Sports

ADELAIDE: Morocco’s clash with favourites France in the Women’s World Cup on Tuesday will be a special occasion for their players and coach Reynald Pedros as the tournament debutantes aim to continue their fairytale run by reaching the quarter-finals. In one of the most unexpected outcomes of an already unpredictable group stage, Morocco reached the knockouts as runners-up to Colombia …

LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has been appointed to lead the national selection committee comprising team director Mickey Arthur and head coach Grant Bradburn, the country’s cricket board announced on Monday. It will be Inzamam’s second stint in the position, with the 53-year-old having served as chief selector between 2016 and 2019. He will pick the Pakistan squads for the …

MELBOURNE: Sweden beat the United States 5-4 on penalties in their round-of-16 clash to condemn the defending champions to their earliest Women’s World Cup exit on Sunday after the teams were locked at 0-0 at the end of extra time while the Netherlands set up a heavyweight quarter-final clash with Spain after ending South Africa’s historic run with a 2-0 …

CHENNAI: Pakistan and Japan gave it their all in the Asian Champions Trophy round-robin match before settling for a thrilling 3-3 draw here on Sunday. The result keeps both the teams in contention for semi-final berths, with Japan placed fourth on the points table followed by Pakistan on fifth. Both teams went into attacking mode right from the start with …

SILVERSTONE: Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro surged past Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia on the last lap to win a thrilling British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday and take only his second victory in MotoGP. Reigning champion Bagnaia finished runner-up and stretched his overall lead to 41 points after a nail-biting four-way battle in tricky conditions, with South African Brad Binder third for …

LONDON: Arsenal lifted the Community Shield to end Manc­hester City’s silverware streak with a 4-1 penalty shoot-out victory after a 1-1 draw against the treble winners on Sunday. Mikel Arteta’s side forced the shoot-out thanks to Leandro Trossard’s heavily deflected equaliser 11 minutes into stoppage time at Wembley. Cole Palmer’s superb curler had given City the lead late in the …

KABUL: Ace spinner Rashid Khan was named on Sunday in Afghanistan’s 16-member squad for the One-day International series against Pakistan. The sides will contest their first-ever bilateral series in Sri Lanka as they prepare for the Asia Cup later this month and the ODI World Cup in October. The 24-year-old — rega­rded as the world’s top spinner in white ball …

KARACHI: Former Test captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is set to take over as the Pakistan chief selector even as team director Mickey Arthur and head coach Grant Bradburn will know by next week whether they will remain part of the national selection committee, Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported on Saturday. Sources confirmed that Inzamam has given his consent to …

ROME: Gianluigi Buffon has taken a role with the Italian national football team, the goalkeeping great announced on Saturday three days after hanging up his gloves. The 45-year-old will assist head coach Roberto Mancini as Italy’s delegation chief, a post formerly occupied by the late Gianluca Vialli. “The blue jersey is part of my life,” said Buffon, who won the …

LONDON: Manchester United sealed their swoop for Denmark striker Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta for a reported fee of 64 million ($82 million) on Saturday. Hojlund agreed a five-year contract with the option of a further season as United manager Erik ten Hag finally got his wish to bring in a striker ahead of the new Premier League campaign. The 20-year-old …