Sports

AMMAN — The Jordanian national team, "The Nashama",  is set to face South Korea as part of the Asian World Cup qualifiers, with the match to be played at the Amman International Stadium on Thursday.

The Nashama enters the match after a decent performance in the qualifiers, where they gained points that put them on the top of the group, ahead of South Korea and Iraq on goal difference.

 Coach Jamal Salami spoke to local press about the match, saying it is as important as the rest of the qualifying games in the group.

Salami's list for the match includes 28 players between international and local players, with new names such as Ibrahim Sabra, Mohannad Samarin and Amer Jamous, in addition to Ahmed Ersan, who returned to the squad after his noticeable performance in the recent weeks.

Separately, Moussa Tamari and Yazan Nueimat's chances of starting the match have decreased due to their lack of physical readiness, as Tamari deals with a torn ankle that caused him to miss his team Montpellier's last match against Stade Reims.  Nueimat, who suffered a rib fracture a few weeks ago is participating in Amman, with indications that he may start from the bench line.

As for South Korea, coach Hong Myung-bo described the match as a "final" like the rest of the matches in the group.

Korean press said that South Korea will be without their captain and key player Heung-min Son, who sustained a hamstring injury with Tottenham against Qarabag in the Europa League.

Both teams are unbeaten in their last six matches as the last loss of the South Korean team was against Jordan at the Asian cup and the last loss of the Jordanian team was against Qatar in the final of the Asian Cup.

This is the fourth match between the two teams, as the South Korean team won one game and drew one, while on the last occasion they met, Jordan won 2-0.

MADRID — Fede Valverde and Vinicius Junior strikes helped Real Madrid bounce back from their first defeat since January with a 2-0 win over Villarreal on Saturday in La Liga.

Los Blancos lost in the Champions League at Lille, but are still unbeaten in the Spanish top flight and moved level with leaders Barcelona, before the Catalans visit Alaves on Sunday.

Valverde’s deflected effort and a rocket from Vinicius allowed Madrid to put a four-point gap between them and their third-placed opponents, who battled well but came up fractionally short in the capital.

Madrid’s victory was marred by a late injury to defender Dani Carvajal, who had to be taken off on a stretcher.

“It seems a serious knee injury, it will be looked at in the coming hours,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.

“The players are sad, worried, because something happened that happens a lot, because of the [busy] calendar, and it happened to a very, very important player for us.”

Ancelotti said Vinicius would also have medical tests after being taken off late on with discomfort in his shoulder and neck.

The Italian coach started Kylian Mbappe after the French striker had recovered from a thigh problem.

The former Paris Saint-Germain striker could only appear from the bench in Madrid’s disappointing midweek display.

Mbappe, who France have not selected for upcoming Nations League fixtures, was quiet at the Santiago Bernabeu as his team ground out victory with a determined, rather than inspiring, performance.

Madrid are still missing German midfielder Toni Kroos, although on this occasion he was watching on from a box.

Mbappe sent an early volley off-target from Luka Modric’s corner but it was midfield powerhouse Valverde who broke the deadlock after 14 minutes.

The Uruguayan’s drive from distance deflected off Villarreal playmaker Alex Baena and arced beyond the reach of goalkeeper Diego Conde.

The visitors, enjoying a strong start to the season under coach Marcelino Garcia Toral, came close when Nicolas Pepe’s header clipped the top of the crossbar.

Mbappe had one further chance, bursting into the area with his electric pace, but goalkeeper Conde managed to dispossess him with an outstretched leg.

Villarreal appealed for a penalty early in the second half when Aurelien Tchouameni, playing at centre-back, pulled down Barry, but the French striker was offside.

Baena hit the side-netting of Andriy Lunin’s goal with a free-kick, nearly catching out the Ukrainian goalkeeper standing in for the injured Thibaut Courtois.

Vinicius flashed a shot narrowly wide, before his strike partner Mbappe was replaced with 20 minutes to go by Rodrygo Goes.

Brazil striker Vinicius, who is hoping to win a first Ballon d’Or later in October, netted the second with a superb effort from outside the area, which ripped into the top corner.

