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LE MANS, France — Fernando Alonso celebrated a “lucky” second straight Le Mans 24 Hour race title on Sunday in a Toyota, the two-time Formula One champion sharing the wheel with Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.

Another Toyota driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, was in the lead and on course for victory only to suffer a puncture one hour from the finish.

Entering the closing stages Spaniard Alonso’s car with Nakajima driving lagged over a lap behind the other Toyota hybrid, before fortune intervened to gift them the advantage, and victory in the 87th edition of Le Mans in front of a crowd of over 250,000 committed motor enthusiasts.

Alonso’s No. 8 entry crossed the line 17 seconds clear of the pole-sitting No. 7 after 385 laps of the iconic circuit.

“It was luck that gave us the trophy, we’ll take it, because motorsport is like that. I hope they’ll win next year,” said Alonso.

His Swiss teammate Buemi, also a former F1 driver, added: “It wasn’t fair for the No. 7 car.

“I can imagine what they are feeling after 2016 in the last lap for us, it must be terrible.”

Three years ago Buemi was in the team assured of victory only for their Toyota to lose power when in the lead on the final lap.

The 1-2 outcome was a carbon copy of 2018 and it handed Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima the endurance drivers’ title with Toyota having taken the constructors’ crown last month.

A distant third was the SMP entry driven by Vitaly Petrov, Mikhail Aleshin and Stoffel Vandoorne.

Toyota’s post-race tweet contained mixed emotions: “Dramatic and unexpected end to the race, but it’s a TOYOTA one-two nonetheless. We feel so sorry for our #7 crew, but big congratulations to our new @FIAWEC World Champions and two-time Le Mans winners.”

Alonso, 37, lined up in the classic race after having failed in his latest bid to complete motor racing’s “Triple Crown” when he missed out on qualifying for the Indy 500 last month.

A Toyota win this year was all but guaranteed as for the last two seasons they have been the only manufacturer on the grid after Porsche and Audi pulled out of the elite LMP1 class which this year featured just six other cars.

Although Alonso will not be with them in 2020, Toyota will be back after confirming they will enter a ‘hypercar’ under new regulations aimed at boosting competition and trimming costs.

Aston Martin said they too will send a team next year.

As dawn broke over the circuit in the Sarthe region of France only five of the eight cars in top LMP1 category remained.

The SMP Racing car of Stephane Sarrazin, Egor Orudzhev and Sergey Sirotkin was forced to abandon the race at around 2 am as it was in third place. With Orudzhev at the wheel, it went off the track and was too damaged to continue.

Most of the drama in the early hours of the race was down the field.

The Corvette of Swiss driver Marcel Fassler spun after contact with the Porsche of Japan’s Satoshi Hoshino who is driving for the team backed by film star Patrick Dempsey.

After two violent clashes with the safety barriers, the Corvette had to be lifted off the circuit by a crane with the crew forced to abandon.

While Alonso is bypassing Le Mans next year to concentrate on other projects, probably the Dakar Rally, he said he would return.

“This isn’t my last lap at Le Mans. I’ll be back in the future, perhaps in a hypercar or something else,” he told the circuit’s radio station.

AMMAN  — Jordan dropped to 98th in the latest FIFA World Rankings issued on the weekend, which came after Jordan played  two friendly matches this month.

The national team lost to Slovakia 5-1 before beating Indonesia 4-1 as the team gears up for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Qatar and 2023 Asian Cup in China.

The team’s latest results were under scrutiny by observers, while others noted the team’s coaching staff should be given a chance to try the line-up of players before heading into the qualifiers. 

Once among the Asia top 10, Jordan is now 16th in the continent lagging behind relatively uncompetitive Asian teams compared to their best FIFA ranking of 37th in 2004.

Jordan trails Iran (20), Japan (28), South Korea (37), Australia (43), Qatar (55), the UAE (69), Saudi Arabia (69), China (73), Iraq (77), Uzbekistan (82), Syria (85), Oman (86), Lebanon (86), Kyrgyzstan (95) and Vietnam (96).

Belgium is in top spot with World Cup champs France in second spot, followed by Brazil, England, Portugal, Spain, Croatia, Uruguay, Switzerland and Denmark. 

Tunisia is the top-ranked Arab team at 25, followed by Morocco (47), Qatar (55), and Egypt (58).

