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TUESDAY 15 JUNE 2021 QSLQ season to kick off in Sept: says Abbassi

ThereTh will be many interruptions due to the national team’s ovoverseas commitments, and the calendar for the next season willw be announced soon after the teams’ engagements are cocompleted. In general, club training will start on July 1, 2021, in line with the preparations for the new season.

AhmedA Khellil Abbassi Sport |15 EURO 2020: GROUP STAGE - Czech Republic 2, Scotland 0 (Group D); Slovakia 2, Poland 1; Spain 0, Sweden 0 (Group E)

The iconic Khalifa International Stadium will host Spain, Sweden play out draw; four matches of the FIFA Arab Cup qualifiers. Schick stars in win for Czechs

REUTERS — SEVILLE

Spain dominated their opening Euro 2020 Group E game against Sweden but could only come away with a 0-0 draw after Janne Anders- son's side showed little ambition in going forward on a sweltering evening yesterday. The Spaniards outclassed First FIFA Arab Cup: Sweden in possession and Alvaro Morata fired a great Tickets for qualifying chance just wide, but it was the Swedes that came closest to scoring as Alexander Isak's matches go on sale shot was deflected onto a post Czech Republic's Patrik Schick celebrates after by Marcos Llorente just before THE PENINSULA — DOHA scoring their first goal. QUALIFIERS SCHEDULE halftime. The second half had even Tickets sale for the FIFA Arab 19 June: Libya v Sudan – Khalifa International less in the way of creative Cup qualifiers begins today, Stadium attacking football as the a cherry (on the cake)," Schick from Marshall, with Scotland Local Organising Committee 20 June: Oman v Somalia – Jassim Bin Hamad Swedes did their best to run said, before adding that he almost levelling at the other (LOC) announced yesterday. Stadium the clock down while making had clocked Marshall coming end when Jack Hendry hit the Seven qualifying matches 21 June: Jordan v South Sudan – Khalifa the occasional break, and off his line earlier in the game. bar. Yet Schick's astonishing will be held in Qatar from June International Stadium Spain could not find a way "I watched the goalie finish in the 52nd minute 19 to 25 . The games will take 22 June: Mauritania v Yemen – Jassim Bin through the massed yellow already, where does he stand, crushed hopes of a Scottish place on consecutive nights at Hamad Stadium ranks of defenders. he was quite up the pitch, so revival. two venues: Khalifa Interna- 23 June: Lebanon v Djibouti – Khalifa Sweden take on Group E I checked, I saw him outside There appeared to be little tional Stadium, which will host International Stadium leaders Slovakia, who beat and I smashed it." danger when the forward matches during the FIFA World 24 June: Palestine v Comoros – Jassim Bin Poland 2-1 earlier on Monday, Scotland had battled latched onto the ball just inside Cup Qatar 2022, and Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in St. Petersburg on June 18, gamely on their return to the Scotland half, but his Hamad Stadium. 25 June: Bahrain v Kuwait – Khalifa while the Poles travel to Seville tournament football after a instant finish curled past Mar- Tickets priced QR20 will be

