NNBABA | Page 5 CCRICKETRICKET | Page 7 Lakers end ‘Australia Rockets’ bowling 14-game ‘bodyline’ to win streak tailenders’ Friday, December 22, 2017 FOOTBALL Rabia II 4, 1439 AH Bristol City dump GULF TIMES Manchester United out of League Cup SPORT Page 4 FOOTBALL All to play for as Gulf Cup kicks off today in Kuwait Kuwait, who have won the title 10 times, were also the inaugural champs in 1970 QNA ity of matches in many previous edi- Kuwait tions of the tournament. The previous tournaments saw a re- markable progress in performance and he eyes of Gulf football fans the high level of scoring from the fi rst will be on Kuwait where the to the fourth tournament is an evidence 23rd Arab Gulf Cup kicks off to that, but the following tournaments Ttoday at Jaber al-Ahmad In- saw a sharp decline in the number of ternational Stadium. goals due to the defensive attitude of The tournament, which has grown to some teams. become part of the popular heritage The last 22 tournaments saw 867 of the region, bears the logo of the goals being scored, including 260 goals dove of peace coloured in the fl ags in the last seven editions of the tourna- age 2.06 goals per match. of the GCC countries under the theme ment. The Kuwaiti team performed well in “Gulf Forever” as a sign of the unity of The goals were scored in 346 match- previous editions, winning the title 10 the Gulf people and close ties between es over the past 22 tournaments at an times compared to three titles for Iraq, them. average of 2.51 goals per match. Kuwait Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The UAE won it The showpiece launches after the was the highest scoring team with 193 twice and Oman once. opening ceremony, which starts today goals. Kuwait were also the most active at 5.30pm as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia Kuwait’s Jassim Yaqoub was crowned team in the tournaments as they partic- take to the pitch to kick off the tourna- the best scorer in the history of the Arab ipated in all previous 22 editions equally ment before UAE and Oman play the Gulf Cup so far after scoring 18 goals with Qatar. The UAE, Bahrain and Saudi second game in Group A afterwards. in the tournaments he participated in. Arabia took part in 21 editions, 20 for Group B starts tomorrow and fea- He was top scorer in the third cham- Oman and 13 for Iraq, while Yemen has tures Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain and Yemen. pionship with six goals and the fourth participated in the tournament only The group matches will be played at championship with nine goals. seven times so far. Kuwait Sports Club Stadium. The fourth tournament witnessed Kuwait lead the tournament with the The 23rd edition will be diff erent 84 goals in 22 games with an average number of matches played so far. They from previous ones, especially after of 3.82 goals per match but the sec- participated in 107 matches compared lifting the suspension on Kuwaiti sport, ond tournament was the best in terms to 105 for Qatar, 103 for UAE, 102 for which lasted two years before FIFA of goal-scoring, where 25 goals were Saudi Arabia, 99 for Bahrain and Oman, President Gianni Infantino announced scored in six games with a rate of 4.17 53 for Iraq and 24 for Yemen. before the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah The Qatar team pose on their arrival in Qatar for the Gulf Cup yesterday. The squad is coached by Spaniard Felix Sanchez. goals per match. Additionally, Kuwait have the high- al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah earlier The lowest tournament in terms of est number of victories, winning 56 this month that the sanction was over. into Group A, but Kuwait were then put Gulf champions. tournament can be measured, and the number of goals was the fi rst tourna- matches, with the highest winning per- The draw of the tournament was car- in Group A after the lifting of suspen- Saudi Arabia hosted the 22nd Gulf scoring statistics show to a large extent ment because of the participation of centage at 52.33 percent. ried out in Doha on Sept. 25 and placed sion and their return to the competi- Cup in 2014 with the participation of the strength of the team and star per- only four teams. Only 19 goals were Except for Yemen, which participat- Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Oman tion. the eight teams and Qatar were able to formances in diff erent tournaments. scored in six matches, but the goal rate ed only in the last seven tournaments in Group A, while Qatar were drawn The fi rst edition of the