Can anyone stop Max Verstappen in 2023?
Ali Khaled says: No chance
Arabnews.com Sport News
Leeds earn big win; Tottenham throw away lead in EPL
LONDON: Leeds climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone with a big win on Saturday while Tottenham’s grip on a top-four place loosened after they threw away a 3-1 lead at last-place Southampton. Leeds were in danger of wasting a 3-0 lead at Wolverhampton as the hosts pulled two goals back before going down to 10 men, and Rodrigo put the game away with the fourth goal in injury time.
Ronaldo included on Martínez’s first squad for Portugal
LISBON, Portugal: New Portugal coach Roberto Martínez included Cristiano Ronaldo in his first squad on Friday since taking over from Fernando Santos following the World Cup. The 38-year-old Ronaldo was left out of Santos’ starting lineup for Portugal’s knockout-phase games at the tournament in Qatar, including the quarterfinal loss to Morocco. Ronaldo, who plays for Saudi team Al-Nassr, can add to his international record 118 goals when Portugal plays European Championship qualifiers against Liechtenstein on March 23 and at Luxembourg three days later. “Cristiano Ronaldo is a player who is completely committed to the national team,” Martínez said. “I don’t look at age or other aspects. He has the chance to help the team and pass on his experience to other players.” Martínez made very few changes to the squad he inherited from Santos. Pepe, aged 40, was back again in defense, while Ronaldo was joined by João Félix, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva as playmakers. Martínez joined Portugal after the Spaniard ended his six-year stint with Belgium following the team’s disappointing group-stage elimination at the World Cup. Portugal’s Euro 2024 qualifying group also includes Iceland, Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Formula One’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix returns to the coastal jewel of Jeddah
JEDDAH: When, in the late hours of Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021, then-reigning Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton took the checkered flag to win the first-ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, he set up what would turn out to be, a week later in Abu Dhabi, the greatest-ever finale in the sport’s history.
Verstappen shrugs off bug to top practice in Saudi Arabia
JEDDAH: Max Verstappen showed no ill effects from a stomach bug on Friday as he topped the times for Red Bull ahead of Fernando Alonso in Friday’s second free practice at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The defending double world champion, shaking off the stomach upset that had delayed his arrival in Jeddah by 24 hours, clocked a best lap in one minute 29.603 seconds to outpace two-time champion Alonso’s Aston Martin by 0.208 seconds. Sergio Perez was third in the second Red Bull ahead of Esteban Ocon of Alpine, George Russell of Mercedes and Pierre Gasly in the second Alpine.
Libya’s boxers recover from Qaddafi-era knockout
TRIPOLI: Omar Zlitni holds a decades-old, black-and-white photo of himself as a boxer in his prime, posing in shorts and a training vest before Libya’s then-dictator, Muammar Qaddafi, banned his beloved sport. Boxing was “in his blood,” said the 63-year-old Tripoli resident who proudly keeps the image as his phone’s wallpaper. In 1979, he was just 19 when boxing, along with wrestling and other combat sports, was banned by Qaddafi, who considered such contests a threat to his personality cult. “We were a whole group. We were going to fight in Italy. And then, suddenly, they banned it. Why?” Zlitni said, with anger clouding his usually peaceful face. “There were friendships and love; boxing was everything,” he said, adding he regretted their way of life had been taken away and that “everyone went his own way.”
‘Ice cold’ Isak puts Newcastle United back in Champions League mix
NOTTINGHAM: ‘Ice cold’ Alexander Isak’s two-goal show at Nottingham Forest catapulted Newcastle United back into the Premier League Champions League mix — but Eddie Howe admits he still thinks there’s more to come from the Sweden international.
Rybakina topples Swiatek to book Indian Wells final with Sabalenka
INDIAN WELLS, California: Elena Rybakina again proved too much for world number one Iga Swiatek, denying the defending champion a return to the Indian Wells final with an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 semifinal victory on Friday. Moscow-born Kazakh Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion who stunned top-seeded Swiatek in the fourth round of the Australian Open on the way to the final, will now get a chance to turn the tables on Aryna Sabalenka, who beat her in Melbourne to capture a first Grand Slam title. World number two Sabalenka advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over seventh-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece.