NEWCASTLE: Eddie Howe hopes that in seasons to come, games between Newcastle United and Liverpool will prove to be potential title-deciders for both teams and not, as is the case this season, just one of them.
The Reds travel to St. James’ Park on Saturday hoping to take another step forward in their quest for an unprecedented quadruple. Having already bagged the Carabao Cup, Jurgen Klopp’s men are still in the hunt for the top flight title, have booked their spot in the FA Cup final and have one foot in the Champions League final after a 2-0 victory over Villarreal at Anfield in the first leg of their semifinal midweek.
Newcastle’s ambitions are, for now, somewhat different. Howe was plunged into a relegation battle when he was appointed coach by the club’s new ownership late last year. While many, including Howe himself, predicted a fight for survival until the last day of the season, the turnaround in Newcastle’s fortunes under the former Bournemouth boss has been nothing short of spectacular.
Ten wins in their past 14 games has catapulted the Magpies from the prospect of a desperate fight for Premier League survival to the top half of the league and the fringes of the fight for European places.
Howe is hopeful that the seasons to come for Newcastle will be filled with glory and title successes, rather than merely hopes of survival.
“Hopefully it is in the future,” he said of a potential title decider one day between his team and Klopp’s.
“It’s very difficult to take yourself away from where we are right now; there’s no use or benefit in doing that. Hopefully, in the future it is something we aspire to be. But at the moment, we are where we are and we need to try to compete and give our best.
“My aim is to improve today, to be better tomorrow. Of course I am looking and planning for the future, as you have to do in my position. But to give direct timescales on anything in football is almost impossible. I think the search is for improvement from day one and I continue to do that until someone tells me not to.”
Next up after Liverpool’s visit to Tyneside this weekend, United will line up at the Etihad Stadium on May 8 to take on Manchester City, who currently sit top of the table a point ahead of the Reds. Therefore the Magpies could have a big say in the final destination of the top flight trophy this season. Howe was reluctant to make any prediction about the eventual champions, however.
“It’s very difficult to say. I think we’re very fortunate to see two outstanding teams fighting it out,” he said. “It’s great to see, as a neutral watching and learning from both teams. Tactically, they’re so different but so consistent and get incredible results.
“Liverpool and Manchester City are the two tests; the league table tells you that they give you the biggest examination. Our home form has been excellent. The atmosphere, the feel around the ground, has been absolutely brilliant to be a part of, and I anticipate the atmosphere tomorrow will be electric at the start of the game. We have to feed off that and try to use that to galvanize us against a world-class team.
“I won’t make a prediction but I’ll certainly enjoy watching.”
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe hopes Liverpool clashes in coming years will be title deciders
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Newcastle boss Eddie Howe hopes Liverpool clashes in coming years will be title deciders
- The Magpies host Jurgen Klopp’s side at St. James’ Park on Saturday having turned their season around, while the visitors are chasing an unprecedented quadruple
- Ten wins in their past 14 games has catapulted the Magpies from the prospect of a desperate fight for Premier League survival to the top half
Olympics hopefuls Hull and Hall set to play Aramco Team Series in London
- Georgia Hall aims to retain her 2023 team title in Britain
- World No. 8 Charley Hull gearing up for potential gold at 2024 Paris Olympics
LONDON: The Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – London in July is shaping up as a preview for the 2024 Paris Olympics, with Great Britain’s Charley Hull and Georgia Hall leading the early field announcements.
The two are sure to be a hit with the home crowds, and with further announcements set to follow on a strong field, both are looking to build on outstanding 2023 outings at the tournament.
Last year, Hull came up just short to American Nelly Korda in the individual competition, while Hall was able to captain her team to victory in extremely difficult conditions, edging out Hull’s team by just one stroke.
Now England’s dynamic duo, who are also long-time best friends, are aiming to secure their places at the 2024 Paris Olympics and become the first to win a medal for Team GB in a women’s golf event.
The golf at the Olympics, where Korda is set to defend her gold medal from Tokyo 2020, tees off a little over a month after the Aramco Team Series London event, and the Major-like event at Centurion Club will provide the pair the perfect opportunity to prepare for the grand stage of the sport.
Hull has recently achieved a career-high Rolex Women’s Golf World Ranking of seventh following her impressive T2 finish at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Tampa in March 2024.
Reflecting on her preparations for the summer, Hull commented: “At the start of the season I sat down and thought about how I wanted this year to pan out. I knew that there would be an important summer of golf ahead with the Olympic Games, Solheim Cup and chasing down my first Major title.
“I’m in the best place I’ve ever been in my career, mentally and physically. Sticking to the gym in those early hours and achieving 5 km personal bests was a way to ground myself and clear my head, and this is really helping me out on the course.
“To have the Aramco Team Series at home is the best way to open the intense summer ahead. Playing in a field with some of the players I’ll face in Paris, and at a tournament like this that has that Major-like feel, will be a great dress rehearsal for me to aim for that gold medal.”
Hall, looking to defend her Aramco Team Series London team title, sees the event as a crucial step in her 2024 campaign, which could well feature the Solheim Cup in September.
