Al Wasmiyah Farm’s Perfect Empire lands Guineas PAGE 12 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2020 Li Shenglong stars with a brace as Shanghai SIPG down Sydney FC TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK enjoy the bulk of possession DOHA in the opening minutes of the second half and Barbarouses A brace of second-half Li Shen- nearly doubled his side’s tally glong headers helped Shanghai 10 minutes after the restart SIPG come from behind to de- after being set up by a Rhyan feat Sydney FC 2-1 at Khalifa Grant header, but the New International Stadium in Group Zealander international could H of the 2020 AFC Champions not find the target with his League on Thursday. point-blank header. Shanghai SIPG were com- It was Vitor Perreira’s ing into their campaign open- Shanghai SIPG who found the er against an FC Sydney side back of the net instead. With they had played twice and 63 minutes on the clock, Aus- drew on both occasions last tralian midfielder Aaron Mooy term, while Steve Corica’s men took advantage of a quickly had collected one point from taken set-piece down the right two games in the competition and delivered a pinpoint cross and were in desperate need for catching the Sydney FC de- a victory to stay in contention. fence napping and finding Li who was left to pick his spot with a free-header, driving home the leveler. With just 11 minutes to go, Li popped up in space inside the box once more, getting on the end of a whipped cross from substitute Yu Hai from the left to send a diving header in off the upright, leaving goalkeeper Heward-Belle rooted to the spot. The 23-year-old goal- Sydney FC came racing out keeper’s night went from bad of the blocks and within five to worse as he was sent-off in minutes they had their first big added time for handing the ball break. A Paulo Retre though outside the box, leaving Grant ball found Trent Buhagiar free to fill in between the sticks as down the right flank and he Sydney FC had already used up squared for Kosta Barbarouses all their substitutions. who had the goal at his mercy The three points in their first with the Shanghai SIPG de- game of the 2020 AFC Cham- fenders left chasing shadows, pions League sends Shanghai but the Sydney FC number 11 SIPG to second place in the fluffed his lines, squandering Shanghai SIPG forward Li Shenglong (left) celebrates after scoring the second goal during the AFC Champions League Group H match against Australia’s Sydney FC at the Khalifa group ahead of Sunday’s clash the chance for an early opener. International Stadium on Thursday. (AFP) with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Barbarouses was pre- Sydney FC, meanwhile, sented with the chance to the return pass. Buhagiar took Shanghai SIPG goalkeeper wide. are left teetering with their make amends three minutes it first-time, sending a left-foot- Standings Group H Chen Wei was beaten again Shanghai SIPG were made hopes of qualification largely later when goalkeeper Thomas ed effort into the top corner to CLUB P W D L GF GA GD PTS as an Alexander Baumjohann to wait until the 30-minute dependent on getting a result Heward-Belle sent a long ball open the scoring for Sydney FC. Yokohama F. Marinos (JPN) 2 2 0 0 6 1 5 6 corner was headed goalward mark to get their first real chance against the Korea Republic for Buhagiar who nodded it The Australian dominance Shanghai SIPG FC (CHN) 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 3 by Benjamin Warland, but the of the game when Gu Huan side on Wednesday. into the path of Barbarouses at Khalifa International Sta- Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC (KOR) 2 0 1 1 3 4 -1 1 Sydney FC defender watched crossed for Li whose header nar- Scoreline: Shanghai SIPG 2 who showed impeccable aware- dium continued and just be- Sydney FC (AUS) 3 0 1 2 3 8 -5 1 his effort cannon off the post rowly missed the target. (Li Shenglong 63’, 79’) bt Syd- ness to find his teammate with fore the quarter-hour mark, before Retre sent the rebound Sydney FC continued to ney FC 1 (Trent Buhagiar 8’). FIFA WORLD CUP 2022 QUALIFIERS Rojas Bangladesh nalise squad for wary of predicting crucial tie against Qatar Melbourne TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DHAKA Victory’s A 27-man squad has been AFC CL named by the Bangladesh Football Federation as they gear up to face Qatar in Group chances E of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup Chi- na 2023 on December 4. Team departs from Melbourne for Doha to resume campaign TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK casts