UAE DENY VIETNAM LATE COMEBACK, MALAYSIA BEAT THAILAND

United Arab Emirates toppled Vietnam from the top spot of Group G on the final day to reach the final round of the World Cup 2022 Asian Qualifiers. The Al-Abyad were leading 3-0 before a late scare by Vietnam to end the game with a 3-2 final score. Vietnam will also play in the final qualifying round for finishing second best in the group.

UAE to control of the match from the start. Ali Salmeen broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute. Five minutes before the break, UAE were awarded a penalty and Ali Mabkhout scored his 76th international goal. Early in the second half, Mahmoud Khamis found the net to give his team a comfortable 3 goals lead.

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The never-say-die Vietnam team played their hearts out until the final minutes. Nguyen Tien Linh gave his team a fighting chance in the 84th minute. And Tran Minh Vuong scored Vietnam's second after three minutes into the injury time.

In another group match, Malaysia edged Thailand 1-0 to finish third in the group. Safawi Rasid scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute. Both Malaysia and Thailand advance to the final round of the Qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

Photo: AFC

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VIETNAM JUST A POINT AWAY FROM ASIAN QUALIFIERS FINAL ROUND

Vietnam edged Malaysia 2-1 to stay on top of Group G and ready to secure a place in the final round of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. With 2 points clear ahead of UAE, they just need a draw to confirmed their place in the final round.

Nguyen Tien Linh gave his team the lead in the 27th minute, but Malaysia fought back to keep their chances alive. Guilherme De Paula scored the equaliser for Malaysia in the 72nd minutes from the penalty spot. However, Vietnam got a penalty in the 81st minute, and Que Ngoc Hai made no mistake to give his team the win.

UAE hammered Indonesia 5-0 in another Group G match earlier. Two goals each by Ali Mabkhout and Fabio Lima, plus a goal by Sebastian Tagliabúe sealed the win at Zabeel Stadium in Dubai. It is their third consecutive win in Asian Qualifiers and still in the race to win their Group. UAE will face Vietnam on Wednesday for their final group match.

Photo: AFC

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HENDERSON READY FOR EURO OPENING MATCH AGAINST CROATIA

Despite missing a penalty in a warm-up match against Romania last weekend, Jordan Henderson has declared he is fit for the Euro 2020 campaign. His fitness was questioned after he was introduced into the match in the last 45 minutes after not playing for club or country since suffering a groin injury in February. Henderson believes that England's manager, Gareth Southgate has been assessing his fitness level before making a decision to include him into the squad.

"We know a little bit more detail, I know more detail and so does the manager."

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The Liverpool captain suffered a groin injury in a match against Everton in February. He completed the surgery soon after the match focused on recovery and fitness with the tournament on his mind.

"You probably wouldn’t know but I’ve trained for a long time. It’s a little bit different training on your own instead of team training, although I managed to do that towards the back end of the season with Liverpool."

Henderson insisted that he is fit and raring to go for England’s opening match of the tournament against Croatia on June 13. The player is obviously desperate to start against Croatia on Sunday and, having played such a key role in the 2018 World Cup, he is out for revenge against their nemesis in the semi final in Russia.

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THAILAND HELD BY INDONESIA IN WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Indonesia came from behind twice to secure their first point in the Asian Qualifiers Group G, playing out a 2-2 draw against neighbours Thailand at Al Maktoum Stadium on Thursday. Narubadin Weerawatnodom and Adisak Kraisorn scored the goals for Thailand, before Kadek Agung and Evan Dimas rescued their team from 6th conseutive defeat. The draw was a blow to Thailand as three points would have taken them top of the group, with Akira Nishino's men set to play hosts United Arab Emirates on Monday.

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In another match, Ali Mabkhout and Fabio de Lima scored two goals each to give UAE a comfortable 4-0 win over Malaysia in Dubai. The Emirates took possession throughout the match and gave very little opportunities to their opponent.

UAE moved to second place in the group sharing same points with Malaysia and Thailand, while Indonesia remained at the bottom with just one point from yesterday's match. Vietnam is still on top of the table with 11 points from just five matches and looking good to win the group.

Photos: AFC

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HAVERTZ THE HERO AS CHELSEA WIN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

What could have been a Manchester total domination of Europe 2021 became exactly the opposite. Manchester City squandered the best chance to secure their first Champions League Final win when they lost to Chelsea 2 - 1 last night. This is a major bummer to the City of Manchester when their Red neighbors also lost out on a spectacularly in the Europa League Final just 48 hours earlier.