tournament win the trophy for the third time. The Gulf Cup was no exception as its stood at 3.17 per match. and have not won any matches so far, alongside Bahrain, Iraq and Yemen in was held in 1970 in Bahrain, featuring Numbers and statistics have a big statistics were always of great interest The last edition was one of the in- Oman have the lowest number of vic- Group B. At the time of the draw, hold- Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bah- role in the world of football through and the abundance of goals has always termediate editions in terms of the tories as they won 16 matches out of 99 ers Qatar were automatically drawn rain, with Kuwait becoming the fi rst which the success and the failure of any been a factor in increasing the popular- number of goals (33 goals) and the aver- (16.16 percent). BOTTOMLINE Neymar: Qatar will host a wonderful World Cup By Anil John Cavani, who also spoke to the media, Sports Editor said he loves to visit Qatar as part of PSG’s winter tour every year. “This country (Qatar) is not new for No personal pictures, no fl ash me. I’ve been always welcomed here. photography, no controversial The atmosphere during our training is questions,” an offi cial reminded always festive, with many fans turning the media while clearing the cor- up,” said the Uruguayan. “ridor of people. Neymar was in another Cavani is enjoying a stellar stint at part of the hotel, awaiting the signal PSG where he scored a goal against that all was well so that he could come Caen in their Ligue 1 match on Wednes- down to his press conference. day, a few hours before taking a char- Suddenly, a hush descended on the tered fl ight to Qatar with the team. hall where the event was to take place. It was his 155th goal in 224 games A couple of intrepid reporters never- for PSG since he joined them in 2013, theless kept their cell phones at the leaving him just one short of the club’s ready, hoping to get a long-shot selfi e all-time record of 156 set by none other as Neymar passed by them on the way than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who now to his seat. They were disappointed plays for Manchester United. with the outcome of their eff orts. But the genial star dismissed the im- The Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain portance of personal milestones, saying star is one of the most fi ercely pro- it is the team performance that eventu- tected sportsmen on the planet. Every ally counts. move of his is timed to perfection by “I am not a fan of such numbers. All the security team. Qatar-owned PSG that matters for me are good results for may have paid a staggering $263mn to the team. My focus is on winning the get him from Barcelona, but in purely French title as well as the Champions sporting terms his value far exceeds League.” that. Less than three months since he Meanwhile, PSG’s teenage sensation took the short fl ight from Barcelona to Kylian Mbappe said playing alongside Paris to sign for the top French Club, he PSG stars Neymar (L) and Edinson Cavani react during their press conferences at the Mövenpick Hotel Al Aziziyah Doha yesterday. PICTURES: Shemeer Rashid and AFP Neymar and Cavani was a great learn- has become indispensable to their for- ing experience for him. tunes. hosts of the World Cup in 2022,” said “Some of the facilities I saw, like award was topmost on his bucket list. He also dismissed reports that he “It’s amazing that I can learn from Inevitably, the fi rst question sport- Neymar. “I am sure Qatar will host a Aspire, could be the envy of any other “The Champions League is a top pri- was struggling to adjust in Paris. these stars at the start of my career,”said ing celebrities visiting Qatar face is perfect and wonderful World Cup.” country. I hope that other countries, ority for me, no question. If I am able to “I have been warmly welcomed in Mbappe, who also scored against Caen about the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Like The Brazilian, who only prior visit too, develop such facilities for the ben- help PSG win the event, I’ll be able to Paris by everyone and I am more than on Wednesday, his 19th birthday. everybody else, Neymar, too, couldn’t to Qatar was six years ago, marvelled efi t of young sportsmen,” he said. carry that confi dence to the World Cup happy with what I have achieved so far “I happily take whatever advice they help praise the country’s preparations at all the development taking place in Neymar also dwelt on some personal in Russia,” added Neymar whose club for the club.