Madrid: Club captain Nacho Fernandez will leave Real Madrid for a reported move to Saudi Arabia, the 15-time Champions League winners announced on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old center-back spent 23 years with the club — 12 of them in the first team squad — lifting the European crown six times, La Liga on four occasions and the Copa del Rey twice.
According to Spanish media, Nacho has signed a two-year deal with Al-Qadsiah, who were recently promoted to the Saudi top-flight.
“Since he arrived at our youth academy as a child, Nacho has been an example to everyone and has earned the affection, recognition and admiration of everyone at Real Madrid,” club president Florentino Perez said in a statement.
“Real Madrid is and always will be his home,” he added.
Nacho is set to join fellow former Real Madrid stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the Saudi Pro League.
Captain Nacho to leave Real Madrid for reported Saudi move
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Captain Nacho to leave Real Madrid for reported Saudi move
- The 34-year-old center-back spent 23 years with the club — 12 of them in the first team squad
Thailand, UAE and Nepal into Super Three of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup qualifiers
- Up for grabs are two places in the global qualifier, the next stage of qualification for the 2026 T20 World Cup to be held in England
THAILAND: Women’s cricket is developing fast in Asia.
Nine teams, divided into three groups, started the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia qualifier in Bangkok on May 9. On Sunday, May 18, UAE Women will face Thailand Women in the first match in the Super Three phase. This involves the three group winners, Thailand, UAE and Nepal, playing off for the prize of two places in the global qualifier, the next stage of qualification for the 2026 T20 World Cup to be held in England.
At the outset of this qualifying event, Mohideen Kader, CEO of the Cricket Association of Thailand, welcomed the competing teams to the Land of Smiles. The ICC has chosen Bangkok to host Asian qualifier events for the Women’s T20 World Cup on several occasions in the past.
This reflects Thailand Women’s dominance of Asian cricket at this level over the past decade and more. Its team has reached the main ICC Women’s T20 World Cup qualifier on every occasion since 2013 when the squad traveled to Ireland. In 2020, the team qualified for the main Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia by reaching the final of the previous qualifier held in Scotland.
The current team faces strong opposition from UAE Women, who are the defending champions of the Asia qualifier, as they beat Thailand in the final of the last event held in Malaysia. This was in September 2023, the UAE winning by six runs, when they defended a total of 70 in a match dominated by the bowlers. The UAE also has a good overall record in this tournament, having reached the global qualifier three times since 2018.
Additionally, the UAE beat Thailand in the semifinals of the ACC Premier Cup, also held in Malaysia in February, when a remarkable 16 Asian teams played to qualify for the Women’s Asia Cup. The four group winners were UAE, Malaysia, Thailand and Nepal with UAE beating Thailand and Malaysia overcoming Nepal.
The current tournament introduced an exciting new format of three groups of three teams. Top seeded Thailand was drawn with Kuwait and Bhutan in Group A. UAE faced the improving Malaysians and Qatar in Group B, while Nepal took on Hong Kong, China, and Bahrain in Group C. Prior to the tournament, Thailand looked to be too strong in Group A, Malaysia looked like they might surprise the UAE in Group B, whilst Nepal and Hong Kong, China, in Group C, were only separated by one place in the world rankings, so posing a difficult outcome to predict.
Unfortunately, the first week of the tournament was badly affected by rain. Sixteen out of the 18 group matches were either abandoned or played over a shortened format. This has led to final placings which may well have been different had all matches been played to conclusion. Thailand managed to qualify from Group A even though two of their matches were rained off, while UAE won Group B, also with two wins and two no results.
The fear of rain also brought some notoriety to the tournament. The UAE coach, Ahmed Raza, brought a halt to his team’s innings after 16 overs by instructing 10 of his players to retire out in quick succession. The score had been on 192 for no wicket after Esha Oza had scored a brilliant hundred in partnership with T Sathish. However, rain was threatening and the UAE wanted to ensure that the match against Qatar was completed. The time saved by closing the innings early, enabled the UAE the chance to bowl out Qatar for 29 in 11 overs.
Group C was the last one to be decided on May 16. Hong Kong, China, seemed to have gained the advantage when they beat Nepal in a five-over match after the teams’ earlier encounter had been abandoned. It was not to be, as Nepal managed to beat Bahrain twice. As a result, both Nepal and Hong Kong, China, had five points. Crucially, Nepal had two wins compared with Hong Kong, China’s single victory, which meant they joined Thailand and UAE as group winners in the Super Three.