After elimination from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, playing in the Asian finals became Jordan’s focus, but that ambition ended in the Round of 16. Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan reached the Asian Championship four times: the highlight was at the 13th Asian Cup in 2004, when it lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37. Jordan also reached the Asian Cup in 2011 and 2015 and 2019.

The national team’s best peak performance was in 2013 when the team was on the verge of qualifying to the 2014 World Cup for the first time and advanced to play then World’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie. The Kingdom had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since taking part in qualifiers. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times in the qualifiers since 1986.

AMMAN — Wihdat host Lebanon’s Ahed on Monday in the 7pm match at Kind Abdullah Stadium in leg 1 of the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup West Asia zone semis.

Jazira will play Syria’s Jeish in Manama, Bahrain, on Tuesday in the other semifinal and hope to further advance in the second-tier Asian club competition.

Wihdat beat Palestine’s Quds 2-0 to head Group A, while Jazira eliminated titleholders Kuwait Club 2-1 to advance.

The top teams from the three competing west Asian groups (Wihdat, Jazira and Ahed) in addition to the best second placed team (Jeish) moved to the semifinal round of the zone with the winner advancing to the eventual competition final against the East Asia champ.

AMMAN — Mohammed Al Foqahaa closed the gap on overall leader Raafat Haroun by winning the 3rd Round of the 2019 Jordan Drift Championship at the Sofex track, in Marka, on Friday, according to the Jordan Motorsport Media Service. 

Foqahaa scored 374 points in his BMW E30 to finish two points clear of Haroun, who retains top spot in the series. Abdullah Abu Hussein came in third place, while Egypt’s Ahmed Zardak finished fourth and Abdullah Soror was fifth out of a field of 36 starters.

Meanwhile, the Jordan Rotax Max Kart Championship saw Amir Najjar draw level with Manaf Hijjawi at the top of the standings by winning the round by just 0.58 of a second, and pushing the 2018 Champion into second place. Hisham Najjar picked up another third spot.

The Mini event was won by Sanad Hamawi, beating Feisal Nashkho by 0.7 of a second. The fourth round of the Drift Championship will be held on August 2, while the second round of the Karting takes place on July 13.

LONDON ― Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has hired some of the world’s highest-profile managers during his 16-year reign, but relative rookie Frank Lampard is emerging as the favourite to occupy the Stamford Bridge hotseat.

With Italian Maurizio Sarri’s departure to Juventus reported to be imminent, club talisman Eden Hazard already departed to Real Madrid and a FIFA transfer ban looming, Chelsea have arrived at a crossroads.

Derby County boss Lampard, adored by the Chelsea faithful for his record-breaking goalscoring exploits during a trophy-laden 13 years in west London, could be the ideal candidate to lead them in a new direction.

The 40-year-old earned plaudits for taking Derby into the championship play-offs in his first year as a manager even if they just missed out on promotion to Aston Villa, for whom former team mate John Terry is part of the coaching staff.

During a playing career in which he won 11 major trophies with Chelsea, Lampard always stood out as a smart cookie.

He has taken his inquisitive mind into the managerial ranks and proved a fast learner at Derby where his blueprint was an intelligent passing game and a trust in youngsters.

Three of them ― Chelsea loanees Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham ― were involved in the playoff final at Wembley and could all be back at Stamford Bridge next season.

With teenager Callum Hudson-Odoi having made the breakthrough under Sarri last season, Lampard would appear the ideal choice to construct a Chelsea side based on youth, perhaps with Derby assistant and former teammate Jody Morris, alongside.

Conversely, Lampard might feel it is the wrong time to make such a big move ― especially with the likely handicap of no summer signings and the vast chasm that already exists between Manchester City and Liverpool and the rest.

He would, however, be welcomed by the fans who would show him more patience than they did Sarri despite him taking them to third in the Premier League and winning the Europa League.

Several former team mates are in no doubt that he would be a success if given the chance to return to the club he left to join Manchester City in 2014.

“He is the perfect choice. People talk about experience and what-not but what experience did Pep [Guardiola] have when he went into Barcelona’s first team? He trained the younger kids at the club,” Rio Ferdinand said this week.

“Frank knows the club and he knows the players and the players will respect him. You can see he can carry himself in a particular way in front of the media and in the football club and he can change things within a season.”

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba says Lampard’s lack of top-flight managerial experience should not be a factor.

