Football

By Ijaz Ahmad PESHAWAR, April 29 Center striker and skipper of Director General Sports KP XI Ijaz Ahmad’s two quick goals rallies guided his team to a 5-3 thrilling victory against strong Chinese Embassy XI team in a football friendly match played at Army Burn-Hall School and College Abbottabad ground. Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan HE Yao Jing, MPA Nighat Orakzai, ...

Juventus battled past 10-man Inter Milan with two late goals giving the champions a 3-2 win in the San Siro on Saturday to reopen a four-point lead at the top of the Serie A table. Inter looked as if they would pull off an unlikely victory as the hosts led until three minutes from the whistle despite playing more than ...

Carlo Ancelotti has turned down the offer to take over as Italy coach, according to press reports on Sunday. Italy have been without a permanent coach since Gian Piero Ventura was sacked after the four-time champions failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 60 years after losing to Sweden in a two-legged playoff in November. ...

Outgoing Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger lamented a familiar defensive lapse as his side failed to cash in on a man advantage for over 80 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday. Antoine Griezmann’s away goal eight minutes from time is a body blow to Wenger’s hopes of bowing ...

LIVERPOOL: Inspired by two-goal Egyptian Mohamed Salah, Liverpool took a big step towards the Champions League final with a 5-2 win over AS Roma in their semi-final, first leg at Anfield on Tuesday. Two late Roma goals, however, will give the Italians, who came back from 4-1 down to beat Barcelona in the previous round, some hope of an upset ...

Jose Antonio Nogueira at the airport. Photo: News99 Twitter   KARACHI: Renowned Brazilian coach Jose Antonio Nogueira arrived in Karachi today. Earlier this month, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) had announced Nogueira as the new head coach of the Pakistan football team. The Brazilian will be in Karachi until May 10 to witness the ongoing PFF National Challenge Cup and pick ...

Lionel Messi beat longstanding rival Cristiano Ronaldo to another impressive milestone after equalling a 68-year-old record in the Copa del Rey final. The Argentine scored his side’s second goal in their 5-0 thumping of Sevilla, which saw FC Barcelona lift their fourth successive Copa trophy, and their 30th overall. With his goal, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner equalled Telmo Zarra’s record of scoring ...

LONDON: Chelsea booked an FA Cup final showdown with Manchester United as Olivier Giroud tormented Southampton again with a sublime strike in Sunday´s 2-0 win at Wembley. Giroud has made a habit of scoring against Southampton and the France forward was their nemesis in a one-sided semi-final. Opting to select Giroud instead of Alvaro Morata proved a shrewd move by ...

Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has hinted that he hopes to feature at this year’s World Cup, teasing fans that he could come out of retirement to play in Russia. In an appearance on ABC television’s late-night Jimmy Kimmel show on Tuesday, the former Sweden striker said “it wouldn’t be a World Cup” if he didn’t play. The 36-year-old has previously ...

DUBAI: Brazilian legend Pele says he is confident about Brazil´s chances at the upcoming World Cup and expects injured star Neymar to be fully fit to lead the side in Russia. Speaking to AFP in Dubai, the 77-year-old, who has been in ailing health recently, put his faith in Paris Saint-Germain striker Neymar´s ability to recover from a fractured foot ...