24-10-2022

MonDAY, oCtoBer 24, 2022
9
Manchester United's Casemiro celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during their premier
League match against Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge Stadium in London.
photo: Ap
Casemiro's last-gasp leveller rescues
Man Utd in Chelsea draw
SportS DeSk
Casemiro rescued Manchester United as
the Brazil midfielder grabbed his first
goal for the club in stoppage-time to
salvage a dramatic 1-1 draw at Chelsea on
Saturday, reports UNB.
Erik ten Hag's side were seconds away
from defeat after Jorginho's 87th minute
penalty put Chelsea ahead in United's
first match since Cristiano Ronaldo was
sent into exile.
But former Real Madrid star Casemiro
ensured United left west London on a sixmatch
unbeaten run as he netted with a
header that was awarded by goal-line
technology after crossing the line by
millimeters.
Ronaldo was missing from the United
squad after being dropped by Ten Hag
after his refusal to come on as a substitute
in Wednesday's win over Tottenham.
Ten Hag's decision to lay down the law
to Ronaldo could signal the beginning of
the end for the Portugal attacker in his
second spell with United.
It would be no surprise if United and
Ronaldo parted ways in the January
transfer window, but Ten Hag's men did
not appear troubled by the striker's latest
petulant outburst.
With Ronaldo banished, United were
still the stronger side for long periods,
while there were no chants in support of
the 37-year-old from the visiting fans
packed into one corner of Stamford
Bridge.
Fifth placed United remain one point
behind fourth placed Chelsea, who are
unbeaten in eight matches in all
competitions since Graham Potter
replaced the sacked Thomas Tuchel.
The only concern for United was the
sight of France center-back Raphael
Varane limping off in tears in the second
half after a World Cup injury scare.
Varane's leg twisted awkwardly as he
stretched in a failed attempt to intercept a
pass toward Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang, leaving him crumpled in a
heap on the pitch for several minutes.
The 29-year-old was eventually able to
walk around the pitch unaided, but his
angst at potentially missing the World
Cup, which starts on November 20, was
clear as he punched the corner flag in
frustration.
Lost in the fuss over Ronaldo's antics
was the vibrancy of United's performance
against Tottenham and they retained that
quality at the Bridge. A flurry of passes
cut through Chelsea's midfield to create
the first chance for Luke Shaw, who fizzed
his low drive just wide of the far post from
the edge of the area.
Teed up by Bruno Fernandes, United
winger Anthony was next to threaten
with a left-foot curler that forced a good
save from Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Marcus Rashford's return to form has
played a role in keeping Ronaldo on the
bench this season.
However, Ronaldo would surely have
delivered a better finish than Rashford
managed midway through the first half.
Fernandes's pin-point pass opened up
the Chelsea defense, leaving Rashford
one on one with Kepa but a poor first
touch took him away from goal and his
shot thudded into the Chelsea keeper's
chest.
Rashford didn't let that mess drain his
confidence and he surged into the
Chelsea area for a fierce strike that Kepa
palmed away.
With Chelsea being over-run in central
areas, Potter responded by replacing
center-back Marc Cucurella and sending
on midfielder Mateo Kovacic in a bid to
disrupt United's rhythm.
Qatar pressed on safety of women
travelling to World Cup
SportS DeSk
Lawyers for a group of
women subjected to
intrusive searches at Doha
Airport two years ago called
today for Qatar to guarantee
female fans travelling to
next month's football World
Cup will be safe, reports
UNB.
Five women are suing
Qatar Airways and the staterun
Qatar Civil Aviation
Authority after they were
removed from flights for
non-consensual
gynaecological
examinations in October
2020.
"This group of brave
women have been forced to
go to court to send a
message to Qatar that what
happened was wrong and
should not be allowed to
take place again," lawyer
Damian Sturzaker told AFP.
"With the World Cup less
than a month away female
travellers are entitled to an
assurance from Qatar that
their human rights will be
respected."
Authorities in Doha
carried out the searches
hoping to find the mother
of a newborn baby
abandoned in an airport
bathroom bin.