Carvajal hurt 

In stoppage time, Spanish right-back Carvajal suffered an injury while attempting to clear the ball under pressure from Yeremi Pino.

“In the end, the result’s a less important thing — Dani’s health is what matters,” Valverde told Real Madrid TV.

“The game was fine, it was neither very good or bad, it was what we had to do to win, two goals was enough.”

Villarreal defender Raul Albiol was also concerned about Carvajal.

“It looked bad... let’s hope it’s the least [damage] possible, because we all know how important he is for Real Madrid and Spanish football,” he said.

The centre-back said Madrid were efficient with their finishing and that made the difference.

“They have a lot of attacking punch and more or less with three chances they had two goals,” he said.

Earlier, nine-man Celta Vigo earned a 1-0 win at bottom-of-the-table Las Palmas.

The Canary Islanders were unable to record their first win of the season even after Ilaix Moriba and Iago Aspas’ red cards for Celta, who climbed to ninth thanks to Borja Iglesias’ goal.

Osasuna moved into fifth with a 1-1 draw at Getafe, while Espanyol beat Mallorca 2-1 and Rayo Vallecano won at Valladolid by the same score.

MILAN, Italy — Antonio Conte has taken Napoli back to the top of Serie A for the first time since they won the title in 2023 but he says while the fans can dream of regaining the crown “I have to keep my feet on the ground.”

The next test of their title credentials comes on Friday as they host in-form Como, coached by former Spain and Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas.

Napoli, perhaps benefitting from not being engaged in European competition, after a disastrous defence of their crown resulted in them finishing 10th last season, go into the seventh round of matches a point clear of Juventus at the top.

However, it is a congested table with AC Milan, Inter Milan and previous tabletoppers Torino just two points off Napoli on 11.

A further three clubs are on 10 points and Como, on the back of two successive victories, are a respectable 10th with eight points.

Inter Milan host Torino on Saturday, coming into the game fresh from a good win in the Champions League league phase — and with Argentinian star Lautaro Martinez rediscovering his scoring form.

Torino will want to get back to winning ways after two successive home defeats, in the cup against Empoli and then to Lazio in the league.

Juventus and AC Milan both have good opportunities to pick up three points to keep the pressure on Napoli.

Juventus host lowly Cagliari on Sunday with AC Milan travelling to mid-table Fiorentina.

Little wonder the no-nonsense Conte is not permitting himself to make any bold predictions with the season still young.

Indeed the 55-year-old, who has won the Serie A title four times as a coach — guiding Juventus to three Scudettos and Inter Milan to one — sees both sides of the coin regarding the southern side’s lack of involvement in European competition.

“There is an advantage and a disadvantage — the advantage is that you can train the team all week, the disadvantage is that the squad is not as competitive as those that do play in Europe,” Conte told DAZN.

‘High expectations’

Conte, who due to being a proven winner is regarded as worth hiring despite a history of taking on club directors, said so much had happened at the club recently — including the departure of Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen, in a surprising loan move to Turkish club Galatasaray — they still need time to settle down.

“Not even three months have passed, the president [Aurelio De Laurentiis] is the first to have spoken of a total reconstruction,” he said.

“Osimhen and [Piotr] Zielinski left. I know there are high expectations for me because I have done important things.

“Let’s let the fans dream, but I have to keep my feet on the ground. I hear people talking who know nothing about Scudettos.”

Fabregas is making a good fist of his first senior coaching role, his side winning 3-2 in both their last two Serie A matches against Atalanta and Verona.

Patrick Cutrone is showing the form that earned him an Italy cap in 2018. His brace against Verona took the 26-year-old’s tally to four for the campaign.

He faces a sterner test in the Napoli defence, who have conceded just four goals so far, and Fabregas is more concerned by his own defenders, who have let in 11.

“We can’t keep conceding two goals in every match, so we should keep analysing our mistakes and improve,” the 37-year-old World Cup winning midfielder told HellasLive.

BEIJING — Carlos Alcaraz roared back from a set down to beat World No.1 Jannik Sinner in a thriller and win his first China Open title on Wednesday.

The four-time Grand Slam champion edged a captivating final 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) for his fourth ATP crown of the year and 16th overall.

