12 Friday, June 28, 2019 Sports

Indonesia, Aus Qatar’s Younousse & Tijan all set in talks over possible 2034 World Cup bid for World Beach action AFP JAKARTA

Qatar’s second pair and of Tamer & Assam are in preliminary talks about making a joint bid for the 2034 excited to make World Cup, the Southeast Asian nation’s football associa- World debut tion said on Thursday. The neighbours discussed TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK the potential proposal at a spe- DOHA cial meeting of the Asean Foot- ball Federation (AFF) in Laos IT is indeed a proud moment last week. for Qatar as their two pairs, “At the meeting we agreed including rising stars and to join with Australia to contin- fourth seed Cherif Younousse ue bidding for the World Cup,” and Ahmed Tijan, begin their Gatot Widagdo, spokesman for quest for glory in the FIVB the Indonesian Football Asso- Beach World Championships, ciation (PSSI), told AFP. which get underway in Ham- Qatari players in action during a training session in . No comment was immedi- burg, on Friday. ately available from the Aus- Younousse, who has ap- stantin Semenov and Ilya Le- tralian side. peared in the worlds twice MEN’S POOL shukov (), Alison Cerut- Widagdo said the PSSI before and was fifth (2015) Pool D ti and Álvaro Morais Filho started talks with Austral- and ninth (2017) with Jef- Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan (Qatar) - () and William Allen and ia’s football federation after ferson Santos Pereira, has Fourth seed Stafford Slick (USA). The Qa- withdrew from a teamed up with Ahmed Tijan. Dries Koekelkoren/Tom van Walle (Belgium) tar second team opens against combined bid with Indone- With their steady progress, Qatari players with coach Mariano Baracetti (left) and officials after a training session ahead of the FIVB Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner (Czech the Russians at 2 pm, also on sia to host FIFA’s showpiece Beach World Championships in Hamburg, Germany. Republic) they earned the fourth seeds Enrico Rossi/Adrian Carambula () Friday. tournament. in their first World Champi- There are 48 pairs in the The Indonesia-Australia onship for the team and have first time. We’re excited to ranking events on the FIVB It is needless to say that Pool E men’s and women’s sections. talks come just days after Thai been placed in Pool D. get chance. Hopefully, we’ll Beach World Tour. Their con- they will be seeking to im- Konstantin Semenov/Ilya Leshukov (Russia) They have been divided into 12 prime minister Prayut Chan-O- Tamer Abdelrasoul and exploit and try to make to the fidence level should be high, prove on what Younousse – Fifth seed groups on single round-robin Cha announced that 10 mem- Assam Ahmed Mahmoud are next stage. We know that all entering the event. achieved along with Pereira in /Álvaro Morais Filho (Brazil) format. After the pool stage, ber countries of the Association the second duo. They also the teams are tough but we’ve In three last events on the two previous attempts. They William Allen/Stafford Slick (USA) top two pairs will advance di- of Southeast Asian Nations had make their debut and will be worked hard and are feeling World Tour, Younousse and know their level well and if Tamer Abdelrasoul/Assam Mahmoud rectly to the knockout phase. agreed to launch a bid to host eyeing to qualify for the sec- confident about good results Tijan secured the third spot in they could play to what has (Qatar) While four best pairs out the 2034 event. ond round, which will not be in Hamburg,” said Mahmoud the Four-Star Open fetched them the fourth seeds of the 12 third best pairs will It is not clear what impact easy though. Mahmoud, a reg- before leaving Doha. and followed it up with a 17th and sixth rank in the world, it van Walle (Belgium), Ondrej automatically be placed in the the multi-country bid would ular volleyball player in Al Ahli Younousse and Tijan have spot in the Four-Star Ostrava won’t be a problem for them Perusic and David Schweiner first knock-out, the remain- have on Australia and Indone- Club, is excited about getting been the leading duo in Asia, Open and were placed ninth in to enter the knock-out, their () and Enrico ing eight will battle it out for sia’s possible hosting. an opportunity to play in the having won the Asian Games the Four-Star Warsaw Open. prime objective. Rossi and Adrian Carambula four slots in the Lucky Loser Indonesia also plans worlds for the first time. and Asian Championship They also featured in two non- Younousse and Tijan will (Italy) at 6pm on Friday. elimination phase. The cham- to team up with Australia “I’m very proud that I’ll staying undefeated through- Tour events and won them to begin with pool play in D, Abdelrasoul and pionship will conclude on July in a bid to host the 2021 be representing Qatar in the out. Besides, they have won give a winning lift to their con- having been bracketed with Mahmoud are clubbed in Pool 7 with the men’s bronze and FIFA Under-20 World Cup, World Championships for the three bronze medals in high- fidence and form. Dries Koekelkoren and Tom E along with fifth seeds Kon- gold medal matches. Widagdo said.

