July 5, 2021 Messi magic Lionel Messi scored one goal and created two others as Argentina beat Ecuador 3-0 in Goiania, Brazil, to reach the Copa America semi-finals, 7 AFP reported. Sports Two-horse race on top, four teams looking to avoid relegation in Iranian league MEHR NEWS AGENCY MEHR NEWS AGENCY Sports Desk Persepolis lead the table with 54 points – two be taking on Aluminium Arak at home, before jed Soleyman, Saipa, Nassaji Mazandaran, and Naft in Abadan. points clear of Sepahan – heading into the Tues- a trip to Mashinsazi is followed by a home tie Zob Ahan will be looking to avoid joining the Another possible decider will see Naft host ith five rounds of games to spare in day’s fixture at Foolad Khuzestan. against Tractor and a last-week battle at Paykan. rock-bottom side in the second-tier league next Zob Ahan next week, before Fekri takes on his the Persian Gulf Pro League season, The Tehran-based Reds will be facing a tough Sepahan, meanwhile, will face San’at Naft season. former team Esteghlal in the following match- WPersepolis and Sepahan seem to be the mission in the muggy weather of Ahvaz in southern Abadan in Isfahan, and then play away to Padi- It will be a closely-fought contest among the day. only contenders for the title. Iran as Javad Nekounam’s Foolad are yet to suffer deh Khorasan, who beat Navidkia’s men 3-1 in four teams as only six points separate them be- Golgohar Sirjan (H) and Aluminium Arak (A) Meanwhile at the other end of the table, four a home defeat – alongside Persepolis – this season. the reverse fixture. fore this week’s fixtures. will be Naft’s final two opponents of the season. teams will be seeking to extend their stay at Ira- Sepahan will travel to Tehran on Tuesday to The last two rounds will see Sepahan play Naft – 12th in the 16-team table with 28 Saipa will face Esteghlal at home next week nian elite clubs’ competition beyond this season. square off against Mehdi Tartar’s 10th-placed strugglers Zob Ahan in the Isfahan derby, before points – and Nassaji (25 points) will be closely and then travel to Golgohar with Aluminium While Yahya Golmohammadi’s Persepo- Paykan, who have been undefeated in four out of a massive encounter in Tehran against third- watching today’s match in Isfahan between Zob (H) and Tractor (A) also on their schedule. lis are looking the lift the trophy for a record- their previous five matches, with the only loss com- placed Esteghlal. Ahan – second from bottom with 22 points – Nassaji will host Padideh next week, fol- extending fifth consecutive occasion, Sepahan ing against Saipa (3-0) as a result of Iranian federa- and Saipa, who are equal on points with Nassaji lowed by a decisive encounter against Zob legend Moharam Navidkia – in his debut season tion’s Disciplinary Committee’s ruling, after Tar- Relegation battle with a superior goal difference. Ahan, and play Esteghlal (H) and Golgohar (A). as manager – hopes to bring back the title to Is- tar’s team wrongfully made an extra substitution. Mahmoud Fekri’s Naft will play away to Pa- Zob Ahan’s last game of the season comes at fahan for the first time in six years. After Tuesday’s matches, Persepolis will With Mashinsazi all but relegated, Naft Mas- dideh on Tuesday, with Nassaji facing San’at home against Mes Rafsanjan. England relishing Bucks oust Hawks to face Suns in NBA Finals ‘incredible’ Wembley return, says Kane The third-seeded Bucks beat the host Hawks in the best-of-seven se- ries 4-2 to book their first appearance in the league championship since 1974, AFP reported. “As a little kid, everybody wanted to be part of this chance to go to the finals. This is amazing,” said Bucks guard Jrue Holiday. Milwaukee will face the Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns in the finals which begin on Tuesday. The Bucks earned the Eastern Conference championship trophy, cel- ebrating with it on the floor at the Hawks’ State Farm Arena. “It is sweet. These guys have put the work in all year. They deserve to go to the finals,” said Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer. “We’ve got more work to do.” The Bucks won despite the absence of two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who sat out with an injured left knee. The 26-year-old Greek forward hyperextended the joint when he landed awkwardly in game four of the series. The Hawks got their top player Trae Young back after he missed the previous two games with a bruised foot. But Young struggled to score in game six, shooting just four-of-17, missing all six of his three-point attempts and finishing with just 14 points. Young said he wasn’t fully recovered from the injury but decided to try his luck. “I didn’t want to go and not play and think to myself all off-season what if I could have been out there and played,” said Young. ALBERTO LINGRIA/REUTERS “It would have hurt me so I just decided to go out and play and leave Harry Kane celebrates after opening the scoring in England’s 4-0 thrashing of Ukraine at Stadio it all out on the floor.” Olimpico, Rome, Italy, on July 3, 2021. Holiday stepped up for the second straight game to help fill the of- fensive void with Antetokounmpo out, flirting with a triple double and England can take another step towards we have a great opportunity to get to a fi- finishing with 27 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. achieving their vision of winning a major nal,” Kane said. Brook Lopez, who was the star of Thursday’s game five win with 33 tournament when they return to Wembley “A lot of us playing now won’t have the points, delivered 13 points on Saturday for the Bucks. for their European Championship semi-fi- opportunity to have a big game like that at The young Hawks, who last made it to the finals 60 years ago when nal against Denmark, captain Harry Kane Wembley in a major tournament again. It’s they were based in St. Louis, were trying to force a seventh game. said. an opportunity for us and we have to grab Cam Reddish came off the bench to score a team-high 21 points, Kane scored twice in England’s 4-0 it with both hands. We have to enjoy being Bogdan Bogdanovic had 20, and John Collins finished with 13 points quarter-final win over Ukraine in Rome in that environment. and 11 rebounds in the loss. on Saturday, as they reached the last four “Coming off the back of the Germany Middleton shot 10-of-22 from the field and made all eight of his free of a Euros for the first time in 25 years, game, the spirits were high and the stadi- throws as he scored 16 straight points for the Bucks in the second half. Reuters reported. um was rocking so hopefully we can use “I just tried to shoot and be confident, and just play the right way,” Gareth Southgate’s side will return to that energy again and really take the game JOHN BAZEMORE/AP Bucks’ Khris Middleton (L) is fouled as he drives to the basket during an Middleton said. England’s national stadium for the penul- to Denmark.” NBA victory over Hawks in Atlanta, GA, US, on July 3, 2021. The Bucks started quickly, jumping out to a 15-4 lead in the first timate stage of the tournament on Wednes- England will take on Denmark at Wem- quarter after a Lopez dunk. The Hawks clawed their way back into it in day, which Kane described as an “incred- bley on Wednesday. The two faced off in Khris Middleton poured in 32 points to power the Milwaukee Bucks the second quarter to trail by just four, 47-43, at the half. ible” occasion. the Nations League last year, playing out into their first NBA Finals in over 45 years on Saturday with a series- But Milwaukee broke the game open in the third quarter by outscoring “We know it’s going to be a tough a 0-0 draw in September before Denmark clinching 118-107 win over the Atlanta Hawks. the Hawks 44-29 as Middleton and Holiday took charge of the offence. game. But we know as well if we get it secured a 1-0 win at Wembley the follow- right and play how we know we can, then ing month..