The Spaniard, who will return to number two in the world behind Sinner, was 3-0 down in the final-set tie break only to fight back and win in three hours, 21 minutes.

The longest men’s singles match in China Open history ended Sinner’s run of 14 victories in a row and saw him deposed as the Beijing champion after an almighty fight.

Alcaraz called it “a special win” that was even more satisfying in light of his shock second-round exit at the recent US Open.

He hopes it will win the sport more fans.

“When Jannik and I play it’s a good thing for tennis because we always show a really intense match, really close match, great points, great rallies,” he said.

“I think for the people who don’t watch tennis, probably thanks to these kind of matches, they will start to watch tennis or even practise it.”

US Open champion Sinner reached the final in Beijing under fresh scrutiny.

The Italian has admitted to sleepless nights over his doping case, which was reignited at the weekend when the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it had appealed against a decision to clear him.

He called it one of the toughest matches he had ever played.

“These kind of matches can really go both ways, but it was not my day,” said Sinner.

“He played better in the important moments, that’s it.”

‘Great battle’ 

In front of a packed house, the early exchanges were nervy with both players under immediate pressure on their service games.

Sinner, 23, was the first to blink, with second-seeded Alcaraz breaking for a 3-1 lead and celebrating with a fist pump.

The Spaniard held easily for 4-1 and had his opponent rattled.

Alcaraz, 21, served for the set but Sinner grabbed the break back when he needed it most.

Sinner then saved set point on his own serve to force the tie break, and saved another in the tie break before taking the set at his first opportunity when Alcaraz fired long.

It was the first set Alcaraz had dropped all week.

The second set was just as tight.

Both players saw chances come and go but they went with serve until Alcaraz broke for 5-4, before holding with ease to send the final into a third set.

The decider again went to a tie break, where Alcaraz finally prevailed on his first match point.

“It was a great battle again,” said Sinner, who twice tested positive for a steroid in March but was cleared of wrongdoing and allowed to keep playing.

In August, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted Sinner’s explanation that the drug entered his system unintentionally when his physiotherapist used a spray containing it to treat a cut, then provided massage and sports therapy to the player.

WADA said on Saturday it had appealed and was seeking a ban of up to two years.

Ruthless Sabalenka 

In the women’s draw, top seed Aryna Sabalenka won her 15th match in a row to power into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Madison Keys.

The US Open champion will face Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.

World No.2 Sabalenka is on a collision course in the semifinals with China’s Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, who faces 43rd-ranked Amanda Anisimova in the last 16 later Wednesday.

KANPUR, India — Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed 51 on Tuesday as India pulled off a remarkable seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in a rain-hit second Test in Kanpur that lost two-and-a-half days to bad weather.

The hosts bundled out Bangladesh for 146 before lunch on the fifth and final day and, needing 95 for victory, reached 98-3 in just 104 balls in the second session.

“To be honest we had to think a lot to keep the game moving forward,” said skipper Rohit Sharma.

“When we came on day four, we wanted to get them out as early as possible and see what we can do with the bat.”

Jaiswal reached his second fifty of the match in 43 balls including eight fours and one six before falling to Taijul Islam, ending a 58-run stand with Virat Kohli.

Former captain Kohli hit 29 and was there at the end as Rishabh Pant hit the winning boundary.

Bangladesh spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz had earlier removed Rohit, for eight, and Shubman Gill, for six.

The series victory extends India’s lead at the top of the World Test Championship rankings ahead of Australia in second.

India rode on Jaiswal’s 72-run blitz in the first innings to force a result in a match which saw no play on Saturday and Sunday because of rain and a wet outfield.

‘We didn’t bat well’ 

Bangladesh resumed their second innings on 26-2 on the final day, 26 runs behind, but the batting fell apart during the first session, with opener Shadman Islam top scoring on 50.

“We didn’t bat well,” admitted Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto.

“If you look at all our batters, they played 30 to 40 balls and then got out. It’s important for one batsman to get big runs.”

Ashwin, fellow spinner Ravindra Jadeja and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets apiece.

Mushfiqur Rahim frustrated India to delay the lunch break and was last man out when Bumrah bowled him for 37.

Off-spinner Ashwin broke through in the third over of the day when he had first-innings centurion Mominul Haque caught at leg slip by KL Rahul for two.

