SPORT Wednesday 3 October 2018 PAGE | 26 PAGE | 27 India eye Windies Kane plans to boost ahead of emulate Messi’s Australia tour goal spree Road to 2022: Al Khor’s unique Al Bayt Stadium getting into shape A: Construction work under way at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. The stadium, which will host matches A right through to the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finals, has started giving a look of bayt al sha’ar – tents historically used by nomadic peoples in Qatar and the Gulf region. Fans arriving at this 60,000-capacity arena will have never seen anything like it. The stadium design honours Qatar’s past and present, while keeping one eye on the future of the community. With the sustainability goals of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy firmly in mind, its creation will be a model of green development. Facilities for the community will spring up around it. As well as providing a first-class venue for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, this arena will become a shining example for future stadium construction. B: A computer-generated picture showing how Al Bayt Stadium will look after the completion. C: A computer-generated picture showing the inside view of the unique World Cup 2022 venue. C B ACL semi-final: CSKA Moscow shock Real Persepolis edge Madrid; City earn late win Al Sadd in first leg THE PENINSULA The first half then turned out to be a cagey affair with AGENCIES DOHA: Iran’s Persepolis took very few noteworthy attempts early advantage in the 2018 AFC at either end. However, Afif MOSCOW: Defending cham- Champions League semi-final, remained a lively threat for Al pions Real Madrid suffered a securing a 1-0 victory over Sadd on the left and in the 43rd shock defeat at the UEFA Cham- Qatar’s Al Sadd in the first leg minute, his low drive at goal pions League as they fell to CSKA at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, was kept out by a fingertip save Moscow 1-0 in a group G clash yesterday. from the diving Beiranvand. in Moscow, yesterday. A late penalty helped the In the second half, Al Sadd Toni Kroos gifted the hosts visitors clinched the crucial came out of the tunnel looking their goal in the second minute away victory while Xavi-led Al to finally open the scoring in with a terrible backpass that was Sadd now face an uphill task in front of their fans but Persepolis picked up by Nikola Vlasic, on the return leg on October 23 in were determined to make it dif- loan from Everton, and he fired Tehran. ficult for them. The visitors past Keylor Navas from the edge Ali Alipour scored the all- managed to frustrate the Al of the penalty area. important goal of the high Sadd forwards, with tour- Karim Benzema, Casemiro octane match between the two nament top scorer Baghdad and Mariano hit the woodwork top Asian clubs. Bounedjah kept silent by a res- for Real, as the Spanish side, The game got off to a cau- olute backline marshalled by without the injured Gareth Bale, tious start from both sides and captain Jalal Hosseini. pushed for an equaliser. it took until the 16th minute for The status quo remained as CSKA goalkeeper Igor the first dangerous chance of it was until the 86th minute, Akinfeev was sent off four the game. Al Sadd forward when Persepolis finally broke minutes into injury time for two Akram Afif got into the box and the deadlock against the run of yellow cards in quick succession had a go at goal but Persepolis play. After a quick counter for dissent. CSKA Moscow’s Croatian midfielder Nikola Vlasic (centre) celebrates with team-mates after scoring goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand attack, Al Sadd custodian Saad Nevertheless, the hosts held goal against Real Madrid CF in Moscow, yesterday. was on hand to safely gather the Al Sheeb brought down Alipour on to the top of Group G above ball. in the box. The striker stepped Real, who dropped down to opening week Group F defeat at any competition so far. Normal month’s 2-0 win over Valencia, Two minutes later, Perse- up to take the penalty himself second. home by Olympique Lyonnais, service was quickly resumed, missed his first game since polis wasted a golden oppor- and made no mistake. Meanwhile, Manchester City were rocked by an Ishak Belfodil though, when a fine ball from Silva joining the Turin club in July but tunity to take the lead. After Afif had the ball in the net overcame a first-minute setback goal after just 44 seconds. found the outstanding Leroy Sane, Juventus made light of his Bashar Resan crossed the ball deep into added