SATURDAY-MARCH 13, 2021 Sport 05 Jurgen klopp's side reach Champions league quarter-finals RB Leipzig boss Julian Na- gelsmann: "I think we deserved to be knocked out. I think the emo- tional qualities we've had in re- cent matches in the league and cup weren't shown today. "We don't like losing but sometimes you have to admit the opponent was better. We are an- gry and sad but we'll focus on Frankfurt who we play in the . It is well-deserved Liverpool go into the next round." "It is a big result for us. We came here after losing a few games in the Premier League. The team is not in the best shape, but we want to fight in the Champions League and also fight in the Pre- Hashmatullah Shahidi becomes mier League and see what can hap- pen. "I would love to score more. I first Afghan batsman to hit Jurgen Klopp's side, who suf- Mane made a mess of the follow- to Wolves on Monday and not am happy I scored today, and the fered a sixth straight home defeat up header. getting a positive result. team won, that is the most im- at the hands of Fulham on Sun- Alisson Becker made one save "It's going to be a difficult portant thing. day, continued their difficulties in in the first half from game and I think Jurgen Klopp "We have had a few injuries Test double century front of goal during the first half, as Leipzig looked to get a grip of knows that. However, he'll just this season, we have been unlucky, missing a host of chances. the game, but Liverpool should be happy with what's happened but the most important thing is A historic double hundred from ghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, wicket stand of 139 between Ih- However, the missed oppor- have been ahead in the tie just be- against Leipzig and then he'll work we have to keep fighting. We just Hashmatullah Shahidi left Zimba- who is likely to get spin from the sanullah Khan and Rahmat Shah tunities didn't prove costly as two fore the break as Jota was again for the rest of the week towards have to take each game at a time bwe under a huge Afghanistan to- third day. against Ireland in Dehradun in goals in four second-half minutes denied by Gulacsi before the for- Monday's game, which is an im- and not look to the big picture tal of 545-4 declared in the second Openers Prince Masvaure and 2019. from Mohamed Salah (70) and ward fired into the side-netting on portant game for Liverpool be- because if you look to the big pic- Test in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Kevin Kasuza, with 29 and 14 re- Asghar batted for 370 minutes, Sadio Mane (74) secured the Pre- the stroke of half-time. cause they still want to finish in ture there can be too much pres- Zimbabwe were 50 without spectively, were at the crease when hitting 14 boundaries and two six- mier League champions' passage With the tie slipping away that top four. sure. "It has been tough in the Pre- loss in reply after the second day’s stumps were drawn, after a day es in his maiden century. into the last eight. from them, Leipzig sent on strik- "But the result today gives mier League; we don't want it to play was taken over once again by dominated by a 307-run fourth Shahidi, who became the first Victory will come as welcome er Alexander Sorloth and the them huge confidence going for- be tough. It is part of the game. Shahidi and Afghanistan skipper wicket stand between Shahidi and Afghan player to hit a Test double relief to Klopp and his side, who former Crystal Palace striker al- ward." The last couple of years we were Asghar Afghan, who shared the Asghar. ton, added another 117 for the fifth secured just their third win in nine most dragged the German side Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp: games across all competitions. back into the tie, but his header "We created a lot of chances. winning and flying, this year we country’s highest partnership in a Resuming at 307-7, they add- wicket with Nasir Jamal who made have had injuries, it is hard. Hope- Test match. ed 121 more runs before spinner 55 not out. In all Shahidi’s monu- Their hopes of winning a seventh looped onto the crossbar. That's us at the moment - first European Cup remain on track and However, Julian Nagels- half massive chances and couldn't fully, now we have two or three Shahidi remained not out on Sikandar Raza trapped the Afghan mental innings lasted ten minutes or four centre backs we can keep 200 while Asghar scored 164. skipper leg-before in the second short of ten hours, spiced with 21 they now have the draw for the mann's side failed to build on that score. Again, the biggest and best quarter-finals and semi-finals to as Liverpool eventually found thing the boys did is let nobody winning." The Sheikh Zayed Stadium session. boundaries and a six. look forward to on Friday March