After the child was
discovered the airport was
locked down and women on
about 10 flights were shooed
into ambulances where they
were subject to invasive
examinations to see if they
had recently given birth.
The incident caused a
major diplomatic incident
and prompted a "sincerest
apology" from the prime
minister of Qatar.
Two years later, a group of
women are taking Qatari
authorities to court in
Australia, claiming
unspecified costs and
damages for the trauma of
the event.
Aftermath
According to papers filed
with an Australian federal
court earlier this month, the
five women were between 31
and 73 years old at the time.
They were all passengers
on flight QR908 from
Doha's
Hamad
International to Sydney.
One was legally blind, and
another was accompanying
her five-month-old child.
As the plane sat on the
tarmac, a cabin
announcement instructed
all women aboard to leave
the aircraft with their
passports and "persons in
dark uniforms armed with
guns entered the aircraft".
Four of the women were
then taken into ambulances,
their clothing was removed
and they were subjected to
intrusive examinations of
their genitals - and in one
case the breasts and
stomach.
One woman had her
infant son on her chest at
the time.
The women are all said to
be suffering from posttraumatic
stress.
They accuse Qatar
Airways and the authorities
of neglect, assault, battery,
false imprisonment and a
range of other breaches of
the law.
Qatar Airways and the
government of Qatar did not
immediately respond to
requests for comment, but
the authorities have
previously announced that
prosecutions would be
made of those responsible
for the searches.
Facing potentially
devastating commercial and
reputational damage, Qatar
has repeatedly vowed to
guarantee the future "safety
and security" of passengers.
The timing of the court
case comes as Qatar
prepares to host at least a
million fans for the Fifa
World Cup from Nov 20.
The Gulf nation has faced
intense scrutiny over its
human rights record ahead
of the tournament, and
concerns about strict local
customs that might trip up
foreign visitors.
Wearing a Muslim veil is
not compulsory for women
but they must dress
"modestly" in public,
covered from the shoulders
to knees.
Sex outside marriage is
illegal and can be punished
by flogging though there is
no record of when it was last
used.
In November 2020,
Qatari authorities said they
had identified the parents of
the abandoned child and the
"fugitive" mother from an
Asian country. She faces 15
years in jail if apprehended.
Lawyers for a group of women subjected to intrusive searches at Doha Airport two years
ago called for Qatar to guarantee safety of female fans.
photo: Ap
Spanish soccer
star Garcia 'glad
to pay more tax
to help out'
SportS DeSk
Athletic Bilbao forward Raul
Garcia agrees with the
Spanish government's plan
to impose a temporary tax
on the richest people in the
country, reports UNB.
Budget minister Maria
Jesus Montero announced
in September that some of
those in the wealthiest
minority of the population
would be taxed more during
the next two years, because
of rampant inflation caused
by fallout from Russia's war
in Ukraine.
"Obviously we live in a
comfortable financial
situation, but it does not
isolate me from the
situations that my friends,
my family are living in,"
Garcia told Spanish
newspaper El Pais.
"I understand that life is
not the same thing I am
living. That's why I think we
have to be supportive."
Various players in Spain
over the past decade have
been punished for tax fraud
offenses, including former
Real Madrid and Barcelona
players, Cristiano Ronaldo
and Lionel Messi.
Pegula beats
Azarenka to reach
Guadalajara final
SportS DeSk
Third seed Jessica Pegula
overcame a sluggish start to
breeze past Victoria Azarenka
7-6 (3), 6-1 yesterday to reach
the final of the Guadalajara
Open, reports UNB.
The 28-year-old American,
chasing her second career
title, will await the winner
between Greek fourth seed
Maria Sakkari and Czech
Marie Bouzkova in today's
final. Pegula found herself in
an early hole to the Belarusian
former-world number one as
Azarenka secured the early
break on way to 3-0 lead.
But Pegula would soon find
her rhythm, breaking back to
send the set went to a tiebreak
which she took 7-3.
Having let the opening set
slip away Azarenka unraveled
while Pegula stepped up her
play, breaking the two-time
Australian Open champion
twice as she steamrolled
through the second to reach
her second final of the year.