The matches will be played on May 18, 19 and 20 with the points from the earlier stage carried forward. Thailand and the UAE have six each and Nepal, five. The UAE has a slight advantage, courtesy of an impressive net run-rate. Thailand will play the UAE on Sunday, UAE face Nepal on Monday and Thailand play Nepal on Tuesday. The two successful teams will progress to compete against teams from the other regional qualifiers and the lower ranked teams who played in the previous Women’s T20 World Cup, held in 2024 in the UAE.
It has been evident during the tournament that several teams from the Gulf region are improving. Bahrain, fresh from playing a series against Oman, pushed Nepal hard in both matches, Kuwait and Bhutan generated a wonderful match which displayed the best in women’s cricket at this development level. Bhutan won with two wickets in hand and four deliveries remaining. Kuwait has three or four players girls who have been visiting Thailand for more than a decade for various tournaments. Bahrain and Kuwait have expressed their wish to play regular international cricket with the other Gulf nations.
Given that the UAE women’s team gained ODI status earlier this month, there could be regular women’s ODIs played in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. There is a real possibility that the UAE could eventually qualify for the next Women’s T20 World Cup and even the 50-over version in the future.
Partying, celebrations not an excuse, Flick warns as champions Barca eye strong finish
- “A lot of players went out partying, but whoever can party can work, it’s not an excuse,” Flick told reporters
- “It’s the last time we play at home and we want to win”
BARCELONA: Barcelona players celebrated the club’s 28th LaLiga title with thousands of fans in an open-bus victory parade on Friday, but coach Hansi Flick was quick to remind them that the season was not over.
Flick, who has led Barcelona to the league title, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup in his debut season, said he needed his players to focus on finishing the campaign on a high.
“Yesterday was a day of celebration and rest. A lot of players went out partying, but whoever can party can work, it’s not an excuse. I want to finish the season as we started it,” Flick told reporters on Saturday, a day before hosting Villarreal.
“It’s the last time we play at home and we want to win. We want to end the season as champions. We haven’t lost in 2025 (in the league) and we want to keep it that way.”
Flick said he was overwhelmed by the passion of the supporters during the celebrations.
“It was incredible to see the faces, the passion of the people, how they celebrated. It was fantastic to see,” said the coach.
“To celebrate year after year would be amazing. Maybe we can do it again next year. We will work for it. It’s everyone’s title.”
Flick said his team would face a difficult task against fifth-placed Villarreal, with the visitors looking to ensure Champions League qualification with a top-five finish going into the last two matches of the campaign.
“We’re playing against great teams and Villarreal have done a fantastic job, they have won their last four games. You can see the hand of their coach and they have key players,” he added.
Asked if he could start with 11 home-grown players on Sunday, Flick said the idea had been discussed at the club.
“To be honest, we’ve talked about it internally, but we haven’t decided. It could be. We’ll wait until tomorrow to see how the team is,” he said.
Piastri on pole for Emilia-Romagna GP as Ferrari struggles
- Piastri seemed to lose valuable time getting past cars toward the end of his final qualifying lap
- George Russell took third for Mercedes
IMOLA, Italy: Oscar Piastri fought his way through traffic to take pole position in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Saturday as Ferrari had a terrible session, with neither car in the top 10.
Piastri seemed to lose valuable time getting past cars toward the end of his final qualifying lap but it still proved enough as Max Verstappen fell just .034 of a second short of the Australian’s time.
That gives Piastri a big advantage in Sunday’s race at a track where overtaking is notably difficult.
George Russell took third for Mercedes, pushing Piastri’s McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris down to fourth.
It was a tough day for the home fans as Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton and Formula 1’s sole Italian driver, Kimi Antonelli, all qualified outside the top 10. All three were caught out by rivals improving their times at the end of the second part of qualifying, with Leclerc 11th, Hamilton 12th and Antonelli 13th.
Earlier in the session, heavy crashes for Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto brought out the red flag.
Real Madrid signs Spain defender Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth
MADRID: Real Madrid has signed highly rated Spain defender Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth in its first reinforcement of the offseason.
The Spanish powerhouse said Saturday that the 20-year-old Huijsen had signed a five-year deal through June 2030. Madrid reportedly agreed to pay the player’s 50-million pound ($66.4 million) clause to sign him from Bournemouth.
Huijsen is a Dutch-born, ball-playing center back who joined the Premier League team from Juventus for a reported 12.5 million pounds (now $16.6 million) in the offseason last year. He was a regular for Bournemouth since breaking into the team in November.
