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NBA | Page 6 FOOTBALL | Page 2 Warriors England To Advertise here rout 76ers for gunning Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 record 53rd for depleted home win Dutch Tuesday, March 29, 2016 CRICKET Jumada II 20, 1437 AH South Africa sign off GULF TIMES with eight-wicket cruise past Sri Lanka SPORT Page 5 FOOTBALL Qatar aim to make Group C clean sweep with China win China, on the other hand, will be determined to avoid a second straight defeat against Qatar while hoping that other results today would somehow help them sneak into the final qualifying phase as one of the four best-placed group runners-up among the several teams in the fray Qatar coach Daniel Carreno talks to his players during a training session in Xi’an, China, yesterday. Qatar will be aiming to beat China in their Group C match in the Asian World Cup qualifying campaign today. By a correspondent Qatar coach Daniel Carreno, mean- After thrashing Tajikistan 7-0 on Xi’an, China while, has drilled into his team the im- Thursday, the Socceroos need only a portance of not taking the foot off the draw from their fi nal Group B fi xture Philippines hope to shock North Korea accelerator even though the team have to progress to the third stage of Asian atar will aim to make a clean already made the cut for the 12-team qualifi ying, from which four countries Philippines coach Thomas Dooley sees no reason why his also challenging for top spot, Dooley insists his team must sweep of their Group C cam- fi nal phase of qualifying starting later will secure tickets to Russia in 2018. charges cannot defeat North Korea in the 2018 FIFA World believe in themselves, especially after last Thursday’s brave paign when they meet China this year. The Jordanians, who trail Australia Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifiers at the Rizal Memo- display in a narrow 1-0 defeat to Uzbekistan. in a World Cup qualifying “It’s important we don’t lose our by two points, infl icted the only de- rial Stadium in Manila today. “Because of the fight last week against Uzbekistan, they Qmatch here today. momentum. China are a dangerous feat of the campaign so far on Australia After beginning their campaign in impressive form with know how to play against those big teams,” he said, accord- With 21 points from seven match- team when playing at home and we with a 2-0 win in Amman last October. victories over Bahrain and Yemen, the Azkals have since ing to Philippine Daily Inquirer. es, Qatar have already made the fi nal must always keep our level of football Postecoglou has previously said that suff ered four defeats and a draw and are currently fourth in “They just have to have confidence against North Korea. round of the World Cup qualifi ers from high,” Carreno told journalists at his avenging that defeat would be a spur Group H. “This time, it’s a little bit diff erent; I want to win now, and my Asia, but a victory against China would pre-match press conference yesterday. at the Sydney Football Stadium but a Bahrain are presently in third place and will advance opinion is we can win. give them an eight-match winning Qatar beat China 1-0 in the fi rst leg grumpy Australia coach performed an straight to the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers, with “Anything is possible.” streak in a major event, something in Doha last October, but Uruguayan about-turn on Monday. the Philippines running the risk of having to go through the There will also be extra motivation for the Philippines after which is unprecedented for the coun- Carreno said that past results don’t “It’s not about revenge, it’s about playoff s should they not finish as one of the four best fourth- veteran defender Juan Luis Guirado confirmed in Monday’s try. mean much. fi nishing strongly,” he told reporters at placed teams. pre-match press conference that the game would be his last China, on the other hand, will be “We should concentrate on the the team hotel. But with the Bahrainis facing a tricky visit to Group leaders before retiring from international football. The 36-year-old, determined to avoid a second straight present with an eye on the future, “If we win tomorrow night, it’s not Uzbekistan, the Azkals know that a victory of their own who was born in Spain but qualified to play for the Azkals defeat against Qatar while hoping that which is qualifying for the 2018 World going to erase what happened in Jor- should be enough to see them climb above their competi- through his mother, has been a mainstay in the team since other favourable results today would Cup,” he said. dan, that’s not the way football works. tors. 2012 and represented