“Does he have to wait until he is 50 to be ready?” Drogba was quoted in the Metro. “I think it depends on your experience and depends on your desire to succeed and do it.

“If he feels ready I don’t think it is too early.”

While Sarri is still officially in charge, the prospective list of replacements is already lengthening.

Rafa Benitez’s name crops up regularly, as does that of Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Nuno Espirito Santo while if Abramovich again wanted a marquee name, Massimiliano Allegri, who won five Serie A titles in a row, tops the list.

PARIS — France’s last group game against Nigeria at the women’s World Cup will be a double-edged sword as a draw will see them advance as top of Group A, but will also send them towards a likely quarter-final clash against the United States. 

Les Bleus laboured to a 2-1 win against 1995 champions Norway on Wednesday after thrashing South Korea in the tournament’s opening game last Friday. 

The US are widely expected to also progress top of their group after claiming a record 13-0 victory against Thailand. The draw shows that Group A and Group F winners, if it wins its last-16 match, will face each other for a place in the last four on June 28 in Paris. 

“We saw them against Thailand. Very strong team, we know that. But it’s still far away and we feel that the fans are behind us, they’re pushing us. We’ll see,” said defender Marion Torrent. 

The prospect of facing the three-time world champions does not seem to worry coach Corinne Diacre, who does not want to see past the June 17 match against African champions Nigeria in Rennes. 

“I take it game by game. We want a perfect record,” she said. 

“We are still underdogs [in the competition]. We’re not favourites at all.” 

France, however, beat the US 3-1 in its last encounter in January and at home, the support for Les Bleus has been fulsome. 

They were 34,872 fans at the Allianz Riviera for an official capacity of 35,624 on Wednesday and the Parc des Princes was sold out for the opener last week. 

The French team have also attracted record viewers, with 9.4 million watching on TF1 on Wednesday after 9.83 million tuned in for the opening game. 

With others watching the games on Canal Plus, more than 10 million watched both France matches.

Meanwhile, US captain Megan Rapinoe on Wednesday defended her under-fire team mates’ exuberant celebrations during their record 13-0 World Cup victory over Thailand in Reims. 

Opinion was split following the one-sided match, with some applauding the Americans for staying focused throughout, while others felt they should have eased off or not celebrated their goals with such enthusiasm.

Former US international Taylor Twellman, now a TV analyst, hit out at the players for their celebrations against beleaguered opponents.

“Celebrating goals [like #9] leaves a sour taste in my mouth like many of you. Curious to see if anyone apologises for this postgame,” Twellman tweeted to his 327,000 followers.

Rapinoe, who celebrated her team’s ninth goal by sliding to the ground before leaping into the arms of the US substitutes on the sidelines, told Fox Sports she understood the criticism “in part”, but defended her teammates.

“If anyone wants to come at our team for not doing the right thing, not playing the right way, not being the right ambassador for the sport, they can come at us,” Rapinoe said. “I think our only crime was an explosion of joy last night.

“If our crime is joy, then we’ll take that.”

Co-Captain Alex Morgan told ESPN that “you can never have everyone love you,” when asked about some of the critical comments levelled at her team for the on-field celebrations and the 13-0 drubbing.

“For the celebrations — these are goals that we have dreamt of our entire life,” Morgan said. “I couldn’t have dreamt of scoring five goals in a World Cup.

“I’m happy just ignoring those comments.”

The US’s next World Cup match is against Chile on Sunday at Paris’ Parc des Princes.

AMMAN — Jordan’s stand-out top two drift drivers this season are set for an epic duel when they head a field of 39 entries at Friday’s Round Three of the National Drift Championships, according to the Jordan Motorsport Media Service.

Taking place on the challenging Sofex track, in Marka, Raafat Haroun and Mohammed Al Foqahaa are expected to be the men to beat after dominating the five-round series so far.

Haroun goes into the midway stage with the edge, having won the first two rounds with terrific drives in his Toyota GT 86. However, reigning 2018 champion Al Foqahaa knows that finishing ahead of his rival is a must if he is to reclaim his crown in his BMW E30s of Al Foqahaa after two second-placed finishes.

Other big names to look for include Jibreel Tahseen, who finished third last time out, and the likes of Mohammed Noufal, Abdullah Abu Hussein and Omar Khukhun, who are all capable of taking the top spot. Four Palestinian and two Egyptian drivers are also entered to bring a regional feel to the entry field.

