10/09/2025

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | SEPT 10, 2025

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Tunisia book WC ticket, Ghana claim crucial win

SHORTS Damsgaard drives Denmark over Greece DENMARK’S Mikkel Damsgaard dis played the full range of his dribbling tricks as his side thumped Greece 3-0 away yes terday, grabbing the opening goal as the Danes went top of World Cup qualifying Group C ahead of Scotland on goal differ ence. Damsgaard put Denmark ahead in the 32nd minute, playing his part in winning the ball back on the edge of the penalty area before pirouetting and curling a superb shot past the despairing dive of Konstantinos Tzolakis for his fifth interna tional goal. After not registering a shot on target in the opening 45 minutes, the Greeks made two changes at the break and came out strongly in the second half but were soon two goals down. With Damsgaard jinking and running at the defence almost every time he got the ball, Denmark’s second came when injury-plagued Andreas Christensen surged forward from his centreback posi tion before firing home from the edge of the area. Konstantinos Mavropanos finally got an effort on target for Greece with a header in the 79th minute but Rasmus Hojlund killed the game off two minutes later, tapping the ball into an empty net after Patrick Dorgu hit the post. Suriname stun El Salvador DHORASO KLAS scored in the 81st min ute and Suriname stunned El Salvador 2-1 yesterday in a 2026 World Cup qualifying match, taking their first victory over the Salvadorans since 1968. Suriname, which has never qualified for a World Cup final, toppled El Salvador from the Group A lead in the final round of Concacaf (North American) World Cup qualifying. Suriname snapped an eight-match winless streak against El Salvador and moved to four points with the hosts on three after an opening 1-0 victory over Guatemala. Suriname’s only prior victory over El Salvador came in December 1968 in a qualifying match for the 1970 Mexico World Cup. England’s Huddersfield Town defender Radinio Balker headed Suriname into a shock lead after only 12th minute. El Salvador found the equaliser after an own goal in the 73rd minute by Suriname centreback Anfernee Dijksteel but Klas fired the winner nine minutes from time. In yesterday’s other Group A match, host Panama and Guatemala played to a 1-1 draw, leaving both winless after two of six group matches. Guatemala grabbed the lead in the 35th minute on a right-footed blast by Oscar Santis from the heart of the box. Carlos Harvey, however, netted the equaliser for Panama in the 37th minute with a header from the center of the box into the bottom right corner off an Eric Davis assist.

TUNISIA’S Mohamed Ben Romdhane (pic) scored a 94th minute winner as they booked their place at the 2026 World Cup with a 1-0 victory over hosts Equatorial Guinea in Malabo yesterday, taking an unassailable lead in qualifying Group H. The victory moves Tunisia to 22 points from eight games, 10 ahead of second-placed Namibia, who have three games left. Tunisia will make their seventh appearance at the World Cup, which is to be staged in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11-July 19, and their third in a row. It looked as though they would have to wait to seal their spot, but Ben Romdhane was pre sented with a simple tap-in deep into injury time after a defensive error allowed Firas Chaouat to tee him up. Tunisia are the second African side to seal a place at the finals after Morocco booked their spot on Saturday. Malawi

Raveloson and Hakim Abdallah sealed the win. Morocco won 2-0 in Zambia in Group E as Youssef En Nesyri and Hamza Igamane scored to keep up their momentum.

and Liberia drew 2-2 in the other game in the group. Ghana’s Alexander Djiku scrambled the ball into the net at the back post from a Jordan Ayew corner to secure a precious 1-0 victory in their Group I qualifier at home to Mali. Ghana lead the table with 19 points, three ahead of second-placed Madagascar and four more than Comoros. The Black Stars travel to Central African Republic and host Comoros in their final two qualifiers next month. Madagascar kept

Algeria were held to a 0-0 draw by Guinea and have a four-point lead in Group G over Uganda and Mozambique, who both won 2-0 on Monday. Mozambique beat Botswana thanks to goals from Witi and Faisal Banga, while Uganda’s Allan Okello with a penalty and Jude Ssemugabi scored in their victory over Somalia.

their qualifying hopes alive with a 3-1 home win over Chad, hav ing trailed at halftime. Goals from Caddy Warren, Rayan

Libya’s Muad Eisay and Ezoo El Mariamy were on target in the first half in their side’s 2-0 victory over Eswatini in Group D. – Reuters

