RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Olympic Committee has arrived in Tokyo, completing its preparations to participate in the 32nd Summer Olympics.
Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdul Aziz, vice president of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and deputy head of the Kingdom’s participating delegation, said upon arrival in the Japanese capital on Sunday: “All arrangements have been completed in terms of accommodation, transport and training venues for the qualified Olympic players.”
He said he “hoped that the Kingdom’s representatives will achieve the desired results in the international forum.”
The Saudi national under-23 football team held a training session that included a number of tactical, technical and physical exercises with coach Saad Al-Shehri, focusing particularly on defense.
The Saudi Olympic football team is set to face the Ivory Coast team on Thursday at Yokohama Stadium in the Group D category, which also includes Brazil and Germany.
It is the first time the Saudi team has qualified for the Olympics in 24 years, after it came in second place after South Korea in the Asian Football Confederation U-23 Championship, which was held in January last year.
The team arrived in Tokyo along with Saudi judo qualifiers Sulaiman Hamad and Tahani Al-Qahtani, and weightlifters Siraj Al-Saleem and Mahmoud Al-Humayd.
Saudi Olympic squad arrives in Tokyo
https://arab.news/bx7h5
Saudi Olympic squad arrives in Tokyo
Lackluster Liverpool FC snatch late win at Forest
- The Reds stay in 6th place but are tied on points with Chelsea and Man Utd
LIVERPOOL: After having an 89th-minute goal disallowed following a VAR check, the Argentina midfielder scored again in the seventh minute of stoppage time — and this time it survived a video review — to earn Liverpool a 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday.
The dramatic end at the City Ground centered completely on Mac Allister, who thought he’d scored without knowing anything about it after turning his back on a clearance by Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina.
The ball rebounded off Mac Allister and into the net, but the VAR spotted it had struck his arm and the goal was scrubbed out.
However, he was on hand off virtually the last kick of the game when Virgil van Dijk’s header was spilled by Forest goalkeeper Stefan Ortega. Barely six meters out, Mac Allister could hardly miss as he sidefooted the ball into the net.
There was a VAR check to see if Van Dijk was offside but the goal was given.
Liverpool stayed in sixth place but was tied on points with fourth-place Chelsea and fifth-place Manchester United, whose game in hand is at Everton on Monday.
Meanwhile, Sunderland lost its home comforts on Sunday. It wasn’t long ago that Sunderland were the only Premier League team with an unbeaten home record. Now, the Black Cats have lost two straight at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland was defeated 3-1 by Fulham, which had two goals from Mexico striker Raul Jimenez — one of which was from the penalty spot.
Ten days ago, Sunderland lost 1-0 to Liverpool for its first home defeat of the season.
Also on Sunday, Palace won as doubts swirl around Oliver Glasner’s future.
Glasner’s team dug out a 1-0 win over last-place Wolverhampton thanks to a last-minute goal.
Evann Guessand prodded home a far-post finish after coming on as a substitute.
Ahead of the game, Glasner, who led Palace to FA Cup glory last season, was non-committal about whether he would be staying at the club until the end of the season. He has already said he’ll be leaving in the summer.
Wolves stayed 17 points off safety.
