CRICKETCRICKET| Page 4 TENNIS | Page 8 Bushfi re Top stars smoke hangs call for ATP heavy over Cup, Davis Sydney Test Cup merger Friday, January 3, 2020 FOOTBALL Jumada I 8, 1441 AH Ibrahimovic back GULF TIMES at struggling Milan spices up action SPORT Page 3 QNB STARS LEAGUE PREVIEW Al Sadd crash to Rayyan aim to close gap yet another defeat, on Duhail By Sports Reporter Doha l Rayyan will be aim- ing to get within one trail Duhail by 11 point of leaders Al Du- hail when they take on Al Arabi beat Al Ahli 3-0 to move to fourth spot at the expense of Al Sadd AUmm Salal in what could be a challenging QNB Stars League match today. Diego Aguirre’s side are second in the standings with 25 points, four behind leaders Al Duhail, and three points for them today would give them a morale boost in their quest for the title. “We hope to be ready to bring out our best in the second leg of the tournament. Al Rayyan al- ways play to win, so it is impor- that it was very important to tant that the team starts the sec- change. The situation demands ond leg with a victory,” Aguirre that we must work harder. said at his pre-match press con- “We are in the process of ference. building up a team, so the break “I still remember the diffi cult can serve us well in our bid to game we played with Umm Salal fi nd solutions. I do not put re- in the fi rst leg, which ended in a sponsibility on one party and I 2-2 draw. So, I think this match am confi dent that we will over- will also be diffi cult. come the tough situation,” said “I know that Al Duhail have Ben Askar. recruited Croatian Mario Man- In another match today, Al dzukic. I was surprised. It is a Shahania will clash with Al great deal for Al Duhail because Gharafa hoping for their fi rst win he is a player with huge capa- of the season. bilities and will be useful to the “We are starting a new phase, team,” he added. against Al Gharafa in the fi rst Aguirre said he was still work- round of second-leg matches. ing on getting a new professional They are undoubtedly a good player for the team team. We hope to record our fi rst “As far as we are concerned in victory. Our morale is high after Al Rayyan, we have sought a new the drawn match against Al Khor professional player. We are still in the last round and also over working on this and we expect the good performance that our Al Wakrah’s Omar Ali him to be a value addition to the team put up. (front) celebrates even team. Every coach hopes that all “Al Gharafa, despite their loss as he is congratulated his players are good. to Al Sadd in the last round, are by teammates after Umm Salal are currently at the always a strong team. They will scoring against Al Sadd bottom of the 12-team league miss some players, but they have yesterday. PICTURE: with a paltry fi ve points from 11 others to replace the absentees. Noushad T matches, but Aguirre was of the “We know that Al Shahania opinion that it would be a mis- are a lesser side compared to Al take to take them lightly. Gharafa, but we will play to win “It is wrong to think that and take three points. We went teams at the bottom of the table through diffi cult periods, but we will throw away points. They are a team trying to fi ght. We will will fi ght for positive results to play with enthusiasm. We can improve their position, so I warn win against Al Gharafa. If that the players not to be complacent. happens, we may move up in the “We, in Al Rayyan, respect all table.” By Sports Reporter Haydos, Pedro, Akram Afi f all either opponents. We know that many Al Gharafa coach Slavisa Doha missed the mark or were thwarted by Id- diffi cult matches await us in the Jokanovic said Al Shahania are riss. second leg and we have to be at a diffi cult team to beat despite Benyettou scored off a free-kick tak- the top of our readiness,” said their 11th position in the stand- here seems to be no end to Xavi en by Abdulrahman Ahmed, whereas Aguirre. ings. and Al Sadd’s woes as they suf- Omar’s goal came as a result of a cor- Umm Salal coach Aziz Ben “We might face problems be- fered their fourth defeat in the ner kick and the ball was defl ected in by Askar said the fact that his team cause Al Shahania have always QNB Stars League – this time Bounedjah. have got a few new players would