RRUGBYUGBY | Page 5 CRICKET | Page 7 All Blacks’ SA ponder Irish revenge four-pronged To Advertise here on hold aft er pace assault Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 Italy test in Hobart Saturday, November 12, 2016 FORMULA 1 Safar 12, 1438 AH Long wait for next GULF TIMES Brazil F1 winner, says Massa SPORT Page 6 2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS Neymar’s Brazil crush Argentina Neymar scores his 50th international goal in 3-0 victory as Brazil leave arch-rivals Argentina struggling to reach the finals AFP Belo Horizonte, Brazil eymar scored his 50th international goal as Brazil thrashed arch-rivals Argentina 3-0 in their 2018 World Cup qualifying duel here Thursday. NBarcelona superstar Neymar took his tally to 50 goals in 74 games as Brazil recorded their fi fth consecutive victory under new coach Tite to remain on top of South Ameri- ca’s qualifi cation table. Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho also scored as the Brazilians made a triumphant return to the Estadio Mineiro, scene of their 7-1 2014 World Cup semi-fi nal humiliation against Germany. Brazil now head the 10-team round-robin competition with 24 points from 11 games. But the defeat deepens the sense of crisis enveloping Argentina, who have taken just two points from their last four games and now languish in sixth place overall, one spot outside the qualifying positions for the fi nals in Russia. Brazil powered into a 2-0 lead in the fi rst half after two wonderfully worked goals from Coutinho and Neymar. Argentina had started brightly, with Li- onel Messi drawing a foul from Fernandinho in the opening minutes which earned the Manchester City midfi elder a yellow card Argentina’s Lionel Messi (left) is dejected as Brazil’s Miranda and goalkeeper Alisson (right) from Chilean referee Julio Bascunan. celebrate their 3-0 victory at the end of their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Belo Horizonte, The Argentines created the fi rst chance of Brazil, on Thursday. (AFP) the evening when Lucas Biglia’s venomous shot from outside the area was well saved by into the top corner. Neymar — still only 24 — is now closing in Brazil goalkeeper Alisson on 23 minutes. It got better on the stroke of half-time on Romario’s mark of 55 goals and is fi rmly But after weathering the early pressure when Neymar completed his half-century of on track to surpass Pele’s record haul of 77 Brazil began to probe more eff ectively and on international goals. goals in 91 games. 25 minutes took the lead through Coutinho. Another clinical Brazil attack culminated Brazil were quick to get into their stride in The Liverpool playmaker gathered the ball with teenage star Gabriel Jesus splitting the the second half, and Paulinho nearly made wide out on the left fl ank and accelerated Argentine defence with an exquisite pass it 3-0 only to be denied by a Pablo Zabaleta purposefully towards the Argentina area. that sent Neymar through on goal. goal-line clearance on 55 minutes. The attacking midfi elder’s pace took him The Barcelona striker coolly rolled his fi n- Paulinho made no mistake four minutes past Nicolas Otamendi with ease before he ish past the advancing Sergio Romero and later though, tucking away a close range fi n- unleashed a thunderous strike that crashed Brazil were in complete control. ish after a low cross from Renato Augusto. Al Rayyan give Musa winning farewell Qatar Basketball Federation president Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani presents Yaseen Musa with a memento after Al Rayyan won the Qatari star’s farewell match against Globalport Batang Pier of the Philippines 84-73 at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena yesterday. Also watching the proceedings of the farewell match was Qatar Olympic Committee secretary general Dr Thani al-Kuwari. Musa’s illustrious international career lasted 23 years, during which he amassed 46 titles for Al Rayyan and 16 for the national team. His closing years for the national team were really inspiring as he switched to 3x3 format and helped Qatar bag the Asian and world titles. Al Rayyan will also retire Musa’s No 10 jersey. PICTURES: Jayaram Gulf Times 2 Saturday, November 12, 2016 FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT CAUSE AND EFFECT Tourists fl ock to Iceland on back of Argentina avoid football success crisis talk as media lament ‘catastrophe’ File picture of Iceland’s coaches Heimir Hallgrimsson and Lars ‘We are more than aware that we have to change a lot. Of all the bad points, the good Lagerback (R) during a news conference. one is that we depend on ourselves but we can’t be giving away any more points’ DPA