“The Aramco Team Series in London will be my first appearance in the event this year and I’m buzzing to get back into playing with a team which will hopefully be a great transition to the Solheim Cup in September,” Hall said.
“Competing against Charley as a team captain again, so close to home, will add an extra layer of excitement, especially with friends and family cheering us on. I’ve played my fair share of Majors and outside of those, the Aramco Team Series matches the energy and field the best. It’s always a great competition with the top players out there.”
Joining Hull and Hall will be a competitive Ladies European Tour field, including Anne Van Dam of the Netherlands, Singapore’s Shannon Tan, and India’s Diksha Dagar — all using the event as a platform to fine-tune their skills ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Tickets for Pakistan-Saudi Arabia football World Cup qualifier go up for sale
- Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will play against each other in Islamabad on June 6 for round two of World Cup qualifier
- Saudi Arabia beat Pakistan 4-0 in November 2023 when the two sides met each other for first round of qualifiers
ISLAMABAD: Tickets for Pakistan’s upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier Round 2 home-leg match against Saudi Arabia are officially on sale, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) announced on Thursday.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will lock horns at the Jinnah Football Stadium in Islamabad on June 6, with the match scheduled to kick off at 8:30 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time.
Pakistan is in Group G of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Tajikistan. The South Asian country will face Tajikistan on June 11 in an away fixture.
A total of 36 football squads have been split into nine groups with four teams each in the second round of qualifiers. The winners and runners-up from each group would progress through to the third round.
“In a bid to make the event accessible to all football enthusiasts, ticket prices have been thoughtfully set at budget-friendly rates,” the PFF said in a media release, adding that tickets were available at Bookme.pk website.
It said tickets for the Premium Plus enclosures were set at Rs4,000 [$14.37] while the Premium enclosure tickets were priced at Rs1,500 [$5.39]. The General enclosure tickets are being sold for Rs750 [$2.69].
Saudi Arabia thrashed Pakistan 4-0 when the two sides met in November 2023 for their first clash of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Al Ahsa.
Preliminary Pakistan squad
Goalkeepers: Hassan Ali and Tanveer
Defenders: Haseeb Khan, Mamoon Moosa Khan, Huzaifa, Waqar Ihtisham, Abdul Rehman, Umar Hayat, Muhammad Adeel, Muhammad Saddam and Zain ul Abideen
Midfielders: Yasir Arafat, Alamgir Ghazi, Ali Uzair, Rajab Ali, Moin Ali, Junaid Ahmed and Fahim
Forwards: Adeel Younas, Shayak Dost, Ali Zafar and Fareedullah
The PFF said the names of diaspora players joining the national training camp later would be included in the final squad.
Brown shines as Celtics take 2-0 lead over Pacers, Haliburton hurt
- Brown tied a career playoff high to help the top-seeded Celtics break their Game-2 jinx
- The Pacers have excelled at home, but now have concerns over All-Star point guard Haliburton
LOS ANGELES: Jaylen Brown scored 40 points to propel Boston to a 126-110 victory over Indiana and a 2-0 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals over a Pacers team rocked by an injury to Tyrese Haliburton.
Brown tied a career playoff high to help the top-seeded Celtics break their Game-2 jinx.
Winners of a league-best 64 regular-season games, Boston had dropped the second game before prevailing in each of the first two rounds.
But they head to Indianapolis for Game 3 on Saturday in control of the best-of-seven series.
The Pacers have excelled at home, but now have concerns over All-Star point guard Haliburton, who departed late in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury and didn’t return.
Brown, who sank a three-pointer to force overtime as the Celtics held off the Pacers in a game-one thriller, scored 10 points in a 20-0 Celtics run that saw Boston take the lead for good in the second quarter.
“It’s the playoffs, man,” Brown said. “Whatever it takes to get a ‘W’ — on defense, on offense — that’s what I’m going to do.”
“He has it going,” Jrue Holiday said of his teammate.
“Great player, great leader, but wants to win and takes things into his own hands. Having a guy like that on my side, I love it. I’ll ride for him.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said that even though the box score reflected just two assists for Brown, he did a good job of keeping his teammates involved on offense.
“He made the right play — that’s the most important thing,” Mazzulla said.
Indiana emerged from a tight first quarter that featured 10 lead changes with a 27-25 advantage.
But Holiday’s three-pointer in the final minute of the opening period launched Boston’s scoring binge and they were up 42-27 midway through the second.
The Celtics pushed the lead to 16 before the Pacers hit back. Pascal Siakam came up with four big buckets, including a dunk that cut the deficit to 56-51 at halftime.
Siakam struck again early in the third, and his three-pointer pulled Indiana within two.
But Boston pulled away again, their 16-5 scoring run swelling the lead to 13 going into the fourth quarter, when the Pacers wouldn’t get within double digits.
Jayson Tatum shook off a slow start to score 23 points. Derrick White also scored 23 and Holiday scored 15 points with 10 assists for Boston.
Siakam led Indiana’s scoring with 28 points. Haliburton had 10 points and eight assists before departing.
“I think they played a little better for more stretches than we did,” said Siakam, a title winner with Toronto who was acquired from the Raptors in January.