Chelsea’s Kai Havertz repaid some of his huge transfer fee as his first-half goal sealed a 1-0 win for his side over Manchester City in the Champions League final on Saturday. The German youngster, Chelsea’s record signing, latched on to Mason Mount’s pass and evaded City keeper Ederson before rolling the ball into an empty net just 3 minutes before halftime. 

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Premier League champions City were favourites ahead of the final but suffered a desperately disappointing night in Estadio do Drago, Porto in what was their first Champions League final. Pep Guardiola’s side were never allowed to play their normal fluent game and could not respond as a disciplined Chelsea sealed the win.

The narrative is quite a story to tell for Man City both the club and the manager. City’s first appearance in the final after so many European failures during their last decade-plus of relevance. Every dollar poured into the club, the ones well spent and wasted, have led to this moment. But that 90 minutes have been a torture to them as they could have lifted the Big Ears and claimed the glory.

Champions League is very familiar territory to Guardiola. Having won once as player and twice as a manager made him as one of the best Manager in Europe. He has a Cristiano Ronaldo-esque impact in his managerial career winning and dominating all the leagues he is in from La Liga, Bundesliga and Premier League. This final could have been his magnum opus but fate has other plan for him.

Thomas Tuchel on the other hand is on a winning streak. Taking PSG a back to back to back Ligue 1 champions in France, runners up in 2020 Champions League. Sacked by PSG, took over Chelsea from Frank Lampard and reached the promise land with Chelsea. His first Champions League and Chelsea’s second.

Chelsea has not been a force to be reckon with since they part ways with Jose Mourinho in his both stints at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea is not the club everybody wants to beat, a position currently held by Manchester City. Narrowly secured the top four finishing this season, Tuchel has an opportunity to defend the title next season. This also could be a revival for Chelsea. The win will give Tuchel free access to Roman Abramovich’s war chest and we have seen that happened before. The season have just officially ended and we just can’t  wait for the new season to start.

England's Champions League Winners

6 - Liverpool

3 - Manchester United

2 - Chelsea

2 - Nottingham Forest

1 - Aston Villa

By Faiz Hakim

Photo: Champions League | Chelsea FC

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VILLARREAL IS EUROPA LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

"Football, bloody hell!”

This was quoted by Sir Alex Ferguson on Manchester United's dramatic Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich in 1999. The same quote came and haunt them exactly 22 years later when United was beaten at the final of Europa League in the night of 26 May 2021.

United 2nd in the Premier League, is the favorite to clinch this trophy where Villarreal looked bewildered in the La Liga sitting only at 7th place in the table not even made the cut in any of the European Tournament.

But Villarreal, against all the odds have won the Europa League after defeating Manchester United 11-10 in a penalty shoot-out after drew 1 all in the 90 minutes leading up to the shootout.

Neither side able to find the winner after extra-time, the game headed to penalties in front of 9,500 fans at the Stadion Miejsk in Gdansk.

In form and evergreen striker Edinson Cavani's strike cancelled out Gerard Moreno's first-half effort paying it forward when the Ole Gunnar Solksjaer signed him for another year earlier this month. Meanwhile the ill-fated United goalkeeper David De Gea missed the deciding spot-kick and unable to block any of the goals against him in this 21 goals shootout thriller.

The trophy is Villarreal's first ever piece of major European silverware and manager Unai Emery's fourth triumph in the competition.

United team left Poland to lick their wounds in an otherwise an exciting campaign but unable to show any silverware since Solksjaer' arrival at Old Trafford in 2018. He will continue to rebuild this club next season and perhaps with a couple of great signings, United can be the European football force to be reckon with again.

By Faiz Hakim | Photos Europa League

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JUVENTUS WINS COPPA ITALIA FOR RECORD 14TH TIME

Juventus battled a tough season with another record breaking 14th Italian Cup victory. Currently fifth in Sirie A this season, the Bianconeri gave everything to beat Atalanta 2-1 in the final at Mapei Stadium. About 4300 fans were allowed to watch the final in Reggio Emilia.

Juventus took the lead in the 31st minute as Dejan Kulusevski scored from a counter attack initiated by Juan Cuadrado before Weston McKennie delivered a fine assist. Just 10 minutes later, Atalanta leveled the score through Ruslan Malinovskyi who smashed home an opportunity to beat Gianluigi Buffon.