International Stadium to meet Spain the following 23-year absence and spurned shall, who was scampering to available to buy from the Qatar day. a number of excellent chances get back into his goal, and Football Association website: All matches will kick off at 8pm In , Czech Repub- of their own, with Lyndon dipped just beneath the bar. tickets.qfa.qa. All spectators lic's Patrik Schick scored one Dykes guilty of wasting two Today's Fixtures Meanwhile, Milan Skrin- must be aged 12 and over. Fans are encouraged to use of the most remarkable goals superb opportunities. 7pm: Hungary vs iar’s second-half goal earned Fans must either be fully public transport to attend the in European Championship Yet the Czechs were worthy Portugal Slovakia a 2-1 win over vaccinated or have recovered games. Both stadiums are history as his side beat winners, soaking up Scottish 10pm: France vs 10-man Poland in their from COVID-19 in the last nine within walking distance of a Scotland 2-0 to get their Euro pressure in the first half, and opening Group E match in months. Fans will be able to metro station. Khalifa Interna- 2020 campaign off to a superb quieting a noisy Germany Saint Petersburg. purchase a maximum of four tional Stadium is close to Sport start and deflate home hopes crowd, who were seeing their Skriniar beat Wojciech tickets each. City Station, while Jassim Bin in Glasgow. side play in a major tournament before the break and finally Szczesny with a low drive in Both stadiums have inno- Hamad Stadium is served by Al Schick, who had also for the first time since the 1998 took advantage in the 42nd the 69th minute, capitalising vative cooling technology for Sudan Station. Both stations are netted an excellent header in World Cup. minute. on the sending-off of Polish the benefit of fans and players. on the Gold Line. the first half, doubled his tally The result left the Czechs Scotland cleared the initial midfielder Grzegorz Kry- In line with Ministry of Public All the victorious teams will after the break with a curling, on three points, level at the ball into the box but Vladimir chowiak following a second Health guidelines, a maximum qualify for the FIFA Arab Cup looping effort from just inside top of Group D with England, Coufal curled a cross back into booking for a challenge on 30% capacity will be permitted finals, which will take place in the Scotland half, having who beat Croatia 1-0 on the danger area and Schick Jakub Hromada. for each match. Qatar later this year, during a spotted home keeper David Sunday, while Scotland will rose brilliantly to beat his Poland’s woes began in Fans will be required to similar timeslot as the FIFA Marshall far off his line. already be feeling nervous marker and angle a header the 18th minute when a strike wear a mask, show their World Cup Qatar 2022™. At 49.7 yards, the Bayer about their prospects ahead into the far corner away from by Robert Mak bounced off EHTERAZ tracing app and The leading nine nations, as Leverkusen forward's aston- of their next game against Marshall's despairing dive. Szczesny’s near post and adhere to social distancing. No per the FIFA rankings, have ishing effort was officially the England on Friday when the The second half began slipped into the net after food or beverages will be per- qualified for the tournament furthest distance from which Czechs face Croatia. with a flurry of activity and hitting the goalkeeper. The mitted inside the stadium and automatically: Qatar (hosts), a goal has been scored on The Czechs, who scored the Czechs could have Poles equalised seconds after fans will not be allowed to con- Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, record at the European Cham- more than half of their goals extended their lead with first halftime through Karol gregate at any location in the Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, pionship according to Opta. in qualifying from set pieces, Schick and then Vladimir Linetty, a surprise starter in vicinity of the venue. United Arab Emirates and Syria. "That second goal, that is earned a string of corners just Darida drawing fine saves Paulo Sousa’s team.

Brazil’s Neymar celebrates after scoring their second goal. Brazil open Copa America with 3-0 win

REUTERS — BRASILIA his backheel squirm through a Germain player had rounded when he started and finished a defender’s legs and into the net. the keeper. move that involved deft touches Brazil opened the 2021 Copa Neymar netted his 67th Meanwhile, Colombia got from two other players. America with a 3-0 win over a international goal from the their Copa America campaign The goal was initially ruled depleted Venezuela, domi- penalty spot 19 minutes into the off to a winning start with a out for offside but that decision nating their inexperienced second half after Danilo was scrappy 1-0 victory over was reversed after a review by opponents from start to finish felled in the box. Ecuador, with the goal coming the Video Assistant Referee. in a one-sided match. Substitute Gabriel Barbosa from a beautifully choreo- Ecuador had by far the Defender Marquinhos made it three with two minutes graphed free kick straight off better of the second half but scored the opening goal remaining when he chested the training ground. they could not get the goal that midway through the first half home a cross from Neymar Edwin Cardona scored their pressure deserved and fall when he was fortunate to see after the tireless Paris St three minutes from halftime to the bottom of Group B. Qatar Olympic team concludes training camp

