Aug. 8, 2021 Manchester City midfielders Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden will be “out for a while” because of injuries, said city boss Pep Guardiola, BBC 7 reported. Esteghlal, Foolad battling it out for Hazfi Cup trophy Sports Desk Persian Gulf Pro League giants Esteghlal and Foolad Khuzestan will square off in Iran’s Hazfi Cup final at Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Stadium today. Farhad Majidi’s Esteghlal booked their place in the final showpiece by a 2-1 semifinal victory over Gol- gohar Sirjan on Wednesday, having beaten arch-rivals Persepolis in the shootout in the previous round. Foolad, meanwhile, came out victorious by two goals against the second- tier side Malavan Bandar Anzali in the semis. A place in next season’s ISNA AFC Champions League LEAH MILLIS/REUTERS will be at stake for Foolad, Meanwhile, Esteghlal, Seyyed Hossein Hosseini, courtesy of a 90th-min- Amir-Hossein Zare’ of Iran celebrates winning the men’s 125kg freestyle wrestling bronze at the Tokyo Olympics on August 6, 2021. after Javad Nekounam’s who have already secured an who will miss the tie with ute spot kick by Luciano men failed to finish in the ACL spot by finishing third suspension, as well as centre- Pereira, while the Tehran- Sports Desk future Olympics.” league’s top three. in the league, will be after a back Mohammad Daneshgar, based won the reverse Six-placed Foolad will first title in three years by lift- who also received a third yel- fixture 1-0, also by a late ran’s freestyle wrestler Amir-Hossein Zare’, a bronze medal- Blow expectations be hoping to build on a de- ing a record-extending eighth low card in the competition penalty converted by Amir- ist at the Tokyo Olympics, believes he could have been one cent season in the today’s cup trophy, having won the against Golgohar. Arsalan Motahari, in what Iof the two finalists of the 125kg contests. Zare’s medal was the second for the country in the freestyle encounter, after going a competition in 2018. Foolad won the first was Majidi’s first match Zare’, 21, a world under-23 champion in 2019, beat the 2018 wrestling competitions, following Hassan Yazdani’s 86kg silver. whole league campaign un- Majidi, however, will be meeting between the two in his third spell on Blues world silver medalist, Deng Zhiwei of China, 5-0 to share the Head coach Gholamreza Mohammadi admitted he had ex- defeated at home. without first-choice keeper in the league 2-1 at home, bench . third podium with Taha Akgül of Turkey, who came out victori- pected his six-man team to finish with at least three medals in ous (5-0) against Mongolian Mönkhtöriin Lkhagvagerel. Tokyo. However, the Iranian, who participated in his maiden seniors “We had predicted to win three medals in the 86kg, 97kg, event, regretted the semifinal defeat against Georgian Geno Pe- and 125kg divisions, but Mohammad-Hossein Mohammadian triashvili. performed blow expectations against Elizbar Odikadze. Had he Durant leads U.S. to 16th men’s Olympic gold Petriashvili, a gold medalist in the previous three editions of beat the Georgian, I’m sure he would have claimed a medal,” the World Championships, overcame a first-period 3-0 deficit to Mohammadi said. beat Zare’ 6-3 for a place in the final, where a thrilling bout saw Speaking of Yazdani’s final defeat against American David in revenge match vs France the Georgian fall to a 10-8 loss against American Gable Steve- Taylor, Mohammadi said, “We had planned for every second of son. the bout, and Hassan was dominant throughout the contest, but arena north of Tokyo, with the bottom “I deserved more at the Olympics, but I’m still grateful,” unpredicted incidents can happen in the sports. bowl of seats about half full of ath- Zare’ said of his campaign, adding, “Everything was going well “I think we deserved at least three medals, including a gold,” letes, officials, media and volunteers in in the semifinal against the Georgian opponent, but there were said Mohammadi, adding, “The biggest achievement for us in place of fans due to COVID-19 restric- some twists and turns in the bout that made me lose my momen- the event was the introduction of a 21-year-old wrestler (Zare’), tions. tum. I hope I’ll build on the experience to win the gold in the who won a bronze.” France earned their third Olympic sil- ver medal in men’s basketball. Slovenia, making their debut at the Games, will play Australia in the bronze medal match later on Saturday. PSG deny Messi transfer agreement The U.S. men