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Midseason review of Roshn Saudi Pro League 2023-2024 part 2

Al-Shabab have bolstered their squad with the signing of Ivan Rakitic during the winter break. (X/@AlShabab_EN)
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Updated 14 February 2024
Matt Monaghan
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Midseason review of Roshn Saudi Pro League 2023-2024 part 2

  • Arab News looks at the state of play for the SPL clubs in positions 10-18 as they return from the AFC Asian Cup break
Updated 14 February 2024
Matt Monaghan

Anticipation abounds ahead of this week’s intriguing full restart of the 2023/2024 Roshn Saudi Pro League.

The six-week interlude for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup contained managerial changes, eye-catching player acquisitions and noteworthy exits as competitors strove to finish campaigns on a high.

Arab News provides an essential guide for the 16 clubs as they head into Thursday’s resumption, including their key winter business and outlook for the 15 remaining matchweeks.

In part two, we look at the clubs occupying positions 10 to 18.

10. Al-Khaleej

Points 22

Goals scored/conceded 23-28

Season so far: A club in the same situation as Wehda. Al-Khaleej were threatened by instant demotion until the final matchweek last season, but have breathing space in 2023/2024. Magical Portuguese winger Fabio Martins is a class apart, being their top scorer on seven goals and joint-top assist maker with two. Experienced South Korea anchorman Jung Woo-young and Argentina center-back Lisandro Lopez have made all the difference to their defense.

Major winter changes: Former Inter Miami midfielder Mo Adams adds ballast after an invisible time at Al-Shabab.

Outlook: It is time to push on and look ahead to the King’s Cup semifinals. An upturn from disappointing Egypt striker Mohamed Sherif would help.

 

11. Al-Shabab

Points 21

Goals scored/conceded 19-25

Season so far: A season to forget for Shabab. Jose Mourinho will not be there to salvage this campaign, after winter rumors came to nothing. Well-travelled compatriot Vitor Pereira is at the helm instead, making him this season’s third permanent boss following swift exits from former Ajax supremo Marcel Keizer and Igor Biscan. Serious injury to South Korea No. 1 Kim Seung-gyu has added to their worries. But remedies have been sought to quell lingering relegation worries.

Major winter changes: Iconic Argentine midfielder Ever Banega has been allowed to return home to Newell’s Old Boys after almost four years of stellar service. An eye-catching, like-for-like replacement was secured in Croatia superstar Ivan Rakitic. He is joined by Ettifaq loanee Vitinho and promising Hilal youngster Musab Al-Juwayr.

Outlook: Pereira and Rakitic boast the experience to drag Shabab away from the mire. Belgium winger Yannick Carrasco and Morocco center-back Romain Saiss should build on decent individual starts. They need Senegal striker Habib Diallo to ignite.

 

12. Al-Okhdood

Points 20

Goals scored/conceded 13-25

Season so far: Their top-flight debut has contained a vital ability to edge results, with six victories coming via one-goal margins. An encouraging December under new boss Martin Sevela shifted the mood, with 10 points coming from 15 available. Prolific Romania defender Andrei Burca (four goals) is one of the signings of the season. The fact that he has outscored three-goal attackers Leandre Tawamba and Saviour Godwin is concerning.

Major winter changes: Not applicable

Outlook: For Sevela to avoid a second-successive relegation after Al-Adalah, he must get his misfiring attack in motion.

 

13. Al-Raed

Points 19

Goals scored/conceded 24-31

Season so far: It has been an uncomfortable season for the side from Buraidah. Shakhtar Donetsk title winner Igor Jovicevic has failed to find consistency. This is despite boasting the bottom half of the table’s best attack in which Algerian schemer Amir Sayoud has joined resident Moroccans Karim El-Berkaoui and Mohamed Fouzair. Last month’s stunning 3-1 raid of champions Ittihad points to untapped potential.

Major winter changes: Not applicable.