AMMAN — Riyadi Club’s junior basketball teams leave home on Saturday to take part in 27th Mini-Basket in Piazza Tournament in Matera, Italy.

Riyadi, who were the first Arab team to compete at the Matera tourney — the biggest annual European event for players under 11 — will be participating for the 18th time, joining basketball enthusiasts gathering from around the globe including 52 clubs from over 14 countries.

As the Riyadi youngsters prepared to leave Amman, Riyadi President Fadi Sabbah underlined his team’s pride in being a long time partner of the tourney. “We are very proud of our 20 year old partnership with the most prestigious minimarket tournament, the beautiful city of Matera and its people,” Sabbah told The Jordan Times.

“This year’s edition is special since Matera is the European Capital of Culture which will add to the valuable experience our kids will get on and off the basketball court,” he added.

“Our team has a lot of energy and great potential. They will play hard and will have a lot of fun… and by watching them we will have fun too.”

Mini-Basket in Piazza is organised by Pielle Matera Club and endorsed by the Italian and European basketball federations. Riyadi first competed in Matera in 1998. Since then, they have made Matera a cornerstone of their basketball programme and their best result came in 2003 with a 3rd place finish. 

Riyadi received the Italian president’s trophy in 1998. In 2004, the organising committee selected Sabbah to coach the “ World All Star Team” against the “Italian All Star Team” in an exhibition game and in 2005 and 2008 Riyadi won the Sportsmanship award.

Ever since their first time in Matera, Riyadi’s youngsters have always been warmly welcomed by residents of Matera. Reading the “Athletes’ Oath” in Arabic at the opening ceremony has now become a tradition. Organisers note that “’Mini-Basket in Piazza” is not just basketball, as children from different nations, races and cultures not only play basketball, but enrich their lifelong experiences as they visit cultural and historical monuments and participate in many activities on the sidelines. Riyadi’s involvement has also been a chance to promote Jordan. 

Riyadi’s mini-basketball programme was established with the primary goal of introducing young children to the game, while providing them with the basic principles of basketball, all in a fun and competitive way.

The programme’s ultimate goal aims to prepare the young players for the under 14 and 16 categories. With that in mind, in 1998, Riyadi was the first Jordanian club to reinstate a mini basketball programme after a 26 year hiatus. Besides playing in the U-14 league, one of Riyadi’s many basketball programmes is the Super League, which has 300 players from ages 6–12 competing in the club’s year-round mini-basket programme.

Having built a sustainable base of players, and after years of sponsorship by Aramex, in 2016, Riyadi won the Jordan Basketball League crown, nearly 20 years after the team’s predecessor Jazira-Aramex won in 1997.

LONDON — Formula One could be more transparent about stewards’ decisions but there was no hidden agenda behind the penalty that cost Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel victory in Canada, the sport’s managing director, Ross Brawn, said on Tuesday.

Vettel was punished after making a mistake in Sunday’s race in Montreal while under pressure from Mercedes’ championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who finished second but was declared winner.

Brawn recognised that the five second penalty added to Vettel’s time after the race had triggered a lot of debate.

“I have a lot of respect for the work of the stewards and for their professionalism, and I believe they would be the first to say that they would prefer not to see a race outcome decided via a penalty,” he said in a review of the weekend.

“At the same time, I understand how difficult it must be for fans to understand why the driver on the top step of the podium is not the one who crossed the finish line first,” added the Briton.

“That’s why transparency is important when it comes to explaining the decisions of the stewards, especially in such a complex sport as Formula One.”

Brawn, a title-winning former Ferrari technical director and ex-Mercedes team principal, suggested working with the governing FIA to find a way for stewards to explain their decisions to the fans and how they reached them.

Five stewards review and decide on incidents during races, reviewing an array of data and video evidence in a very tight time frame.

They are also aiming to be consistent with previous decisions. 

While Sunday’s penalty triggered an outcry that the officials had wrecked a thrilling battle between Vettel and Hamilton, it was recognised by others that they had applied the letter of the law.

Whether the rules are fit for purpose, and how much discretion the stewards should have exercised, was another debate.

Brawn said he would not comment on the decision, given his position and Ferrari’s stated intention to appeal, but fans could be assured that it had been taken impartially.

“There is nothing sinister about a decision like this. You might agree with it or not, but none of those who take on the role of steward each weekend has a hidden agenda, and fans can be certain of that,” he said.

