26/06/2025

SPORTS THURSDAY | JUNE 26, 2025

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Bayern blow it Benfica beat German champions as Auckland City hold Boca B ENFICA beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in sear ing heat at the Club World Cup yestersday to progress to the last 16 as group winners, while minnows Auckland City claimed a Charlotte, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th minute.

Nashville would not be enough to qualify, but the Argentine giants were still expected to do better than draw 1-1 against the tournament minnows from New Zealand. Auckland had lost 10-0 to Bayern and 6-0 to Benfica but this time they recovered from falling behind in the first half when goalkeeper Nathan Garrow palmed a Lautaro Di Lollo header into his own net. Christian Gray equalised with a header in the second half to earn the sole representatives from Oceania a remarkable point. “You can’t say we haven’t learned from the experience of being at the tournament, I’m thrilled for the players and the club, it’s wonderful. It’s something to go home with,” said City coach Paul Posa. Posa said it was a great result for football in Oceania. “I think it’s restored a little bit of pride, a little bit of reputation for us,” he added. “We’re a tiny club with a huge heart and that’s evident for all to see.” – AFP

up Chelsea in Charlotte in the last 16 on Saturday. “I think this was a very fair and important win, historic really,” said Benfica coach Bruno Lage. “We were as straightforward and assertive as we should be and I think we were very effective in delivering our strategy today.” Bayern finished second and so will go to Miami on Sunday to take on Brazilian giants Flamengo, with a potential quarterfinal against European champions Paris Saint Germain awaiting. “You could see that it was really tough conditions so respect to both teams for that,” said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany. “Our first half was not good enough for sure, the second half was definitely more the level that we expected and good enough to score one or two or three goals.”

The German champions, who left the likes of Harry Kane and Michael Olise on the bench at kickoff, were unable to come back in sweltering afternoon conditions in heatwave-hit North Carolina. Kane and Olise came on at halftime and Bayern did then look more dangerous, but Leroy Sane was denied when clean through by Benfica’s Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin. A draw would have allowed Bayern to top the section but a Kimmich effort that found the net was ruled out for offside and Trubin denied Sane again while Kane mistimed a header from close range late on. It was Benfica’s first ever win in 14 competitive meetings with the

memorable draw against Boca Juniors. Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal of the Group C clash for Benfica in front of 33,287 fans in

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Draw Date: 25/06/25 (Wed)

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Bavarian side and it means they finish first in the group and so will play the Group D runners

That result meant whatever Boca did against Auckland City in

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Nicolas Otamendi (left) and Gianluca Prestianni celebrate after beating Bayern – REUTERSPIC

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Huge relief for Flamengo MISFIRING Flamengo were held to a 1-1 draw by Los Angeles FC in their final group match at the Club World Cup yesterday but the Brazilian side still go into the knockout stage with some momentum after another strong performance.

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are very happy, no injuries and a great group stage, and now we’re thinking about Bayern and nothing but Bayern.” Bouanga had ploughed a lonely furrow as the lone striker all evening but pounced when his chance came from Tom Tillman’s quickly taken freekick, slotting the ball between the legs of Agustin Rossi for his team’s first goal of the tournament. The Flamengo fans were silenced but Jorginho, who had come on as a substitute only minutes before Bouanga’s goal, found Yan with an incisive pass and the 20-year-old skipped into the box through four defenders and slid the ball past Hugo Lloris. The woodwork played more of a role than either goalkeeper in the first half with Flamengo’s Danilo, Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Pedro all hitting the frame of the goal along with LA FC’s Marky Delgado. Flamengo continued to dominate possession with their calm passing game in the second half and it looked only a matter of time before the breakthrough came. Lloris, however, pulled off a world-class save to deny Everton, Pedro sent the ball over the bar with an acrobatic bicycle kick, and de Arrascaeta hit the woodwork for the second time with a rasping shot that came down off the bar. – Reuters

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Denis Bouanga put the MLS club ahead in the 84th minute but substitute Wallace Yan responded two minutes later to ensure Flamengo would progress unbeaten to their last 16 tie against Bayern Munich in Miami on Sunday. With top spot in Group D already assured, Flamengo coach Filipe Luis made seven changes to his starting side but there was no change to the style that already earned the Rio de Janeiro club wins over Chelsea and Esperance. With a little more accuracy in front of goal, they would have comfortably beaten an LA FC side who were already condemned to a group stage exit after losing their first two games without scoring a goal. “We had a great group stage,” Felipe Luis told reporters. “We achieved our objective early so we’ve been able to bench players with yellow cards and give minutes to players that hadn’t played yet. “We had rhythm and we had chances to score. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. We

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