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Tag: Saudi Arabia

  • Russia 2018: Russia, Uruguay advance to Round of Sixteen

    Uruguay’s lone goal victory over Saudi Arabia ensured that Egypt and Saudi Arabia crashed out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in group A, with Russia and Uruguay advancing to the knockout stages.

    Luis Suarez scored the only goal at the Rostov Arena, sweeping in from close range on his 100th appearance for La Celeste. This goal made him the first Uruguay player to score in three FIFA World Cups.

    The Green Falcons had a good outing against Uruguay, far better than their 5-0 dismissal performance to Russia on the opening day, they were made to pay for one lapse by goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais, whose misjudgement allowed Suarez to score.

    Read Also: Russia 2018: Messi misses penalty as Iceland hold Argentina

    With this result, Saudi Arabia are without a win in twelve FIFA World Cup matches and in danger of finishing bottom of their group, as they have in all three previous appearances.

    Russia’s 3-1 win over Egypt on Tuesday means both they and Uruguay have collected maximum points from their two Group A games, with Egypt and Saudi Arabia gathering nothing after two matches.

    Russia and Uruguay will meet on Monday, 25th June, to determine whio finishes top and second place in the group, with both hoping to avoid potential opponents, Portugal or Spain in the round of sixteen.

  • World Cup: Suarez gives Uruguay lead over Saudi Arabia

    • Uruguay 1-0 Saudi Arabia (4pm)
    • Suarez scores from corner (23)
    • Win sees Uruguay into last 16
    • Suarez, Cavani start in attack

    Hammered by hosts Russia in the opening game, Saudi Arabia need a win to stay in the tournament. Today, they are up against Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and co.

    URUGUAY TEAM NEWS

    Team to play Saudi Arabia: Muslera, Varela, Godin, Gimenez, Caceres, Sanchez, Bentancur, Vecino, Rodriguez, Suarez, Cavani.

    SAUDI ARABIA TEAM NEWS

    Team to play Uruguay: Al-Owais, Hawsawi (c), Al-Bulayhi, Al-Burayk, Al-Shahrani, Al-Faraj, Bahbir, Ateef, Al-Jassam, Al-Dawsari, Al-Muwallad

    KEY MATCH STATS

    • Uruguay are looking to win their first two matches of a World Cup tournament for the first time since 1954.
    • Saudi Arabia have failed to score in eight of their last 10 World Cup games.
    • They didn’t have a single shot on target in their opener against Russia.
    • Luis Suarez becomes the sixth Uruguayan to reach 100 caps.

    TODAY’S VENUE

    The Rostov Arena sits on the banks of the Don river one thousand kilometres to the south-east of Moscow. FC Rostov will move in once the tournament.

  • Yemen: Envoy restate commitment to provision of humanitarian aids

    The Foreign Attache with the Embassy of the United Arab Emirate ( UAE ) in Nigeria, Mr Abdulla Alalawi, has said his country’s government would continue to provide humanitarian aids to victims of the war in Yemen.

    Alalawi, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said the provision of comprehensive humanitarian aids by the Arab Coalition worth millions of U.S. Dollars were ongoing.

    The envoy explained that there was need to break deadlock in the political process in the war ravaged Yemen to attain peace, harmony and prosperity for Yemenis and the region in general.

    He said it was regrettable that Hodaida Port, which is the only channel of getting humanitarian aids to Yemenis was in grip of alleged militias.

    He alleged that the militias were using the port to smuggle arms from Iran into Yemen to target the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

    “The port is also where they smuggle missiles, weapons, money and blocked humanitarian aids meant for the victims of the war and the suffering people of Yemen,” he said.

    The Envoy further stated that efforts by UAE under the Arab Coalition for the absolute liberation of the Hodaida Port was still on positive course.

    He said: “Also, efforts in attempt to restore some areas in parts of Yemen through political process had not been totally successful.

    “However, with the un-relented efforts by the coalition, many areas have been restored, example: Aden City and Marep Area.”

    Alalawi alleged that since inception of the war in Yemen over three years ago with a coup on the Legitimate Government of President Hadi, Houthis militias were been backed by the Iranian Regime.

    “However, the UAE and Arab Coalition would continue to support the Legitimate Government of Yemen and comply with UN Security Council resolutions 2216, 2205 and 2140.

    “Also, we will continue to alleviate the humanitarian crisis by increasing the flow of humanitarian aids which we have already started; and try to break deadlock in the political process,’” Alalawi added.