Federico Chiesa almost restore the lead for Juventus early in the second half. However his attempt from Cristiano Ronaldo’s backheeled flick went off the right post. Juventus got the winner in the 73rd minutes after a good one-two play by Kulusevski, and Chiesa drilled pass Pierluigi Gollini.

The match could marked as a final season for Buffon and Ronaldo with Juventus. The 43 year-old legendary goalkeeper has hinted about retirement and Ronaldo ready to be off-loaded from the club's financial constraints. For the records, Ronaldo has won 2 Sirie A titles, 2 SuperCoppa Italiana and a Coppa Italia since joining the club in 2018.

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LEICESTER LIFT FIRST EVER FA CUP

In their 137-year history, Leicester City had never previously won the FA Cup. They had reached four finals and lost them all. However, a superb long-range strike from Youri Tielemans gave Leicester City their first FA Cup triumph with a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

21,000 fans returned to the stadium after last year's final was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. Leicester's owner, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha was invited on to the field to celebrate with his team. His father, Vichai, whose ownership helped to transform the Midlands club, died in 2018 in a helicopter crash at Leicester's stadium.

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Chelsea dominated the first half but could not find the net, and Leicester lost their centre half Jonny Evans in the 34th minute due to injury. Then in the 63rd minute, Tielemans collected the ball and moved forward. As the Chelsea defence backed off he launched a magnificient shot to beat Kepe Arrizabalaga.

There was late drama when Wes Morgan put through his own goal in the 89th minute to get Chelsea thinking they were taking the game into extra-time, only for VAR to rule it out for offside. The final whistle prompted emotional celebrations from Leicester. Team manager Brendan Rodgers also earned his first trophy in English football after his successes in Scotland with Celtic.

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INTER MILAN WIN FIRST SCUDETTO SINCE 2010

After 11 years of waiting, Inter Milan clinched their first Serie A title on Sunday after Atalanta failed to win at Sassuolo. A day before, Christian Eriksen and Achraf Hakimi scored in a 2-0 win for Inter over Crotone, a victory that moved Antonio Conte's side 14 points clear of Atalanta on Saturday. Atalanta's 1-1 draw Sassuolo ensured Inter wrapped up the title with four games of the season to play, its Scudetto success breaking Juventus' Serie A stranglehold.

Conte knew that his players would do something extraordinary because Inter haven't won a Scudetto in 11 years, and will break-up a dynasty. They finally denied Juventus a 10th successive Serie A title. For the records, Antoinio Conte led Juventus to the first three of those nine consecutive league titles.

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JUVENTUS WIN NINTH SUPERCOPPA TITLE

 

Juventus won the Supercoppa Italiana on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over Napoli at Stadio Mapei thanks to second-half goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata. Lorenzo Insigne missed an 80th-minute penalty after Ronaldo's 64th-minute opener and Morata doubled the Bianconeri's advantage at the death.

The victory takes some pressure off of coach Andrea Pirlo with his first silverware as a coach, and Juve stretched their lead as the most successful club in the competition's history with nine titles.

The Italian giants brought Ronaldo in back in 2018 to continue their domination of domestic silverware and to make them more competitive in the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League. Although it is taking time for the continental objective to come to fruition, the Portugal international continues to rake in the trophies at 35 years of age. He now has four titles to his name in Italy as a part of his record 760-goal story.

Sharing the limelight with Ronaldo is Morata after he added a late second when teed up by Juan Cuadrado as part of a slick counterattack. The Spaniard continued his impressive scoring record and is the most reliable source of goals across all competitions for Pirlo's men with strikes in the Supercoppa, Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Champions League.

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DIEGO MARADONA DIES AFTER HEART ATTACK

Diego Armando Maradona, one of the greatest football players of all time, died on Wednesday at the age of 60, plunging his native Argentina and football fans around the world into mourning.

Renowned along with Pele as one of the finest players ever to grace the field, the Argentine World Cup-winning captain had undergone brain surgery this month and died of a heart attack. Maradona will forever be remembered for his “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final in Mexico City, when he pushed the ball into the net. Minutes later he swerved through the helpless English defenders for a superb second goal, capping a victory that perfectly encapsulated the mixture of brilliant skill and often outrageous behaviour that ran through his life.

Pele described Maradona as a “dear friend” and the 80-year-old Brazilian said he hoped they would “play together in the heaven” one day.