been an organised team and give Tagainst promoted Al Wakrah. All that Al Sadd could do was score a do wonders. a good fi ght to their competitors. Mohamed Benyettou (eighth minute) late goal. “This is the fi rst confrontation We should be at our very best if and Omar Ali (38th minute) scored as Al Adding to The Wolves’ woes, for us in the second leg of the we are to bag three points. Wakrah led 2-0 at half-time, before Has- Bounedjah sent a penalty straight to Id- tournament and we did a lot of “Absences are normal in foot- san al-Haydos reduced the margin for Al riss in the 20th minute. The kick was work. We brought in some play- ball. Our team will miss a number Sadd in the 85th minute. awarded for a foul on Bounedjah himself ers. I do not need time, but the of players who are doing duty for Al Sadd, the team with the most league by Al Wakrah captain Bruno Uvini. team needs time to correct some the Qatar Olympic team. Our ri- titles – 14 – now don’t even have the In the second match of the day, Al mistakes and get set,” he said. vals also have absences. We are consolation of still being in the top-4 as Arabi thrashed Al Ahli 3-0 to leapfrog Al “We are expecting a lot from now trying to work with the ex- Al Arabi moved up on goal diff erence, and Sadd and move to fourth place on goal our new players. Whoever left isting players, who number 14 in the grim fact remains that with just 18 diff erence. can play in any other team. I saw addition to Under-23 players.” points, they are 11 behind leaders Al Du- This was Al Arabi’s fi fth win from 11 hail, hardly a comforting statistic for the matches, taking them to 18 points and defending champions. boosting their chances of a top-four fi n- Bayern, PSV to hold public training sessions Al Sadd, however, have two matches ish. in hand, deferred (from Weeks 5 and 7) Al Arabi opened their account through Bayern Munich fans can watch Similarly top Dutch side PSV due to their engagements in the 2019 German Pierre-Michel Lasogga who their favourite players in train- Eindhoven will hold public AFC Champions League. They will play struck in the 15th minute and never ing during their winter camp training sessions on football Al Arabi on January 6 and Al Khor on looked back. at Aspire Academy starting pitch 4 on January 5 and 8. The January 21 before the QNB Stars League’s Continuing to dominate the proceed- January 5. sessions will be held from 10am Week 13 action begins on January 23. Al Arabi players celebrate one of their goals against Al Ahli yesterday. ings, Al Arabi consolidated through The top Bundesliga side will onwards. Meanwhile, Al Wakrah moved to 15 Mohamed Salah in the 45th minute and hold public training sessions Belgian side Club Brugge will points with their fourth victory. game. The Blue Waves almost downed credit should go to goalkeeper Hassan Id- fi nished off the match with a Morteza on January 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 hold public training sessions on Al Sadd dominated the game with 62 the shutter by the end of fi rst half when riss who weathered a fl urry of attacks by Pouraliganji strike in the 23rd. on football pitches 1 and 2 at three days – January 5, 6 and 7. per cent possession and created chances they were two goals up and resorted to Al Sadd, more in the second half. Al Ahli thus suff ered their seventh de- Aspire. The sessions will begin The sessions will be held from galore. counter-attacks. Nam Tae-Hee, Baghdad Bounedjah, feat in 12 matches and are placed ninth in at 10am. 4pm onwards. However, Al Wakrah played a smart Benyettou was their livewire, but much Boualem Khoukhi, Hamed Ismail, al- the standings. Gulf Times 2 Friday, January 3, 2020 FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT Ancelotti aiming to upset Liverpool once again Reuters lotti said when he was unveiled pitted against lower league op- Manchester as manager. position. Coming after a hec- “It’s a big rivalry here and a big tic spell of festive games, many motivation for us. I have a really managers will be tempted to ro- hen Carlo Ancelotti good relationship with Juergen tate their squads and give chanc- took over at Ever- Klopp. It is always exciting play- es to fringe players, which could ton last month, the ing against them.