30/03/2026

SPORTS MONDAY | MAR 30, 2026

29

Poch gets reality check World Cup co-hosts United States thrashed by Belgium in Atlanta T HE United States were routed 5-2 by Belgium on Saturday in a humbling defeat for Mauricio Pochettino’s team as they prepare to co-host this Zeno Debast, Amadou Onana, and Charles De Ketelaere, and a brace from substitute Dodi Lukebakio. Patrick Agyemang grabbed a late conso

SENEGAL defiantly displayed the Africa Cup of Nations tro phy to their supporters yesterday before going on to beat Peru 2-0 in their World Cup warm-up game at the Stade de France. Nicolas Jackson scored four minutes before halftime and Ismaila Sarr added a second in the 54th as Senegal won their first game since January’s Cup of Nations final, when they beat Morocco only to be stripped of the title this month. The Confederation of African Football’s Appeal Board awarded Morocco the Cup of Nations title after Senegal had staged a 14-minute walk off during the final in Rabat, a deci sion that Senegal is contesting at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. An hour before kick off in Paris yesterday, Senegal’s play ers and coach Pape Bouna Thiaw walked around the pitch with the trophy to a delirious reception from a near-capac ity crowd as they continue to scoff at the CAF decision. Thiaw had declared on Friday that “we know we’re African champions” and the team wore a newly designed strip featuring two stars above their badge, representing success in the Cup of Nations in 2021 and again this year. Before the game, nearly 200 Senegal supporters gath ered in front of the nearby Basilica of Saint-Denis before making their way to the stadium to the sound of traditional drums and percussion. The new-elected mayor of Saint-Denis, briefly joined the procession. “Welcome to Saint-Denis,” said the mayor. “I wanted to thank everyone who organised this wonderful initiative. “You are the pride of the residents of working-class neighbourhoods. We have often been discriminated against, often looked down upon. “You are showing that you are capable, at such an important moment, of coming together. Today, Africa is united. Everyone behind Senegal.” The Lions of Teranga are in a strong World Cup group with France, Norway and either Iraq or Peru’s neighbours Bolivia. Peru finished ninth in the 10-team South American group and did not qualify for the finals in Mexico, Canada and the United States. – Reuters/AFP Senegal display Afcon trophy before beating Peru Mexico draw with Portugal in Azteca reopening MEXICO and Portugal played out a 0-0 draw at the Estadio Azteca yesterday in a friendly to mark the sta dium’s reopening ahead of the World Cup. The match doubled as a test event for the revamped stadium, drawing a festive crowd eager to sample the atmosphere ahead of the June 11 to July 19 global football showpiece, which Mexico is co hosting with the US and Canada. “It’s the best possible scenario, as I’ve said; to play here, you’ve got to have guts, because the fans are demanding and want to win and see good football,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre told reporters. “The players gave it their all right to the end against Portugal, who are not an easy team. They’re a top-10 side, a really solid team.” Portugal’s Joao Felix went close in the 14th minute before Goncalo Ramos struck the post midway through the first half. The visitors continued to look the more danger ous side after the break, with Bruno Fernandes firing just wide. Tensions briefly flared between Pedro Neto and Jesus Gallardo, while the introduction of Toluca’s Portuguese striker Paulinho was met with loud cheers from the home crowd. “I think we had 10 shots on goal, which isn’t far off what we were aiming for,” Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said. “What isn’t good is the number of shots on target; we lacked accuracy. “Success or failure isn’t just about the score. There are many more factors at play these days. I think that, after 90 minutes, the team is better prepared for the World Cup.” Mexico almost claimed a late winner through substitute Armando Gonzalez but the for ward’s header went wide. Mexico, who were booed by sections of the crowd at the final whistle, face Belgium in another friendly on Tuesday, while Portugal take on the United States the same day. – Reuters

