6 December 13, 2020 Lewandowski on FIFA Best Azmoun Named by AFC as Player Shortlist Alongside 2nd Int’l Player of Week Messi, Ronaldo TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iranian an exceptional Russian Premier legionnaire Sardar Azmoun with League display against Ural on 18% votes in AFC poll was select- Saturday,” it added. ed as second international player “The Team Melli star was direct- of the week. ly involved in all five of Zenit’s According to AFC official web- goals, scoring three himself to earn site, 10 contenders produced a Player of the Match honours.” combined total of 15 goals, four Azmoun, who plays for Russian assists and countless other high- club Zenit St. Petersburg was val- lights, with several other worthy ued at €14.5 million and follows candidates unlucky not to be nomi- Tottenham Hotspur’s South Ko- nated. rean winger Heung-min Son, €64 “This week’s list of outstanding million, and FC Porto’s Japanese Asian performances begins with forward Shoya Nakajima, €16 mil- Sardar Azmoun, who turned in lion. Sardar Azmoun ZURICH (AP) -- It’s Robert Harder. Bronze and Renard are Lewandowski’s turn to try to teammates who won the Euro- Nemati’s Goal Among 6 Memorable ACL Semifinal Goals stop Lionel Messi and Cristia- pean title with Lyon last season. no Ronaldo from winning the Harder played on the team that TEHRAN (Tasnim) - With the com takes a moment to remem- 2020 AFC Champions League ber some of the game-changing FIFA best player award. lost in the final, Wolfsburg. (East) semifinal fast approaching, moments that have thrilled and The Bayern Munich forward Harder won the UEFA award the-AFC.com takes a look back at stunned in equal measure. joined the two standout players as the best women’s player in six goals from the previous edi- Few semifinal goals will ever on the three-man shortlist an- Europe last season. Lewan- tions of the final four that con- be celebrated by so many in at- nounced Friday. dowski won the men’s award. tinue to live long in the memory. tendance. Lewandowski’s goals led Neither Messi nor Ronaldo There have been some historic Tehran’s Azadi Stadium was Bayern to a sweep of titles this made it onto the three-man games and goals alike when packed with 100,000 fans and year - the Champions League, shortlist for the European Asia’s most prestigious club Nemati ensured they would not the German league, the German award, voted on by coaches of competition reaches the busi- leave disappointed. The scores Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. top European clubs and media. ness end of the tournament. were level at 1-1 on aggregate One of his 55 goals last sea- Kevin De Bruyne was runner- With the 2020 edition’s semi- following Baghdad Bounedjah’s son came in Bayern’s 8-2 rout up and Neuer finished third. final in the east between Ko- opener but Nemati, who helped It proved enough to take the Simoes, Kwoun Kyung-won, of Barcelona in the Champions The FIFA award was voted on rea Republic’s Ulsan Hyundai Persepolis past Al-Nassr in the team to a first AFC Champions Rafael Silva, Serginho and League quarterfinals. by a four-part worldwide jury: and Japan’s Vissel Kobe set to 2020 semi-final, edged the Irani- League final. Bafetimbi Gomis to win the best Lewandowski could become national team coaches and cap- kick off on Sunday, the-afc. ans back ahead. Nemati will vie with Victor goal. only the second player - after tains, media and fans. Luka Modric in 2018 - to deny Voting has closed and the Messi or Ronaldo since their winners will be announced on Verstappen on Top in Final Abu Dhabi Practice run of FIFA domination started Thursday at a virtual ceremony In an unusual-looking top ten, In beautiful conditions, with an in 2008. Messi has won the hosted by FIFA. as most teams prepared for the air temperature of 25 and the track award six times while Ronaldo Bayern coach Hansi Flick, much-cooler conditions expected at 38 degrees, the session began has won it five times. Liverpool manager Jurgen for qualifying later on Saturday, slowly and 16 minutes had passed Two Bayern players are among Klopp and Leeds coach Marce- Lance Stroll was seventh for Rac- before Nicholas Latifi was first those whose career years were lo Bielsa are in the running for ing Point ahead of Carlos Sainz of man out in his Williams. good enough only for third the men’s coaching award. The McLaren. Mercedes emerged five minutes place in previous votes, Franck coaching award in women’s Valtteri Bottas, who had topped later and Bottas swiftly went top Ribery in 2013 and Manuel soccer will be between Jean- the times in Friday’s second ses- on softs only to be replaced by Neuer in 2014. Luc Vasseur of Lyon, Emma sion after Verstappen had been Albon and his team-mate Verstap- The women’s