regarding how Victory ture. Brebner’s team then take DOHA will play come November 24. on Chiangrai United before We will go to Doha and will “It’s difficult to say,” he facing off against FC Seoul in have two weeks to prepare. MELBOURNE Victory depart- said. “As a footballer you’re their final group fixture. Everybody knows the impor- ed for Qatar on Thursday with not going to go into a game The four-time A-League tance of the game. Qatar their New Zealand internation- and not try to win it. But to say champions come into the are Asian champions and al Marcos Rojas refusing to pre- what’s realistic is to try and tournament having not played dict how well his team can per- predict the future. a competitive match since the they will provide a massive form when they finally resume “We’ll guarantee that we’ll middle of August having en- challenge. their 2020 AFC Champions be working hard to come to- dured a torrid domestic cam- Bangladesh’s assistant coach League campaign next week. gether as a team, we’ll be paign that saw them finish in Bangladesh will face Qatar in Group E of the Asian Qualiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC The Australian side, who working hard on our philoso- 10th in the 11-team league. Stuart Watkiss Asian Cup China 2023 on December 4. qualified for the group phase phy and it’s a great challenge But, since Brebner was by defeating 2018 champions against very good teams, very handed the task of leading the Assistant coach Stuart local media. feated Nepal 2-0 and drawn Defenders: Topu Barman, Yea- Kashima Antlers in the play- good players that will really team full time, Melbourne have Watkiss, who has taken tem- Bangladesh will play 0-0 in friendlies during the sin Khan, Bishwanath Ghosh, offs, have already played twice test us as footballers and how made a number of astute sign- porary charge of the squad warm-up matches against lo- recent international window. Shushanta Tripura, Rahmat Mia, in Group E, kicking off their we come together as a team. ings, including former Wigan after head coach Jamie Day cal clubs in Doha on Novem- Bangladesh are bottom of Yeasin Arafat, SM Monjurur Rah- campaign with a 1-0 win over “I think that will be the Athletic winger Callum McMa- tested positive for COVID-19, ber 25 and 28 as part of the Group E of the Asian Qualifi- man, Riyadul Hasan, Manik Mol- Chiangrai United before slip- main realistic challenge and naman and ex-Derby County is aware of the challenge that build-up for the tie against ers with one point while Qa- lah; Midfielders: Jamal Bhuiyan, ping to a narrow loss at the the approach that we should midfielder Jacob Butterfield. lays ahead for his side. reigning AFC Asian Cup tar lead the standings with Mamunul Islam, Atiqur Rahman hands of FC Seoul. take is forming that. Results Several of the recent acqui- “We will go to Doha and champions Qatar at the Ab- 13. Oman, Afghanistan and Fahad, Rabiul Hasan, Moammad But, with much changing will be very difficult to come by sitions will only meet their new will have two weeks to pre- dullah bin Khalifa Stadium on India are the other teams in Ibrahim, Sohel Rana, Mamunul since those games in February but we’ll see how we go.” team mates on arrival in Doha pare. Everybody knows the December 4. the group. Islam, Rakib Hossain; Forwards: and March as new coach Grant Melbourne’s first game and Rojas admitted one of the importance of the game. Qa- The South Asian side will Biplo Ahmed, Tawhidul Alam Brebner took charge and with after the resumption will be biggest challenges facing Mel- tar are Asian champions and head to Doha with some valu- Bangladesh Squad: Goalkeep- Sabuz, Nabib Newaz Jibon, Su- significant turnover in the against Beijing FC, with the bourne will be seeing how long they will provide a massive able match exposure already ers: Ashraful Islam Rana, Anisur mon Reza, MS Bablu, Mahbubur playing staff, Rojas was not teams meeting against three it takes for the line-up to form challenge,” Watkiss said to under their belt, having de- Rahman Zico, Pappu Hossain; Rahman, Saad Uddin. prepared to make any fore- days later in their return fix- into a cohesive unit. Sports Friday, November 20, 2020 11 Qatar’s Team Lusail eager to rock at FIBA 3x3 World Tour Doha Masters TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DOHA TEAM Lusail, Qatar’s entry at the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Doha Masters, will take to the court on Friday, the opening day of the event, with only one thing on their minds – to lift the trophy on Saturday night at the Al Gharafa Beach Games Area.