He impressed so much that he earned a call-up by Spain for the Nations League playoffs in March, coming on a substitute in the first leg against the Netherlands and then starting the second leg.
Assured on the ball and a good reader of the game, Huijsen had been linked with some of the biggest teams in the Premier League in recent months, including Liverpool and Arsenal, so it was increasingly inevitable Bournemouth would be losing the tall defender over the summer — but making a big profit in the process.
Madrid needs to rebuild a defense after multiple injuries to its backline during a trophyless 2024-25 campaign.
Olaroiu targets AFC Champions League Two with Sharjah as Singapore’s Lion City Sailors stand in the way
- The Romanian coach has claimed domestic trophies everywhere he has managed but not yet tasted glory on the continent
AUSTRALIA: Cosmin Olaroiu has just about won it all during his time as a manager, with success following the Romanian in stints in China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and, of course, the UAE.
It is in the Emirates that he has spent the bulk of his coaching career, and had most of his success, working at Shabab Al-Ahli, Al-Ain and, most recently, at Sharjah; winning four league titles, two President’s Cups, three League Cups and five Super Cups along the way.
Add those to league titles in Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal, and China with Jiangsu Suning, and a Qatar Stars Cup with Al-Sadd, and the 55-year-old Bucharest native is one of the most decorated coaches in the history of club football in Asia.
But one thing has eluded the burly Romanian across his almost two decades coaching in Asia — continental silverware. That could finally change against Singapore’s Lion City Sailors on Sunday night.
Olaroiu took Al-Ahli, as Shabab Al-Ahli were then known, to the final of the AFC Champions League in 2015, but came up just short against the now defunct Chinese heavyweights Guangzhou Evergrande, losing 1-0 across the two-legged affair.
Having exacted a modicum of revenge by dethroning Guangzhou when he was coach of Jiangsu Suning, winning the club their first ever league title in 2020, he never got the chance to compete for continental honours after the club went bust just weeks after their title success, as the bubble burst in the Chinese football boom.
But on Sunday night in Singapore, as he prepares to bring his time in club football to a close, having taken on the role of national team coach for the UAE, he has the chance to finally complete the set and add a continental title to his decorated CV.
While it may “only” be the AFC Champions League Two, the second-tier club competition in Asia behind the AFC Champions League Elite, it will still mean the same to a coach that has an insatiable thirst for success.
It has been a season of near misses for Sharjah, who were, until recently, in the running for an unprecedented quadruple. That was when they were still in the hunt for the UAE Pro League title, were in the semifinals of the League Cup, had made the final of the President’s Cup and, of course, the AFC Champions League Two.
But one by one, those titles fell through their grasp. They fell behind Shabab Al-Ahli in the league, with the Dubai-based club ultimately clinching the league title earlier the month.
Shabab Al-Ahli again proved their nemesis in the semifinal of the League Cup, winning 5-3 on aggregate across two legs, while last weekend they let slip a 1-0 lead in the President’s Cup Final to lose 2-1 to, you guessed it, Shabab Al-Ahli.
While the Dubai club has been a thorn in their side for much of the season, Olaroiu and Sharjah exacted some form of revenge in Asia, winning their ACL Two quarterfinal in March in a dramatic penalty shootout, before edging Al-Taawoun in equally dramatic fashion in the semifinal to set up a clash with Singapore’s Lion City Sailors.
With the Saudi side leading 1-0 from the first leg, Sharjah left it late to turn things around in the second leg at home, scoring twice in stoppage-time, in the 94th and 99th minutes, to steal a famous victory.
“This was a special night,” Olaroiu said afterwards with the adrenaline and emotion still coursing through his body.
“I thank the players, the fans, and all the members of the Sharjah club. We deserve to reach this stage.”
Having been confirmed as the next UAE boss, as the nation tries to qualify for its first FIFA World Cup since 1990 — qualification for which, ironically, was sealed in Singapore — a continental title would be a fitting way to bow out, but the announcement of his appointment last month may have proved something of a distraction.
In seven games, across the UAE Pro League and President’s Cup, since his announcement, Sharjah have won just once; a 4-0 win over Ajman. They come into Sunday’s game on the back of four straight defeats, their most recent loss coming at home to Al-Ain earlier this week.
It is far from ideal preparation, but if there is one man that can help turn their fortunes around, it is the veteran Romanian who has proved a master at motivating his players and leading them to success.
Signing off with a continental title would be just reward for someone who has given so much to club football across Asia.