have historically been the team to beat, with 15 gold medals On Friday, Khalid bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, half-broth- since 1936 going into these Games. This er of the Emir of Qatar, PSG’s owner, indicated that a deal had championship marks their fourth straight been struck for Messi, but now the club has refuted such claims gold medal. outright. But this year’s team proved to be vul- PSG’s communications department has told Goal that Al nerable, dropping two-straight exhibi- Thani’s statements that a deal has been completed are false, with tion games in July and suffering a shock no such agreement in place between the club and Messi’s entou- ARIS MESSINIS/AFP 83-76 defeat to France in the preliminary rage. USA’s Kevin Durant (L) and France’s Moustapha Fall battle in the men’s basketball round of the Games, which was their The 34-year-old had taken to Twitter amid reports of the Argen- final at the Tokyo Olympics on August 7, 2021. first defeat on the Olympic stage since tine closing in on a potential move to Parc des Princes to state that Kevin Durant led Team USA’s victory Nets star who has now won three Olym- 2004. matters had been completed between the two. over France in the men’s basketball final pic gold medals. “The first time we played together as “Negotiations are officially concluded,” he had written. “An- in Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, aveng- “I’m bonded to these guys for life,” he a whole roster was France and lost to nounce later.” ing a first-round loss and claiming a 16th said. them,” said Jrue Holiday, who had 11 Despite PSG’s denial, it appears that Messi is destined to make gold for the country in the sport. The U.S. team had been slow to start points for the United States. “So we just the French capital his new home next season, with few other real- Durant, who in these Games sur- in previous matches, but they kept the felt like it was only right to meet them in ALBERT GEA/REUTERS istic suitors thought to be in the race to sign him. passed Carmelo Anthony as the United heat on France consistently this time. gold and to get our win back.” Paris Saint-Germain denied that they have agreed terms with Manchester City have already denied that they will be making a States’ highest career scorer, led with 29 But it was 18 turnovers that proved to be In the women’s bronze medal match, Lionel Messi after their owner’s half-brother appeared to im- move for the Argentine after their record-breaking capture of Jack points in the 87-82 victory at the Saitama the killer for France. France beat Serbia 91-76. Gabby Wil- ply on social media that a deal had been completed for the Grealish and continued pursuit of Harry Kane, while a switch to Super Arena, Reuters reported. “Details cost us the game for sure,” liams led the French team with 17 points Argentine. Juventus to join Cristiano Ronaldo seems fanciful. “You realise, you know, you finished said French team captain Nicolas Ba- as the nation claimed its first medal since The veteran attacker has been widely tipped over the past two Instead, it seems Messi will line up alongside former Barca the job, you get the gold medal, you get tum. “You can’t turnover that much winning silver in 2012. days to join the Ligue 1 giants after his renewal with Barcelona team-mate Neymar and France superstar Kylian Mbappe at Parc the trophy, but when you go through that against that type of team.” France were beaten in the semifinals broke down at the last hour to leave him seeking a new club, goal. des Princes, as Mauricio Pochettino’s side go in pursuit of long- journey, it’s just incredible to be a part of The championship attracted the big- by Japan, who go on to challenge the com reported. awaited European glory once more. something so special,” said the Brooklyn gest crowd yet in these Games to the U.S. women for gold today. Tokyo Olympics Days 13-15 in pictures FARSHAD ABBASI CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/REUTERS SIPHIWE SIBEKO/REUTERS Iran’s Hassan Yazdani (R) is in action against American David Taylor in the Argentina’s players and coaching staff celebrate beating Brazil in five sets for the men’s volleyball bronze at the Tokyo Olympics Aleix Gomez (R) of Spain is in action with Hassan Kaddah of Egypt during the men’s 86kg freestyle wrestling final at the Tokyo Olympics on August 5, on August 7, 2021. men’s handball bronze match at the Tokyo Olympics on August 7, 2021. Spain 2021. Taylor won the bout 4-3. won the match 33-31..