Firmino, Afif brace as Al Sadd stay perfect with Al Sailiya win

Doha, Qatar: Roberto Firmino and Akram Afif scored braces as Al Sadd maintained their perfect start to the Qatar Stars League with a 6-3 win over Al Sailiya at Lusail Stadium yesterday. xsportfeed.quest

The defending champions’ fourth straight victory took them to 12 points, four clear of Al Shamal, who drew 1-1 with Al Wakrah. Al Rayyan, who face Al Ahli at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium today, are five points behind the leaders.

Afif opened the scoring in the 19th minute, chipping the ball into the centre of the net from a precise Paulo Otavio pass. Al Sailiya, seeking their first points of the season, responded through Ali Iyad Olwan, who levelled in the 35th minute with a solo effort. Hashem Ali restored Al Sadd’s lead before half-time, and Firmino extended it with a penalty in the 50th minute after Kellian Albertus fouled Pedro Miguel.

Ahmed Doozandeh pulled one back eight minutes later, but goals from Firmino and Afif in the 62nd and 75th minutes put Al Sadd in control.

Mostafa Mashaal added another in the fifth minute of stoppage time before Al Sailiya’s Olwan scored again in the dying moments.

“I am happy with the win and the results the team is achieving with the start of the league. We strive to continue working to achieve the best,” said Otavio after the win.

الأخبارالسعودية قادرة على تنظيم «كأس آسيا»..رئيس الاتحاد الآسيوي: التأجيــل وارد ولـــن نســــــــتعجلجدد الشيخ سلمان بن إبراهيم آل خليفة، رئيس الاتحاد الآسيوي لكرة القدم، ثقته الكاملة في استعدادات السعودية لاستضافة نهائيات كأس آسيا 2027، مؤكداً أن جميع التحضيرات والتجهيزات تسير...فتح →

Al Sailiya are now on a four-match losing streak.

Al Shamal, Al Wakrah play out draw

At Al Bayt Stadium, Al Wakrah produced an improved performance following their 4-0 rout by debutants Lusail to secure a point against Al Shamal.

Pablo Mari put Al Shamal ahead in the 26th minute with a precise header, but Aissa Laidouni rescued a draw for the Blue Wave in the first minute of stoppage time before the interval.

Al Shamal started at a good pace, with Wesley Said denied by Mohammed Al-Bakri early in the match. After Mari’s header opened the scoring, Laidouni pounced on a rebound after Al Shamal goalkeeper Babacar Seck stopped Ayoub Assal’s shot. The second half saw several exchanges, with Baghdad Bounedjah’s fine header just missing the post in stoppage time.

The match ended on a sour note for Al Shamal when referee Mohammed Ahmed Al-Shammari showed Bounedjah a red card for a heated argument after the final whistle.

Lusail aim to build on historic win

Today, Lusail will look to build on their historic first QSL victory when they face Al Gharafa at Khalifa International Stadium.

Lusail moved to four points from three matches after thrashing Al Wakrah. Coach Emanuel Mesquita knows his side face a tougher test against Al Gharafa, who have collected three points so far and will be eager to return to winning ways under Pedro Martins.

“It has been a very positive week, the players are highly focused and enthusiastic, so we are ready for the upcoming challenge,” said Mesquita.

“The match will be difficult and we must be at our best.”

Martins said Al Gharafa must maintain their focus against a Lusail side that has made an impressive start to their debut season.

Paris, France: Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick and Ousmane Dembele also starred as Paris Saint-Germain began their quest to win a third consecutive Champions League title by thrashing Slovan Bratislava 6-1 at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

Last year's Ballon d'Or winner Dembele had bagged a brace by the midway point in the first half in the French capital, and then set up Spain's World Cup final hero Torres to make it 3-0 by the interval.

Torres, a close-season signing from Barcelona, added two more just after the restart to complete his hat-trick, with Suleiman Camara pulling one back for the Slovakian champions and Fabian Ruiz sealing PSG's win.

"It is impossible, you cannot expect to score a hat-trick," Torres told broadcaster Canal Plus when asked if he imagined such an outcome.

"The only thing that we knew before the game was that we had to play with the right intensity, press when we lost the ball, and we did that really well. We did a really good game."

The French club are bidding to follow in the footsteps of the Real Madrid side of 2016 to 2018 and become just the second team in the history of the modern Champions League to win the trophy three years running.