Mercedes have won the first seven rounds of the season and are running away with both championships while Ferrari have not won since the US Grand Prix in October last year — a 10-race drought.

Brawn hailed Vettel as the “star of the weekend” and could understand the four times champion’s disappointment and frustration.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel fully deserved the penalty that cost him victory in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, 2016 Formula One world champion Nico Rosberg said on Monday.

Rosberg, who won his title with Mercedes, defended race stewards after they drew a storm of criticism from fans and former drivers.

He also criticised Ferrari’s Vettel, a four-times champion, for making the mistake that led to the five second penalty and then complaining afterwards.

“Vettel was screaming ‘I have dirt on my tyres, I was out of control, where do you want me to go... I was struggling to control the car, and I couldn’t see Lewis [Hamilton]’,” Rosberg said on his YouTube channel.

“OK great. But Lewis is there. So the rule says when you go off the track, you need to rejoin safely. 

“It’s very, very clear that unfortunately it was an unsafe return to the track. That is the rule... a penalty is deserved in that case,” added Rosberg. “Absolutely a fully-deserved penalty.”

PORTO, Portugal — European champions Portugal won the inaugural Nations League with a 1-0 win over The Netherlands on Sunday and on this evidence must surely be early candidates to challenge with France for next year’s Euro 2020 title.

The narrow margin of the win did not express the gap in quality between the sides at the Dragao Stadium — the weakness of this Dutch team has always been their lack of real firepower and they paid heavily for that.

But while The Netherlands were never out of the game, Portugal were superior in all departments.

The Dutch finished above France and Germany to reach the final four and then beat England in the semifinals, but while there is no doubt that Ronald Koeman’s side are on an upward trajectory, their limitations were exposed by Portugal.

For all the hype around the imagined confrontation between Cristiano Ronaldo and Europe’s top defender Virgil van Dijk, it was other players who made the difference for the home side.

Bernardo Silva, unsurprisingly, was behind so much of the positive play from Portugal. Buzzing around the right flank, the Manchester City midfielder was alert, inventive and threatening.

Bruno Fernandes provided much of the same from midfield, his clever touches, intelligent use of the ball and movement into space showing why he is the latest Portuguese player to be linked with a move to one of Europe’s big clubs.

Decisive goal

The decisive goal came on the hour from Goncalo Guedes, the 22-year-old Valencia forward who amply justified his inclusion ahead of Joao Felix, with his link-up play and ability to stretch a Dutch defence already preoccupied with Ronaldo.

Indeed, Ronaldo was relatively quiet — another indication that this Portugal side is continuing to improve, looking much less reliant on the 34-year-old who can now play as a pure striker given Bernardo Silva’s ability to lead the counter-attacks.

The status of the Nations League was compared by Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman to a Super Cup at club level but, whatever the value of the new competition, Portugal in their two wins here and performances in qualifying showed they are arguably a better side than the team which triumphed at Euro 2016.

Three years ago in France, Portugal only progressed from the group stage in third place, behind Iceland and Hungary, having drawn all their games.

They rarely shone in the knockout stage, winning the competition with just one solitary victory inside 90 minutes, but showing resilience and discipline in their 1-0 triumph over France after extra time in the final.

Those qualities remain important to Fernando Santos’s side but this is a much more expressive and creative team, with the younger faces he has introduced turning Portugal into a formidable force.

Quality choices

Put simply, there was no Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes or Guedes at Euro 2016 and, with the 19-year-old Felix emerging as another attacking option, Santos will defend the title with a broad range of quality choices.

At centre-back Ruben Dias, the 22-year-old Benfica defender, was calm and authoritative, looking comfortable bringing the ball out of defence.

The solid, physical, holding midfield pair of William Carvalho and Danilo show Santos is not getting carried away by the talent available to him and their simple but effective work gives the team crucial equilibrium.

World champions France must be favourites to win the pan-European tournament next year while England, despite their disappointment in defeat by the Dutch in the semifinal, will fancy their chances.

The Netherlands, if they can find more firepower in attack, could be in contention and only a fool dismisses heavyweights Germany, Spain and Italy.

But there is a level of close understanding and teamwork about Santos’s outfit that gives them more the appearance of a club side than a national team and that can be crucial.

Unlike the side who were crowned European champions three years ago, this Portugal are a true pleasure to watch.