Outlook: The collective strength of the squad eases relegation doubts but they must start exhibiting this on a regular basis.

 

14. Al-Fayha

Points 19

Goals scored/conceded 19-31

Season so far: This has been a season of strife for the 2021/2022 King’s Cup victors. Zambia forward Fashion Sakala and Nigeria winger Henry Onyekuru have shone after summer moves. But lengthy injuries to fellow Super Eagle Anthony Nwakaeme and Morocco’s World Cup 2022 performer Abdelhamid Sabiri have stung. Belief remains in Serbian supremo Vuk Rasovic to correct their course, like last season.

Major winter changes: Saudi Arabia’s breakout 2023 Asian Cup performer, goalkeeper Ahmed Al-Kassar, has departed for ambitious First Division League-pacesetters Al-Qadsiah.

Outlook: Their AFC Champions League form must be showcased domestically, or relegation looms.

 

15. Al-Riyadh

Points 19

Goals scored/conceded 17-37

Season so far: It has been tough going upon their top-flight return after almost two decades away. Their defense is the leakiest outside the bottom three and attack is the second worst. These problems conflated during a December which featured three defeats and one win. Attacker Saleh Al-Abbas has carried them at times, with Jamaica striker Andre Gray and Zimbabwe forward Knowledge Musona failing to match his impact.

Major winter changes: Not applicable.

Outlook: October hire Odair Hellmann must sharply correct course. The ex-Santos and Al-Wasl tactician has a huge job on his plate.

 

16. Al-Tai

Points 17

Goals scored/conceded 20-39

Season so far: Comfortable mid-table finishes since 2021/2022’s top-flight comeback are a distant memory. An opening matchweek victory against Damac was an illusion, with four points being taken from the next nine matches. Little uptick followed September’s call to dispense with Kresimir Resic, then hire ex-Hilal and Ahli manager Laurentiu Reghecampf. If it was not for the brilliance of nine-goal Ghana attacking midfielder Bernard Mensah, signed from Kayserispor, they would be even further adrift.

Major winter changes: Not applicable.

Outlook: It is going to be a slog to survive, from this point. A date with Abha looms large on March 1.

 

17. Abha

Points 14

Goals scored/conceded 22-52

Season so far: Abha started slowly and got worse from there. They have lost their last seven league matches to a combined score of 29-9. The services of Czeslaw Michniewicz and Yousef Al-Mannai have already been dispensed with. Winter tweaks, however, must point toward better times, or a five-season top-flight stint will end.

Major winter changes: Changes have been sought across the club. Ahli’s promotion winner, Pitso Mosimane, has been set a distinctly different task. Ettifaq loanee Marcel Tisserand must tighten up a defense which has conceded five more than any other. Five-goal Cameroon forward Karl Toko Ekambi has moved in the opposite direction, with Montenegro and Sochi attacker Luka Djordevic his replacement.

Outlook: Much rests on the prowess of Djordevic and Mosimane’s ability to rebound from a mixed spell at the UAE’s Wahda. Alarm bells are still ringing.

 

18. Al-Hazem

Points 13

Goals scored/conceded 19-47

Season so far: It has been tough going for last season’s First Division League runners-up. Every matchweek has been spent within the drop zone, including 11 in last place. A call was made in October to release promotion winner Filipe Gouveia and draft in Nassr’s 2013/2014 double winner, Jose Daniel Carreno. After the pain of their landmark Hilal thumping, they now sit on an encouraging run of one defeat from the subsequent five matches.

Major winter changes: Hazem looked to Major League Soccer and recruited Venezuela defensive midfielder Junior Moreno.

Outlook: Carreno has provided hope that an instant demotion is not inevitable. To do this, will require impressive Portuguese midfielder Toze’s 10-goal contributions to be matched elsewhere.