them at two AFC Challenge Cups and somehow help them sneak into the fi - Qatar are likely to test their bench “Revenge is best left to the movies, Although it will not be easy against a DPR Korea outfit AFF (Asean Football Federation) Championships. nal qualifying phase as one of the four strength, especially with some of their mate, this is real life. We just want to best-placed group runners-up among seniors out with injury or suspension. fi nish this group off strongly, I think the several teams in the fray. Hassan al-Haydos, Sebastian So- we’ve got stronger throughout this With everyone else in the squad “in “I’ll let other people worry about will hopefully be a by-product of us If China fail to beat Qatar, it would ria and Ali Asad are suspended, while group and we want to fi nish it off to- good nick”, other changes to his team points and top of the table and seeds, playing good football. mark another disappointment for the Ahmed Yasser is nursing an injury. morrow night.” from the Tajikistan match would be because if we have a scrappy perform- “It’s all about the performance, it al- sporting powerhouse. While the Chi- Meanwhile, Australia coach Ange Postecoglou has fi tness concerns about form and the kind of match he ance tomorrow night and fi nish on top, ways is about the performance for us.” nese are world-beaters when it comes Postecoglou has dismissed revenge as about his captain Mile Jedinak, who did wanted to play. that’s not going to make me happy,” he Postecoglou, however, thought that to Olympic sports, they have never a motivation for the Asian champions not train with the team at the weekend Most important of all, though, was said. whatever line-up he put out, they qualifi ed for the quadrennial football in today’s crunch World Cup qualifi er because of a thigh injury, and said he a good performance to improve his “We want to keep progressing our would be able to break down the some- showpiece. against Harry Redknapp’s Jordan. would not “risk him unnecessarily”. mood. football. A win and top of the group times negative Jordanians. Gulf Times 2 Tuesday, March 29, 2016 FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT BOUNCE BACK Shocked Germany take on bogey side Ebullient England Italy today gunning for depleted Dutch ‘I am sure he wants that. He wants everyone on top form and applying themselves Germany’s head coach Joachim Loew during a training session. well. You want the best players to be on form come the Euros’ AFP against another strong oppo- Munich nent, you have to live with results AFP like that, but they are annoying,” London said Loew. hell-shocked Germany Germany are still waiting for hunt a rare win over bo- a fi rst win over Italy at a ma- nvigorated by Saturday’s thrilling gey side Italy in a friendly jor tournament—they have won 3-2 friendly win over world cham- international in Munich none of their three meetings at pions Germany, England tackle the Stoday as the world champions European championships or fi ve Netherlands today seeking to sustain seek to bounce back from their at the World Cup. Ithe feel-good factor ahead of the Euro- defeat to England. In the 32 meetings between pean Championship. Joachim Loew’s Germany threw the two European powerhouses, Goals from Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy away a two-goal lead in Berlin on Germany have won just seven and Eric Dier saw an England team in- Saturday to slump to a 3-2 loss games, all friendlies and qualifi - spired by Dele Alli come from 2-0 down against Roy Hodgson’s England. ers, with Italy winning 15 and the to beat Germany and while manager Roy “That was a wake-up call,” other ten games drawn. Hodgson was quick to downplay the re- fumed Germany’s captain Sami Germany left Warsaw empty sult’s importance, there was no disguis- Khedira, a stand-in with Bastian handed when they last met nearly ing the ebullience of his youthful team’s Schweinsteiger ruled out of the four years ago at Euro 2012 as two display. Italy friendly with a knee injury. Mario Balotelli fi rst-half goals Today’s game is Hodgson’s last chance Less than three months before sealed their 2-1 semi-fi nal win. to experiment before he announces his the start of the European cham- Previous to that, the Azzurri squad for Euro 2016 on May 12 and with pionships in France, the England also ended the hosts’ dreams of Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and defeat exposed sloppy defend- reaching the 2006 World Cup Theo Walcott also candidates for at- ing and lack of composure in the fi nal as Fabio Grosso and Ales- tacking roles—not forgetting injured duo world champions’ ranks.

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