FFOOTBALLOOTBALL | Page 2 CRICKET | Page 7 Al Gharafa face Rohit Sharma uphill battle to join India’s against Al tour in Sadd Australia Sunday, December 13, 2020 FORMULA 1 Rabia II 28, 1442 AH Verstappen GULF TIMES claims last pole of the season SPORT Page 4 MOTORSPORT Al-Attiyah fends off Sainz and Peterhansel to win Hail Baja 1 ‘It was a good day for us. We believed in our speed. We opened the road but we only had one way and that was to push’ Agencies eren delivered another polished Hail performance on his pre-Dakar test to crush his amateur rivals in the motorcycle category. The atar’s Nasser Saleh al- Frenchman won the stage by Attiyah held his nerve 23min 16sec from Konrad Dab- to set a second succes- rowski to record a winning mar- sive fastest time and gin over the Pole of 48min 25sec. Qseal victory in Hail Baja 1, round Saudi rider Mishal al-Ghuneim four of the FIA World Cup for fi nished a distant third. Cross-Country Bajas, yesterday. Riyadh Saud al-Shammeri Despite opening the road on won his second successive stage the 275.54lkm stage and hav- to confi rm victory in the quad ing the extra burden of naviga- category on his Yamaha. Former tion, the Toyota Hilux driver and Hail Rally winner Abdulmajeed his French navigator Matthieu al-Khulaifi was second, 3min Baumel stayed ahead of closest 52sec adrift, and Waliad al-Na- rivals Carlos Sainz and Stéphane hath came home in third place. Peterhansel to win the stage by 3min 20sec and seal a winning OVERALL CLASSIFICATION margin of 6min 10sec. Cars (top 3) Al-Attiyah said: “It was a good 1. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT)/ day for us. We believed in our Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota speed. We opened the road but Hilux 6hr 14min 27sec we only had one way and that 2. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/Lucas Cruz was to push. We made an in- (ESP) MINI JCW Buggy 6hr 20min credible stage without mistake, 37sec no problems and no punctures. I 3. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA)/ am happy to win Baja 1. Now we Edouard Boulanger (FRA) MINI have two days of rest. Baja 2 will JCW Buggy 6hr 23min 26sec be diff erent but we will try to do Selected our best. Third win in Hail and 15. Khalifa al-Attiyah (QAT)/Paulo hopefully the fourth one is com- Ceci (ITA) Can-Am Maverick X3 ing very soon.” 7hr 49min 05sec Sainz and Peterhansel were closely matched throughout the Bikes (top 3) challenging stage in the two new 1. Adrien van Beveren (FRA) Mini John Cooper Works Buggies Yamaha 450 WRF 5hr 38min and fi nished second and third 22sec overall. 2. Konrad Dabrowski (POL) KTM “All is okay, no problem. We 450 Rally Replica 6hr 26min keep planning and we will try a Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (also inset) and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel in action during Hail Baja 1 yesterday. 47sec couple more things a day after 3. Mishal al-Ghuneim (SAU) KTM tomorrow,” double Dakar and tunity just before the Dakar to do Hail before looping through the the road and relying heavily on and sixth positions and the out- the Pole’s fi rst day woes had giv- 450 Rally 6hr 57min 33sec WRC series winner Sainz said. it.” desert to fi nish close to the vil- Matthieu Baumel’s precise navi- come of the title race will now be en Koolen a massive cushion and Third-placed Peterhansel said: Five-time Hail Rally winner lage of Q’na. There were two pas- gation. He gradually extended decided at the fi nal round on De- he duly closed the gap on his rival Quads (top 3) “Today was an interesting stage, Yazeed al-Rajhi had to settle for sage controls after 147.29km and that advantage as the stage pro- cember 14-16. for the FIA T4 title. 1. Riyadh Saud al-Shammeri a mix of fast tracks, sandy tracks fourth place on the fi rst of the 261.46km. gressed to seal the win. Dutchman Kees Koolen fi n- Khalifa al-Attiyah, the brother (SAU) Yamaha YFZ 450 7hr and dunes with a very beautiful Bajas, the Saudi driver fi nishing The leading quartet were Russian Vladimir Vasilyev ished in 13th place and fi rst in the of overall event winner Nasser, 08min 14sec landscape. This two days of rac- 14min 48sec behind his winning closely matched through the moved ahead of Dutchman Bern- FIA T4 section in his South Rac- was third in the category but 2. Abdulmajeed al-Khulaifi (SAU) ing was interesting with a good Toyota teammate. opening checkpoints with al- hard Ten Brinke in the battle for ing Can-Am Maverick X3. He was technical issues thwarted Lor- Yamaha 700 7hr 12min 06sec level of