DALIAN: Unlikely hero Hassan Kadesh put Saudi Arabia back on track for 2026 World Cup qualification with a late goal that saw them beat China 2-1.

Roberto Mancini has coached some top-class talent in his career but — Sergio Aguero aside — he can rarely have had such cause to hug one of his players at the end of a game. The Al-Ittihad defender, having never previously scored for his country, has now notched up two goals.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was exactly what the Green Falcons needed after a disappointing 1-1 draw with Indonesia five days ago. It was exactly what under-fire Mancini needed too.

The win was looking unlikely when, after 20 minutes, Dalian was rocking — China were a goal up, and the Saudis were a man down. But the visitors dug in and then fought hard until the end. 

Kadesh’s heroics mean Saudi Arabia has four points from the opening two games. However, they still have much to do if they are to finish in the top two of Group C and automatically book a spot at the 2026 tournament,

The opening goal could not have been simpler for a Chinese team thrashed 7-0 by Japan last Thursday. Brazilian-born Fernandinho sent over a corner kick from the right and, at the edge of a crowded six-yard box, the ball hit the jumping Ali Lajami before finding the back of the net. 

Noise levels from the 48,000 home fans rose dramatically and things got even worse for Saudi Arabia soon after. On his back and on the floor, Kanno kicked out at Jiang Shenglong’s chest and was swiftly shown the red card.

Saudi Arabia were shaken but stirred themselves to hit back and take something from the game. Seven minutes before the break, they were back on level terms.

Nasser Al-Dawsari whipped in a delightful cross from a corner to find Kadesh at the near post, whose delightful low header hit the Chinese net and silenced the home crowd. Soon after, Al-Dawsari fired wide, and Saudi hearts were in their mouths as, almost on half-time, Wu Lei headed outside the post with Mohammed Al-Owais able only to stand, watch and hope.

Another Chinese corner caused chaos early in the second half, with Wang Shangyuan heading the ball home from close range. However, a VAR check led to the goal being rules offside.

Just after the hour there was nearly more good news when Salem Al-Dawsari, who always seemed to feel the game was there to be won, burst free of the red defense. The away fans behind the goal were ready to celebrate but, somehow, the Al-Hilal star hit the crossbar and the ball bounced away.

A penalty call, also by Al-Dawsari, was waved away and China came close with just 15 minutes left, Al-Owais getting down to push away a curling shot from Li Lei.

As the final whistle approached the game started to drift and a draw seemed certain. But in the final minute, Saudi Arabia got another corner and there was an unmarked Kadesh, powerfully heading the ball home high into the net for his second goal of both the game and his international career.

China never really looked like scoring again, and the final whistle found the hero of the hour and his teammates jumping up and down as they celebrated the win.

Saudi Arabia will face Japan on Oct. 10 for their next 2026 World Cup qualifying match.

TOKYO: Olympic sponsor Panasonic is terminating its contract with the IOC at the end of the year, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

Panasonic is one of 15 companies that are so-called TOP sponsors for the International Olympic Committee. It’s not known the value of the Panasonic sponsorship, but sponsors contribute more than $2 billion in a four-year cycle to the IOC.

In a statement, Panasonic said it became an IOC sponsor in 1987 and expanded to the Paralympics in 2014. It did not make clear why it was changing course and said only that is was related to continual “reviews how sponsorship should evolve.”

Two other Japanese companies are also among the IOC’s 15 leading sponsors. Toyota, which for several months has been reportedly ready to end its contract, was contacted Tuesday by The Associated Press but offered no new information.

“Toyota has been supporting the Olympic and Paralympic movements since 2015 and continues to do so,” Toyota said in a statement. “No announcement to suggest otherwise has been made by Toyota.”

Japanese sponsors seem to have turned away from the Olympics, likely related to the one-year delay in holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The COVID-19 delay reduced sponsors’ visibility with no fans allowed to attend competition venues, ran up the costs, and unearthed myriad corruption scandals around the Games.

Tiremaker Bridgestone said “nothing has been decided.”

Toyota had a contact valued at $835 million — reported to be the IOC’s largest when it was announced in 2015. It included four Olympics beginning with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games in South Korea and ran through the just-completed Paris Olympics and Paralympics.

Reports in Japan suggest Toyota may keep its Paralympic Olympic sponsorship.

The IOC TOP sponsors are: ABInBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyoto, and Visa.

In a report several months ago by the Japanese news agency Kyodo, unnamed sources said Toyota was unhappy with how the IOC uses sponsorship money. It said the money was “not used effectively to support athletes and promote sports.”

Japan was once a major font to revenue, but increasingly the IOC has sought out sponsors from China, with increasing interest from the Middle East and India.

Japan officially spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, at least half of which was public money. A government audit suggested the real cost was twice that. The IOC contribution was about $1.8 billion.

The Tokyo Games were mired in corruption scandals linked to local sponsorships and the awarding of contracts. Dentsu Inc, the huge Japanese marketing and public relations company, was the marketing arm of the Tokyo Olympics and raised a record-$3.3 billion in local sponsorship money. This is separate from TOP sponsors.

French prosecutors also looked into alleged vote-buying in the IOC’s decision in 2013 to pick Tokyo as the host for the 2020 Summer Games.

The IOC had income of $7.6 billion in the last four-year cycle ending with the Tokyo Games. Figures have not been released yet for the cycle ending with the Paris Olympics.

The IOC’s TOP sponsors paid over $2 billion in that period. The figure is expected to reach $3 billion in the next cycle.