Aspire Academy Make Winning Start in Al Kass
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CCRICKETRICKET | Page 4 FF11 | Page 7 Tanveer Team bonding leads Qatar top on to easy win Ricciardo’s list over Uganda at Renault Friday, February 14, 2020 FOOTBALL Jumada II 20, 1441 AH Hosts Aspire GULF TIMES Academy make winning start SPORT Page 3 ESPERANCE VS ZAMALEK AT AL GHARAFA FROM 7PM Esperance keen to end CAF Super Cup title drought It’s Tunisian giants Esperance’s fifth CAF Super Cup appearance, but they have won the trophy only once – in 1995 By Sports Reporter Doha sperance Sportive de Tunis will be eager to overcome last year’s dis- appointment when they Etake on Egypt’s Zamalek in the CAF Super Cup match at the Al Gharafa stadium today. But a fa- miliar foe stands against them in the form of Patrice Carteron. Last year, Carteron led Mo- rocco’s Raja Casablanca to the ti- tle with a 2-1 win over Esperance in Doha. Now the French coach is back with Egyptian giants Zamalek as he plots another win against the Tunisians. It’s Esperance’s fi fth CAF Su- per Cup appearance, but they Zamalek players warm up at the Al Gharafa stadium yesterday. have won the trophy only once – in 1995. They had to be content with runners-up fi nishes in in 1999, 2012 and 2019. On the oth- er hand, Zamalek are also making their fi fth appearance, with three victories in 1994, 1997 and 2003 and one defeat in 2001. The Al Gharafa stadium is ex- pected to be packed to the rafters as the tickets were sold out well in advance of the big clash. Both sides arrived in Qatar following strong starts to their respective domestic campaigns. Esperance top the Tunisian top fl ight, while Zamalek are in third place in the Egyptian Premier League with Esperance Sportive de Tunis players train on the eve of their CAF Super Cup match against Zamalek. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil Cairo rivals Al Ahly unstoppable at the summit with 14 wins from failure and are keen to take the competitive football in Doha for Egyptians including star forward eron said: “I have a lot of respect Zamalek’s French coach Patrice Carteron. 14 games. trophy back to Tunisia. the fourth time in the last year. Mostafa Mohamed. for the Esperance team and their Esperance, no doubt, will be “We were closest to win- After their runners-up fi nish in Zamalek coach Carteron said coach Moein El Shaabani. He has the fancied team for tonight’s ning the title last year, but we Super Cup, they won the Tuni- his team had little time to prepare been with them for two years and contest – which pits the winners did not win it. We have prepared sian Super Cup thanks to a 2-1 for the contest, due to a busy do- he is a great coach. I have seen of the CAF Champions League the players psychologically and victory over Club Athletique Biz- mestic schedule but was hopeful him keep the Esperance team and CAF Confederation Cup. we want to play at a good level ertin. his players can rise to the chal- at a very high level despite the They have won back to back CAF against Zamalek,” he said yester- In December, the Tunisians lenge. changes of players and this con- Champions League titles and day. fi nished fi fth in the FIFA Club “It is diffi cult to talk about fi rms the quality of his work. I am have cemented their status as one “Esperance have not won the World Cup after beating Qatari our readiness for this important sure it will be an excellent game,” of Africa’s greatest clubs, raising title for a long time, so there will side Al Sadd SC at the Khalifa In- match, because we have played This is the second time the their share of CAF trophies to be some pressure but we are used ternational Stadium. a game every three days. We did CAF Super Cup will take place in seven in all competitions. But it’s it. We are fully prepared to play Esperance often start with as not prepare specifi cally for this Doha following an agreement be- the Super Cup trophy drought, the game with our full strength many as seven non-Tunisians, match, but from a technical side tween the Confederation of Afri- which they could be keen to end. and have a great desire to win. It including four Algerians, al- we are ready. The players are mo- can Football (CAF) and the Qatar Magdy Traoui, the assist- won’t be easy against Zamalek,” though star defender Abdelkader tivated for the match and we are Football Association. The match