best player Hayes of Chelsea and Sarina fastest in the first, was ninth in pen. Hamilton persevered with his shortlist includes Lucy Bronze, Wiegman of the Dutch national the second Mercedes ahead of last softs and split the Red Bulls with Wendi Renard and Pernille team. weekend’s Sakhir victor Sergio 15 minutes remaining. Perez in the second Racing Point. The champion continued working Max Verstappen’s only race win of the season came at Silverstone on August 9 It appeared that the team was not and trimmed Verstappen’s advan- WADA Says It Will Monitor ABU DHABI (AFP) - Max Ver- Keynes-based team shone in per- all treating the session with the tage to two-tenths as both Ferraris stappen topped the times ahead of fect conditions at the Yas Marina same level of competitive intent – found speed, Leclerc taking fifth Composition of Virus Vaccines his Red Bull team-mate Alex Albon Circuit before Sunday’s season- Mercedes, in particular, seemed to and Vettel seventh ahead of a re- in Saturday’s third and final free ending race. be holding back on engine power markable Russell, who had hoisted practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and to preserve their units. his Williams beyond expectations. Prix. Esteban Ocon locked out the sec- Ahead of the final event of the In the final 10 minutes, a flurry The Dutchman clocked a best lap ond row ahead of Lando Norris, campaign, reliability may be an of action saw a rush of improved in one minute and 36.251 to finish fifth for McLaren, and seven-time issue as engines and other parts times as the teams fine-tuned half a second ahead of the Lon- champion Lewis Hamilton who reach the end of their Formula One ahead of qualifying, scheduled for don-born Thai driver as the Milton was sixth in the leading Mercedes. seasonal life span. later in cooler conditions at dusk. Marta Bassino Wins World Cup Giant Slalom; Shiffrin 4th COURCHEVEL, France (AP) event in the World Cup in January. -- Marta Bassino won her second That was just before the death of her straight World Cup giant slalom of the father and the spreading coronavirus season on Saturday, and Mikaela Shif- pandemic which ended the season frin placed fourth in her return to the early. In this Feb 9, 2020 photo, the World Anti-Doping Agency or WADA logo is pictured event after an 11-month gap. A back injury forced her to skip the at the Russkaya Zima (Russian Winter) Athletics competition in Moscow. Bassino produced the fastest sec- season-opening giant slalom won by ond-run time after trailing world Bassino at Soelden, Austria, in Oc- TOKYO (Dispatches) - The WADA will continue to monitor all champion Petra Vlhova the first time tober. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) available information and advise down in the morning. Vlhova won all three races since - has said that it will monitor the com- them and other members of the an- The Italian racer finished 0.46 two slaloms at Levi, Finland, where positions of various COVID-19 vac- ti-doping community in the event ahead of hard-charging Sara Hec- Shiffrin returned to competition, and cines and alert anti-doping authori- an ingredient of a vaccine might tor, and 0.59 clear of Vlhova whose a parallel racing event at Lech, Aus- ties if an ingredient is found to be on be problematic,” WADA said in a three-race winning streak was ended. tria. the list of prohibited substances. statement here. Shiffrin had been third-fastest in The Slovakian racer has a clear lead The anti-doping body said that WADA said athlete health was the morning and was again quick in in the early season overall standings making definitive statements con- their primary concern during the the top sections before losing time over Bassino. World Cup defending cerning the composition of vac- pandemic and that it was in contact Italy’s Marta Bassino celebrates winning an alpine ski, women’s World in the lower part of a course slowed champion Federica Brignone placed cines was premature but added with the International Federation Cup giant slalom in Courchevel, France, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. by steady falling snow. She finished fifth on Saturday. there was no reason to believe that of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers 1.70 behind Bassino. ing back at the big screen broadcast- resort. A second giant slalom is scheduled they would contravene anti-doping and Associations to ascertain the The American star skied straight ing her run. There were no fans at Shiffrin, the 2018 Olympic cham- Sunday at Courchevel, where Shif- rules. exact composition of various vac- out of the finish area without look- the race in the upscale French Alps pion in giant slalom, last raced the frin won in 2017 and 2018. “... Athletes can be confident cines.