ORLANDO, US: Al-Hilal coach Simone Inzaghi said the death of Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota had impacted his team ahead of their Club World Cup quarter-final against Fluminense on Friday.
The Saudi club’s full-back Joao Cancelo is a Portugal international and midfielder Ruben Neves was a team-mate of Jota with both the Portugal national team and at Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The 28-year-old Jota died alongside his younger brother Andre after their vehicle veered off a motorway in northern Spain before bursting into flames on Thursday.
“We all know it’s a sad day because of what happened to Diogo and Andre, unfortunately, these are things that shouldn’t happen, which happened,” said the Italian.
“As we are all aware, we have two Portuguese players, Ruben Neves and Cancelo, who were very close to the guys. Clearly today was a difficult day for everyone. We tried to work but clearly, the atmosphere today was not the same as other days. It was a tragedy,” he added.
Al-Hilal left-back Moteb Al-Alharbi said the team had tried to be supportive to the Portuguese pair.
“From the moment we woke up today we were shocked by the news. They are team-mates of his and we all felt the sadness but we were all around them. I also believe they will be ready although they have this shocking news,” he said.
“They were not at their best emotionally but I believe they will be focused for the game,” added Saudi winger Khalid Alghannam.
‘Difficult day’ for Al-Hilal’s Portugal pair — Inzaghi
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‘Difficult day’ for Al-Hilal’s Portugal pair — Inzaghi
Inoue, Nakatani aim to set up a showdown in Riyadh’s ‘Night of the Samurai’
TOKYO: Japanese boxing will be center-stage in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 27 when Riyadh hosts “The Ring V: Night of the Samurai,” with two undefeated champions – INOUE Naoya and NAKATANI Junto – likely to set up a Japanese blockbuster in 2026.
The Night of the Samurai will feature several Japanese boxers in world title fights, highlighted by the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Inoue, who will face off against Mexico’s Alan Picasso, 25, for the 32-year-old Inoue’s unified super-bantamweight belts. Both fighters are undefeated. Inoue has won 31 fights with 27 knockouts, while Picasso has 32 victories and one draw with 17 knockouts.
Nakatani (310, 24 KOs), the unified bantamweight champion, will make his super bantamweight debut against Mexico’s Sebastian Hernandez Reyes (200, 18 KOs), a 24yearold rising star. A win by Nakatani is likely to set up a showdown with Inoue at the Tokyo Dome in May next year.
On the undercard, Willibaldo Garcia will face former world flyweight champion TERAJI Kenshiro for the IBF super-flyweight title; IMANAGA Taiga will meet Armando Martinez in a lightweight bout; and TSUTSUMI Reito will fight Leobardo Quintana in a super-featherweight bout.
The WBA super-featherweight world title fight between TSUTSUMI Hayato and champion Jazza Dickens was canceled because Tsutsumi suffered a facial fracture during a sparring session.
The boxing event is part of the Riyadh Season of cultural, entertainment and sporting events, which is part of the larger Saudi Seasons initiative in support of Saudi Vision 2030.
Saudi Arabia has placed itself at the forefront of boxing promotion in recent years, staging massive title fights and non-title fights such as Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz, Tyson Fury vs. former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, Deontay Wilder against Zhilei Zhang, and Oleksandr Usyk vs.Joshua.
Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, has become the most visible boxing promoter in the world and is one of the most influential figures in boxing. The Night of the Samurai will enable him to make his mark in Japan, which has a strong boxing culture.
“Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia is only going to grow in importance for boxing,” Inoue told Japanese media. The undefeated champion described Alalshikh as “a boxing fan who truly loves the sport.”
Inoue and Riyadh Season inked a $20 million sponsorship deal a year ago and the fight in Riyadh gives the promoter a massive boost in viewership in Japan.
“Fighting in Saudi Arabia for the first time is motivating for me,” Inoue was quoted as saying. “I’ll enter the fight with a fresh mindset. It’s a little different from fighting in Japan, and there are unknowns, but I’m excited.”
