FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2021 12 Bahrain lose in semis of Arab Futsal Cup Muharraq through to AFC Cup zonal semis Bahrainis defeat Al Ansar of Lebanon 3-1 to top Group B, while Hidd drop out of contention following late loss to defending champions Al Ahed Hidd and Muharraq are the Sanad Saleh, Ismaeel only two Bahraini teams in this • year’s competition. Abdullatif and Tiago In Muharraq’s win last night, Real all on target for three different players were on Action from last night’s match between Bahrain and Morocco Muharraq after falling target for the Bahrainis. They TDT | Manama Falah Abbas, Jassam Anan, behind early in first half had to fight back from an early Mirza Al Nuaimi, Mohammed deficit after Hassan Maatouk ahrain’s national futsal Abdulla, Muhammad Al Sindi, put Ansar ahead in the 17th Bteam lost to their Moroc- Saleh Ahmed and Salman Al Hidd concede Ahed’s minute. can counterparts 0-6 last night Mulla. winner• just two minutes Sanad Saleh was the first to in the semi-finals of the fifth before the end of regular reply for Bahrain. He scored Arab Futsal Cup 2021, being The Arab Futsal time and just three with six minutes to go in the held in Egypt. first half. He was on the receiv- The Bahrainis have been Cup last took minutes after equalising ing end of a fine through-pass eliminated from the compe- place in 2008, Muharraq players come together in celebration after scoring against Al Ansar from Ahmed Al Sherooqi, then tition while the Moroccans TDT | Manama Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, also of Lebanon, 1-2. That game evaded a defender and applied move on to play in the gold also in Egypt, Jordan, and the result earned was played in the Kingdom and a cool finish past goalkeeper medal game against the host when Libya ahrain‘s Muharraq ad- Muharraq first place in Group it dropped Hidd to last place in Nazih Asaad to bring Muharraq Egyptians. were crowned vanced to the West Zon- B to complete this stage of the Group A. level. Egypt defeated the UAE 4-3 Bal semi-final of the AFC competition. In the Zonal semi-finals, Mu- Bahraini international strik- in the other final four contest back-to-back Cup 2021 last night following Meanwhile, fellow-Bahraini harraq and Ahed meet in one er Ismaeel Abdullatif then yesterday. champions, af- a 3-1 victory over Al Ansar of side Hidd dropped out of fur- match, while Al Salt of Jordan powered his team to the front, Bahrain made their debut in Lebanon. ther contention after losing to face off with Al Kuwait of Ku- scoring just five minutes on, the tournament this year. ter having also The match was played at King defending champions Al Ahed, wait in the other. hammering the ball into the net They are coached by Brazil- won in 2007 Those match-ups will be to give Muharraq the one-goal ian Lino Gomes. Standings (*advanced to West Zonal semi-finals) played over two legs each, with advantage heading into the in- The Bahrainis finished the both legs scheduled to be held terval. tournament with two wins to The Arab Futsal Cup last Group A this September. Muharraq confirmed their begin the group stage before took place in 2008, also in P W D L +/- Pts Muharraq and Hidd are victory in the 81st minute when losing their last game before Egypt, when Libya were Al Ahed (Lebanon)* 2 1 1 0 1 4 the only two Bahraini clubs a swift counter-attack saw Ab- heading into the semi-finals. crowned back-to-back cham- Al Wahda (Syria) 2 0 2 0 0 2 competing in this year’s AFC dulwahab Al Malood break The national team roster pions, after having also won Hidd (Bahrain) 2 0 1 1 -1 1 Cup, which is Asia’s second - free down the left and send a included Sayed Fadel Radhi, in 2007. ary club tournament organised well-weighted cross for substi- Sayed Mohammed Hamid, Egypt won the tournament’s Group B P W D L +/- Pts by the Asian Football Con - tute Tiago Real. The Brazilian Youssef Janahi, Ahmed Ab- first two editions, held in 1998 Muharraq (Bahrain)* 3 2 0 1 2 6 federation (AFC). This year’s just needed to tap the ball in for duljaleel, Ahmed Abdulnabi, and 2005. They also were the Al Salt (Jordan) 3 2 0 1 5 6 winners automatically qualify Muharraq’s third of the night, Ahmed