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Gary Lineker, who was a member of the defeated England team in 1986, said Maradona was “arguably the greatest of all time” but referred to that infamous goal by tweeting: “After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he’ll finally find some comfort in the hands of God. #RipDiego.”

Lionel Messi led the tributes from modern-day players to his fellow Argentine, saying: “He has left us but he will never leave us because Diego is eternal.”

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez announced three days of national mourning in the South American country. Local media first reported Wednesday that Maradona had suffered a serious setback in his bid to recover from the surgery earlier this month to remove a clot lodged between his brain and skull.

Family members were summoned to his home north of Buenos Aires before the announcement of his death was made. Grieving fans later gathered at the Obelisk landmark in the center of Buenos Aires and at Boca Juniors’ stadium, the Bombonera, where Maradona played from 1981-82 and 1995-97.

MALAYSIA CUP 2020 CANCELLED

The Malaysian Football League (MFL) have called off the Malaysia Cup. MFL made the decision to cancel the remaining matches of the Malaysia Cup today following the National Security Council's (NSC) decision to reject their appeal to allow the competition to resume in states not under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).

On Wednesday, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismal Sabri Yaakob said the NSC could not make an exemption for the Malaysia Cup, although there were only seven more matches left to play to complete the season.

"We respect the decision by the NSC. We included options to complete the tournament in accordance to the SOPs in place in our appeal to the NSC. However, we understand that the county is now fighting a battle against Covid-19," MFL CEO Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan in a statement today.

"Our board have decided to cancel the competition as we cannot resume the tournament beyond this month. This is because players and coaches are contracted until Nov 30.

"Teams will have issues such as additional expenses if we resume the tournament in December."

Meanwhile, Ghani confirmed that Terengganu, who finished third in the Super League, will now be awarded the AFC Cup slot following the cancellation of the Malaysia Cup.

JDT WIN MALAYSIA SUPER LEAGUE TITLE AGAIN

 

PHOTO: JST

Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) won their seventh consecutive Super League title after trouncing Sabah 4-1 at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri yesterday. JDT got their goals through Diogo Luis Santo (38th minute), Safawi Rasid (57th, 81st) and Leandro Velazquez (84th) while Sabah got their consolation goal through Dennis Buschening (74th).

After claiming their eighth win of the season, the Southern Tigers have bagged 26 points, nine more than nearest challengers Perak (17 points) in the 12-team standings. JDT still have one more match to go while Perak have two games in hand. The defeat, however, has put Sabah, who have nine points, in danger of being relegated.

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Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya City FC escaped from the relegation zone after an emphatic 4-2 roasting of UiTM FC at UiTM Stadium, in Shah Alam. The four goals of PJ City FC were scored by R. Barathkumar in the 46th minute, Anawin Jujeen (48'), R. Kogileswaran (66') and Washington Brandao in the 75th minute to overpower the two goals by the hosts’ Gustavo Dos Santos in the first half injury time and the 79th minute.

Penang crushed Kelantan United FC 4-0 at City Stadium and clinched this season’s Premier League title following a goalless draw between Kuala Lumpur and Perak II at Manjung Municipal Council Stadium. Terengganu FC II edged Sarawak United FC 1-0 at the State Stadium while Selangor 2 defeated Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) FC 2-1 at Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium.

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M-LEAGUE WILL BE BACK, FA CUP IS CANCELLED

It was announced that the suspended 2020 season will finally be resumed on August 26, with only the seven remaining fixtures of the 2020 Super League and Premier League 'first half' set to be played out. While the FA Cup has been cancelled, the Malaysia Cup will still be contested after the league is concluded, albeit in a knockout format.

The 2020 Malaysia FA Cup is the 31st season of the Malaysia FA Cup, a knockout competition for Malaysia's state football association and clubs. The winners would have secured a place for the 2021 AFC Cup group stage. 59 teams are involved in the competition.

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M-LEAGUE TO RESUME IN SEPTEMBER

The Malaysian Football League (MFL) is planning to resume the Malaysia League in September. However, all matches will be played behind closed doors.

The season was suspended on March 16, two days before the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the September restart will also depend on the situation then. If the M-League is not allowed to resume in September, the season will be called off.

Due to time constraints, the home-and-away format for the Super League and the Premier League has been scrapped. Teams will now play each other only once, meaning the champions of the Super League and Premier League will be decided after 11 rounds of matches. According to MFL plan, the Super League and Premier League will start on Sept 1 or 2 and end on Sept 26 or 27.

