Steven Gerrard calls on Al Ettifaq forwards to step up as Moussa Dembele heads injury list

03.11.2023 - 15:35 thenationalnews.com

Steven Gerrard has challenged his Al Ettifaq players to fill the goalscoring breach this weekend in the absence of some of the team’s key forwards, as they seek to rebound from this week’s King’s Cup exit.

The Dammam side, seventh in the Saudi Pro League, were eliminated from the last-16 stage of Saudi football’s lead cup competition on Tuesday, when they lost 1-0 in extra-time to Al Nassr.

Ettifaq return to Saudi Pro League duty on Saturday night, where they will play for the first time at the new Ettifaq Club Stadium.

They host bottom club Al Raed. However, Gerrard is without star striker Moussa Dembele, with the former Liverpool captain confirming the Frenchman would be missing “for a few weeks” after undergoing minor surgery on his knee.

Celebrity STARS stage on as Steven Gerrard Sweden Brazil Saudi Arabia

Blackpool forward Jake Daniels has said it was a slap in the face when Jordan Henderson moved to play in Saudi Arabia.

Messi’s Inter Miami to face Ronaldo’s Al Nassr in Saudi event

MIAMI, USA: Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr next February in the Riyadh Season Cup for what could be the final showdown of the global football icons. Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi, who joined the US squad in July and sparked a championship run in the Leagues Cup against US and Mexican clubs, is expected to meet Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner. Messi, 36, led Argentina to last year’s World Cup crown and has long been a rival of Portugal captain Ronaldo, 38. Inter Miami was named the guest international side and will join Saudi Pro League sides Al-Hilal and Al Nassr in next February’s Riyadh Season Cup, but no exact dates for matches at Kingdom Arena in the round-robin competition were announced. Miami also features Messi’s former Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets who combined for five La Liga crowns. Ronaldo, a five-time Champions League winner, is joined by former Liverpool standout Sadio Mane and former Inter Milan captain Marcelo Brozovic on Al Nassr. Al-Hilal features Brazil all-time leading scorer Neymar, who is recovering from a knee injury. Last January, Ronaldo made his first appearance in Saudi Arabia following his move to Al Nassr with a Riyadh All-Star XI that lost 5-4 to a Paris Saint-Germain side featuring Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Sergio Ramos.

Son scores twice as S. Korea outclass China in World Cup qualifier

HONG KONG: Skipper Son Heung-min scored a brace as South Korea made it two wins from two games in 2026 World Cup qualifying with a 3-0 victory away in China on Tuesday. Son silenced a sell-out crowd of more than 40,000 in Shenzhen with two goals in the first half, the first a penalty and the second a clever header from a corner just before half-time. South Korea wrapped the game up in the dying minutes through a bullet header by Jung Seung-hyun — from a Son set-piece — and top Group C with a perfect six points. Jurgen Klinsmann’s side thumped Singapore 5-0 last week to begin their qualifying campaign in style and they were in much the same mood against an outclassed China. With attacker Son looking in the groove, the Koreans dominated and were ahead after 11 minutes. Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Hwang Hee-chan was brought down in the box and Tottenham Hotspur’s Son duly stroked home the penalty. It was all South Korea.

Messi World Cup shirts will be auctioned; Sotheby’s thinks they could fetch record over $10 million

LONDON: Sotheby’s is to auction six shirts worn by Lionel Messi during Argentina’s winning run at last year’s soccer World Cup in Qatar and thinks they could become the most valuable collection of sports memorabilia ever sold at potentially more than $10 million.