THE PENINSULA — DOHA Al Duhail earn big

Qatar Olympic team concluded victory in Jeddah its preparatory camp in Zagreb, Al Duhail's player in action during a Group capital of Croatia as part of their B match against Yemen’s Al Qaten at the preparations for the AFC U-23 Asian Handball Championship in Jeddah Cup qualifiers which will start yesterday. Al Duhail claimed an impressive in October. 40-18 victory. During the training camp, the Olympic team played three friendly matches, where they got better of Malta 5-0 in the first match and suffered 1-0 defeat from both Croatia and Bosnia. The Olympic team experi- enced perfect training camp in Croatia, played against strong opponents in these friendlies and will raise the scale of chal- Qatar Olympic team's players pose for a group photo following the conclusion of training lenge to qualify for the AFC camp in Zagreb, ahead of the AFC U-23 Cup qualifiers in October. U-23 finals. Sport TUESDAY 15 JUNE 2021 15 Best-of-three New QSL season to kick off Federer wins WTC final not on return to realistic: ICC in September, says Abbassi grass in Halle REUTERS — NEW DELHI REUTERS — HALLE Deciding the World Test THE PENINSULA — DOHA league championship with the Championship (WTC) in a aim of raising the competitive Roger Federer (pictured) best-of-three final is not Ahmed Khellil Abbassi level and providing high-quality made a winning return to the a realistic idea in a (pictured), Executive Director football, as a recommendation grass courts with a hard- crowded calendar, the of Competitions and Football was made for the appropriate fought 7-6(4) 7-5 victory over governing International Development at the Qatar Stars number to achieve this. qualifier Ilya Ivashka in Halle Cricket Council (ICC) said. League (QSL) has said prepara- - Establishing a mechanism yesterday. India and New tions are in full swing for the and system for identifying and The Swiss has not played Zealand will contest a next QNB Stars League season, selecting outstanding players a competitive match on grass one-off match in South- hoping for yet another and coaches, evaluating their since his Wimbledon final ampton on Friday for test successful season. performance in a scientific and defeat by Novak Djokovic cricket’s biggest honour, In an interview, Abbassi thoughtful manner, as well as almost two years ago, but was along with the Test Cham- spoke on wide range of topics developing a new mechanism quickly back in the routine. pionship Mace and a regarding the preview and for the contracts of coaches and It was not vintage Federer winners’ cheque of $1.6m. upcoming seasons. Following players so that the financial as the 39-year-old did not India coach Ravi are the excerpts. value for them is commensurate even earn a break point on Shastri has said a best-of- Q - What’s your assessment the coronavirus pandemic are President His Excellency Sheikh with their technical levels and Ivashka’s serve in the opening three final would be an of the last season (2020-21)? followed. As for the end of the Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed actual value. set while having to save two ideal way to determine Overall, I think last season league and Amir Cup for the Al Thani during its General - Establishing a working on his own delivery. the winner at the end of went off fairly well despite the next season (2021-22), it will be Assembly meeting, which have mechanism to expand the base Ivashka saved a match the WTC’s two-year cycle. challenges we faced, the most in the beginning of April, 2022, been working on since the of professionalism by getting point at 4-5 in the second set ICC acting CEO Geoff important of which was dealing and after that date, the National beginning of last season. Thank- Second Division clubs to Qatar but Federer earned three more Allardice said that would with the COVID-19 pandemic. Team players will be released fully, the assessment was com- Stars League, with the aim of at 5-6 and got the job done as be possible only “in a Q - How about the next from all local or foreign com- pleted and recommendations developing them professionally his opponent netted a perfect world”. season (2021-22)? mitments with their clubs in have been submitted for the and technically, to raise the level forehand. Federer is bidding “The reality of the The next season will start in order to make them focus fully final approval. of Second Division champi-mpi for an 11th title in Halle. international cricket September, 2021, and there will on the special project for the Q - What are the main onship by engaging them wwithith schedule is that we’re not be many interruptions due to 2022 FIFA World Cup. points of this strategy? first-class clubs until the com-om- going to have that month the National Team’s overseas Q - Is there a specific At the outset, it must be pletion of the legal, adminis-nis- or so, blocking out a commitments, and the calendar strategy to develop the league emphasized that our main goal trative and organisational ppro-ro- month or so for all the for the next season will be championship? is to enhance the technical and cedures that we’re currentlyntly teams in the tournament announced soon after the teams’ Yes, as we were entrusted professional levels of Qatar working on with all parties.s. for a final...,” Allardice told engagements are completed. In with assessing the current situ- football, the domestic champi- - Developing the Club PPar-ar- a virtual news conference. general, club training will start ation and developing a strategy onships and league champi- ticipation Agreement in QSQSLL “That’s why (a) one-match on July 1, 2021, in line with the for the league championship, onship, and to increase the level tournaments in line with thethe final was decided upon.” preparations for the new season with the aim of enhancing the of competitiveness between the professional development plplanan The ICC has approved and, here, it may be noted that level of competition between teams. For this purpose, this that we’re currently workingg on, concussion substitutes as clubs have the right to organise the competing teams and pro- strategy has been developed, the which mainly aims to raisee tthehe well as COVID-19 overseas camps, provided that viding entertaining high-quality most prominent of it being: level of competition, aandnd replacement. precautionary measures and football, as mentioned by Qatar - Studying the right number provide enjoyable and high-gh- restrictions forced by Football Association (QFA) of clubs participating in the quality football.