Left-arm spinner Jadeja, who had taken his 300th Test wicket on Monday, struck in his first over of the day when he bowled Najmul, who had made 19.

Shadman reached his fifty off 97 balls but fell almost immediately after to fast bowler Akash Deep.

Jadeja also picked up the wicket of veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, caught and bowled without scoring, in what could be the former captain’s last Test for Bangladesh.

Shakib, 37, announced his international retirement ahead of the match, which could be his swansong if he is unable to return home for a scheduled South Africa series.

“I am not sure, but as far as I know, he will be playing the South Africa series,” said Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe when asked about Shakib.

Bangladesh was bowled out for 233 when they resumed their first innings on Monday.

India then batted at a blistering pace as they declared on 285-9 from just 34.4 overs.

The teams now head into a three-match T20 series starting on Sunday in Gwalior.

AMMAN — The CFI Professional Football Leagueended week 6 and heads into a two week breakwith three teams leadings the  standings.

Hussein, Ramtha, Ahli, lead with Wihdat and Faisali trailing as clubs head into a break until October 17 for the national team’s upcoming Group B/Round 3 matches in 2026 World Cup qualifying matches against South Korea on October 10 and OmanOctober 15. Jordan so fart beat Palestine 3-1 and held Kuwait 1-1 in the first two matches.

During the past week, Wihdat beatAhli 2-1, Faisali beat Aqaba 3-1, Hussein beat Salt 2-0, Ma’an held Jazira 0-0, Shabab Urdun beat Sarih 2-1 and Ramthabeat Mughayer Sarhan4-0.

During the break, Football Shield matches will resume as of October 4 without national team players.

In the 2023/2024 season, Hussein won the Pro League title for the first time becoming the 9thchampions since the League kicked off in 1944. Neighbors Ramtha, won the 2022 title for the third time in their history after 39 yearsas the past two seasons had clubs from the north have dominate the league.

Other competitions, saw Wihdat win the Jordan Cup for the 12th time as well as the Super Cup for their 15th time, whileFaisali won their 9th Jordan Football Association Shield. 

Faisali are 35-time record league champs while Wihdat won 17 times since first joining in 1980. Ahli won eight times, Ramtha and Jazira three times, ShababUrdun twice, Hussein, Amman and Urdun clubs once.

AMMAN  —  Jordan qualified to the U20 Asian Cup despite losing to hosts Qatar 3-2 in U-20 Asian Cup Group J qualifiers which ended in Doha Sunday evening.

Following the third round of matches, Qatar topped Group J and Jordan qualified as one of five best second placed teams to the U-20 Asian Cup scheduled for China in February 2025 - a qualifying tournament to the U20 World Cup.

Jordan had an impressive run in the event beating Singapore 2-0 and Hong Kong 7-0, as Qatar beat Singapore 3-0 and Hong Kong 2-0  while Hong Kong beat Singapore 2-0. 

The 45 Asian teams played the AFC qualifiers in 10 groups, with the group winners and five best second-placed teams advancing to the finals. Qualifying teams were Syria from Group A, Uzbekistan from Group B, South Korea from Group C, Saudi Arabia and Australia from Group D, North Korea from Group E, Indonesia and Yemen from Group F, Iran from Group G, Iraq and Thailand from Group H, Japan and Kyrgyzstan from Group I.

The Asian Cup,  previously known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial competition organised by the HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Football_Confederation" \o "Asian Football Confederation"Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams of Asia.  

Jordan qualified to the finals for the 9th time and hope and repeat their 2006 feat when they finished fourth in the U-20 Asian Cup  and advanced to the U-20 World Cup in 2007. In previous Asian Cup editions, the team’s best performance was reaching the semifinals in 2006, exiting the group stages in 1977, 1978, 2008, 2010, 2018; exiting the quarterfinals in 2012  and 2023. In the past decade, they did not qualify in 2014 and 2016.

Jordan is currently preparing to host the U-17 Asian Cup qualifiers set for October with the Kingdom playing Group A alongside Iran, Syria, Hong Kong, and North Korea.  In 2022, they hosted Group A qualifiers for the U-17 Asian Cup but failed to advance.  The team also could not retain their West Asian Championship title and exited Round  1.

