03/06/2026

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | JUNE 3, 2026

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Nordic statement Norway riding high after 3-1 win over rival Sweden ahead of World Cup

Norway’s Antonio Nusa (right) celebrates with Oscar Bobb after scoring his team’s second goal during a friendly match against Sweden at Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo on Monday. – REUTERSPIC

N ORWAY signed off their World Cup preparations on home soil with a resounding 3-1 win over neighbours Sweden on Monday as the country rides the crest of a sporting wave not normally seen outside the Winter Olympics. With striker Erling Haaland watching from the stands, Jorgen Strand Larsen scored either side of a cracker from winger Antonio Nusa to race into a 3-0 first half lead, and a second half goal for the Swedes from Alexander Isak did lit tle to dampen the enthusiasm of

pionship in Zurich, for the nation’s best-ever finish in the tournament, and that squad was honoured at halftime on a grey evening in Oslo that still sparkled with sporting joy. Before the game, the Norwegian players were shown a video message from cross country skiing legend Petter Northug, whose entire glittering career was one long rivalry with the Swedes, with the Norwegian emerging victorious more often than not. “Make me proud. Humble them. Incite them. It’s okay to be a little on the edge,” Northug said in the video, and the players took him at his word. “When the king speaks, he who has beaten Sweden so many times, you just have to follow up,“ defender Leo Ostigard said. The Norwegians brushed aside the stumbling Swedes and will take on Morocco in a friendly in New Jersey yesterday before beginning their World Cup Group I cam paign, which will pit them against Iraq, Senegal and France. For Graham Potter’s Sweden, who will contest Group F against Tunisia, Japan and Netherlands, the game was a forgettable one as they repeatedly fluffed their lines, but they got some comfort from an unlikely source. “Nobody will remember this game if Sweden go further than Norway in the World Cup. “This was a friendly,” skier Northug told Swedish newspaper Sportbladet , for once declining to twist the knife on his Swedish rivals. – Reuters

the Norwegian fans as they look forward to their first men’s World Cup finals in 28 years.

“I feel like we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing for a long time now, just keep enjoying ourselves and it will be fun soon,” a beaming Nusa said afterthe final whis tle.

O n Sunday, sports-mad Norwegians saw their ice hockey team stun Canada to secure the bronze medal at the world ice hockey cham

SHORTS

Perez, a former Athletic Bilbao midfielder, who began his head coaching career with Rayo Vallecano. Austria fight back MARCEL SABITZER netted a second half winner for 10-man Austria as they overcame early scares to beat Tunisia 1-0 yesterday in their World Cup warm-up international at the Ernst Happel Stadium. Sabitzer, winning his 98th cap, swept home a square pass from the right flank from Stefan Posch to break the deadlock in the 63rd minute. Austria had been on the back foot after Konrad Laimer was dismissed in the 37th minute for a deliberate handball that denied Tunisia a goals coring chance. Austria showed much resilience in fighting back after the break, and could have been two up with Tunisia goalkeeper Abdelmouhib Chamakh pushing substitute Marco Friedl’s effort onto the post, and then Posch hitting the rebound onto the crossbar. World Cup scam LESS than two weeks before the World Cup kicks off, Toronto Police announced yesterday that they made the largest known seizure of counterfeit soccer jerseys in Canadian history. Officers seized over C$3.5 million (RM10m) worth of counterfeit merchandise from a Mississauga warehouse, they said, including more than 16,000 fraudulent jerseys and flags bearing fake Fifa, Nike, Adidas and Puma branding, as well as two counterfeit World Cup trophies. Two men have been arrested and charged, the police said. A complaint to the Toronto Police Service Fifa Planning Team Investigative Unit in May alleged that the accused were supplying products to retail stores and acting as a distributor of fraudulent merchandise.

