Harry Kane sets sights on matching Messi’s goal spree PAGE 18 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2018 Indian cricket team eyes West Indies boost ahead of Australia tour PAGE 18 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PSG VS RED STAR BELGRADE Solitary goal setback for Al Sadd against Persepolis FC in first leg IKOLI VICTOR DOHA HOSTS Al Sadd suffered an unfortunate defeat after con- ceding a late penalty (86th minute) against Persepolis of Iran in the first leg of their 2018 AFC Champions League semi-final on Tuesday. Playing in front of over nine thousand fans and with just four minutes to regulation time, goalkeeper Saad al Sheeb brought down Ali Alipour. The resultant kick was neatly dis- patched by the striker. That gave Persepolis an important 1-0 away win . The match started brightly for Al Sadd but no clear cut chances until the 16th minute when Akram Afif inside the Al Sadd’s head coach Jesualdo box has a shot at goal but goal- Ferreira of Portugal during the keeper Alireza Bairanvand match at the Jassim Bin Hamad made a decent catch. on Tuesday. (AFP) The visitors had their own chance when Bashar Resan with a fine pass. delivered the ball into the box Abdelkarim tried another and Nigerian striker Godwin long range shot but keeper Mensha blazed the ball over Alizera made a fingertip save the bar in the 26th minute. in the 79th minute. Al Sadd pressed more in Against the run of play, the opponent’s vital area and Persepolis breached the Al Baghdad Bounedjah in a one- Sadd defence with a quick on-one situation, missed a big counter-attack. The Wolves chance when he sliced the ball custodian rushed out and past Alizera but the Iranian fouled Alipour in the box. had tightened the space when The striker made no mis- he rushed out just on the half- take from the spot to give the hour mark. Iranians a goal and huge ad- The tournament’s top vantage into the second leg. scorer had another go at goal The two sides will now with an audacious shot from lock horns again on October an impossible angle but the 23 at the Azadi Stadium in Te- ball went over the crossbar. hran for the second leg, which Afif was a constant threat will decide who gets to play and his low shot destined into Persepolis FC’s Ali Alipour (centre) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Al Sadd during their AFC Champions League semi-final first leg match at the Jassim Bin Hamad in the final of the AFC the back of the net was kept Stadium in Doha on Tuesday. The two teams will clash again in the second leg in Iran on October 23. (AFP) Champions League. out by the impressive Perse- polis custodian just before the halftime break. In the second period, a de- termined Al Sadd side playing more purposefully met a brick wall as the Iranians were un- compromising in their defend- ing with skipper Jalal Hosseini in charge. Hassan al Haydos replaced South Korean Jung Woo Young but the Qatari inter- national was restricted by the defensive pair of Shojae Khali- ilzadeh and Ali Mosleh. After a disappointing first half Abdelkarim Hassan made some fine contributions and one of his cross into the box almost led to a goal but Persepolis back line cleared the danger. Pedro Miguel’s low shot from 20 yards went an inch off target in the 66th minute as the host looked more desperate. Chances kept coming for Al Sadd but Afif shot wide af- Al Sadd’s Baghdad Bounedjah (left) heads the ball during the AFC Champions League semi-final first leg Persepolis FC’s fans cheer their team during the AFC Champions League first leg semi-final at the Jassim ter Bounedjah provided him match against Persepolis FC at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Tuesday. (AFP) Bin Hamad Stadium on Tuesday. (AFP) 48TH FIG ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Quick read Ryder Cup fan blinded by tee shot Qatar gymnasts ready to give their best: Coach Razvan takes legal action TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK category. traveling to Romania in a cou- PARIS: A Frenchwoman blinded DOHA “We’ve been training hard ple of days to fine-tune their in one eye after being hit by a and everything has been go- preparations for the tourna- wayward tee shot at the Ry- QATAR coach Razvan Selariu ing in the right direction. The ment. “We are also planning to der Cup is taking legal action has exuded confidence about gymnasts are in top shape and participate in one or two compe- against the event’s organisers, home gymnasts doing well at everybody is ready to give their titions before