Topics: Roshn Saudi League

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Iga Swiatek starts the 2024 Olympics tennis event with a win at the site of her French Open triumphs

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Iga Swiatek starts the 2024 Olympics tennis event with a win at the site of her French Open triumphs

Updated 18 sec ago
Swiatek got broken in that same stadium to trail 5-3 in the second set before getting back to her usual clay-court expertise
Italy’s Jasmine Paolini was the first tennis player to win a match at these Summer Games, eliminating Romania’s Ana Bogdan 7-5, 6-3 at Lenglen

PARIS: Iga Swiatek shook off a bit of a dip in the first round of the Paris Olympics tennis competition and grabbed the last four games to beat Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2, 7-5 on Saturday under a closed roof at Roland Garros, the site of the No. 1-ranked Polish player’s four French Open titles.
Swiatek, who won a third consecutive championship at Court Philippe Chatrier just seven weeks ago, got broken in that same stadium to trail 5-3 in the second set before getting back to her usual clay-court expertise. She wrapped up the victory by breaking at love when Begu double-faulted on the last point.
Day 1 of tennis began with showers that might have contributed to slow lines for umbrella-toting spectators at the facility’s security checks near entrances and postponed by hours the start of matches at the 10 courts without retractable roofs.
It’s a good thing the French tennis federation built a pair of covers recently: 15,000-capacity Chatrier added one in 2020, and the second-largest arena, 10,000-capacity Court Suzanne Lenglen, has one as of this year.
Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, who was the runner-up to Swiatek at the French Open in June and to Barbora Krejcikova at Wimbledon two weeks ago, was the first tennis player to win a match at these Summer Games, eliminating Romania’s Ana Bogdan 7-5, 6-3 at Lenglen.
Among the other big names from the sport scheduled to play later Saturday were reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz — facing Lebanon’s Hady Habib in singles in the afternoon and pairing with Spanish teammate Rafael Nadal in doubles at night — along with 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia and four-time major champion Naomi Osaka.
Nadal has won a record 14 of his 22 Slam titles at Roland Garros and owns Olympic gold medals in singles and doubles. He carried the torch and rode on a boat in the Seine River with retired tennis star Serena Williams during the drenched opening ceremony Friday night.
Coco Gauff, the female flag bearer for the United States on Friday, was slated to make her Olympic debut Saturday with Jessica Pegula in doubles. Gauff won the French Open doubles title with Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic last month and the US Open singles trophy last September.
Three years ago, Gauff missed the Tokyo Games after testing positive for COVID-19 right before she was supposed to fly to Japan.

Palestinian Olympian wore shirt showing bombed children at opening ceremony

Updated 12 min 29 sec ago
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Palestinian Olympian wore shirt showing bombed children at opening ceremony

Updated 12 min 29 sec ago
PARIS: Palestinian boxer Waseem Abu Sal wore a shirt depicting children being bombed for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in a test for organizers who have strict rules on political statements.
Abu Sal was one of two flag-bearers for the Palestinian delegation during the rain-soaked river parade along the Seine on Friday.
His white shirt had embroidered images of warplanes dropping missiles over children playing sport.
“This shirt represents the current image in Palestine,” Abu Sal told AFP on Saturday.
“The children who are martyred and die under the rubble, children whose parents are martyred and are left alone without food or water.”
At least 39,258 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a military campaign in retaliation for the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry.
The October attack that began the war resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestine Olympic Committee, told AFP they had checked with the local organizing committee of the Paris Olympics to see if Abu Sal’s shirt contravened Olympic regulations.
“It’s a message of peace. It’s a message to attract attention,” he said. “This is anti-war, against killing. This abides with the Olympic Charter.”
“We presented it, they approved it,” he added.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) bans political statements on the field of play during sports events and during the opening and closing ceremonies, but athletes are free to express themselves in press conferences and on social media.
The Palestine Olympic Committee wrote to the IOC last week asking for a ban on Israeli athletes at the Paris Olympics, which has been rejected.
Rajoub said the Palestinian team intended to use the Paris Olympics to draw attention to the suffering of civilians in Gaza.
Abu Sal, 20, received a wildcard for the Olympics boxing.
He lives in the West Bank and is unable to train with his Cairo-based coach — a Gazan who cannot travel to him due to Israeli restrictions.