organisation, good road The second stage began close Attiyah holding a slight advan- the FIA Baja Drivers’ title. The second best on the day’s stage to enco Rosa. 3. Waliad al-Nahath (SAU) Yamaha book and this is a great oppor- to Jubbah and headed west of tage over Sainz, despite opening duo fi nished Hail Baja 1 in fi fth a resurgent Aron Domzala, but Yamaha’s Adrien van Bev- Raptor 700 7hr 52min 08sec FOOTBALL / AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Debutants Kobe seek semi-fi nal joy against Ulsan AFC nental campaign in Doha. of 16, and they proved equal to good game so we can go further,” Doha A two-time AFC Asian Cup the challenge as Andres Iniesta said Miura. winner with Japan, Miura led the and Daigo Nishi scored either “Having played 120 minutes team to top Group G with two side of the half time break to pro- last game, fi tness might be a aving plied their trade matches to spare. pel them past Shanghai SIPG. problem, but in this tournament, in the second tier of Vissel Kobe had arrived in The quarter-fi nal draw you cannot conserve your energy, Japanese football as Doha with three points to their brought about a replay of their you always have to give your best. recently as 2013, Vissel name from a 1-0 win over Su- encounter with Suwon Samsung No matter who will play tomor- HKobe have defi ed all odds to reach won Samsung Bluewings back Bluewings, and despite going row, they will do their best.” the 2020 AFC Champions League in February, and the withdrawal down to an early goal, Furuhashi “There is a lot of pressure in (East) semi-fi nal where they lock of Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim was again on scoring duty, send- tomorrow’s match, but it is not horns with Korea Republic’s Ul- meant the Japanese side needed ing an intelligent free-kick un- all negative, sometimes the pres- san Hyundai FC at Jassim Bin just three more points to top the derneath the wall for the equal- sure pushes you forward. Hamad Stadium today. group. iser. “A lot of our staff and fans in After winning their fi rst-ev- The points were duly se- All of 120 minutes were not Japan are pushing us forward, er Emperor’s Cup title in 2019 cured with an emphatic display enough to separate the sides but we are preparing for this and it to earn their AFC Champions against Guangzhou Evergrande Vissel Kobe players kept their means to us more than a title, League debut, Vissel Kobe had a as Kyogo Furuhashi netted at composure, scoring all their ef- that pressure can help us, and we 2020 domestic season full of ups both ends and late goals from forts from the spot to seal a 7-6 hope the players will respond to it and downs. Douglas and Andres Iniesta penalty shootout win and book positively tomorrow and we can The port city club added the sealed a 3-1 win over Fabio Can- a date with Ulsan Hyundai in the get a result,” he added. Japanese Super Cup in February, navaro’s men. semi-fi nal. Should Vissel Kobe reach the defeating Yokohama F. Marinos With qualifi cation confi rmed, “Tomorrow we play against an 2020 AFC Champions League fi - on a penalty shootout, but ended coach Miura rotated his squad in Ulsan Hyundai team whom we nal, they would become the fi rst the J1 League season in a disap- consecutive 2-0 defeats which know is a strong team with qual- debutants to achieve that feat pointing 12th place. did little to impact their fi nal ity players. Our preparations for since Western Sydney Wanderers The league results contributed standing at the summit of the tomorrow’s match did not start in 2014. to the departure of German boss group. after the quarter-fi nal, we have They would also extend a Thorsten Fink, who was replaced Having edged Guangzhou been preparing for every step of proud record for Japanese clubs by former sporting director At- Evergrande in the group stage, this competition since we were who have been involved in every suhiro Miura just two months another Chinese powerhouse in Japan, so we want to show our AFC Champions League fi nal Vissel Kobe players celebrate after winning the AFC Champions League quarter-final against Suwon before the restart of the conti- awaited Vissel Kobe in the Round quality on the pitch and play a since 2017. Samsung Bluewings in a penalty shootout at Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday. (AFP) Gulf Times 2 Sunday, December 13, 2020 FOOTBALL QNB STARS LEAGUE PREMIER LEAGUE Al Gharafa face United, City fi re blanks in derby, uphill battle Newcastle’s Almiron scores against Al Sadd in 20 seconds ‘We will see what happens next.