LONDON: Al-Ittihad continue to bolster their King’s Cup winning squad, this time announcing they have signed Brazilian left-back Thiago Carleto.
The Saudi Pro League outfit made a significant double signing last week, recruiting Serbian international striker Aleksandar Pesic and Australia World Cup defender Matthew Jurman — and the Tigers have now moved to strengthen the left-back position by landing Carleto.
The 29-year-old joins from Atletico Paranaense and will bring with him the experience of playing for some of Brazil’s top clubs and in Spain for Valencia and Elche. He is set to join the rest of his new teammates in Austria where they are preparing for the new season under the guidance of new boss Ramon Diaz.
Diaz, the former Al-Hilal coach, has been hired to try and bring about a change in the Tigers’ fortunes. They have not won the league since 2009 and could only finish ninth last season. They did, however, win the King’s Cup for the ninth time, beating Al-Faisaly in a match that was overshadowed by the original referee Fahad Al-Mirdasi offering to take a bribe to influence the outcome of the match.
Since then, Al-Ittihad have been active in the transfer market. They have signed Saudi Arabia international defenders Hassan Muath Fallatah and Abdullah Al-Shammari, recruited youngster Jaber Issa and also extended the contract of goalkeeper Fawaz Al-Qarni until 2022.
Wanderson Ferreira de Oliveira, who is more commonly known as Valdívia, has joined on loan from Sao Paulo for a season.
Star winger Fahad Al-Muwallad has also been reintegrated back into the fold after his loan spell at Levante and then his World Cup exploits. He was given an extended break by coach Diaz and did not report for pre-season training in Austria until Sunday. He will be a key player for the team this season.
The 23-year-old became the first ever player from Saudi Arabia to play in La Liga when he came on as a substitute in Levante’s 3-0 away win at Leganes and he then went on to play in all three of the Green Falcons’ World Cup matches, coming on as a substitute against Russia and then starting the last two games against Uruguay and Egypt. He scored his tenth goal for his country in the 2-1 win over Egypt.
He will be eased slowly into the pre-season program, which features friendlies against Slovenian side
NK Krka, Al-Wahda and Al-Fujairah, the club once coached by Diego Maradona.
The Tigers start the competitive season with an Arab Club Champions Cup game against Al-Wasl on Aug. 7 followed by a Saudi Super Cup tie in London against Al-Hilal on Aug. 18.
Saudi Arabia cup winners Al-Ittihad sign Brazilian and welcome back Green Falcons star
Saudi Arabia cup winners Al-Ittihad sign Brazilian and welcome back Green Falcons star
- Left-back Thiago Carleto has joined the Saudi Pro League club
- Fahad Al-Muwallad is back in training after his goal at the World Cup
Bethell spins England to 3-0 sweep over Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup warmup
- The series served as a dress rehearsal for the 20-nation showpiece that Sri Lanka is co-hosting with India
- The left-armer snared three wickets in a dramatic over to flip the game on its head as the hosts were skittled for 116 with three balls to spare
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Jacob Bethell underlined his importance to England’s T20 World Cup hopes as he spun them to a hard-fought 12-run win over Sri Lanka to complete a 3-0 clean sweep at Pallekele on Tuesday.
The series served as a dress rehearsal for the 20-nation showpiece that Sri Lanka is co-hosting with India.
The contest hung in the balance heading into the 18th over with Sri Lanka needing 21 runs off 18 balls with four wickets in hand but the part-time spin of Bethel turned the game.
The left-armer snared three wickets in a dramatic over to flip the game on its head as the hosts were skittled for 116 with three balls to spare. Bethel finished with career-best figures of four for 11.
“It was one of the most fun games I have been part of,” said England captain Harry Brook.
“We showed we can adapt to challenging conditions. Today we bowled 16 overs of spin and to do that against a Sri Lankan side in their own conditions is really satisfying.”
England had mustered only 128 for nine but showcased their depth and nous, defending a total that looked well below par on a surface offering turn and bounce.
After just four overs from the quicks, the spinners took center stage and wove a web around the Sri Lankan batters, much as they had throughout the tour.
The spinners had been pivotal in England’s ODI series triumph in Colombo last week and again proved the ace up their sleeve.
England head to India to launch their World Cup campaign with momentum at their backs, while Sri Lanka have plenty of soul-searching to do with their frailties against spin brutally exposed.
Bethel found able allies in Will Jacks, who bagged three wickets, while fellow tweakers Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson chipped in with one apiece to keep the hosts on a tight leash.
Sam Curran, England’s hero in the opening game with a hat-trick, showed his all-round pedigree in the dead rubber, carving out a career-best 58 from 48 balls to rescue the side that had slipped to 60 for six.
Returning quick Dushmantha Chameera, back after a groin injury, was a rare bright spark for Sri Lanka, claiming his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is. His five for 24 are the best figures in England-Sri Lanka contests and the third-best ever at Pallekele.
“Very disappointing. We need to address a few areas, especially the options we take against spin bowling,” said Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka.
“I thought we had addressed that issue in the last game but the old problems resurfaced again.”
Both sides begin their World Cup campaign next Sunday with Sri Lanka hosting Ireland in Colombo while England face Nepal in Mumbai.