  • Fire forces Saudi Arabia World Cup team plane to land

    A plane carrying the Saudi Arabia national team at the World Cup in Russia was forced to land at Rostov-on-Don airport after a mid-air fire, reports say.
    Flames were seen from the engine as the Russian Airlines Airbus was en route to Rostov where they take on Uruguay on Wednesday.
    A statement from the Saudi Football Federation said no-one was hurt after a ‘minor technical malfunction’.
    “The Saudi Football Federation wishes to reassure everyone about the safety of all members of the mission of the national team after a minor technical malfunction in an engine.
    “The plane landed a few minutes ago at Rostov on Don Airport, and UNOMIG personnel are now safely heading to their residence.”
    Footage that showed fire shooting from the engines underneath the wings was uploaded to Twitter after the plane had landed.

  • Russia 2018: Uruguay pip Egypt 1-0

    Uruguay snatched a late winner as they began their 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign with a dramatic victory over Egypt

    Jose Gimenez headed powerfully into the net in the 90th minute as he met Carlos Sanchez’s free-kick to give the South Americans a winning start in Russia.

    Uruguay had been the better side as Luis Suarez had missed four chances and Edinson Cavani had hit the inside of a post with a 25-yard free-kick.

    Salah, who scored 44 times for Liverpool this season was an unused substitute as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury sustained in last month’s UEFA Champions League final.

    Read Also: Russia 2018: Is this Africa’s time?

    Without Salah, Egypt, though gave an excellent fight to Uruguay, lacked a cutting edge and had looked on course to earn a point in their first match at a World Cup finals since 1990 before Gimenez’s late goal.

    They are now under pressure heading into their second with Russia, while Uruguay can breathe a sigh of relief.

    The result means Russia are top of Group A after their 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in the tournament’s opening game on Thursday.

  • Russia wallop Saudi Arabia 5-0 as 2018 World Cup begins

    Host Russia is currently 2-0 up against Saudi Arabia in the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

    Yuri Gazinskiy  scored the first goal of the 2018 FIFA World Cup after 12’minutes, with Denis Cheryshev getting  the second in 43’minutes

    Earlier, Russian president Vladimir Putin  gave a speech at the Luzhniki Stadium, welcoming the World to Russia.

    “We are sincerely happy to host the World Cup in our country,” he said.

    “Football is truly loved here. Russia is an open, hospitable and friendly country.”

  • W/ Cup kicks off today as Russia battles Saudi Arabia

     

    Finally, today’s here!

    The much awaited 2018 World cup in Russia kicks off today with Host country Russia taking on Saudi Arabia at the 81,000 capacity Luzhniki Stadium. The opener is expected to be watched by millions of spectators across the globe and will be coming after a planned breath taking opening ceremony in which English singer Robbie Williams will be performing.

    The pressure no doubt will be on Russia who had automatic qualification as hosts and who will be playing in front of their home fans and expected to begin their campaign on a winning note.

    The Coach Stanislav Cherchesov’s tutored side has not been in good form ahead of this summer’s finals, with defeats to Brazil and France in March forcing the hosts to double effort in preparation and whatever they have been able to do after those defeats will be showcased today in Moscow.

    Permutations ahead of the opening match indicate that Russia stand 67% chance of winning while Saudi Arabia have 11% chance of pulling surprise a win with 22% chance of the tie ending in a draw.

    A win against Saudi Arabia’s Green Eagles will be a huge ginger ahead of tough group clashes against Egypt and Uruguay. Many believe the cheapest tie the hosts can have is today’s opener.

    In 1993 when the this two teams met in an international friendly played at the Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Sport City Stadium, Al Khobar, the  Saudis ran away with a 4-2 victory

    Interestingly both teams go into the opener with not so impressive pre-world cup runs. Russia have not been able to pull a win in their friendly ties leading the opener and Saudi Arabia on the other hand lost three matches against Italy, Peru and Germany. Formidable opponents you may say, likely to ginger them to want to fight to the finish to tell their countrymen that the friendly matches really don’t matter much but it is performance in the real championship that matters.

    The second match for both teams will not be a tea party and it does appear that win for either side will be a good way to start as it may turn out to be the only victory they can record in the Group.

    Russia may have massive home support but they will be sure to have strong challenge from the Saudis.

    Interestingly it will be the first World cup where the goal-line technology or VAR system will be put into use, aside from that the Referees at the World Cup will wear specifically developed Hublot watches, designed to assist them with VAR.

    The unique edition – that is limited to 2018 pieces and features 32 dials inspired by the flags of the participating countries in this summer’s tournament – will be connected to goal-line technology and an electronic video assistance

    The newly-developed watch will be in use for the first time when hosts Russia kick-off the World Cup in their Group A game against Saudi Arabia on Thursday so the issue of officiating may not be a problem.

    Thirty two countries qualified for the Russian showdown and five African countries Nigeria, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia. Many expect Nigeria and Senegal to rise to the occasion building on their pedigree and experience.  The game has started it is only naturally to sit tight enjoy battle royal as it unfolds, let the war begin!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Sane misses out, Neuer makes Germany World Cup squad

    Leroy Sane was a surprise omission from Joachim Loew’s final Germany squad for the World Cup finals on Monday as goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was named among the 23 players heading to Russia.

