01/10/2025

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | OCT 1, 2025

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Ekitike reveals true thoughts playing alongside Isak Ű BY RICHARD JOLLY

I apologise to everybody, to my teammates. It won’t happen again. I just move on now, I am looking forward.” Slot said Ekitike and Isak were his two top choices in the summer and explained he wanted to get both after the tragic loss of Diogo Jota. “Because of an enormous tragedy with Diogo Jota, in the end we had to bring in two No 9s,” he said. “We always thought we’d replace Darwin Nunez with one No 9, but we had to bring in two. “We have always looked for very good players but it was always clear to us that from the start we wanted these two (Isak and Ekitike) if we needed two.” – The Independent

It is good that Alex is here. For me, at my age, I have a lot of things to improve and learn. “It is good that he is here. It is for the coach to decide how we want to play. I have been playing in a two-striker composition, one striker, I can do a lot of things. If we have to play together, I can do that.” Ekitike was sent off against Southampton last week, when his first booking was for dissent and his second for taking his shirt off. He has vowed there will be no repeat of a dismissal Slot had called “needless” and “stupid”. “That was not smart,” he added. “Obviously, I punished myself a lot. I felt disappointed to watch the boys from home on Saturday. As I said,

Saturday’s defeat to Crystal Palace. Manager Arne Slot has preferred to operate with one striker, flanked by two wingers, but Ekitike formed a prolific partnership with Omar Marmoush at Frankfurt in the first half of last season. Ekitike scored in his first three games for Liverpool, all before Isak signed, but said he welcomed the competition from the newer signing even as he wondered how they will both be accommodated. “Good question,” he said. “It is good, you know? We play in such a big club. I can’t see any big clubs playing with just one striker in the squad.

HUGO EKITIKE said it is a “good question” of how Liverpool use him and Alexander Isak after spending £200 million (RM1.13 billion) on new strikers this summer but has insisted they can play together. Ekitike joined from Eintracht Frankfurt for an initial £69 million (RM390m) and Isak followed from Newcastle for a British record £125 million (RM707m) but the pair are yet to be on the pitch together. In part because the Swede lacked match fitness after his arrival was delayed until deadline day while the Frenchman was suspended for

PSG’s first big test Parisians facing injury crisis as Barcelona knock on door P ARIS Saint-Germain face their biggest test of the sea son so far when the Champions League title expected back for at least another couple of weeks. “It is going well. I will be back very soon,” Dembele told French

South Africa lose World Cup qualifying points SOUTH AFRICA have forfeited a 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Lesotho for fielding an ineligible player, world football governing body Fifa announced yesterday. South Africa’s 2-0 victory on March 21 in Polokwane has been replaced with a 3-0 defeat meaning they drop to second place in Group C of the African qualifiers, behind Benin on goal difference, while Lesotho remain fifth. South Africa violated Article 19 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code by playing Teboho Mokoena after the midfielder had accumulated two yellow cards against Benin and then Zimbabwe, the football body’s disciplinary committee said. South African sports minister Gayton McKenzie said the sanction was “deeply regrettable and has brought embarrassment to our nation”. “We acknowledge that this situation has brought South Africa into disrepute, and we must take full responsibility for addressing it,” he said. “We thank Fifa for swift action and not making us wonder and wait in agony about our fate. “However, our immediate focus must be on rallying behind our national team as they prepare for their crucial final two matches in October.” The South

damage, but suddenly Luis Enrique’s options are being drastically reduced. “We have to stay positive because we need to be able to manage this situation,” the coach, a former Barcelona player and manager, said on Saturday after the win against Auxerre. “Paris Saint-Germain are not the only team with injuries. It is the case for every team with such an intense calendar.” The Parisians played 65 games during 2024/25, in a season spanning 11 months. That included 17 matches in the Champions League and seven in the Club World Cup, where their marathon campaign concluded with a 3-0 loss to Chelsea in mid-July. It seems the effort is catching up with individual players: Dembele has played 99 games for PSG since signing just over two years ago, and 20 for France over the same period. Vitinha has made 113 Achraf Hakimi the figure over the same time is 131 games between club and country – and he has the Africa Cup of Nations coming up this season as well as the World Cup next year. Luis Enrique needs to give these players more of a rest, and figures within football insist too many games damages the product. “ W e appearances for PSG since the start of 2023/24 and 21 more for Portugal. For PSG’s star rightback