“They had a lot of good runs. We were getting there close but just not quite there.”
Siakam noted the Celtics’ edge in rebounding and second-chance points. The Pacers also produced 16 turnovers.
“They just played better,” Siakam said. “We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and move on and think about the next game.”
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton, who had left hamstring trouble during the season, had already had treatment on his leg at halftime.
He also had tests after taking a blow to the chest battling with Brown for a rebound.
“We’ll know more tomorrow and probably even more Saturday,” Carlisle said.
Djokovic cruises into Geneva Open semifinals
- Djokovic saw off a first set challenge from Tallon Griekspoor to win 7-5, 6-1 in 77 minutes at the Parc des Eaux-Vives
- Djokovic will face Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in Friday’s semifinals
GENEVA: Novak Djokovic on Thursday booked his spot in the Geneva Open tennis tournament semifinals, putting the world No. 1 within two matches of his first trophy of 2024, days before his French Open title defense begins.
Djokovic saw off a first set challenge from Tallon Griekspoor to win 7-5, 6-1 in 77 minutes at the Parc des Eaux-Vives.
Griekspoor, the world No. 27, was the sixth seed at the 28-man Geneva tournament, which serves as a warm-up before next week’s second Grand Slam of the season in Paris.
The Dutchman had three set points against Djokovic in the first set.
“It was a great win. I thought the first set could have gone his way easily because I think he was a better player for most of the first set,” Djokovic said afterwards.
“We could have been having a completely different direction of the match if he converted those set points.
“I was lucky to find some really good serves, and from that moment onwards I really, really played some good, solid tennis.”
It was a bridge too far for Griekspoor, who earlier Thursday finished off his second-round match with Denis Shapovalov, beating the Canadian 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
The match had been called off for the night in the second set on Wednesday due to rain.
Djokovic, who turned 37 on Wednesday, took a wild card to play in Geneva in a bid to rescue an alarming dip in form ahead of Roland-Garros next week.
Djokovic will face Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in Friday’s semifinals.
The pair have only met once before, with Djokovic winning their contest in Dubai last year.
Machac, the world No. 44, will be appearing in his first semifinal on the ATP tour.
He saw off 19-year-old Alex Michelsen of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) in their quarter-final on the Geneva clay.
Friday’s second semifinal will see Norwegian second seed Casper Ruud face Italy’s in-form Flavio Cobolli.
Ruud, the world number seven, was the runner-up in the last two French Open finals, including a defeat to Djokovic last year.
Ruud, at home on the Geneva clay having won the title in 2021 and 2022, beat Argentinian fifth seed Sebastian Baez in a roller-coaster match, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in a two-hour quarterfinal on Thursday.
“It was a tough match against Sebastian. He’s a great player, a great fighter and it was always going to be difficult against him,” Ruud said.
“It was a very close match in the end, back and forth, back and forth. But I’m very happy to be through, back in the semifinals here in Geneva, it’s a great feeling.”
Italian Cobolli, on a career-high ranking of 56, saw off Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-4, 6-4 in the last eight, having knocked out US fourth seed Ben Shelton in the second round.
Saudi squad announced for upcoming World Cup qualifier against Pakistan, Jordan
- The Green Falcons will play Pakistan on June 6 in Islamabad and host Jordan on June 11 in Riyadh
- A preparation camp will be held in Riyadh next Thursday, except for Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr players
RIYADH: Saudi national team boss Roberto Mancini announced the 31-player list in preparation for the fifth and sixth games of the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
The Green Falcons will play Pakistan on June 6 in Islamabad and host Jordan on June 11 in Riyadh.
A preparation camp will be held in Riyadh next Thursday, except for Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr players, who will join their teammates on June 2, after the King’s Cup final between the two Riyadh giants.
Saudi National Team Squad for World Cup & Asian Cup Qualifiers
Goalkeepers: Mohammed Al-Owais, Ahmed Al-Kassar, Raghed Najjar, Mohammed Al-Yami, and Mohammed Al-Absi.
Defenders: Mutib Al-Harbi, Hassan Kadesh, Ali Al-Bulaihi, Aoun Al-Saluli, Ali Lagami, Hassan Al-Tumbakti, Saud Abdulhamid, and Mohammed Al-Buraik.
Midfielders: Mukhtar Ali, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Musab Al-Juwair, Mohammed Kanno, Rayan Hamed, Sultan Al-Ghannam, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Faisal Al-Ghamdi, and Abbas Al-Hassan.
Attackers: Salem Al-Dawsari, Sami Al-Najai, Ayman Yahya, Marwan Al-Sahafi, Abdulrahman Gharib, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, Abdullah Radif, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, and Firas Al-Burikan.
Al-Nassr’s Sultan Al-Ghannam returns to the squad after he and five other Saudi internationals were hit with punishments for disciplinary violations before the AFC Asian Cup held in Qatar.
The wing-back took to X and said he was happy to return to the squad.
“Representing the national team is an unparalleled honor. I thank those in charge of the team, including the administrative and technical bodies, and I hope that I, along with the rest of my teammates, will provide a level that is worthy of the reputation of Saudi football,” he added.
