MENA Sports activities Wrap: Arab nations felled in Asian Cup, AFCON disappointment

The final Arab groups exited the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) this week however a handful of sides are nonetheless giving the area hope within the Asian Cup.

Morocco, the final North African facet within the match, hoped to duplicate their World Cup run once they confronted South Africa within the spherical of 16.

Jordan and Qatar are the final Arab survivors within the Asian Cup, with a full wrap-up of each tournaments on this week’s MENA Sports activities Wrap.

AFC Asian Cup: Arab groups fall on the wayside in spherical of 16

Hopes for an Arab group to raise the AFC Asian Cup have dwindled quick this previous week.

Eight Arab groups made it to the final 16 of the pan-Asia match, however solely two – Jordan and Qatar – have progressed to its quarter-finals.

Jordan and Qatar secured their locations within the subsequent spherical after beating out Iraq and Palestine respectively.

Jordan confronted off on Monday towards Iraq, who had been on a excessive after profitable three of three group matches – together with their 2-1 victory over Asian giants Japan.

The match tide turned quick when Iraqi striker Ayman Hussein scored to place Iraq 2-1 up, earlier than being promptly despatched off by Iranian-Australian referee Alireza Faghani for consuming grass throughout a celebration. Jordan went on to attain two targets in stoppage time to safe a spot within the quarter-finals.

There was widespread anger amongst Iraqi followers over the pink card and the surprising defeat.

Followers of the Lions of Mesopotamia flooded Faghani’s social media accounts with condemnation, and the Iraqi Soccer Affiliation mentioned earlier this week that it could attraction the choice to ship Hussein off.

Iraqi reporters confronted supervisor Jesus Casas after the disappointing consequence, with a few of them shouting on the Spaniard. Reporters concerned within the incident had their credentials stripped from them by the AFC for each current and future tournaments.

The post-match fracas was condemned by the Iraqi Soccer Affiliation.

In a much less surprising consequence, the match’s 2019 winners and present match hosts Qatar beat Palestine 2-1.

The Palestinian soccer group had already received the hearts of the match spectators, taking part in tenaciously as Israel conducts a genocide in Gaza and a brutal crackdown within the occupied West Financial institution.

Penalties had been the undoing of a number of Arab groups within the final 16. Syria misplaced to Iran, Saudi Arabia to South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates to Tajikistan.

Additionally occurred…

• Bahrain misplaced 3-1 to Japan.
• Central Asian groups await the final two Arab groups within the quarter-finals. 
• Jordan will on Friday play Uzbekistan, who’re having a fairytale run on the match; Qatar will play match stalwarts Uzbekistan on Saturday.
• #Iran will face Japan on Wednesday.

Remaining Arab hopefuls Morocco and Egypt fumble, crash out of AFCON 

The final remaining Arab hopefuls within the Africa Cup of Nations bid farewell to the competitors following disappointing defeats within the Ivory Coast this week.

Egypt, who’ve received the competitors a document seven instances, had been knocked out of the competitors on Sunday in a prolonged penalty shootout towards DR Congo, following a 1-1 attract San Pedro.

The match noticed targets from Meschack Elia and Mostafa Mohamed in the course of the first half of the match, whereas the second half, in addition to further time, noticed the 2 groups battle it out for a spot within the quarter-finals.

The penalty shootout noticed goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi convert the profitable spot-kick, after Egypt shot-stopper Mohamed ‘Gabaski’ Abou Gaba had his try hit the crossbar – spelling the top of the Pharaohs’ short-lived run within the continental competitors.

The shootout ended 7-8 in DR Congo’s favour, who will now face Guinea on Friday.

Egypt, tipped to raise the trophy, had been noticeably lacking captain and talisman Mo Salah, who suffered an harm within the competitors that prompted him to fly again to his membership Liverpool for therapy.

Morocco had been additionally topic to a shock exit from the competitors after a 2-0 defeat towards South Africa on Tuesday.

The Atlas Lions had been among the many bookies’ favourites to be topped African champions, following their fourth-place end on the 2022 World Cup, in addition to the group boasting high-profile gamers primarily based in prime European golf equipment.

The Atlas Lions’ loss mirrored Morocco’s unfortunate streak within the Africa Cup of Nations match, which they haven’t received since 1976. The final time they reached a closing was twenty years in the past, towards Tunisia.

The Morocco squad had been 1-0 down early within the second half, because of a aim scored by Proof Makgopa. Achraf Hakimi had the chance to stage the match and increase Moroccan morale with a penalty, however intense stress prompted the left-back to hit the crossbar.

A second South African aim within the ninety fifth minute of further time sealed the deal for the Bafana Bafana, and subsequently despatched Morocco house.

The group had been visibly dejected after the loss, with coach Walid Regragui saying that he “takes full duty for the defeat”.

“This isn’t the primary time Morocco arrived as favorite and a possible winner. Earlier than virtually each finals, we’re among the many favorite nations for the title. However sadly, we’ve not managed to be frequently among the many final 4 on this match. Our final closing was in 2004,” he advised reporters following the sport.

One other favorite, Senegal, additionally crashed out of the competitors sooner than anticipated. The defending champions misplaced to the host nation Ivory Coast in one other exhilarating penalty shootout – showcasing the unpredictability of the match.

Saudi exodus does not materialise

The Riyadh Season Cup – between Inter Miami and Al-Nassr – occurred on Thursday with the Saudi facet nonetheless that includes prime names, comparable to Cristiano Ronaldo – of their beginning line-up.

The invitational match occurred amid a storm of skepticism about the way forward for the Saudi Professional League, following the controversial departure of Jordan Henderson from Al-Ettifaq’s to Ajax final week.

Some European journalists eagerly predicted that the floodgates had opened and superstars signed by Saudi golf equipment in the summertime had been lining as much as make a hasty departure from the dominion, leaving the Saudi Professional League replete of its glitz and high quality.

When the European mid-season switch deadline day closed at midnight on Friday, gamers comparable to Karim Benzema – who had been linked to a transfer to the Premier League – stayed within the kingdom, guaranteeing an thrilling finish to the season as Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal combat for the trophy.

This should have been considered as a win for Saudi soccer officers. Whereas the switch window didn’t see golf equipment entice any extra huge names – with former Manchester United Gamers David de Gea and Jessie Lingard linked with strikes – the Saudi Professional League didn’t lose any of their stars.

Al-Hilal snapped up Brazilian worldwide Renan Lodi, who at 25 is proof that Saudi golf equipment are wanting past former legends to brighten up the sport earlier than they retire and contemplating investing in gamers with some miles left of their tanks.

Al-Nassr additionally proved to Inter Miami – and Ronaldo to Lionel Messi – that the Saudi Professional League is arguably a stronger competitors than Main League Soccer, a giant achievement provided that main funding in home soccer by the Saudi state has solely simply begun.