Leclerc plays down hopes of Salah sends Pharaohs into AFCON last 16 Ferrari fightback in Austria AFP banished from the squad ear- lowing an aerial challenge with lier in the day over mounting Christian Luyindama. REUTERS cedes a tougher time at the Red sexual harassment allegations. Having created the opener SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA Bull Ring. scored his “I think the team is strong with his vicious right-wing “They were extremely quick first goal of the Africa Cup of and the squad is strong but we cross, Salah then stung the CHARLES Leclerc refused to in Paul Ricard, especially in the Nations as hosts secured are not happy to lose a mem- palms of Ley Matampi with a fuel any false optimism at the race pace, so I think we are fo- a place in the last 16 on Wednes- ber of our family,” said coach powerful 25-yard free-kick. Austrian Grand Prix on Thurs- cusing on ourselves and trying day with a 2-0 win over the . Egypt would be rescued day and said Ferrari faced an- to do the best job possible. But, Democratic Republic of Congo. “The team focused more on by the woodwork once more other hard weekend with domi- to be honest, it’s quite difficult prod- our match and played the 90 though when a deep cross nant rivals Mercedes chasing an to be at their level.” ded Egypt ahead on 25 minutes minutes in a serious manner. I was nodded back across goal 11th win in a row. Leclerc is still chasing his after a wicked Salah cross and don’t think the Egyptian team by Bokadi Bope and Jona- Formula One’s oldest and first career win, coming close the Liverpool star slammed in will be affected by the absence than Bolingi’s looping header most successful team arrived at in the second race of the year a second shortly before half- of anyone.” bounced back off the bar. the scenic Spielberg track 140 in . The youngster has time to spark frenzied celebra- Salah was guilty of miss- With his side riding their points adrift of the champions, been on the podium three times tions at a packed Cairo Inter- ing a hatful of chances in the luck, Salah rose to the occasion who have won all eight races and sounded more hopeful after national Stadium. curtain-raiser and this sea- and settled Egyptian nerves two this year with Lewis Hamilton Sunday’s race, in which he had Record seven-time cham- son’s joint top Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (centre) scores against DR Congo during minutes before half-time with a and Valtteri Bottas. chased down Bottas to finish pions Egypt rode their luck scorer again threatened inside their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group A match in Cairo typically brilliant finish. Leclerc, in his first season 0.929 behind the Finn. at times as DR Congo twice five minutes here when an in- on Wednesday. (EPA-EFE) Played into space down the with Ferrari, finished third and “I think he was struggling struck the crossbar in the first terception broke his way only right by Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ best of the rest in last Sunday’s quite a bit on the second set half but the Group A leaders for the Egyptian to skew wide capital, but they were nearly si- ished third in 2015 only to make Hassan, Salah skipped inside French Grand Prix. of tyres with some blistering. held firm to join Nigeria as under pressure. lenced when Marcel Tisserand a timid quarter-final exit two Tisserand and ripped a crisp “I think at the moment it’s We weren’t. I think we man- the first teams through to the After four days of small slammed against the bar at years ago, and they fell behind low drive inside Matampi’s near quite difficult. They seem very, aged quite well our race so it knockout phase. crowds, another capac- a corner. DR Congo came to for the second straight game as post to cue a volcanic eruption very quick,” said the 21-year- shows that still everything is Egypt overcame the dis- ity 75,000 crowd turned out Egypt as one of the most unpre- Elmohamady forced home after from the masses of delirious old Monegasque when asked possible but it’s just very dif- traction of being to cheer on the hosts in the dictable qualifiers having fin- the ball fell kindly to him fol- Egyptian supporters. whether Ferrari could give Mer- ficult,” he said.