Pegula's path to final has
included wins over four
Grand Slam winners, a second
round victory over
Wimbledon champion Elena
Rybakina followed US Open
champions Bianca Andreescu
and Sloan Stephens and
Azarenka.
Celtics down Magic
for third straight win,
Spurs shock Sixers
SportS DeSk
Boston forward Jayson Tatum
poured in 40 points as the
Celtics beat the Orlando
Magic 126-120 on Saturday to
improve to 3-0 in the fledgling
NBA season while the
Philadelphia 76ers fell to 0-3,
reports UNB.
The rebuilding San Antonio
Spurs stunned the Sixers 114-
105 in Philadelphia, where
frustrated 76ers coach Doc
Rivers said after the game his
team was "not ready" to win
yet. In Orlando, Tatum's
exploits and a 27-point
contribution from guard
Derrick White helped the
Celtics notch another win in a
game that featured 21 lead
changes with neither team
able to build a double-digit
advantage.
Orlando big man Wendell
Carter knotted the score at
111-111 with a put-back dunk
with 4:23 to play.
Carter then fouled Tatum
and Tatum's two free throws
ignited a 10-2 scoring run that
put Boston up for good.
Tigers to take on Netherlands
in T20 WC today
SportS DeSk
Despite being in a perpetual
defeat circle, Bangladesh
want to make their first T20
International appearance in
the land down under a
memorable one when they
take on the Netherlands for
their opening game of the
T20 World Cup at Bellerive
Oval here, reports BSS.
The match starts at 10am
as per Bangladesh Time and
will be aired live on Gazi TV
and T Sports Channel.
A victory is also imperative
for them to snap the jinx of
defeat in the main round of
the tournament for which an
opponent like the
Netherlands give them a
genuine hope.
Since their only victory
against West Indies in the
inaugural edition of the T20
World Cup in 2007,
Bangladesh have never won
any game in the tournament
proper. In the last World
Cup in 2021 also, they lost all
of the five matches after
overcoming the first round
of game somehow.
This time, they didn't have
to play in the first round as
their rankings in the cut-off
date took them to the Super
12s of the World Cup
straightway but their
performance since the 2021
T20 World Cup remains
utmost disappointing. In
this period, they played 27
matches and lost 20, a
number that left the fans
fuming.
Bangladesh also lost most
of the senior players from
the T20 International
cricket in this period-while
Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur
retired from this format
after the question raised
Jessica pegula returns a shot to Victoria Azarenka during a WtA tournament
semifinal match in Guadalajara.
photo: Ap
Real Madrid sans Benzema beat
Sevilla 3-1 to extend lead
SportS DeSk
Karim Benzema proudly showed his Ballon
d'Or award to fans at the Santiago Bernabeu
and then sat back as Real Madrid beat Sevilla
3-1 and increased their lead in the Spanish
league on Saturday, reports UNB.
Benzema was ruled out of the match when
the club said he had muscle fatigue. It appears
that the striker, who won soccer's prestigious
individual prize on Monday, is being extra
cautious to avoid the risk of any injury that
might jeopardize his participation with France
at the World Cup in Qatar starting in less than
a month.
Vinicius Junior set up two goals for Madrid
as the Brazil winger continues to excel both
with, and without, Benzema playing by his
side.
Madrid extended their unbeaten streak to 16
games since starting the season across all
competitions and increased their lead at the
top to six points over Barcelona, who play
Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
Luka Modric and former Madrid coach
Zinedine Zidane, both former Ballon d'Or
winners, handed Benzema his award in a
ceremony before kickoff. The Madrid striker
hoisted it high to receive the applause of fans,
who turned out for the celebration and the
match amid steady rain in Spain's capital.
Modric then proceeded to ensure that
Madrid did not miss Benzema's goals, scoring
from an assist by Vinicius to give Madrid the
lead five minutes into the game. Vinicius
pounced on a poor pass by Gonzalo Montiel
near Sevilla's own area, took on the
backtracking defenders, and found Modric all
against their performance,
Mahmudullah Riyad was
dropped, leaving Shakib Al
Hasan to remain as only
senior player. He also is
leading a side whose most of
the players continue to
misfire.
