THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017 SPORTS SOCCER FA Cup final is about Arsenal not me: Wenger LONDON: Arsene Wenger insists that personal position to journalists nation, Chile, apparently by mistake. that. “But knowing the player, his char- the extra security measures being imple- Saturday’s FA Cup final is about much Wednesday, but did make it clear that if Wenger insisted it would be his decision acter and his commitment to the club, mented as a result of Monday’s suicide more than him and his future, and his weekend date at Wembley did turn whether Sanchez stayed. which I don’t question at all, he will do bombing at a pop concert in revolves instead around Arsenal’s drive out to be a farewell it would be from “We have nobody at the end of their absolutely everything to be fit on Manchester which killed 22 people and to beat Premier League champions Arsenal, not the game itself. contract so that will be completely our Saturday.” The Arsenal defence is injured 59. Chelsea and end a troubled season on a “This will not be my last match any- decision,” he said. “The club of course Wenger’s main concern as Laurent “We will have our usual security,” he high note. way because I will stay, no matter what has a big job to do in summer, we want Koscielny is banned and fellow centre- said. “We are in the middle of it on the The 67-year-old Frenchman has con- happens, in football,” he said. “Will this to keep players like Alexis and end all back Gabriel is out injured. day of a game or before a game but usu- stantly refused to give a definitive be my last match at Arsenal? I don’t the speculation about what could hap- Gabriel hurt a knee against Everton ally when you are in a competition you answer on whether his current contract, know. What I want is to win the next pen. He is under contract until 2018.” and Wenger confirmed he faced two don’t realise what’s happening around which expires at the end of the season, game. “I love to win and what I want is months of rehabilitation. “Gabriel is out you. We are a little bit in our bubble, iso- is to be renewed. do well for my club. That’s all I care ‘UNACCEPTABLE AND REALLY SAD’ for six to eight weeks,” he said.”We had a lated. “I’m French, we’ve lived in a emer- It is the issue that has divided Arsenal about, it’s not all about me.” The Cup Sanchez is an injury doubt for scare about his cruciate but it is only gency state for a long time now and it supporters for months, with many vocif- final could also be a swansong for Alexis Saturday after limping off in the final medial knee ligaments so the positive is not visible what the police are doing, erously calling for him to end his 21-year Sanchez, whose agent is known to have Premier League game of the season, that he avoids surgery.” usually. “You want people to enjoy life, stint. Wenger has also admitted the spoken to German champions Bayern Sunday’s victory over Everton, with a Per Mertesacker will fill one of the it’s absolutely unacceptable and really uncertainty contributed to the club’s Munich this week. thigh problem. gaps despite limited game time himself sad. I was in Paris when it happened on first finish outside the top four in two Indeed, the forward was listed as a “We will see if he can start,” Wenger following injury. November 13 2015 and it’s a huge decades. Bayern Munich player on a said. “He needs to go for some tests and Wenger was confident his players’ shock. “Our compassion and solidarity is Once again he declined to clarify his Confederations Cup squad list by his we will see how well he comes out of preparations would not be disrupted by total with the city of Manchester.” — AFP Hulk flexes muscles in all-Chinese clash SHANGHAI: Brazilian forward Hulk scored head of Uzbek midfielder Odil Ahmedov. one goal and set up another as Shanghai Hulk went close with a dipping shot earlier SIPG won a megabucks all-Chinese clash 2- in the second half, before Martinez held off 1 against Jiangsu Suning in the AFC three defenders to put a shot just wide. Champions League’s last 16 yesterday. Hulk remained a handful but there was no Hulk made his muscular presence felt with further addition to the score as SIPG, cur- a bustling performance which terrorised rently second in the Chinese Super League, the Jiangsu defence and put Andre Villas- left the door open for a possible comeback Boas’s SIPG in the driving seat ahead of from bottom-placed Jiangsu. Earlier, in next week’s return leg. South Korea, substitute Jin Seong-Uk The 30-year-old Hulk, a 56-million-euro struck in injury time as Jeju United beat signing last year, was the pick of the Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds 2-0 to seize expensively hired Brazilian talent on dis- control of their last-16 tie. play, which also included Oscar, Elkeson Marcelo Toscano nodded Jeju in front and Jiangsu’s Alex Teixeira and Ramires. on seven minutes but the hosts had to However, Hulk was partly at fault for wait until the dying moments before Jin Jiangsu’s opener when first he and then added the gloss with a fine strike on the defender Cai Huikang lost the ball, setting counter. It put Jeju in prime position to up Colombian striker Roger Martinez who oust Urawa, the 2007 champions, in next rifled his shot home on eight minutes. week’s second leg and further extend what With China coach Marcello Lippi, who lift- is already their best Asian campaign. ed the Asian trophy with Guangzhou Toscano, the mohawk-sporting Brazilian, Evergrande in 2013, watching from the got the opener on seven minutes when he stands, fierce tackles were flying in from met Hwang Il-Su’s diagonal ball with a firm both teams. header. Jeju’s Magno Cruz rippled the side SIPG got their breakthrough when Li netting, curled another shot off-target and Ang brought down Hulk in the area and then put a rebound from his own header the barrel-chested Brazilian duly converted wide before he was replaced by Jin on the with a low shot which brushed the gloves hour-mark. of Jiangsu goalkeeper Zhang Sipeng. Jin had a swerving shot blocked on the Hulk had a fearsome volley tipped over line but in the second minute of injury before he created SIPG’s second in first-half time, he wasn’t to be denied as he broke injury time, showing quick feet before forward, checked and crashed his shot in flashing a cross which cannoned in off the off the left post. — AFP DUBLIN: Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal runs between wickets during the Tri-Series final One-Day International between Bangladesh and ewN Zealand at Clontarf cricket ground in Dublin yesterday. — AFP CRICKET Bangladesh down New Zealand to boost 2019 World Cup push DUBLIN: Bangladesh took a huge step towards qualifying for the 2019 World Cup with a five-wicket victory over New Zealand in the tri-series finale yesterday. The win at Clontarf promoted Bangladesh to sixth place, above Sri Lanka in the stand- ings, with just four months to go before the cut-off date of September 30 when the top eight are guaranteed automatic qualification for the finals in England. An unbroken stand of 72 between Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah saw the SHANGHAI: Brazilian forward Hulk of China’s Shanghai SIPG fights for the ball with Li Tigers to their victory target of 271 with 10 Ang (bottom) of China’s Jiangsu FC during their AFC Champions League round of 16 balls to spare. football match in Shanghai yesterday. — AFP Mushfiqur finished 45 not out at exactly a run a ball but the partnership was dominated by a superb innings from Mahmudullah who Kohli says Champions Trophy scored his 3,000th run in his 36-ball 46, with six fours and a six. more competitive than WC He took 14 off the 47th over, bowled by Hamish Bennett to make the last three overs a formality and fittingly Mahmudullah hit the MUMBAI: Indian skipper Virat Kohli said “I think because the tournament is winning boundary. yesterday his side would be ruthless in much shorter and you have got top eight Bangladesh had the momentum going defending their Champions Trophy title teams in the world, the competitiveness is into the second innings after they had next month, describing the competition as much higher from the word go,” said Kohli. restricted the Black Caps to 270 for eight, with tougher even than the World Cup. “In a World Cup you have league games just 62 coming from the last 12 overs as five India won the last Champions Trophy in and you have time to get into the tourna- 2013 and head into June’s tournament in ment and dominate in the later half. But in wickets fell. England and Wales as favourites after a Champions Trophy you need to be on the Tamim Iqbal and Sabbir Rahman then car- hugely successful home season with 10 top of your game from game one. If not, ried it on with a second wicket stand of 136 Test wins. then your chances go down pretty soon.” with both batsmen dismissed for 65.