Verstappen fastest in final practice for Belgian GP, while Stroll crashes as rain keeps cars in garages

Updated 27 July 2024
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Verstappen fastest in final practice for Belgian GP, while Stroll crashes as rain keeps cars in garages

  • Lance Stroll caused a red flag after he spun his Aston Martin off and smacked into the barriers
  • Verstappen put in the fastest time, with water spray lingering in the air behind his path
Updated 27 July 2024
AP

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium: Max Verstappen clocked the fastest time in a final practice session at the Belgian Grand Prix that was largely washed out by heavy rain on Saturday.
Lance Stroll caused a red flag after he spun his Aston Martin off and smacked into the barriers, bending his front left wheel.
Before that accident Verstappen put in the fastest time, with water spray lingering in the air behind his path. Oscar Piastri, in his McLaren, had the second best lap.
Stroll’s crash came with more than half the hour-long session remaining. But with puddles forming on the track, the cars stayed in the garages.
Drivers and engineers watched the drops fall before the cars ventured out with around two minutes remaining. No driver got in more than seven laps.
More rain is forecast for qualifying later, although it appears Sunday’s race will be held under dry conditions.
Lando Norris put in the fastest time in his McLaren during Friday’s practice, on a dry track.
Verstappen holds a relatively comfortable 76-point lead over Norris in the overall standings despite having gone three races without a win for the first time since 2021.
Verstappen has won here for the last three years on the long seven-kilometer track set in the forested hills of the Ardennes. But not only is he facing fast rivals, the three-time champion will start Sunday’s race with a 10-place grid penalty after Red Bull exceeded the number of engines for his car.

Topics: Belgian Grand Prix Max Verstappen Lance Stroll

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Sevilla beat Al-Ittihad 1-0 to take Antonio Puerta Trophy

Updated 27 July 2024
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Sevilla beat Al-Ittihad 1-0 to take Antonio Puerta Trophy

  • La Liga club host annual match in honor of former player who died aged 22 in 2007
  • Match is latest pre-season friendly for both clubs ahead of the start of their domestic leagues in August
Updated 27 July 2024
Arab News

DUBAI: La Liga club Sevilla FC defeated Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad 1-0 to claim the Antonio Puerta Trophy at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Seville on Friday night.

Lucas Ocampos  scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot after 42 minutes.

The annual friendly has been hosted by the Andalusian club since 2008 in honor of former player Antonio Puerta who died from heart disease in 2007 at the age of 22.

This was the 13th hosting of the match, which was not contested in 2015, 2018, 2020 or 2021. Sevilla now have won won the trophy 11 times.  

The match was also the latest outing for both clubs ahead of start of their respective domestic campaigns.

Al-Ittihad will play two more friendlies against Real Betis (Aug. 3) and Inter Milan (Aug. 7) before kicking off their Saudi Pro League season with a match against Al-Kholood on Aug. 24.

Sevilla will launch their La Liga campaign on Aug. 16 at Las Palmas.

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Rahm leads by 2 after first round of LIV Golf UK

Updated 27 July 2024
Arab News
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Rahm leads by 2 after first round of LIV Golf UK

Updated 27 July 2024
Arab News

ROCESTER: Jon Rahm is accustomed to being in contention after most of his LIV Golf rounds this season. But for the first time since joining the league, he has the outright lead.

Thanks to a bogey-free 8-under 63, Rahm has a two-stroke lead over Abraham Ancer and Andy Ogletree after the first round at LIV Golf UK by JCB. Meanwhile, his Legion XIII is atop the team leaderboard by one stroke over Smash GC, HyFlyers GC and Fireballs GC.

Friday’s round was the 29th that Rahm has completed in LIV Golf. He has been inside the top 5 after 13 of those rounds, including a tie for the lead after the first round in Jeddah.