time but the to relaunch their Champions Sergio Aguero’s equaliser who picked out Aguero to bundle absence as they cantered to their in from the left, Godwin Mensha effort was ruled out by the League campaign with a 2-1 seven minutes later seemed to home his eighth goal in 10 ninth straight win of the season somehow skied the ball over the referee for a foul, confirming a victory at Hoffenheim, clinched have set them back on course as matches this season. in all competitions. crossbar. narrow win for Persepolis. by a late David Silva winner, they dominated the opening half Raheem Sterling, after a Juve went ahead after five yesterday. but the Bundesliga side, bold and lightning end-to-end break, and minutes with the simplest of The Premier League cham- enterprising, held on until Silva Aguero went close to putting City goals. Defender Leonardo pions and current leaders, cashed in on a late defensive ahead as they piled on the Bonucci sent a long ball looping urgently needing a win after their error. pressure. over a flat Young Boys defence Hoffenheim’s home debut in Yet after the break, 31-year- and Dybala timed his run per- CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS the Champions League group old Julian Nagelsmann’s side, fectly to volley gently past David stages started perfectly for the reflecting the enterprise of the von Ballmoos. Man City bt Hoffenheim 2-1 high-flying ‘village club’ who youngest manager in Champions Dybala hit the inside of the Juventus bt Young Boys 3-0 have come so far so quickly in League history, held on staunchly post after the restart and although Benfica bt AEK Athens 3-2 the Bundesliga, with Algerian as City ramped up their attacks. Young Boys then enjoyed another Belfodil latching on to a neat In another match, Juventus good spell, they were caught out B’ Munich draw with Ajax 1-1 through ball from Kerem playmaker Paulo Dybala flour- again in the 69th minute. S’Donetsk draw with Lyon 2-2 Demirbay to slot home. ished in the absence of sus- Juan Cuadrado was released CSKA Moscow bt R’ Madrid 1-0 The quickest goal City had pended Cristiano Ronaldo yes- on the right and his ball into the Persepolis’ Ali Alipour (right) celebrates with team-mate Roma bt Viktoria Plzen 5-0 ever conceded in the competition terday, scoring a hat-trick to give area was touched in by Dybala Goodwin Mensha after scoring during the AFC Champions was another shock to their the Serie A champions a 3-0 win who became the fourth Juventus League semi-final first leg against Al Sadd at the Jassim Bin Man United draw with Valencia 0-0 system after their loss to Lyon, over Young Boys. player to score a Champions Hamad Stadium in Doha, yesterday. their only defeat of the season in Ronaldo, sent off in last League hat-trick. 26 SPORT WEDNESDAY 3 OCTOBER 2018 Poor fitness main reason for Pakistan woes, says Hamid RIZWAN REHMAT THE PENINSULA HOCKEY Germany, the Netherlands and DOHA: Pakistan players must Malaysia at the World Cup to be improve their overall fitness held played from November 28 levels ahead of this year’s Field to December 16 in India. Hockey World Cup to be played Hamid said: “Pakistan in December, retired great Khalid hockey team has very remote Hamid has said. chances to reach in the semi- A hockey giant for over three finals (of the World Cup) but still decades, Pakistan finished a there are two months to go dismal fourth at the Asian Games before the start of the World Cup. in Indonesia in August. I feel our players are very tal- In the third-place play-off ented and in this short span of Pakistan - eight-time gold med- time only hard physical fitness allists at the Asian Games - lost Khalid Hamid training can help to improve to arch-rivals India who bagged their ranking in the World Cup.” the bronze medal. He added: “PHF fully sup- “Although Pakistan Hockey ports the players to build a good Federation (PHF) have hired a team for which it has already Dutch coach and a physical spent a huge amount, hiring a trainer from Australia but Dutch coach and a physical Pakistan team was lacking in There was a time trainer from Australia as well.” physical fitness at the Asian when we were the Hamid, who also featured at Games,” Hamid, a member of Asian, World and the Seoul Olympics in 1988, said Pakistan’s 1984 gold-winning Olympic champions Pakistan had kicked off their squad at the ‘84 Olympic Games, Asian Games in punishing form said in an exclusive interview but now we have to but the loss against Japan in the Pakistan players during their group match at Asian Games 2018 in August, in this file photo.