The MFL has also changed the format of the Malaysia Cup by dropping the group stage. The 16-team competition, comprising 11 Super League teams and five Premier League sides, will now be a knockout tournament. The Malaysia Cup starts on Oct 17 or 18 and ends on Nov 7. However, this year's FA Cup and Challenge Cup have been scrapped.

MALAYSIAN LEAGUE POSTPONED OVER COVID-19 CONCERNS

The Malaysian Football League (MFL) and Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) today announced that all 2020 Malaysian League (M-League) matches scheduled from Monday (March 16) will be postponed due to Covid-19.

FAM president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin announced the decision at a press conference after chairing a special meeting on the Covid-19 pandemic here today. However, Hamidin said all Premier League and Super League matches for this week (Friday-Sunday) will still be played but in empty stadiums (without spectators).

“The decision is taken in the interest of all players, teams and supporters involved directly with the national football arena.”

The meeting was also attended by representatives from the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH), National Sports Council (NSC), National Sports Institute (NSI), sponsors and M-League partners.

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Hamidin, who is also MFL president, said the decision also involved other local competitions organised by FAM and MFL – including the President’s Cup, Youth Cup, Malaysia Premier Futsal League (MPFL), as well as the M3 and M4 competitions.

On other development, Hamidin also confirmed there would be no player call-up for the national squad training camp and cancellation of friendly matches for the national squad during the FIFA international matches window this month.

“The national team will not have a friendly match and there will be no call-up to for centralised training as planned,”

Shopee had ceased ticket sales for the M-League matches following MFL’s announcement to play the matches behind closed doors due to Covid-19 concerns.

The e-commerce platform said those who had purchased tickets for Super League matches between Petaling Jaya (PJ City) FC and Terengganu FC; Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) against Felda United FC as well as the tie between Kedah and Selangor via the platform, can get a full refund latest by Wednesday.

NAKATA: THE GREAT JAPANESE FOOTBALLER

Hidetoshi Nakata is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A quick, creative, hard-working, and offensive-minded central midfielder, with an eye for goal, Nakata was known for his technical ability, agility, vision, passing, and his ability to make attacking runs into the penalty area and score goals; he also possessed a powerful shot from outside the box. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Japanese players of all time.

Born on 22 January 1977, Nakata began his professional career at age 18 with J1 League side Bellmare Hiratsuka (Shonan Bellmare). He played as attacking midfielder and the club won the 1995 Asian Cup Winners Cup, the first Asian title in the club history. Nakata was named Player of The Year by the Asian Football Confederation in 1997 and 1998.

After having represented Japan at the 1993 U17 World Championship and the 1995 U20 World Championship, Nakata was part of the U23 Japan squads at the 1996 Olympics, where Japan upset Brazil, and at the 2000 Olympics. His senior national team debut came in May 1997 against South Korea.

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Nakata was a key member of the Japanese side that qualified for the 1998 World Cup, scoring five goals in qualification matches and setting up all three Japan's goals in the qualification play-off against Iran. In 2001, he helped Japan to reach the final of the Confederations Cup. At the 2002 World Cup, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, Nakata played in all four matches and scored a goal in the win over Tunisia. Nakata played in all three matches for Japan At the 2006 World Cup. His performance against Croatia earned him a Man of the Match award.

As a professional footballer, Nakata joined Perugia in Italy's Serie A after the 1998 World Cup in France. In his first season in Italy, he scored 10 goals, which was his single-season highest total. After one and a half seasons at Perugia, Nakata moved to Roma for €21.7 million, and helped the team win the Scudetto (Serie A). In the summer of 2001, Nakata signed a four-year deal with Parma for a transfer fee of €28.4 million, a world record payment for an Asian player. Nakata played there for two and a half seasons and won the Coppa Italia in 2001-02 season.

In January 2004, Nakata joined Bologna where he played the remainder of the 2003–04 season before moving to Fiorentina, where he played the following season. In August 2005, he moved to Premiership side Bolton Wanderers on loan. During his season at Bolton, which would be the last of his professional career, he scored once in the league, in a 2–0 win over West Bromwich Albion.

Nakata announced his retirement at age 29 on 3 July 2006, after a ten-year career that included seven seasons in the Italian Serie A and a season in the English Premier League. In March 2004, Pelé named Nakata in his FIFA 100, a list of the top living footballers at the time. Nakata was the only Japanese, and one of only two Asian footballers to be named on the list.

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