16/06/2025

MONDAY | JUNE 16, 2025

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SPORTS

L IONEL MESSI and Inter Miami were held to a 0-0 draw by Egyptian side Al Ahly yesterday as Fifa’s new 32-team tournament got off to a smooth start in front of 60,927 fans in Florida. Messi was denied a storybook stoppage-time winner when he saw his curling shot from 20 yards out tipped on to the bar by Mohamed El Shenawy as Miami piled on the pressure in the final minutes of the game. Al Ahly, who were cheered on by over 10,000 of their supporters, were left to rue a first half penalty from Egypt international Trezeguet which was saved by Miami’s Argentine keeper Oscar Ustari. But the Egyptians also had El Shenawy to thank for another fine save in the dying seconds to keep out a header from Maxi Falcon as Miami pushed for three points in the Group A clash.

Messi denied late winner Al Ahly, Inter Miami draw as Argentine’s influence on show in CWC opener

for me in my first official match with Al Ahly. To be here in the States and have it like you were playing at home is something that can probably only happen in this club,” he said. Elsewhere, Inter Milan forward Mehdi Taremi has been left stranded in Iran after failing to get a flight out of the country amid its conflict with Israel, a club source told Reuters , with Italian media reporting the 32-year-old will miss the Club World Cup. Iranian airspace was closed after Israel launched attacks on targets in Iran on Friday. Taremi played in Iran’s 3-0 win over North Korea in a 2026 World Cup qualifier at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran last week. – AFP/Reuters

returning home to face Brazil’s Palmeiras on next Tuesday and while those should be tougher tests, their Argentina coach Javier Mascherano was upbeat. “The truth is we leave with the feeling that we could have won it in the second half. Going forward we have to do what we did in the second half, not have any fear, shed whatever baggage we had because when we play like that, we can play even with any team,” he said. Al Ahly’s Spanish coach Jose Riveiro, who

Thousands of fans of Al Ahly, record 12 times African Champions League winner and 45-time league champions of Egypt, arrived at Hard Rock Stadium well ahead of kickoff and made their presence felt with singing and chanting. The stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, witnessed chaotic scenes last year at the final of the Copa America between Argentina and Colombia where fans broke into the ground after long delays to enter. But there was an efficient filter system set up for ticket and security checks well away from the stadium perimeter and there were no signs of any problems. While there were no goals to celebrate, the game was far from boring with Al Ahly enjoying the better of the first half before Miami

only took charge of the team for this tournament, said his team should have finished the game off in the first half. “It’s a game of mistakes. We had a decent amount of chances in the first

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half to put the game in a different space,” he said before praising the team’s fans. “It was like we were playing in Cairo and that was a surprise

Draw Date: 15/06/25 (Sun)

Draw No: 5928/25 Venue: WISMA GENTING, KL

i m p r o v e d significantly after the break. Miami face Porto in Atlanta on Friday before Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi (left) and Al Ahly’s Marwan Attia fight for the ball during the Club World Cup 2025 Group A match. – AFPPIC

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PSG inspired by Los Angeles PARIS ST GERMAIN is drawing inspiration from the success of new state-of-the-art venues in Los Angeles as the Champions League title winners begin the process of building a new stadium for the team, CEO Victoriano Melero said. The US$5 billion (RM21b) stadium is located in Hollywood Park, a growing commercial and residential area. The 70,000 capacity indoor-outdoor stadium sits next to Intuit Dome, the high-tech NBA arena that opened last year.

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PSG has outgrown the 48,000-capacity Parc des Princes, and team officials will spend a year studying potential sites in Massy and Poissy with an eye toward offering a variety of entertainment options, Melero said. “The next challenge is a new stadium. For one year we’re going to go into an analysis and make a choice for our future, and we’re inspired by what is going on in the US with sports facilities,” Melero told Reuters in Los Angeles. “One example here is SoFi Stadium. It’s incredible and much more than a sports facility – it really is part of entertainment and shows. So that is what we really want to push to diversify our revenue.” SoFi Stadium, a technological marvel that opened in 2020, is home to the NFL’s Rams and Chargers and has hosted concerts by artists like Taylor Swift and Beyonce. It will play a key role in next summer’s World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

PSG is looking at Massy, south of Paris, and Poissy, west of the French capital, as potential sites for a new stadium. The team will play Parc des Princes for the foreseeable future while the new stadium is built. US fans and investors have played a vital role in the stunning success of the club both on and off the field, said Adrien Frier, the French consul-general in Los Angeles. “Paris St Germain is what you would call in the tech sector a unicorn, and it’s a unicorn that has some American blood in it,” he said at a reception honoring the team in Beverly Hills, where the Champions League trophy was on display. Melero said the team’s ambitions are only growing. “We wrote the story of the club with that cup,” he said, gesturing toward the gleaming trophy and right now the next move is to write the story of football with this very young team.” – Reuters

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