Isak’s Sweden in shock defeat World Cup hopes hit by loss to Kosovo as Swiss take top spot

S WEDEN’S hopes of qualify ing for the World Cup were dented yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Kosovo, who had

before the break and although Sweden brought on Alexander Isak, the most expensive player in Premier League history after moving to Liverpool, they could not find a way back into the game.

a second yellow card. The Swedes, who conceded a 90th-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw away to Slovenia on Friday, went behind in the 26th minute as goal keeper Robin Olsen blocked Elvis Rexhbecaj’s shot only for

“I can’t control everything that’s said or written. But I’m happy that I became a Liverpool player.” The victory moved Kosovo up to second place in Group B on three points, three behind Switzerland, who thumped Slovenia 3-0. The Swiss national team has a good chance of qualifying for the World Cup and while coach Murat Yakin praised his players, he also urged caution. For the first time in history, Switzerland has scored three or more goals five games in a row. For Yakin, this is particularly satisfying after much went against his team last year. “I was tired of always mention ing that we played well but were inefficient,” he said. “We’ve worked on many areas since then: Not only on finishing, but also on vertical play, quick switching and, last but not least, on standards. “It’s difficult to find points that we could have done better in the last two games,” added Yakin. “Everyone knows their role, we have a good rhythm in training

Isak said he was glad to be on the pitch again as the striker played his first min utes of the season yester day. “It’s great that every

the rebound to fly off the midfielder’s shin into the net. Vedat Muriqi made it 2-0 for Kosovo three minutes

L i n d o n Emerllahu sent off in second half stoppage time for picking u p

thing was settled before the camp and that I could focus on playing football again,” Isak told Swedish media after the defeat in Pristina, where he came on as a second-half substitute.

“It’s been a fairly new situation for me, but you always learn and develop mentally off the pitch as well.” Isak had made it clear he wanted to leave

and everyone enjoys playing football.

Newcastle at the start of the window and played no

The foun dat ions have been

part in the club’s pre-season or opening league games, accusing the club of breaking promises and misleading supporters. “Obviously, not everyone has the full picture, but that’s some thing for another day,” Isak said.

laid.” The top team in each group qualify directly for next year’s finals with the runners-up going into the playoffs. – AFP

Kosovo’s Lumbardh Dellova (left) fights for the ball with Sweden’s Viktor Gyokeres yesterday. – AFPPIC

Mourinho sacked because too defensive, says Fenerbahce president

FENERBAHCE president Alic Koc has confessed that he sacked Jose Mourinho due to his desire for the team to play “better football”, insisting that their Champions League playoff exit was not a factor in the decision. The “Special One” was gearing up for his sec ond year at the helm of the Turkish club, but his tenure was abruptly ended – a result of the style of football he advocates. Under Mourinho’s leadership, Fenerbahce failed to surpass rivals Galatasaray in the title race. This means their quest for league glory dates back to 2014, while the former Chelsea and

“Scoring 99 goals and getting 99 points (as Fenerbahce had done in the Superlig in the 2023 24 season) is our genetic code.” Despite finishing 11 points behind rivals Galatasaray and being knocked out of the Europa League by Rangers, who were led by interim boss Barry Ferguson, Koc maintains that hiring Mourinho “was a huge success. Our chemistry worked, the successes were there.” The club chief is now considering another for eign appointment, despite being turned down by former Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti. – Express Newspapers

time, it was a painful dismissal. “Parting ways with someone who is, above all, a friend was tough. Being eliminated by Benfica wasn’t a problem, but the way we were elimi nated was unacceptable. “This made me feel like last year’s football would continue. We parted ways because we believed this squad would be playing better foot ball at this point. “We knew our coach would put emphasis on defence when we brought him in, but we talked about the need to play more dominantly at the end of the season.

Manchester United boss did not secure any tro phies during his solitary year in charge. Fenerbahce suffered a setback in the early stages of the season, failing to qualify for the Champions League. They were narrowly defeated by Benfica, who triumphed in the two-legged tie 1-0, and man aged to secure four points from a possible six to kick off their campaign before parting ways with Mourinho, whose approach ultimately cost him his job. Koc revealed to Turkish sports outlet Fanatik : “Why did we fire Mourinho? I’ll say it for the first