Real, Ajax and Bayern Munich were the only teams to achieve that feat in the days of the old European Cup.

PSG's next games will be against teams hoping to end their reign, with a trip to Manchester City and a home clash with Barcelona coming in October -- Torres is a former player of both clubs.

"It is the Champions League, we always play against tough teams, but we have to be focused first in Ligue 1 because we didn't start in the right way," he added, with PSG yet to win a domestic game this season.

وافق أسطورة الأرجنتين ليونيل ميسي على شراء نادي إلدينسي، بحسب ما أكده النادي المنافس في الدوري الإسباني للدرجة الثانية في كرة القدم الخميس.
وسيصبح إلدينسي الذي يقع مقره في مدينة إلدا بمقاطعة أليكانتي، المشروع الثاني للمهاجم السابق لبرشلونة في امتلاك أندية إسبانية في كرة القدم، بعد أن اشترى نادي كورنيا من الدرجة الخامسة في أبريل.
ويلعب ابن الـ 39 عاما حاليا في صفوف إنتر ميامي الأمريكي، واعتزل اللعب دوليا بعد خسارة الأرجنتين أمام إسبانيا في نهائي مونديال 2026 هذا الصيف.

Doha, Qatar: The Qatar Classic 2026 opens tomorrow at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, and the draw brings together a number of heavyweight round-one clashes.

A number of champions, former champions and home hero Abdulla Al-Tamimi will enter the fray today at the prestigious indoor sports venue in Doha.

World No.1 Mostafa Asal will begin his Qatar Classic title campaign against Switzerland’s Nicolas Muller, with the Egyptian determined to avoid another near-miss in Doha. Asal has finished runner-up at the Qatar Classic in each of the past two years, and the top seed will be determined to go all the way to the top this time.

Four-time champion Mohamed ElShorbagy also begins his campaign against France’s Bernat Jaume, while No.3 seed and former champion Diego Elias faces American Timothy Brownell.

Elias remains one of the most consistent players on the PSA Tour and could face Asal in the semi-finals if the seeding holds. If both of them reach the semis, it would be their fifth meeting of the year.

Defending men’s champion Paul Coll will also be in action, opening his title defence against India’s Veer Chothrani. The New Zealander is bidding to claim his second Qatar Classic crown.

For the home crowd, the spotlight will be on 2016 champion Karim Abdel Gawad, who faces Al-Tamimi.

Al-Tamimi returned to competition last month following injury and is using the Qatar Classic as valuable preparation ahead of the Asian Games in Japan. Qatar’s other representative, Salem Al-Malki, will take on France’s Melvil Scianimanico.

On the women’s side, defending champion Hania El Hammamy starts against fellow Egyptian Hana Moataz. El Hammamy has already lifted the Qatar Classic trophy twice, in 2023 and 2025.

El Hammamy will be also looking to defend her World No.1 status, which will be challenged by World No.2 and reigning World Champion Amina Orfi who faces fellow Egyptian Hana Ramadan.

Meanwhile, former World No.1 and World Champion Nouran Gohar is back on the PSA Tour after a year away following the birth of her first child in April.

Gohar’s comeback begins against compatriot Kenzy Ayman, in what promises to be a demanding first test for the 2024 Qatar Classic runner-up. Four-time finalist Nour ElSherbini, seeded No.3, opens against Egypt’s Nada Abbas, while USA No.1 Olivia Weaver, seeded fourth, is in action against Egypt’s Sana Ibrahim.

Doha, Qatar: Qatar’s Abdulrahman Moustafa won the gold medal in the under-21 under-60kg category at the 24th Asian Cadet, Junior and Under-21 Karate Championship in Amman, Jordan.

The championship, which concludes today, features more than 350 male and female athletes from 30 Asian countries.

Moustafa produced a series of impressive performances on his way to the title. After receiving a bye in the draw, he advanced directly to the quarter-finals, where he defeated Chinese Taipei’s Shih Po-Yun 11-3. He followed that with an 11-7 victory over Saudi Arabia’s Sultan al-Masiri in the semi-finals to book his place in the final. Moustafa then beat India’s Viraj Saini 4-1 in the final to claim the gold medal.

Qatar’s Hassan Mansour had earlier won the silver medal in the youth over-76kg category. The championship features kata and kumite competitions and is one of the continent’s leading age-group karate events.