6 January 10, 2021 LeBron James Stars in Lakers’ Iranian Trio Shortlisted for Win Over Bulls Best 2020 ACL Team ing three Iranians. performer in Persepolis’ campaign. Hussein Kanaani - Persepolis FC, With nine appearances and 840 min- IRN utes played, he was the only defender * 491 successful passes to score more than once in the 2020 * 17 interceptions edition. In Persepolis’ journey to the 2020 The Iran international also completed AFC Champions League final, Hus- more passes than any other player in sein Kanaani only missed one game, the tournament, and holds the record totaling 795 minutes of playing time. of being the only player to marshal the His 491 completed passes ranked the Persepolis defense to five clean sheets. 26-year-old among the top six players Saeid Aghaei - Persepolis FC, IRN who achieved such a record in 2020. *3 assists No other player in Persepolis made *9 chances created LOS ANGELES (AP) -- LeB- first quarter for the Bulls, who more interceptions (17) than the Islam- * 41 crosses from open play (Best ron James had 28 points, seven have lost seven straight to the ic Republic of Iran international. Most overall record) rebounds and seven assists, and Lakers. notably, Kanaani stood out in Persepo- * 76.5% tackle success rate, 15 inter- the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Dennis Schroder scored 17 TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian defend- Best XI with focus on the defensive lis’ clash against Al-Sadd in the Round ceptions the absence of two injured start- points and hit a 3-pointer with ers Hussein Kanaani, Shoja Khalilzadeh stalwarts. of 16, earning him the match MVP. Saeid Aghaei was a mainstay in the and Saeid Aghaei were nominated for Last week, the-afc.com presented the Shojae Khalilzadeh - Persepolis FC, Persepolis lineup, appearing in all but ers for a 117-115 victory over the 2:39 to play to put the Lakers up the best 2020 AFC Champions League candidates for the 2020 edition’s best IRN one match. The 25-year-old racked up Chicago Bulls on Friday night. 113-107, but Chicago trimmed Team. goalkeeper, and now it shines the spot- * 2 goals scored (Best overall record) three assists with only three other play- Zach LaVine scored 38 points, the lead to 116-115 on Garrett With the dust settling on Ulsan Hyun- light on the players who will make up *476 successful passes ers having created more goals in the but the UCLA product missed a Temple’s 3-pointer with 37 sec- dai FC lifting the title for the second the backline. * 78 possession won (Best overall 2020 edition - Jonathan Viera, Teruhito time, the-afc.com continues its search There are the 14 players in contention record) Nakagawa and Sultan Al Ghannam (all 17-foot jumper with 4.7 seconds onds left. for the 2020 AFC Champions League for the four places in defense, includ- Shojae Khalilzadeh was a standout on four assists). left that would have put Chica- James missed an extra-long go ahead. 3-pointer to put the game in Liverpool Rout Villa to Reach FA Cup Fourth Round Montrezl Harrell had 17 points Chicago’s hands, but LaVine and 14 rebounds for the defend- missed his contested jumper, BIRMINGHAM (Reuters) - netted on his senior debut for the ing NBA champions, who have and his teammates fumbled the Liverpool scored three goals in five Midlands side. won five of six. James and Har- ball out of bounds. second-half minutes to reach the Villa stunned Liverpool 7-2 in rell led the way as Los Ange- Wendell Carter Jr. scored a FA Cup fourth round with a 4-1 the Premier League at the same les held off the Bulls down the season-high 23 points and Thad- win at Aston Villa on Friday after venue in October but they had no stretch without injured starters deus Young had 15 for Chicago. the home side were forced to field chance of emulating the success Anthony Davis and Kentavious Chicago Bulls guard Garrett academy players due to a mass as nine of their first team players Caldwell-Pope. Temple (17) defends against COVID-19 outbreak among their and five staff members tested pos- The Lakers lead the Western Los Angeles Lakers forward ranks. itive for COVID-19 on Thursday. Conference at 7-3 despite the LeBron James (23) during the Sadio Mane scored twice for the Villa’s Under-23 coach Mark challenges of injuries and sev- first quarter of an NBA basket- English champions while Geor- Delaney took charge of the game eral roster changes. ball game Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, ginio Wijnaldum and Mohamed instead of first-team manager LaVine scored 19 points in the in Los Angeles. Salah added one each to cancel Dean Smith and the club also Liverpool’s Sadio Mane (center) scores his side’s first goal during the out a fine goal by Villa’s 17-year