think club owners are beginning to realise that this is bad for business,” pointed out Alex Phillips, the secretary general of FifPro, last week. A Champions League showdown between the Spanish champions and the reigning French and European champions is the sort of stage on which the newly crowned best player on the planet should be featuring. Instead PSG may need to dig deep into their resources, although their squad depth is being exposed as perhaps not as strong as it needed to be. Despite that Luis Enrique’s side head to Catalonia off the back of a big 4-0 win against Atalanta in their European opener a fortnight ago. In any case, a defeat here may not prove to be a big setback in terms of achieving their

television after taking the acclaim of the PSG support with the Ballon d’Or trophy following Saturday’s 2-0 win against Auxerre. Coach Luis Enrique has also been missing Desire Doue, the thrilling 20 year-old attacker who finished second to Yamal in the Kopa Trophy ranking – he has not played since suffering a calf injury on France duty at the same time as Dembele. Then there is centreback and captain Marquinhos and all-action Portuguese midfielder Joao Neves, who are nursing thigh and hamstring injuries respectively.

holders visit Barcelona this week, but Luis Enrique’s side come into the game in the midst of an injury crisis affecting several of their biggest stars. The headline absentee is Ousmane Dembele, fresh from winning the Ballon d’Or last week as recognition for his magnificent 2024/25 campaign, in which the France winger scored 35 goals. How Dembele would have loved to come up against the Catalans, the club he left in 2023 after six years in which he showed moments of

brilliance but struggled for consistency – and with injuries. The 28-year old could have taken on

Playmaker Vitinha, third in the Ballon d’Or , came off before halftime at the weekend while K h v i c h a Kvaratskhelia was withdrawn at the interval. PSG’s hope is that both players were taken off early enough to prevent any lasting

main goal of reaching the knockout stage – after all, there will be more than enough g a m e s remaining in

Lamine Yamal, the teenager who he pipped to the Ballon d’Or award but who

did win the Kopa Trophy for the best player in the world last season U-21. But Dembele is still recovering from a thigh injury picked up on international duty with France at the beginning of the month, and is not

the

league

phase.

– AFP

African FA, which can still appeal the decision, must also pay a fine of

10,000 Swiss f r a n c s (RM52,856). – AFP

Lamine Yamal. – REUTERSPIC

Ousmane Dembele. – AFPPIC

Rooney has ‘no faith’ that Amorim can revive Red Devils

MANCHESTER UNITED’S all-time leading scorer Wayne Rooney says the club has lost its soul and has voiced concerns about manager Ruben Amorim’s ability to turn things around after a woeful start to the season. Amorim, who has overseen nine wins, 17 defeats, and seven draws in his 33 league games in charge, has faced mounting pressure with United 14th in the Premier League with seven

And Rooney, who won five league titles during his time at United between 2004-2017, said there was more than just the performances on the pitch to be concerned about. “It’s everything about the club that needs fixing… The soul has gone from the club,” he added.“It needs a new engine, a new lease of life. It needs something to kick-start that football club.” – Reuters

does. But if you’re saying to me, ‘do you believe he will?’, then, after everything I’ve seen, honestly, I’ve got no faith in it.” Minority owner Jim Ratcliffe, who holds roughly 29% of United and oversees football operations, has rolled out cost-saving measures including staff reductions, higher ticket prices and the scrapping of free lunches at staff canteens.

points from six matches. Speaking on his “The Wayne Rooney Show” podcast, yesterday, Rooney said: “I have tried my hand in management and it didn’t work out too well, I get it. “Amorim is my age, and I’m sure he still has a massive future, but what’s going on at Man United, this is not Man United. “I honestly hope he can turn it round and he