6 March 19, 2018 Utah Jazz Beat Iran Routs Sierra Leone 4-0 Sacramento Kings 103-97 for 9th Straight Win in World Cup Warm-Up SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Utah Jazz struggled from long TEHRAN (Dispatches) - The the Iran national football team’s range. They were on at the free- Iran men’s national football team, lead. throw line. domestically known as Team Melli, Kaveh Rezaei scored Team Mel- Donovan Mitchell scored 28 has routed the Sierra Leone national li’s third goal in the 33rd minute, points, and the Jazz beat the Sac- football team in a friendly fixture as and Iranian footballers went into ramento Kings 103-97 on Satur- part of preparations for the 2018 Fé- the cloakrooms ahead of their West day night for their ninth straight dération Internationale de Football African counterparts by three goals. victory. Association (FIFA) World Cup. Gholizadeh put his name on the Rudy Gobert had 22 points and On Saturday evening, Team Melli scoreboard once again in the 47th 13 rebounds for Utah, and Ricky thumped the Leone Stars 4-0 at the minute. Rubio added 14 points, nine re- end of a match staged at Azadi Sta- During the official 2018 FIFA bounds and five assists. The Jazz dium in western Tehran. World Cup draw ceremony at (40-30) won for the 21st time in Iran’s 26-year-old defender Mo- Kremlin State Palace in the Rus- their last 23 games. hammadreza Khanzadeh, who cur- sian capital city of Moscow on Sacramento went 14 for 21 from rently plays for Padideh in the Per- December 1, Team Melli joined 3-point range, but Utah made 31 sian Gulf Pro League, opened the the Portugal national football team, of 38 at the line. Gobert went 8 Ricky Rubio #3 of the Utah Jazz scoring for the hosts just 14 min- nicknamed A Selecção, Spain’s La This picture shows a view of the friendly match between the Iran for 10 as six different Jazz play- passes the ball against the Sacra- utes into the match. Furia Roja and Atlas Lions of Mo- men’s national football team (players in white) and Sierra Leone at ers shot at least four free throws. mento Kings on March 17, 2018 Ali Gholizadeh found the back of rocco in the preliminary round of Azadi Stadium, western Tehran, Iran, on March 17, 2018. The free throws helped make up at vivint.SmartHome Arena in the net a minute later and doubled the tournament. for a disparity on the perimeter. Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah went 6 for 24 from beyond Salah Can Pass Messi and Be Best in World, Says Klopp the arc, and Sacramento was 9 for about 23 seconds to go. 14 on foul shots. Temple then made a 3-pointer Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi “I think Mo is on the way (to be- The Kings (23-48) lost to the for Sacramento, but Ingles made are premature, but that the Egyp- ing the best in the world),” said Jazz for the third time this season. another foul shot and Gobert tian is on his way to one day becom- Klopp. Buddy Hield scored 23 points, scored to help Utah close it out. ing the best player in the world. “I don’t think Mo or anybody and Bogdan Bogdanovic finished Ingles finished with 14 points, Salah’s stunning season contin- else wants to be compared with with 12. nine assists and seven rebounds. ued with a four-goal haul in a 5-0 Lionel Messi. He is the one who De’Aaron Fox made a free Fox and Temple each had 11 thrashing of Watford at Anfield is doing what he’s doing for what throw and dunked off a pass points for the Kings, who are 5-5 to take his tally for the season to feels like 20 years or so.” from Garrett Temple to rally the in March. 36 on Saturday -- the most goals And Klopp challenged Salah to Kings into a 94-all tie with 1:11 ‘’Finding our identity is some- ever scored by a Liverpool player maintain the standards he has set remaining. But Joe Ingles, Rubio thing we’re finding late, but it’s in their debut year at the club. this season in the manner Messi and Gobert each made two free better to end on a better note,’’ Messi showed why he is still and Ronaldo have for the past de- throws to make it 100-94 with Hield said. widely considered the world’s cade. best by scoring his 100th Cham- Salah even defied the slippery pions League goal in tearing conditions of a snow storm as he Chelsea apart in a 3-0 win on weaved his way past Jose Hole- Coaching Italy Would Be Mohamed Salah, 25, could become the world’s top player succeeding Wednesday. bas to slot home the opener after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, both in their 30s, his manager But Klopp believes Salah, 25, just four