Six other times, Rahm has been inside the top 10. In each of his nine completed tournaments — he had to withdraw in Houston due to a foot infection — he has produced a top-10 result, and he is currently second behind Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann in the season-long points standings.

It is an impressive show of consistency that Rahm hopes will peak with his first individual LIV Golf title this week at JCB Golf & Country Club.

“Nothing much to say obviously but good things,” said Rahm, who entered the week off a tie for seventh at The Open Championship, his best major result of the year. “Played really good golf all day. With days like this, it almost feels effortless.”

Rahm played in the same group with his teammate and former Ryder Cup partner, Tyrrell Hatton, along with another Legion XIII player, Caleb Surratt, as the LIV Golf captains were grouped with their top-two teammates for the first round.

Not only did Rahm go low — the 8-under score matches his lowest LIV Golf round relative to par — but Hatton shot 66, bouncing back from an opening double bogey. The duo fueled Legion XIII’s 12-under total that also included a counting score of 72 from Kieran Vincent. Legion XIII has won three team titles during its inaugural season and is second in the points standings behind Crushers GC.

“It was the first time I played with any teammates in LIV Golf,” said Rahm, who had six birdies in his final nine holes to pull away from the pack. “I wasn’t sure how that was going to go. I was a little curious.”

Hatton said: “We’ve shared some pretty cool stages over the last few years, and we generally play well when we play together. So, it was nice for both of us to have a good round of golf and have some momentum going into the weekend.”

Ancer, the winner via playoff earlier this year in Hong Kong, finished with a flourish. The Fireballs star birdied four of his last five holes during a brilliant putting round in which he led the field.

Ogletree’s best finish during his first full LIV Golf season is a tie for third in Adelaide. He has battled a wrist injury that may require offseason surgery and forced him to make some swing adjustments to alleviate the pain.

“I’ve had a lot of days where I’ve played 13 and 14 really good holes and then kind of held myself back by a bad stretch,” said the HyFlyers member. “Today, I was in it all day and played some solid golf.”

Hatton and Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith are tied for fourth, while a group of seven players — including Smash GC Captain Brooks Koepka and local resident Sam Horsfield of Majesticks GC — are four strokes off the lead in a tie for sixth.

On a course that was unfamiliar to most players and expected to give up low scores grudgingly, 35 of the 54 players in the field broke par, with a stroke average of more than one shot under par.

It was not a surprise for Rahm. “You can’t really say surprising when the best players in the world show up at a course,” he said.

 
Standings and counting scores for Friday’s opening round:

The three best scores from each team count in the first two rounds while all four scores count in the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.


1. LEGION XIII -12 (Rahm 63, Hatton 66, Vincent 72)

 
T2. FIREBALLS GC -11 (Ancer 65, Garcia 68, Puig 69)

 
T2. SMASH GC -11 (Koepka 67, McDowell 67, Gooch 68)

 
T2. HYFLYERS GC -11 (Ogletree 65, Tringale 67, Mickelson 70)

 
T5. RIPPER GC -9 (Smith 66, Herbert 69, Jones 69)

 
T5. RANGEGOATS GC -9 (Wolff 67, Uihlein 68, Watson 69)

 
7. STINGER GC -8 (Oosthuizen 67, Burmester 68, Schwartzel 70)

 
8. TORQUE GC -6 (Munoz 68, Niemann 69, Pereira 70)

 
T9. CRUSHERS GC -5 (Casey 67, Lahiri 69, Catlin 72)

 
T9. CLEEKS GC -5 (Meronk 68, Bland 69, Samooja 71)

 
11. MAJESTICKS GC -4 (Horsfield 67, Stenson 70, Westwood 72)

 
12. 4ACES GC -1 (Varner 69, Johnson 71, Reed 72)

 
13. IRON HEADS GC Even (Na 70, Vincent 70, Kozuma 73)

Topics: golf LIV UK

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