their scoring boots. Having wait- see how good Leipzig can be. Restored to Liverpool's mid- pitch continued to hold up for bats- The 307-run stand is the high- Ryan Burl (1-69), Raza (1-79) 19. ed more than 11 hours for a goal They are a monster usually, they field for the first time since Octo- men but Zimbabwe will still need est-scoring partnership for any and Victor Nyauchi (1-102) were This was Liverpool's desig- from open play at home, two came are so powerful and you saw all ber 17, Fabinho showed exactly to score 346 to avoid the follow- wicket by Afghanistan batsmen in Zimbabwe’s wicket takers. nated 'home' fixture but after their along in quick succession. the runs in behind, but we defend- what the Reds have been missing. on and the prospect of facing Af- six Tests so far, beating the second The Kabul Times Anfield difficulties they were A quick passing move from ed that really well. Big compli- Used as a makeshift defender probably grateful coronavirus re- just inside their own half involv- ment to the boys. following Virgil van Dijk's injury strictions forced them to play in ing Thiago, Mane and Jota teed "We had to switch off that in the Merseyside derby in Octo- Federer beats Evans in first Hungary again. up Salah to cut inside and slot Premier League stuff, to get here ber, the Brazilian has done an ad- And freed from defensive re- home with his left foot in the 70th and to give it a proper try. The mirable job trying to hold Klopp's match for 14 months sponsibilities after Fabinho's in- minute. boys really enjoyed themselves defence together. But against Leipzig, he DOHA:Roger Federer before pouncing in the 12th game Federer and Evans had played clusion in midfield, Thiago Alcant- And four minutes later, Mane tonight, which is important. We showed exactly why Klopp will marked his eagerly-awaited re- to rifle a backhand winner down around 20 practice sets in the ara showed his desire to create made sure there was to be no late were doing the hardest and the try to keep him in the middle of turn to action after more than a the line on his second match point. build-up to the tournament, but early in the game when he opted drama by converting substitute dirtiest work because it was a big the park from now until the end year with some vintage tennis It was a magical moment for the real test was how the Swiss to lay the ball off to Salah when Divock Origi's cross from close defending challenge." of the season. as he beat Dan Evans 7-6(8) 3- Federer who said it had been a long would hold up in real match con- played through the middle, but range to put the smiles back on "The two centre halves played He didn't put a foot wrong, 6 7-5 at the Qatar Open on and tough road since his last ditions. From the first point he following a poor pass the chance Liverpool faces. an incredible game. The whole last controlling the game beautifully Wednesday. match, a semi-final defeat by No- struck the ball with his trademark was lost. Sadio Mane scored the 100th line played an incredible game be- alongside Georginio Wijnaldum The 39-year-old Swiss had vak Djokovic at the 2020 Austra- panache and power and his serve Leipzig's side showed two Champions League goal in Jurgen cause that is a tough task. We had and Thiago Alcantara. not played a competitive match lian Open. “It feels good to be was ruthlessly efficient. Evans, changes from the 2-0 first-leg de- Klopp's 44th match in charge at to press them. We defended deep for 405 days and underwent back, happy to be standing here whose game Federer clearly ad- feat three weeks ago with Emil Liverpool. together really well, which is im- Thiago was freed from defen- two knee surgeries in 2020, but whether I won or lost,” the ever- mires, stood firm, however, and Forsberg and re- "Obviously, you look at the portant. Everybody had a really sive responsibilities he could fo- clicked smoothly back into gear green Federer, who received a bye brought up the first break point placing the injured Angelino and likes of Manchester City and Bay- good game. It was a good perfor- cus on the creative side of his game, against the British number one. in the first round, said on court of the match with a superb back- , who dropped to ern Munich and you'd probably mance." while Fabinho's midfield presence A socially-distanced after his fourth win from four hand winner at 4-4, but Federer the bench. say they are the two outstanding When asked if they can use it also allowed full-backs Trent Al- evening crowd at the Khalifa meetings against the skilful Evans. swatted away the danger. Federer Mane then volleyed over, favourites to win it, but you just as momentum, he added: "We have exander-Arnold and Andy Robert- Tennis Complex were treated “I was tired and focused on saved a set point