minutes. Extraordinary - Mancini Jurgen Klopp believes celebrates scoring the team’s fourth goal during the has time on his side to succeed “Conditions were difficult. It English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Watford at Messi and Real Madrid rival was obviously slippery and ev- Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on March 17, 2018. Cristiano Ronaldo, both now in erybody suffered, but not Mo in LIVERPOOL (AFP) - Liverpool comparisons between Mohamed their thirties, as the world’s best that situation. It was really spe- manager Jurgen Klopp believes Salah and Barcelona’s five-time player. cial,” added Klopp. Ramirez Beats Imam, Claims WBC Super Lightweight Belt NEW YORK (AFP) - Jose shut in the 11th, and Ramirez Ramirez has claimed the vacant came out firing in the 12th, al- World Boxing council super light- though the knockout eluded him. weight world title with a 12-round The bout saw Hall of Fame unanimous decision over fellow 86-year-old promoters Don King American Amir Imam. and Bob Arum renew their de- Ramirez, a 2012 Olympian, re- cades-old rivalry. mained unbeaten, taking his re- Top Rank boss Arum promotes cord to 22-0 with 16 wins inside Ramirez while King promotes Roberto Mancini won league titles with both Man City and Inter Milan, the distance as he captured the Imam, a 27-year-old New Yorker but has struggled in Russia with Zenit title vacated by Terence Craw- who fell to 21-2 and saw a run of ford when he moved up to wel- three straight victories end. ROME (AFP) - Zenit St Peters- ern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti terweight. It was the first fight in which burg coach Roberto Mancini has also being touted as candidates. “Man, it’s a dream come true,” Arum and King fighters faced revealed in an emotional interview “When you’re abroad you always said California’s Ramirez, who each other since March 2011, how coaching his native Italy would miss your country,” said Mancini Jose Ramirez (R) took his record to 22-0, as he captured the vacant gained the decision by scores of when Puerto Rico’s Miguel be “extraordinary”. in an episode of “The Lords of 115-113, 117-111 and 120-108 World Boxing council super lightweight title with a 12-round Cotto kept his World Boxing Mancini, 53, is among the favor- Football” series with Sky. -- the last not reflecting the back unanimous decision over fellow American Amir Imam (R) Association super welterweight ites to lead the four-time World “When you are in Italy, you and forth action on display at But Ramirez was clearly in ing Imam with a right in the 10th. world title with a 12th-round Cup winners, with Chelsea manag- sometimes criticize it rightly. You the Hulu theater inside Madison control in the latter rounds, hurt- Imam’s right eye was swelling stoppage of Nicaragua’s Ricardo Square Garden. Mayorga. er Antonio Conte and former Bay- go abroad and you miss this feel- ing. Federer Survives Scare, to Face Del Zarco Takes Pole for MotoGP’s “You become nostalgic for the past when we were young, in the Potro in Indian Wells Final Qatar Opener in Record Time ‘70s and ‘80s when we saw the Italian national team playing with DOHA (Reuters) - Frenchman Johann Zarco took the first pole position PARIBAS (Reuters) - World expectedly competitive two hour grand slam champion was able to great emotion. number one Roger Federer sur- twenty minute battle against the eke out victory by finding his serv- of the MotoGP season for the non-works Tech3 Yamaha team on Saturday “You never know in life, I think vived a scare from unseeded Borna 21-year-old Croatian on a windy ing rhythm and winning the big- with a record lap around Qatar’s floodlit Losail circuit. The twice-Moto2 champion’s best time of one minute 53.680 seconds that coaching Italy one day would Coric to beat him 5-7 6-4 6-4 in the morning in the California desert. gest points of the match as nerves was 0.247 faster than the previous lap record set by Spaniard Jorge Lo- BNP Paribas Open and set up a fi- An upset was on the cards when finally caught up with Coric. be an extraordinary thing of enor- renzo in 2008 at the desert track outside Doha. mous prestige.” nal showdown with Juan Martin del the speedy Coric used his fero- Del Potro’s one-sided win lacked Honda’s Spanish reigning world champion Marc Marquez was 0.202 Potro who cruised to a 6-2 6-3 win cious backhand to take the first the drama of the earlier match as slower than Zarco and will start Sunday’s night race in the middle of the “In the meantime, though, I’ll try over Milos Raonic.