Similarly, the U-23 squad exited the 6th AFC U-23 Asian Cup – a qualifier to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.  It was the Kingdom’s 6th time at the U-23 Asian Cup (previously the Asian Championship). Their best performance was finishing 3rd in 2013. They reached the quarterfinals in 2016 and 2020 and were eliminated from the first round in 2018 and 2022. Previous champions are Iraq 2013, Japan 2016, Uzbekistan 2018, Korea 2020, Saudi Arabia 2022, Japan 2024.

LONDON — Manchester City felt the absence of star midfielder Rodri as the Premier League champions were held to a damaging 1-1 draw at Newcastle, while Cole Palmer scored four times in Chelsea's 4-2 win against Brighton on Saturday.

City's second successive draw in the league was especially frustrating as Arsenal climbed above them with a last-gasp 4-2 win against Leicester a few hours later.

Rodri has been ruled out for the rest of the season after surgery on a knee injury suffered in last weekend's bruising 2-2 draw with title rivals Arsenal.

Josko Gvardiol put City in front at St James' Park, but Newcastle were well worthy of the point given to them by Anthony Gordon's second-half penalty.

Guardiola described Rodri, who is unbeaten in his past 52 Premier League appearances stretching back to February 2023, as "irreplaceable".

To fill the void left by the Spaniard, Rico Lewis was thrust into a central midfield role alongside Mateo Kovacic.

But City lacked the control and poise so often provided by Rodri on and off the ball.

"It is always difficult here with their physicality and they defend so deep. We had chances but [Nick] Pope [the goalkeeper] was brilliant so we take the point," said Guardiola.

"We made bad decisions [with the chances] to make it 2-0."

At the Emirates Stadium, Gabriel Martinelli put Arsenal ahead in the 20th minute with his first goal this season, the Brazilian winger drilled a low finish inside the far post from Jurrien Timber's cross.

Martinelli turned provider on the stroke of half-time, setting up Leandro Trossard to stroke in Arsenal's second goal.

James Justin reduced the deficit with a deflected 47th-minute effort and stunned the Emirates Stadium into silence in the 63rd minute when his thunderous volley cannoned in off the woodwork.

But Mikel Arteta's men stole the points four minutes into stoppage-time when Trossard's shot deflected off Leicester's Wilfred Ndidi for an own goal, with Kai Havertz netting moments later to confirm the victory.

Palmer runs riot 

Palmer became the first player ever to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match with a stunning display at Stamford Bridge.

Former Brighton duo Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez were guilty of mistakes when Georginio Rutter put the Seagulls ahead in the seventh minute.

Just moments after hitting the post and then having a goal disallowed, it was third time lucky for Palmer in the 21st minute.

Palmer equalised with a clinical finish after Nicolas Jackson seized on Adam Webster's mistake to tee up his fellow forward.

When Jadon Sancho was tripped in the area by two Brighton defenders, there was never any doubt that penalty expert Palmer would step up to dispatch the 28th-minute spot-kick with ease.

Palmer completed his nine-minute-and-48-second treble in the 31st minute, curling a brilliant free-kick past Bart Verbruggen from 25 yards to make it five goals in six league games this term.

Carlos Baleba pulled one back in the 34th minute, but Palmer's incredible afternoon wasn't over and, in the 41st minute, the England star converted Sancho's pass with an emphatic strike.

West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek rescued a 1-1 draw at Brentford, who made Premier League history thanks to Bryan Mbeumo's quick-fire opener.

Under-fire Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui saw his side fall behind after just 37 seconds as Mbeumo's superb volley made Brentford the first Premier League team to score in the first minute in three consecutive games.

But Soucek swept in West Ham's 54th-minute equaliser to avoid a fourth defeat in their last five games in all competitions.

Dwight McNeil struck twice in the second half as Everton beat Crystal Palace 2-1 to end their winless start to the league season, just days after the Goodison Park takeover by a group led by American billionaire Dan Friedkin.

Raul Jimenez's 51st-minute penalty gave Fulham a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest.

Liverpool will go top of the table if they win at Wolves in Saturday's late game.