Bangladesh indeed came
in this World Cup with the
back of four straight defeats,
all of which came in the trination
series in New
Zealand. They also lost their
warm-up game to
Afghanistan by 62 runs
before the second and last
practice game against South
Africa was washed out.
Netherlands got a touch of
luck to move to the Super
12s. Namibia was strong
contender to move to the
next round when they upset
Sri Lanka in their first game.
But while Sri Lanka then
won the two matches with
ease, Netherlands were still
unsure about their chance
despite beating Namibia
because of their run rate. If
Namibia could beat United
Arab Emirates (UAE), they
would have been through
but simply they couldn't do
that. Even though the fans
believed, Netherlands are
the easier opponent for
Bangladesh, the Tigers'
dismal performance of late
couldn't speak a volume of
their success.
However Bangladesh
captain Shakib refused to
take Netherlands lightly,
saying that they took same
preparation for all of the five
teams they would face in the
Super 12s.
"They (Dutch) have
qualified, and so they have
the ability to do well. You
(media) may have created
the impression that
Bangladesh is relieved to
have the Netherlands
coming. We never think like
that. No group in the world
thinks like this who is really
good, who is really bad. All
teams try to do what they
can for the good of the
team," Shakib said here
today.
"There are five matches in
the World Cup. We have
come here with the
preparation of these five
matches. The preparation
will be the same whoever we
play here, it should be."
Bangladesh so far played
three matches against
Netherlands-winning two
and losing one. Overall
Bangladesh played 138 T20
Internationals and while
they won 47 matches, they
had lost 89 matches. Three
other matches ended in no
result.
Squad:
Bangladesh: Shakib Al
Hasan (capt), Mehidy Hasan
Miraz, Afif Hossain,
Mossadek Hossain, Liton
Das, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan,
Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin
Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain,
Shoriful Islam, Hasan
Mahmud, Najmul Hossain,
Nasum Ahmed and Soumya
Sarkar.
Netherlands: Scott
Edwards (c, wk), Colin
Ackermann, Shariz Ahmad,
Logan van Beek, Tom
Cooper, Brandon Glover,
Timm van der Gugten, Fred
Klaassen, Bas de Leede, Paul
van Meekeren, Roelof van
der Merwe, Stephan
Myburgh,
Teja
Nidamanuru, Max O'Dowd,
Tim Pringle and Vikram
Singh.
alone at the far post to tap in.
While Vinicius squandered an opportunity
to add to the lead in the 44th - when he tried to
round goalkeeper Yassine Bounou instead of
shooting from point-blank range - Sevilla were
toothless with midfielder Isco Alarcón up front
as a "false nine."
Sevilla had their share of possession but had
no strikers in the box to feed. In the 45th Jesus
Navas drew the first save from Thibaut
Courtois, who was back after missing six
matches due to sciatic pain.
Jorge Sampaoli's plan, however, started to
click in the second half when Sevilla's greater
number of midfielders, including Óliver Torres
and Ivan Rakitic, and playmakers like Isco
took control for half an hour.
Montiel made up for his mistake by gaining
possession and using the exterior of his boot to
slip a ball through Madrid's well-positioned
defensive line to meet Erik Lamela's nice run.
Lamela also showed his skill by sending a ball
around Courtois from a tight angle with the tip
of his boot to equalize in the 54th.
Isco then hit the side netting and Montiel set
up Lamela for him to curl a ball just wide in the
60th.
But Carlo Ancelotti sent on fresh legs in
attack and a counterattack cued by substitute
Marco Asensio led to Vinícius drawing in
Bounou before he laid off for substitute Luas
Vázquez to fire into an empty net in the 79th.
"Today I want to highlight the work of
Vinicius," Ancelotti said. "He gave two assists
for teammates to score practically in empty
nets. He should be pleased. Those assists are
worth more than scoring goals. He showed a
lot of generosity."