QFA President meets -US showdown in Paris cauldron CONCACAF chief keeps women’s World Cup burning

REUTERS in and you’re in the spotlight PARIS right away.” If the French win on Fri- HIGH stakes, high heat, high day, it would be the first time turn-out and high expectations in tournament history the – the US women’s soccer team have failed to have declared themselves ready advance to the semi-finals. for a high-profile women’s The Stars and Stripes have World Cup quarter-final against won three World Cups. hosts France in Paris on Friday. Overall, this World Cup has For many fans the match is shown that women’s soccer has like a final, with “Les Bleues” star-power and can pull in fans, among the stand-out teams creating a buzz and momentum of the tournament and peren- that advertisers and sponsors nial challengers to the domina- Big Stage! cannot ignore. tion of the American defending It’s going to be a fantastic “The women’s game in gen- champions. France’s players take part in a training session in Clairefontaine-en- eral has grown tremendously,” “It’s going to be a fantas- Yvelinesin France on eve of their 2019 Women’s World Cup match. It’s going to be a said Rapinoe. tic match,” USA co-captain quarter-final match against the USA.(AFP) great stage for both teams “I guess the task for each Megan Rapinoe told reporters who have had a lot of team is to try to be the team that on Thursday. The temperature is expect- “This is a magnificent show- pressure and a lot of eyes is growing as fast as the game is. “It’s going to be a great ed to hit 35 Celsius on Friday, case piece for our sport,” Jill El- on them to really just go France has done a really good stage for both teams who have although by the time the match lis, the US head coach, said on out and perform. job of that.” QFA President Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al Thani met had a lot of pressure and a lot kicks off at 1900 GMT, it should Thursday. “This game makes it Although France’s high- with Victor Montagliani, chief of CONCACAF to discuss matters of eyes on them to really just go have dropped to around 28 de- bigger. Both teams want it and USA co-capt Megan Rapinoe est World Cup finish is fourth, of mutual interest in football on Wednesday. Hassan al Thawadi, out and perform.” grees. TV viewing figures have have to go earn it. It’s going to the team have been making Secretary-General of Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, The atmosphere at the Parc exceeded all expectations, with be a fantastic game.” waves in international football was also present during the meeting which took place on the des Princes is expected to be nearly 11 million people tuning France and the United both teams topped their groups. recently with top-notch play- sidelines of the CONCACAF Gold Cup currently being held in the highly charged, not just because into France’s 2-1 win over Brazil States were the pre-tournament “This is a big game and the ers like Wendie Renard and United States. Matters of mutual interest were discussed that of the quality of the teams but on Sunday. favourites to lift the trophy players know that,” said Ellis. Amandine Henry. included signing of MoUs in the near future. The two officials later the groundswell of support More than 35 million and they have been on a crash “They’re wired for this, they’re “This is the kind of game exchanged souvenirs after QFA President presented Montagliani from French World Cup fans watched the match in Brazil, course since December, when built for this, you don’t come that makes World Cup so ex- with a football jersey. and the soaring temperatures underlining the popularity of the draw suggested they would into the U.S. programme and citing,” US forward Tobin amid a heatwave. women’s soccer globally. meet in the quarter-finals if hide in the shadows - you come Heath said.