League side said in a statement yesterday. Iniesta retired in 2024 and last played at Emirates Club in the UAE. “Joining Gulf United FC feels like the right place to begin this new chapter,” the 42-year-old said. “Football has given me everything, and now I want to give something back through coaching, through learning, and through working every day with young players who have the hunger and the talent to go far.” Monaco sack Pocognoli FRENCH club Monaco yesterday confirmed that Belgian coach Sebastien Pocognoli has been sacked after just under eight months in the job. Pocognoli had one more year left on his con tract but paid for a seventh-place Ligue 1 finish which saw the club miss out on Champions League football next season. Monaco secured a spot in the Uefa Conference League playoffs. “AS Monaco announces the end of its collabo ration with Sebastien Pocognoli at the conclusion of the 2025/26 season,” the club said in a state ment. Pocognoli, 38, joined Monaco last October from Union Saint-Gilloise in place of Adi Hutter. After a difficult start to the season, the former Belgium international led Monaco into contention for a top-three finish with a 10-match unbeaten run. However, a poor end to the campaign cost them a shot at Champions League qualification. According to several media reports, ex-Chelsea and Atletico Madrid defender Filipe Luis is favour ite to take over. The 40-year-old left Flamengo in March, having won the Copa Libertadores last

Genesio’s departure. Ancelotti has signed a two year deal but will only arrive in northern France after the World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 19. The 36-year-old is in line for his second spell as a head coach having spent six months at Brazilian outfit Botafogo last year. “I’m very proud and happy. It’s an honour to represent Lille. They are a serious, ambitious, com petitive club who are regularly playing European football,” the AC Milan academy product said. Davide is part of his Brazil head coach father’s coaching team for the World Cup. “He’s committed to the Brazilian football fed eration and as he told me, the last challenge with his dad,” the four-time French champions’ presi dent Olivier Letang told reporters. “Once we were certain we weren’t in the (Champions League) qualifiers, we said he could experience the adventure with Brazil to the very end. Potentially he’ll arrive at the latest on July 20,” he added. Perez takes charge SPANISH club Villarreal announced yesterday the appointment of Inigo Perez as coach on a three year contract, following the departure of Marcelino Garcia Toral. “Villarreal CF have reached an agreement with Inigo Perez, who will be the first team manager for the next three seasons, until June 2029,” the La Liga club said in a statement. Perez takes charge after Marcelino failed to reach agreement on a contract renewal after lead ing the club to third place in La Liga and Champions League football next season. Perez arrives after two-and-a-half-years at the helm of the Madrid-based Rayo Vallecano who fin ished eighth in La Liga this season. The 38-year-old led Rayo to the Conference League final which they lost last week to Crystal Palace. Villarreal will be the second team managed by

Messi landmark falls A giant statue of football superstar Lionel Messi was taken down in India yesterday after it was spotted swaying dangerously in the wind, authori ties said. Hydraulic cranes and ropes were used to dis mantle the 21-metre sculpture in Kolkata, the capi tal of West Bengal state, before it was taken away on an open-top flatbed truck, AFP journalists saw. “The statue was removed on Monday after noon after locals complained it was swaying in the wind,” state lawmaker Sharadwat Mukherjee told AFP . Mukherjee said the statue would be kept in a government warehouse while authorities decide on a new location. The gold-coloured statue, depicting the 38 year-old Argentina and Inter Miami star lifting the World Cup trophy, was unveiled in December dur ing Messi’s much-publicised GOAT tour of India. The statue was reportedly designed under the patronage of former chief minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, and was criticised by the new BJP sports minister Nisith Pramanik as “unsightly”. Maestro takes charge FORMER Barcelona and Spain player Andres Iniesta has been appointed head coach of Gulf United, the United Arab Emirates second-tier club said. Iniesta was at the heart of the Spain and Barcelona midfield during a period of sustained success for both teams in the late 2000s and early 2010s, and scored the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final. “Having obtained his A Licence, the World Cup winner and Champions League-decorated mid fielder has joined as head coach… as he pro gresses towards his Pro Licence and takes his first steps on the touchline,” the UAE First Division

year with the Brazilian club. Lille turn to Ancelotti

LIGUE 1 side Lille announced yesterday that Brazil assistant coach Davide Ancelotti, the son of Carlo, would be their new boss, a week after Bruno