    Neuer made the squad despite playing in just one official game, a friendly against Austria on Friday, since breaking a bone in his foot in September but talented 22-year-old Sane was the biggest name to miss out.

    The Manchester City midfielder, goalkeeper Bernd Leno, forward Nils Petersen and defender Jonathan Tah were the four players that failed to make the cut.

    Germany captain Neuer, who won the World Cup four years ago, will also be their first choice keeper for the tournament, ahead of designated number two Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Kevin Trapp.

    Loew announced his squad at the end of a training camp at the Italian Alps.

    The Germans play their last warm-up game against Saudi Arabia in Leverkusen on Friday before the start of the tournament on June 14.

    Germany is in Group F along with Sweden, Mexico and South Korea.

    Squad: Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Paris St Germain).

    Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin), Antonio Ruediger (Chelsea), Niklas Suele (Bayern Munich).

    Midfielders: Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Paris St Germain), Leon Goretzka (Schalke 04), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Sebastian Rudy (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal).

  • Saudi Arabia explores cinema freedom

    INDICATIONS emerge recently, of a potentially rapid cinema business in Saudi Arabia, a country just coming out of a 35-year ban from the silver screen.

    Recall that Marvel’s superhero blockbuster ‘Black Panther’, opened the first movie theater in Saudi Arabia on April 18, ending the nearly four-decade ban on cinemas.

    Making its debut at the Cannes Film Festival this year, the country has no doubt hit the ground, running – with a pavilion that is the talk of town and plethora of coordinated activities which include panel discussions and roundtable conferences featuring both regional and international film figures.

    The country has demonstrated its deep passion for film business, by not just acquiring one of the top three largest pavilions in Cannes, but has a total of 46 delegates from the General Culture Authority and Saudi Film Council, and film and production industry.

    The Saudi Film Council was on hand with a total of 228 minutes of Saudi short films screenings, while also highlighting about 13 Saudi provinces as film locations.

    The country also announced generous rebates for film production in the Kingdom. This include a 35 per cent rebate on all general spending on productions filmed in the Kingdom, rising to a hefty 50 per cent rebate for spend on Saudi labour. Pundits say the rebates put the fledgling film industry in competition with regional media hub rivals, including Abu Dhabi, which offers a 30 per cent rebate, and Morocco, which has a 20 per cent rebate incentive.

    Ahmad Al-Maziad, CEO of Saudi’s General Culture Authority describes the incentive as “a call to come and shoot in Saudi, to enjoy the scenery and the people,” adding that the rebate is not only for feature films, but to animation, documentaries and scripted series.

    Saudi Arabia also used the festival to announce a production partnership with Abu Dhabi’s Image Nation. The agreement includes four feature films, which will be produced by both O3 Productions, the production arm of the Saudi-government-controlled MBC, and Oscar-winning Abu Dhabi production house Image Nation.

  • Iran’s Supreme Leader :Trump’s speech ‘silly, superficial’

    U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he is withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was “silly and superficial”, Iran’s Supreme Leader said on Wednesday, according to his official website.

    “You heard last night that the president of America made some silly and superficial comments,” said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

    “He had maybe more than 10 lies in his comments. He threatened the regime and the people, saying I’ll do this and that.

    “Mr Trump I tell you on behalf of the Iranian people: You’ve made a mistake.”

    Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, reluctantly gave his backing for the Iran nuclear deal and has publicly criticized the U.S. multiple times for not following through on its promises under the agreement.

    On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced the U. S. would no longer remain part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and promised  to re-impose the highest level of economic sanctions against Iran in response to Tehran’s development of  nuclear programme.

    “Egypt stresses importance of the involvement of the concerned Arab states in any dialogue on the future
    of the Middle East, particularly, in relation to possible changes to the Iranian nuclear deal,” the
    Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

    Read Also: European leaders spurn Trump’s withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal

    Cairo urged Iran and regional states to avoid any steps that could undermine security in the Middle East or
    lead to military confrontations, according to the statement.

    Meanwhile, the UAE welcomed Trump’s decision to withdraw from the deal, as it did not guarantee that Iran
    would not acquire nuclear weapon in future, according to the country’s Foreign Ministry’s statement.

    The decision was also welcomed by Saudi Arabia and Israel.

    In response to the U.S. move, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Tehran was not going to
    withdraw from the JCPOA, and that the agreement remained between Iran and the five remaining participants
    of the deal. He noted that the United States never fulfilled the obligations under the nuclear deal, unlike Iran.

    On July 14, 2015, the European Union and the P5+1 group of countries – China, Germany, France, Russia, the
    UK and the U.S., signed the JCPOA with Iran.

    The accord stipulated a gradual lifting of anti-Iranian sanctions in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear
    programme and allowing inspections to ensure that the nature of the program is peaceful.

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