ant coach of Esperance, said the he added. Bedrane will be absent due to so happy to be here,” he said. will also take place in the Qatari team have learnt from last year’s Esperance will be playing injury. Zamalek rely heavily on On facing Esperance, Cart- capital in 2021 and 2022. Magdy Traoui, the assistant coach of Esperance. FOCUS Al Arabi and Al Ahli seal Ooredoo Cup semi-fi nal berths Action from the Ooredoo Cup By Sports Reporter Idriss with a long-range shot. Mohamed al-Yahri, Yossef Muftah and Adlene Guedi- quarter-final match between Doha Benyettou spearheaded Al Wakrah’s chal- oura could not do much. Al Arabi and Al Wakrah. lenge even as injured forward Christian Ce- On the other hand, Al Ahli made up ballos continued to sit in the stands. for the absence of injured spearhead Abel l Arabi and Al Ahli stormed into Iliass Bel Hassani pulled the strings from Mathias, thanks mainly to outstanding dis- the semi-fi nals of the Ooredoo the midfi eld, while Benyettou and Omar Ali plays by Nabil and Hernan Perez. Cup yesterday. Pierre-Michelle made attempts for an equaliser. In the sec- Ahli even survived the absence of Her- Lasogga scored the only goal in ond half, Al Wakrah pressed hard for a goal nan to a red card (second yellow) from the AArabi’s 1-0 win over Al Wakrah in the fi rst in the face of exit from the tournament. 67th minute. After Al Ahli’s Abdelrahman quarter-fi nal, while captain Nabil El Zhar’s However, that never came as The Dream Moustafa’s long shot went wide in the fi rst all-important goal in the 55th minute Team hung on to the slender lead, thanks half, Kodjia fumbled with a one-on-one turned out to be the winner for Ahli against also to their goalkeeper Mahmoud Ibrahim. with goalkeeper Ivanildo Rodrigues. the two-time reigning champions Al Even some last-ditch eff orts did not help Soon at the other end, Nabil sent his shot Gharafa at the Al Arabi Stadium yesterday. the Blue Wave either. marginally over the bar. Al Ahli upped the In the fi rst quarter-fi nal, if it was Al Later, Gharafa thus suff ered the igno- ante in the second half and were rewarded Wakrah who had more possession in the miny of having bowed out of cup competi- when Nabil capitalised on a defensive mis- fi rst half, it was Al Arabi who created more tions in successive weeks in quarter-fi nal take by Homam Elamin, who misjudged the chances. Lasogga, who found the net after stage after they lost to Al Markhiya in the fl ight of a long ball. being set up by Morteza Mohamed with a Amir Cup. Al Ahli, who had reached the quarter- header, led Al Arabi’s charge as Mohamed Possession was even in the match that fi nal of Amir Cup last week by beating Qa- Salal El Neel, who has not recovered fully was fast-paced right from the onset. Al tar SC, had a goal scored by Abdelrahman from an injury, was replaced in the 11th Gharafa missed the services of Hector Moustafa disallowed through VAR in the minute by Yousef Abdurizag. Moreno, Koo Ja-Cheol, Ahmed Alaaeldin 74th minute. Today, Al Khor will face Al Yousef then made back-to-back at- and Sofi ane Hanni to injuries. Without Rayyan, while Qatar SC take on Al Sadd in tempts besides testing goalkeeper Hassan them, the likes of Jonathan Kodjia, Othman the remaining quarter-fi nal matches. Gulf Times 2 Friday, February 14, 2020 FOOTBALL FRENCH CUP Six-goal PSG into semi-fi nals as Lyon knock out Marseille AFP squad, Thomas Tuchel’s team did pushing home his 11th of the season Paris include Kylian Mbappe and Edin- on the rebound. son Cavani, who was making his Senou Coulibaly watched on in fi rst start in over a month after horror with fi ve minutes left when aris Saint-Germain cruised nearly moving to Atletico Madrid Mbappe’s cross looped off his thigh into the semi-fi nals of the in January. over helpless stopper Runar Alex French Cup on Wednesday The Uruguayan was left waiting Runarsson, before Sarabia tapped after thumping Dijon 6-1 in his 200th goal for the club in the home his second in stoppage time Pa match that saw the French cham- 21st minute when he turned home from another Mbappe centre. pions benefi t again from comical Thomas Meunier’s cross, only for Later, Lyon coach Rudi Garcia own goals. the strike to be ruled out for hand- knocked his former side Marseille PSG were ahead just 47 seconds ball by the Belgian after a VAR out as Houssem Aouar scored an after kick off thanks to Wesley Lau- check.