FA Cup third round soccer match between Aston Villa and Liverpool closed their training ground fol- old striker Louie Barry, who at Villa Park stadium in Birmingham, England, Jan 8, 2021. lowing the outbreak. Sofia Goggia Races to Dominating Win in World Cup Downhill Gladbach Stage Three-Goal Comeback to Stun Bayern 3-2 MOENCHENGLADBACH (Reuters) - Borussia Moenchengladbach bat- tled back from two goals down to stun champions Bayern Munich 3-2 on Fri- day, with a double from Jonas Hofmann and another from Florian Neuhaus. Gladbach pressed high from the start but it was Bayern who went ahead with Robert Lewandowski’s 20th minute penalty for his 20th goal of the campaign. After Leon Goretzka drilled in their second goal six minutes later, Bay- ern’s defensive weaknesses this season were exposed once more, with Hofmann beating defenders to complete two quick breaks in the 36th and in first half stoppage time, leaving the champions dazed. A sensational shot from Neuhaus four minutes after the restart com- pleted the hosts’ turnaround and made it nine league games in a row that Moenchengladbach’s players celebrate their goal during the German Bundesliga Italy’s Sofia Goggia speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women’s Bayern have fallen behind, a club record. It was also Bayern’s second soccer match between Borussia Moenchengladbach and Bayern Munich at the World Cup downhill in St. Anton, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. Borussia Park in Moenchengladbach, Germany, Jan 8, 2021. league defeat of the season. ST. ANTON, Austria (AP) -- sixth Saturday with two-time Olympic champion Sofia Gog- world champion Ilka Stuhec. Preparations for Tokyo 2020 gia’s high-risk skiing was re- Goggia’s ninth career World warded with a dominating win Cup win was her sixth in the to Continue, Organizers Say in a World Cup downhill on Sat- marquee discipline of down- TOKYO/BEIJING (Xinhua) - Tokyo 2020 organizers have announced urday. hill. She rose to third in the that they will continue with the preparation work for the Olympic and Para- Goggia was fast and nearly overall World Cup standings lympic Games during the second state of emergency in the Japanese capital flawless in the sunshine on led by Petra Vlhova. and three surrounding prefectures. the rarely raced Karl Schranz Johnson’s latest third place “We will continue to proceed carefully with all necessary work while course to be 0.96 seconds faster extended the United States adopting the required safety and security measures, in order to progress than Tamara Tippler of Austria. team’s standout record at St. preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Games due to be held this summer,” the Breezy Johnson landed her Anton. organizers said in a statement. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency third straight third-place fin- The two previous World Cup from Jan 8 to Feb 7 for the Tokyo metropolitan area including Tokyo, ish in downhills this season, downhills raced at the Austrian Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures on Thursday afternoon, autho- man walks past an official Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics advertisement 1.04 back, after the American resort in the past 20 years were rizing tougher measures to fight a resurgence in COVID-19 infections. board in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on Nov 30, 2020. clocked the fastest speed of won by Lindsey Vonn in 2007 more than 122 kph (76 mph). and Alice Mckennis in 2013. Goggia has finished ahead of The result was unofficial with Russian Qualifier Gasanova Stuns Pliskova in Abu Dhabi Johnson in each downhill so lower-ranked skiers yet to start. far and the Italian now has two Though no paying spectators ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Russian qualifier Anastasia Gasanova, who made her maiden WTA main draw appearance this week, could barely believe wins and a second place to lead were allowed at the finish dur- what she achieved on Saturday after breezing past former world number one Karolina Pliskova in the second round in Abu Dhabi. The 21-year-old qualifier, ranked 292nd, had won her first-ever tour-level match in the opening round of the WTA 500 event to set up the clash the season-long standings. ing the coronavirus pandemic, with Czech Pliskova in her first meeting with a top 100 player. Switzerland’s Corinne Suter, there were cheers for the racers But Gasanova, whose goal is to break into the top 200 this year, took just 72 minutes to secure a 6-2 6-4 victory against world number six Pliskova. the only downhill racer to beat from recreational skiers on ad- Gasanova will next play Spain’s 66th ranked Sara Sorribes Tormo in the last 16.