returning to Qatar she said Tuesday. Corine Re- next month’s 48th FIG Artis- best,” Razvan told worldgym- though nothing yet has been fi- mande, 49, was hit on Friday’s tic Gymnastics World Cham- doha18.com. nalised now. opening day, when American pionships. The Romanian, who guided “This is the first champi- Brooks Koepka's drive on the The competition, to be the Qatar team at the recently- onships to be held in the Arab par-four sixth hole veered off showcased for the first time in held Asian Games in Jakarta, world and we hope to give it course. She launched her the Middle East, will be held at Indonesia, added that his our best shot,” said Selariu, an legal action in the French city the Aspire Dome from October team’s target will be to reach Olympic bronze medalist with of Lyon on Tuesday. The com- 25 to November 3. the final of at least one appara- his national team at the 2004 plaint alleges organisers were Over 83 countries with tus. Athens Games. responsible for “a lack of safety 700 athletes will be participat- “The championships will “The eyes of the world will rules”. “The player should ing in the gymnastics extrava- be tough considering the pres- be on Doha next month. It will have shouted ‘ball’, or ‘fore’ ganza. ence of top gymnasts, but we be a great privilege for us to do for English speakers. Given the The host nation will be believe we can at least reach the something on home soil. distance, the stewards should represented by Ahmad al pommel horse final going by “It looks a daunting task, have relayed this information Dayani and Ahmed Nabil in the current form of Al Dayani. but it is not impossible. We are to the green,” she adds in the Qatar will be represented by Ahmad al Dayani and Ahmed Nabil in the men’s section, while Jana Kiki will the men’s section, while Jana And anything can happen from ready to make it happen.” complaint. “They told me I’d be country’s sole women competitor at the 48th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships to be held Kiki will lead the country’s there,” added the 34-year-old. lost the sight in my right eye,” at the Aspire Dome from October 25 to November 3. competition in the women’s The men’s team will be See also page 19 Ô Remade told AFP. 18 Wednesday, October 3, 2018 Sports Neymar, PSG UEFA Champions League preview still not at 100 percent: Tuchel Kane plans to emulate Messi’s AFP PARIS BRAZILIAN star Neymar and his coach Thomas Tuchel fully goal spree as Barca visit London agreed on Tuesday that no-one at Paris Saint-Germain was “yet at 100 percent.” Fixtures Neymar “is perhaps not at Spurs will have 100 percent, but he’s close,” PSG vs Crvena Zvezda Tuchel said at a press confer- to take on Barca Lokomotiv Moskva vs Schalke 04 ence ahead of Wednesday’s Atlético Madrid vs Club Brugge Champions League home game without Eriksen, against Red Star Belgrade. Dembele, Jan Borussia Dortmund vs Monaco “I’m not at 100 percent of Tottenham Hotspur vs Barcelona my fitness, no one is at 100 pe- Vertonghen and PSV vs Internazionale cent, it’s the start of the season Napoli vs Liverpool and we haven’t played many Dele Alli Porto vs Galatasaray matches,” said Neymar. “World football reaches AFP its peak around February and LONDON March, with the biggest match- es. I'm working, every match, HARRY Kane has set his every day, on improving both sights on emulating the in- credible goal-scoring feats of Lionel Messi as the Tottenham striker prepares for his shoot- out with the Barcelona legend. Kane and Messi will be the leading men at Wembley on Wednesday when Tottenham host Barcelona in a crucial Champions League clash. Messi has already scored eight times this season, in- Paris Saint Germain’s head cluding a hat-trick in Barca’s coach Thomas Tuchel. European demolition of PSV Eindhoven, taking his career physically and technically,” tally for the club to well over Neymar added. 500 goals. Lionel Messi (centre) and Jordi Alba (second right) attend a team After losing their opening Kane has been prolific for training session at the Wembley Stadium on Tuesday. (AFP) group game to Liverpool, PSG Tottenham over the last four need a victory against Red Star years, but he admits he needs last season, beating Dortmund pressure starts to build. if they are to salvage their group to become even more ruthless at home. It was not so great to “I’m sure Barcelona want campaign. with his finishing to approach lose to Inter this time around,” to bounce back but it’s our Tuchel said on Tuesday his the jaw-dropping statistics Kane said.