LONDON: Mikel Arteta claimed Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is close to signing a new contract after the Gunners beat Liverpool 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the Community Shield on Saturday.
Aubameyang put Arteta’s side ahead in the first half at Wembley with a typically eye-catching strike.
Japan’s Takumi Minamino equalized with his first goal for Liverpool late in the second half of the annual pre-season friendly between the Premier League champions and FA Cup winners.
In the shoot-out, Liverpool’s young striker Rhian Brewster was the only player to miss, hitting the bar with their third penalty before Aubameyang calmly dispatched the decisive spot-kick.
As if Arteta needed any reminding, it was another sign of the influence wielded by his captain Aubameyang, who is yet to commit his long-term future to the club as he enters the final year of his contract.
Gabon forward Aubameyang has kept Arsenal waiting nervously during protracted talks and he demurred when asked in a post-match interview if he was ready to sign the club’s contract offer.
“We are going to see, today we will just take the trophy and that is it,” he said.
Arteta has remained confident the 31-year-old will stay and he insisted his talisman’s status will be resolved to his satisfaction before the Premier League season starts on September 12.
“We are close,” Arteta said of the contract. “He was magnificent in the FA Cup final and again today.
“I try do my job, which is convince him that he is in the right place, that he has the environment here to produce the moments like he’s done today and he’s done here three weeks ago.
“I am very positive that he’s going to sign but a lot of time there’s a lot of things involved in a contract deal and we are trying to show him.”
For Liverpool, it was the second successive season they have lost the Community Shield on penalties after being beaten by Manchester City last term.
That is unlikely to concern coach Jurgen Klopp too much given the champions’ lack of rest and preparation since winning the title for the first time in 30 years.
“For these type of games you need the final punch. We created enough, had the ball quite a lot, but had to be careful of their counter-attack,” Klopp said.
“A penalty shoot-out is always a little bit of a lottery and we were unlucky there, so congratulations to Arsenal.”
The Community Shield traditionally serves as the curtain-raiser to the new English season.
But Liverpool and Arsenal were back in action just 34 days after the end of the coronavirus-delayed Premier League campaign and only six days after the Champions League final concluded the entire 2019-20 season.
After only one week of pre-season training, it was a more encouraging result for Arteta, whose team emulated their FA Cup final win over Chelsea with another determined, tactically astute display.
Liverpool were without the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold and the naivety of his teenage replacement Neco Williams was exposed by Aubameyang in the 12th minute.
Cutting in from the left to reach Bukayo Saka’s pass, Aubameyang was given too much time and space by Williams.
Aubameyang made him pay with a superb curler into the far corner from the edge of the penalty area, celebrating the goal by crossing his arms in tribute to “Black Panther” actor Chadwick Boseman, who died Friday aged 43.
It was Aubameyang’s fifth goal for Arsenal at Wembley, making him the club’s joint highest scorer at the national stadium with Alexis Sanchez.
He scored a brace in each of his previous two Wembley appearances against Manchester City and Chelsea.
Liverpool equalized in the 73rd minute when Minamino slotted home from close range for his first Reds goal in his 15th appearance since his January move from Salzburg.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang underlines value as Arsenal win Community Shield
https://arab.news/bt2mb
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang underlines value as Arsenal win Community Shield
- Aubameyang put Arteta’s side ahead in the first half at Wembley with a typically eye-catching strike
- In the shoot-out, Liverpool’s young striker Rhian Brewster was the only player to miss
Young future stars of Saudi golf enjoy a moment alongside the big names at LIV Golf Riyadh
- Participants in ROSHN Rising Stars program to develop golfing talent in the Kingdom play friendly competition at Riyadh Golf Club before round 3 of the season opener tees off
- ‘Golf is such a fundamental sport for development … The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity,’ says LIV Golf’s Jake Jones
RIYADH: While much of the spotlight during LIV Golf’s 2026 season opener in Riyadh this week has of course been on the return of some of the sport’s biggest names for the new campaign, a new generation of Saudi golfers is also quietly taking its own first steps into the game.
Participants in the ROSHN Rising Stars program, an initiative designed to introduce and develop young golfing talent across the Kingdom, gathered at Riyadh Golf Club on Friday afternoon for a friendly competition a few hours before the third round of the main event teed off under the lights.
“The real focus is getting golf into the lives of young people in the Kingdom,” Jake Jones, LIV Golf’s senior vice president of impact and sustainability told Arab News as the young golfers took to the course under cloudy skies.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different, something sustained, with a long-term outcome, and that’s how this program was created.”
The program runs for 20 weeks, during which the participants receive weekly coaching and instruction sessions at Riyadh Golf Club from Golf Saudi professionals.
“This takes them from never having held a golf club before to reaching a point where they’ve now played in a competition,” Jones said.
The fact that the LIV Golf season opens in Riyadh provides another key benefit for the participants, as they get to experience the professional game up close, and this access to world-class players and events forms a key part of their journey.
“We give them exposure to our LIV Golf events, here and internationally,” Jones added.
Beyond this, and teaching people how to play the game, the program offers participants insights into the wider aspects of the world of golf, including career opportunities.
“They’ve had behind-the-scenes tours, pitch-and-putt sessions, long-drive competitions and visits to places like the media center,” Jones said. “It’s about showing them what it’s like not just to play golf, but work in the sport as well.”
Friday’s event in Riyadh marked the conclusion of the 20-week program for its participants.
“Today is really the celebration point,” Jones said. “We’re at the graduation phase of this journey, where they’ll compete in a three-hole challenge. We then crown a winner and celebrate with them back at the ROSHN Fan Village.”
As golf continues to grow in popularity in the region, Jones believes initiatives such as Rising Stars will have a lasting effect on the development of next generation of players.
“Golf is such a fundamental sport for development; it’s not just about physical activity and having fun,” he said. “The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity.
“Imagine playing golf and you miss the ball or you end up in the sand; you have to get back up and try again. You block the noise around you and focus on the ball to make the right shot.”
Jones highlighted in particular the importance of integrity as one of golf’s defining characteristics, and how that can help shape personal development.
“The rules of golf are reliant on you following them,” he said. “That sense of honesty and self-discipline is something young players can carry beyond the course” into the roles they play in their communities, societies and countries.
“The role that golf can have with young people in Saudi Arabia is actually another layer of baking in those core societal skills, to ensure that they are fit and robust for the future,” Jones added.
This is particularly important given the youthful nature of the Saudi population, more than half of which is under the age of 30, he said, and they now have the chance to benefit from golf in one way or another.
“Golf is now another avenue that they can explore. Whether it’s playing, working in the sport or simply finding a community, we want to give them another reason to get excited.
“We believe that golf can do all of that and, hopefully, it can spark a lasting passion among the Saudi youth.”
