New Al-Ahli manager lands in Saudi Arabia

Pablo Guede arrives in Jeddah to start work as Al-Ahli coach. (@ALAHLI_FCEN)
Updated 08 July 2018
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New Al-Ahli manager lands in Saudi Arabia

  • Pablo Guede arrives in Jeddah to start work at Pro League club
  • Argentine will meet the players on Monday

LONDON: New Al-Ahli manager Pablo Guede has touched down in the Kingdom to begin his spell in charge of the Jeddah giants.
Guede signed a two-year contract in May to replace Sergei Rebrov and becomes the club’s 52nd manager. He will take charge of his first training session on Monday. The Argentine is the first South American to take charge of the club since Gustavo Alfaro held the position in 2009.


Guede, 43, is relatively unknown outside of South America and this will be only his sixth coaching job. He started off his coaching career in Spain’s lower leagues at El Palo and has since taken two jobs in Chile and two in Argentine. He won the Supercopa Argentina with San Lorenzo in 2015 and then won three titles at Colo-Colo, the Copa Chile in 2016, the Chilean Primera Division in 2017 and the Supercopa de Chile in 2017 and 2018.
Guede will inherit a much-changed squad that finished second last season. Foreign stars Mark Milligan, Giannis Fetfatzidis, Claudemir and Leonardo all had their contracts terminated this week while Egyptian Abdallah El-Said and Spaniards Jose Manuel Jurado and Alexis Ruano have been recruited. Omar Al-Somah, Mohamed Al-Fateel and Motaz Hawsawi have all signed new deals.
Al-Ahli begin the competitive season on Aug. 7 with an Arab Club Champions Cup game against Muharraq before kicking off the Saudi Pro League season on Aug. 30 with a home game against Al-Batin


Norway’s Carlsen wins first FIDE Freestyle World Chess Championship

Updated 16 February 2026
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Norway’s Carlsen wins first FIDE Freestyle World Chess Championship

Norway’s Magnus Carlsen added ‌another crown to his collection on Sunday by becoming the first official FIDE Freestyle Chess world champion after ​a comeback win over Fabiano Caruana in Germany.
The chess master secured the title with a cautious draw in the fourth and final game, clinching a 2.5–1.5 match victory against his 33-year-old American opponent in Weissenhaus.
Sunday’s turning point came in the thrilling third game, in ‌which Carlsen, ‌35, pulled off a stunning ​win ‌from ⁠a ​seemingly lost ⁠position, swinging the entire contest in his favor.
The world number one only needed a draw in the decisive fourth game, and that’s exactly what he got in an equal endgame, with Caruana missing late opportunities to mount a ⁠comeback.
Carlsen has now won 21 world ‌titles in various formats.

 

The ‌World Championship marked a breakthrough ​collaboration between FIDE and ‌private organizer Freestyle Chess, staging the first ‌officially recognized title in this format.
Carlsen had previously failed to capture the FIDE Fischer Random World Championship, making this victory particularly sweet for the chess great.
In ‌the bronze medal match, Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Germany’s Vincent Keymer, securing ⁠his spot ⁠by drawing from a winning position in the final game.
Both finalists and Abdusattorov have qualified for next year’s championship.
The tournament’s lower placings saw Hans Niemann of the United States take fifth with a 2-0 victory over India’s Arjun Erigaisi, while Armenia’s Levon Aronian won his Armageddon game against Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov for seventh place.
In the women’s exhibition match, Kazakhstan’s ​Bibisara Assaubayeva prevailed over ​Switzerland’s Alexandra Kosteniuk after their final encounter ended in a draw.