ciers. Reykjavik “At the moment it looks like we’re going to grow by 127 per cent compared to the previ- claim that the popula- ous year,” says Skuli Mogensen, tion of Iceland is too founder and chief executive of small for the country budget airline Wow air. to achieve success in Airlines cashed in more than Aa major football championship usual during the Euro 2016 is something national football championships: More than coach Heimir Hallgrimsson 30,000 Icelanders, about 10 per has heard all his life – and now cent of the population, travelled proved wrong. to France to see their country’s At the Euro 2016 football cham- debut in a major international pionships, Iceland made its mark. football tournament. Hallgrimsson, along with There is need to strike a bal- former coach Lars Lagerback, ance, says former footballer Her- were at the helm when Iceland mann Hreidarsson, who has 89 reached the quarter-fi nals. caps for Iceland and also played Fans celebrated the team’s in the English Premier League. success with a battle cry, “Hu!”. Along with his father, he runs It triggered a worldwide hype – the Stracta Hotel in the town of and boosted the country’s image. Hella. It has 120 beds and is locat- “I don’t think you can have ed near the “Golden Circle,” one of bought a better advertisement for Iceland’s main tourist routes. Iceland,” Hallgrimsson says. “Even “Everyone is aware of this sit- a volcano [eruption] wouldn’t uation, but then again [tourism] have had such an infl uence.” has become a massive industry,” Icelanders did not only grab says the 42-year-old. the hearts of host country France. The tourism industry has long The agency Promote Iceland es- since overtaken fi shing as the timates that 152,000 articles were largest economic activity. published worldwide this summer. After the fi nancial crisis and The number of hits on the the collapse of the main banks in website Visiticeland.com dou- 2008, Iceland recovered surpris- bled when Iceland knocked out ingly rapidly also thanks to the England in the last 16. many tourists. In Germany, meanwhile, Inter- “Will the island lose its net users googled Iceland almost charm?” asks Hreidarsson, who fi ve times as often as before. also hails from the Westman Is- The 49-year-old Hallgrimsson, lands. “I do not think so.” who also is a dentist, says his The national coach has other country did not need the promo- concerns. For him, the biggest tion. Tourism on the small island gain from the sensational per- in the North Atlantic has grown formance of his team at the Euro annually by 25 to 30 per cent. 2016 championships is some- Argentina’s Lionel Messi gestures as players of Brazil (not pictured) celebrate Neymar’s goal during their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier football match in Belo Horizonte. The country is expecting to thing quite diff erent. log around 1.7 million tourists for June 2016 “will always be re- Reuters recording just one win in his fi ve games major tournaments but not won a sen- already crowded.” 2016 – too many, if you ask Hall- membered” as the month that Belo Horizonte in charge while his players will also face ior title since the 1990s. Their next two Assessing Brazil’s strengths, Tite said grimsson. gave unity to the Icelandic peo- questions after they were outshone games are against Colombia on Tuesday Neymar played well because he was play- “Everybody is coming to Ice- ple, he says. “You can see that by Brazil’s three goalscorers Neymar, and then next March against the Copa ing box-to-box with the same quality. land to look at the nature, and we political enemies were sitting he Argentina coach, Edgardo Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho. América champions Chile, who are fi fth “One of the biggest lies in football is that are destroying it by overloading it next to each other hugging each Bauza, was unbowed after a 3-0 Lionel Messi returned from three in the table on 17 points. if you mark you will not have the energy with people,” he says, noting the other, a grandma {who] had nev- World Cup qualifying loss to games out injured but was largely anony- Messi had begun the game with a lot of to do well up front,” Tite said. “That is strong pressure on the Westman er in her life watched football sat Brazil and a fourth game without mous and there was little of note from style at the Mineirão stadium and caused not the case.” Islands, a small archipelago off the with her kids and grandsons” to Ta win on Thursday, but promised his mis- strikers Gonzalo Higuaín or Angel Di trouble for his marker, Fernandinho. Liverpool’s in-form Coutinho added: south coast, where he hails from. watch the matches on television.