in the tiebreak while Diogo Jota's powerful head- never know? to. Last time we played Champi- son to play higher up the pitch to a high-quality duel with being tired rather than winning the with a forehand, then Evans saved er was tipped over by former Liv- "If you can get a good draw, ons League it was a long trip. We He also gave the inexperienced Evans pushing the 20-times points. If I was going to go out I two before Federer nailed a cross- erpool goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi keep progressing through the play next on Monday, that is centre-back pairing of Nat Phil- Grand Slam champion to the wanted to go out swinging. In- court backhand that flew past the as the Reds made a fast start. rounds and then get a few players okay. We have to make ourselves lips and Ozan Kabak the protec- limit. credibly happy about my perfor- 30-year-old Briton. Evans upped The chances continued to back fit and firing, I think Liver- ready. If we play like we did to- tion they needed to secure a clean Federer showed great mance and it was nice to finish the intensity, though, and took the come for Liverpool as Salah failed pool have got a great chance. night it will not be easy for sheet to help the Reds keep their physical condition and kept his with a backhand winner down the second set with a single break of to beat the Leipzig goalkeeper "It's not worth getting a good Wolves. dream of a seventh European Cup nose in front in the deciding set line.” serve. Reuters from a quick counter-attack and result this evening and then going "It is a massive difference." alive. The momentum is not with Rory Olympics: U.S. optimistic athletes will McIlroy ahead of title defence be vaccinated ahead of Tokyo Games This is not the Rory McIlroy either his caddie or his coach or man but he is more than a show- we are normally talking about. It something else. It's just not with man. U.S. Olympic athletes are on was incredibly contrasting watch- him, just now, the flow is just not He comes out with the odd track to be vaccinated for the novel ing him and Jordan Spieth in their with him. line, sometimes to stick it to his coronavirus sooner than expected post-round interviews on Sunday He does have the game, obvi- fellow pros, but it gets everybody and well ahead of this summer’s [at the Arnold Palmer Invitation- ously, to win, as we know, but on the edge of their seat. We were Tokyo Games, leaders of the Unit- al]. Jordan looked like he was the he's not firing on all cylinders at all desperate to see how he played ed States Olympic & Paralympic one just outside the top 10 in the the moment and we're not really the sixth hole last week, going for Committee (USOPC) said on world and Rory looked like he talking about him as a main con- the green on a par-five. He had a Wednesday. was about 60th. tender. couple of cracks and it was tre- “We are more optimistic than The momentum is not going Sawgrass is a completely dif- mendous to watch. ever in hoping Team USA athletes with him and he's talking about ferent proposition [to Bay Hill]. If that was his 'C game' then will be readily and easily vacci- maybe having a change to his staff, Bryson DeChambeau is a show- it's pretty impressive isn't it? The nated well before the Games and, testament of a great player is play- for some, likely even before their ing well when you haven't actual- trials,” USOPC CEO Sarah Hir- ly got it all in the bag, but that shland told reporters on a call fol- guy has every attribute there and lowing a board meeting. if he can manoeuvre his way “It’s great news and we’re around here without trying to feeling quite positive about the overpower it, he's got a good progress we’re seeing in the Unit- chance. If he tries to overpower ed States around vaccines.” ters for Disease Control and Pre- shland said. be Team USA athletes who do not it, Sawgrass will bite back. As of Tuesday morning, near- vention (CDC). The USOPC will not require choose to take a vaccine and we It's been an incredibly long ly 128 million doses of coronavi- Athletes may be able to get athletes to be vaccinated in order will respect that right,” Hirshland year for absolutely everybody. rus vaccines have been distribut- vaccinated in their local commu- to compete at the Olympics, but said. Some fans have started to come in ed in the United States and nearly nities as early as May, which is confident most will choose to “That said, we expect the vast and with that the atmosphere and 96 million shots administered, ac- would provide the easiest logisti- do so. majority of athletes to elect to the tension and the excitement has cording to data from the U.S. Cen- cal pathway for inoculation, Hir- “I absolutely expect there will take the vaccine.” just started to levitate quite a bit.