Antar, Ali Al Alwani, runners-up the two previous Al Ansar (Lebanon) 3 1 0 2 -1 3 for the 2022 AFC Champions applying the final nail in the Ali Hussain, Ammar Hassan, times. Balata (Palestine) 3 1 0 2 -6 3 League. coffin. Mathews, Karunaratne could Zidane resigns as Real coach make Sri Lanka return: coach Zinedine Zidane’s departure comes after Real Madrid failed to win a trophy for the first time in 11 seasons voice”. Zidane’s resignation Less than a year later he re- • turned after Julen Lopetegui is effective immediately and Santiago Solari were sacked as managers in quick succes- AFP | Madrid sion. inedine Zidane has re- ‘Like an earthquake’ signed as Real Madrid During his second stint as manager for the second Real coach, Zidane’s task was Z Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews (R) and Dimuth Karunaratne run between time with immediate effect, the to rebuild the club after Por- Spanish club said yesterday just tuguese star striker Cristiano wickets during a match (file photo) days after they were beaten to Ronaldo moved to Juventus. AFP | Colombo March. the La Liga title by Atletico Ma- Real Madrid president Flor- Kusal Perera has been made drid. entino Perez opened the coffers, ri Lanka coach Mickey captain for this series while the The Frenchman’s depar- signing playmaker Eden Hazard SArthur said yesterday that selectors recalled Kusal Men- ture comes at the end of a dis- from Chelsea as well as several stars Angelo Mathews and Di- dis and made him vice-captain. appointing campaign for the other rising stars such as Eder muth Karunaratne could make “I think we just took the 13-time European champions, Real Madrid’s coach Zinedine Zidane (R) talks to Alvaro Odriozola (C) and Marco Militao, Luka Jovic and Ferland a return to the squad, despite team in a direction. There’s who also lost to Chelsea in the Asensio during a match (file photo) Mendy. their axing as players wrangle certainly no door closed on any Champions League semi-finals, But Hazard has been injured with the national board over of them,” Arthur said in Dhaka. as they failed to win a trophy for at our club,” it said, adding the season”. for the majority of the season wages. “Angelo and Chandi are fan- the first time in 11 seasons. Frenchman “will always have a The announcement marks the and most of the other new re- Sri Lanka left Mathews, tastic cricketers who are very “We must now respect his home” at the club. end of Zidane’s second spell in cruits disappointed, with Zi- Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandi- much part of our Test unit at decision and express our grat- Zidane’s contract expires in charge of the Spanish giants. dane forced to rely on veteran mal and senior players behind the moment.” itude for his professionalism, 2022 but he had repeatedly re- The 1998 World Cup winner players such as Sergio Ramos for their three one-day inter- Arthur said Sri Lanka had to dedication and passion over the fused to confirm he will still be first took the helm in January and Raphael Varane in defence nationals in Bangladesh. start looking at players for the years and what he means to Real at the club next season. 2016 and guided Real to the 2017 and Karim Benzema in attack. Players are refusing to sign 2023 World Cup. Madrid,” a club statement said. Only 10 days ago he denied La Liga title and an unprece- The squad was also plagued new contracts that would cut “That’s the balancing act “Zidane is one of Real Ma - press speculation he had already dented hat-trick of Champions with injuries and eight cases of fees for some by 40 percent. when you are transitioning a drid’s great icons and his legacy told his players he would be League titles before abruptly Covid-19, all of which led to a Changes were also ordered team, how you get it right. We extends beyond what he has leaving at the end of the season, quitting on May 31, 2018, say- rollercoaster performance this after Sri Lanka lost a one-day will keep tweaking that until achieved as a coach and player saying he was “focused on this ing the club needed “a different year. series in West Indies 3-0 in you do it properly,” he said. Hon. 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