Hidd maintained their points from second-to-bottom Cup 2023. uation in relation to COVID-19 Aplace atop the table while on the table. The postponement includes and will decide whether fur- East Riffa and defending Meanwhile, East Riffa’s all matches originally scheduled ther changes to the schedule champions Riffa both stayed Baqer Hawsawi fired in the to take place during the interna- of Asian FIFA World Cup 2022 within striking distance fol- game’s lone goal to lift his side tional window of March 23 to 31 qualifiers are required, always lowing victories yesterday in over cellar-dwellers Al Hala. and June 1 to 9. They will be put with the aim of protecting the Week 10 of the 2019/2020 Nas- Hawsawi’s strike helped off to later dates that have yet to safety and health of all individ- ser bin Hamad Bahrain Pre- East Riffa claim their sixth win be decided. uals involved.” mier Football League. in 10 contests as they went to Bahrain have three games re- Sousa therefore preferred not Hidd scored a 2-1 victory 19 points for third place on maining in Group C of the joint- to comment when the national over Al Shabab while East Rif- the standings. Hala remained qualifiers. They were next set team was contacted yesterday fa edged past Al Hala 1-0 and in last position with just five to face Cambodia on March 26, but said that he is closely moni- Bahrain head coach Helio Sousa looks on during a match Riffa came away with a 3-1 win points following their seventh before playing Iran in Tehran on toring the situation and will dis- ifiers, there are eight groups in over rivals Al Ahli. loss. June 4 and then closing out this cuss with the Bahrain Football all, with five nations in each Hidd posted their In another game, Riffa were stage of qualifying against Hong Association (BFA) on how best group. Teams play home and league-leading eighth victory also triumphant as they put Kong at home on June 9. to move forward. away matches. At the end, last night against a battling three past Ahli. Yesterday’s announcement, Iraq are currently atop the the eight group winners and Shabab. Scoring for the win- Scoring for last year’s title however, also stated that the Group C qualifying standings KNOW WHAT the four best runners-up ad - ners were Senegalese profes- winners were Hazza Ali and scheduled matches could still go with 11 points. They have a vance to the third round of sional Mamadou Drame and Mohammed Salih Soulah, who on as scheduled, under certain two-point lead over Bahrain. World Cup qualifying, and also former Bahrain international finished with a brace. For Ahli, conditions and if approved by Iran are third with six points Bahrain have three book their berths in the Asian defender Sayed Mohammed Cameroon professional Ernst FIFA and the AFC. and have a game in hand, while Cup. Adnan. For Shabab, Hassan Thierry Anang scored, but it “In order to support the mem- Hong Kong were fourth on five games remaining in The next best 24 teams will Moden supplied their lone helped little in the end result. ber associations concerned, and points and Cambodia fifth with Group C of the joint- compete in a separate compe- consolation. Riffa climbed to 15 points provided that the safety of all one. qualifiers tition for the remaining 12 slots Hidd improved to 25 points following nine matches as they individuals involved meets the In this phase of the joint-qual- in the Asian Cup. in first place on the league are now in fourth place on the standings as they remained standings. Ahli fell for the fifth almost perfect so far in 10 time in 10 games and stayed on matches. Shabab, on the other 11 points. Liverpool’s stellar season ‘not normal’, says Milner AFP | London in on the Premier League by their recent wobble. can be. Winning is tough and title. “It is so hard to win the when you have won that many Kane boost for Spurs and ames Milner Jurgen Klopp’s side are two league. The amount of games we games everybody thinks, ‘Oh Jbelieves there wins away from lifting the have won in a row -- that isn’t they are going to win again, the England as he resumes training is a risk that league crown for the first time normal,” said the 34-year-old. title is done’. Liverpool’s in 30 years after amassing 82 “You can win the league and “It’s not, because you have to TDT | Manama tially suggested he might achieve- points from 29 matches. you can drop points in a few go out there and win the games. not return before the end ments Liverpool returned to win- games but to win this many No one gives you it.” ottenham Hotspur strik- of the season. a r e ning ways on Saturday, beat- games is not normal and peo- “What the team has done this Ter Harry Kane has given It now looks as be- ing Bournemouth 2-1 after ple then start thinking it is season has been unbelievable,” club and country a major boost though Kane, who ing three defeats in four match - easy.” he added. after returning to training fol- has scored 27 tak- es in all competitions to set Milner spoke about his expe- The return to winning ways lowing a hamstring injury that goals for Tot - en for a new top-flight record of rience of relegation with Leeds has given Liverpool a confi - has sidelined him since Jan. 1. tenham and granted, 22 consecutive home league in 2004, saying: “You think it is dence boost ahead of Wednes- James Milner Television footage showed England this saying their wins. just an impossible task to win a day’s pivotal Champions League England’s captain training at season, will spectacu- Despite their remarkable re- game of football.” last-16 second leg tie against At- Tottenham’s training ground be back to lar season cord, midfielder Milner said Asked whether Liverpool’s letico Madrid at Anfield, where yesterday, albeit not with the play some part “isn’t normal” winning was not as easy as Liv- form had been taken for granted Klopp’s side must overturn a 1-0 rest of the first team prepar- in the Premier League run- as they close erpool had made it look, shown this season, Milner added: “It deficit. ing for Tuesday’s Champions in. League last 16, second leg at That will be a relief for Eng- RB Leipzig. land manager Gareth South- “Love being back on the gate ahead of the Euro 2020 Spurs need to write new stories: Hugo Lloris grass with a ball at my feet,” championship which starts AFP | London Kane said on Twitter. in June. Timo Werner’s penalty handing His injury, sustained against Tottenham have also been Bundesliga high-flyers RB Leip- Southampton, was severe without their other main strik- ugo Lloris has challenged zig a 1-0 win in north London We have to take enough to require surgery and er Son Heung-min after he HTottenham to “write last month. manager Jose Mourinho ini- broke his arm. new stories” in the Champi - “We have to take everything everything positive ons League, even though they positive but I think it belongs to but I think it Hugo will take the positives from last the past, we need to write new belongs to the past, Lloris season’s sensational comeback stories,” said goalkeeper and we need to write against Ajax in the semi-final. captain Lloris, referring to the new stories Spurs looked to be sunk when Ajax match. we are trailing 3-0 on aggregate in the “We have to go there and be HUGO LLORIS work- second leg of the tie last May but ready to make the perfect game, ing for Lucas Moura’s second-half hat- we have to go there to win the A 1-1 draw at Burnley on Sat- that and trick in Amsterdam saw them game. It is as simple as that. urday left them eighth in the we are knock out the Dutch giants in “But the opponent is a very, Premier League table and facing work- dramatic circumstances. very good team. I’m not sur - an uphill battle to finish in the ing to Spurs, then under the lead- prised that they are fighting for top four. finish ership of Mauricio Pochettino, the title in the Bundesliga.” “I don’t know what’s going to t h e lost 2-0 in the final to Liverpool While Leipzig have their happen for the rest of the season sea- in Madrid. sights trained on domestic glo- but we need to keep faith and son Tottenham need another ry, Tottenham will be merely keep working,” said Lloris. a s memorable away day if they content to book their spot in “We can see players are fight- high are to progress further than the Europe’s elite club competition ing and giving their best. The as we Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane during training last-16 in this campaign, with next term. confidence is not up there but can.”