Lammens, McKennie made no mistake from another corner. The Red Devils could have had several goals in the first half's final few minutes, but settled for a wonderful strike from outside the box by Zeno Debast. After half-time, the floodgates opened. Doku ran down the wing and passed into the box for Onana to side-foot the ball home. Six minutes later, US keeper Matt Turner thought he had made a tremendous double save, but the referee spotted the ball had brushed captain Tim Ream’s arm. De Ketelaere slotted in the penalty. “For me, it wasn’t a penalty,” said Pochettino, who queried why a VAR check failed to convince the official to overturn his on-field decision. The afternoon went from bad to worse, as Belgium made a raft of substitutes on the hour mark, and one of those – Lukebakio – curled in a sumptuous shot under little pres sure. Lukebakio added Belgium’s fifth before Ricardo Pepi took advantage of some sloppy late defending to set up Agyemang. Pochettino said yesterday’s setback could help shape “the approach and the way that we are going to arrive to the World Cup.” “We were so happy against Uruguay, or against Paraguay,” he said. “But to feel sometimes the pain is good.” – AFP

lation for the US, who play Portugal in another high-profile friendly on Wednesday before Pochettino announces his final squad in May. Christian Pulisic, the AC Milan forward who has become a poster boy for Team USA, told AFP that the team needs “to take this on the chin.” “It was a tough loss. It’s a very good team, but in a lot of ways, there’s things that we can do better,” he said. “I have to improve. The team has to improve.” Long seen as minnows at the interna tional level of football, the US hired former Tottenham and Paris Saint Germain coach Pochettino to oversee an increasingly star studded roster including Pulisic and Juventus midfielder McKennie. The US will play all of its games at the World Cup on home soil, further raising expectations. But fans shelling out to support the home team will expect to see far more than they witnessed yesterday. In a fairly even opening half hour, Belgium winger Jeremy Doku threat ened down the left flank, but the US enjoyed the better of the chances. After seeing one effort from a corner saved by Senne

year’s World Cup. The thrashing comes as a wakeup call just 75 days before the tournament for the Americans, who after a good run of recent results were found severely lacking once again when facing top European opposition. “I see this as a good check reality for us, because now is the moment to feel this type of situation, to improve,” said Pochettino. “We need to improve, of course,” he said. The US took an early lead against the world’s ninth-ranked team, with Weston McKennie slotting in to the delight of a packed 67,000 Atlanta crowd.

But the Americans, knowing that their chances of making a deep run in the World Cup will likely depend on beating elite European opposition, saw any hopes of a statement victory dashed. Having con ceded, the

Belgians s w i f t l y came to life, with

a deluge of goals f r om

Combo pics of Charles De Ketelaere (right) and Amadou Onana scoring for Belgium during yesterday’s international friendly match against USA at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. –AFPPIC

Boo-boys irk Clarke after Japan defeat Ű BY RONNIE ESPLIN

against the opposition we played against to still feel positive about what we’re trying to do. “We have another really tough game on Tuesday night in Liverpool against Ivory Coast. Sometimes, I think my players look at me and say ‘come on gaffer what are you doing?’ I always try to pick difficult friendlies. “So another difficult one on Tuesday night and we’ll try and get a positive result to carry it forward, but if the performance is as good and you can take things from the perform ance, you can also carry that forward as well. “That’s why we take the games. This is where you have to be at. This is this is the level you have to reach and if you want to get the points that are going to get you out of the group stage, you have to play to that stan dard.” – The Independent

Asked if he was surprised by the reaction of the fans, Clarke said: “Yes and it disap pointed me to be honest. It’s just the modern way, it seems to be now if you lose a game you get booed. You have just got to deal with it. It disappoints me.” Scotland will face Ivory Coast at Everton’s Hill Dickinson on Tuesday night (Wed 2.30am Malaysian time) as further preparation for the World Cup group games against Haiti, Morocco and Brazil in the summer. Clarke, who expects to make six or seven changes to the side on Merseyside, believes that playing top nations in warm-up games is crucial in order to show his players the level required in North America. He said: “It not a game that you want to lose. But I think there’s enough in that game

STEVE CLARKE revealed his surprise and dis appointment after hearing some boos from the Tartan Army following Scotland’s 1-0 defeat by Japan at Hampden in Glasgow. The Scots were cheered off the pitch in November after a dramatic 4-2 win over Denmark qualified them for the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998. However, their return to the national sta dium for the first of their warm-up games for North America was more sedate. Both sides hit the woodwork in the first half but Hajime Moriyasu’s visitors got the breakthrough in the 84th minute through substitute Junya Ito and the home fans revealed their frustration at the end.