Sports

BARCELONA — Real Madrid begin life after Karim Benzema looking to wrest back the Spanish title from Barcelona as the La Liga season kicks off this weekend, seemingly content to play the waiting game for Kylian Mbappe.

Benzema, the reigning Ballon d’Or, swapped the Santiago Bernabeu for Saudi Arabia in June after 14 seasons in Madrid, where he is second on the club’s all-time goalscoring list with 354 — trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo.

In a bid to bridge the 10-point gap that separated them from Barcelona last season, Madrid splashed out 103 million euros ($112 million) on England international Jude Bellingham and swooped for Turkish prodigy Arda Guler.

But Mbappe, who has scored 212 goals in 260 games for Paris Saint-Germain, is the player they have long targeted.

After missing out on the France captain last year as he agreed a new deal to stay in Paris, Madrid again appear the likely destination for Mbappe, who is locked in a contract dispute with PSG.

Mbappe is training with PSG’s reserves and has been told he must sign a new contract if he wants to remain with the French champions this term.

PSG are thought to suspect that Mbappe has already struck a deal to join the Spanish giants for free in June 2024, but Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has been reluctant to broach the subject publicly. 

Mbappe “is a player who is not at Madrid”, Ancelotti said last month. “To talk about players who are not here, it doesn’t seem right to me.”

While Madrid weigh up a late bid for the exiled Mbappe before this transfer window shuts, Vinicius Junior is set to become the focal point of the attack after inheriting the number seven shirt worn by Ronaldo, Raul and Emilio Butragueno.

Ancelotti plans to experiment with a system that exploits the attacking potential of Bellingham and Guler, with veteran striker also Joselu making a surprise return to his former club.

The 33-year-old journeyman, who played twice for Madrid in 2011, finished as the top-scoring Spaniard with 16 goals for Espanyol last season.

“For me, the squad has improved,” said Ancelotti. “We have lost a player who has been fundamental for years in Karim... a club legend. But we have a very young group that we are convinced will give us a lot of satisfaction.”

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez has questioned whether he has enough depth for the upcoming season after a relatively quiet summer. That concern is even greater with the club unable as yet to register their new arrivals.

A year ago, the Catalan club’s board sold off various assets to raise enough money to comply with spending restrictions imposed on the club, but that didn’t stop them luring a raft of new signings including Robert Lewandowski.

Twelve months on, Barcelona have continued their recent policy of hiring experienced players at zero transfer cost, albeit fewer, bringing in Manchester City’s treble-winning captain Ilkay Gundogan.

They toyed with the idea of re-signing Lionel Messi, but the club’s perilous financial situation effectively ruled out a reunion and the Argentine instead moved to Inter Miami.

Centre-back Inigo Martinez has arrived from Athletic Bilbao, with Oriol Romeu returning to his boyhood club as what Barcelona hope will be a low-price replacement for Sergio Busquets.

The loss of the influential Busquets, who joined Messi and Jordi Alba in Miami this summer, is one of Xavi’s greatest worries. 

“A player who has been so important for us, on and off the pitch... we have to find a very important player to replace Busquets,” Xavi said in May.

“We have to find this piece, if we want to compete well.”

French winger Ousmane Dembele is also poised to leave Barcelona after receiving an offer from PSG.

Atletico Madrid finished third last season, just a point behind their city rivals after a vastly improved second half, and hope a reinforced defence can strengthen their title prospects.

Cesar Azpilicueta signed from Chelsea, with Turkey’s Caglar Soyuncu arriving from Leicester and left-back Javi Galan moving from Celta Vigo.

Joao Felix, the club’s record signing in 2019, is not viewed as part of coach Diego Simeone’s plans following his return from an unsuccessful loan at Chelsea, and is expected to be offloaded. 

Real Sociedad, who qualified for the Champions League, have brought in Portugal forward Andre Silva on loan following the retirement of Spain great David Silva after a serious knee injury suffered during pre-season.

Villarreal, fifth last term, are set for a rebuild after losing Nicolas Jackson and Pau Torres to the Premier League, and Samuel Chukwueze to AC Milan. 

Granada are back in the top flight after securing promotion at the first attempt along with play-off winners Alaves, with Las Palmas returning after a five-year absence.

PARIS — Uncertainty over the future of Kylian Mbappe hangs over French football ahead of the new Ligue 1 season, which starts this weekend.

The Paris Saint-Germain superstar has won France’s player of the year award four times in a row and been Ligue 1’s top scorer in five straight seasons, but his contract dispute with the champions has dominated headlines all summer.

Mbappe has refused to sign an extension to his PSG deal, meaning he can leave for free next year, with Real Madrid long seen as his preferred destination.

PSG want to sell him now and bring in a significant transfer fee for a player who cost 180 million euros from Monaco in 2017.

A stand-off has ensued, and for now Mbappe remains in Paris but has been reduced to training apart from the first team.

“We can’t let the best player in the world today leave for free. It’s impossible,” said the Qatar-owned club’s president, Nasser Al Khelaifi, last month.

The situation is hardly ideal for PSG’s new coach, with Luis Enrique having been appointed to succeed Christophe Galtier.

Regardless of what happens with Mbappe, PSG have a new look after limping to the title in the last campaign and failing to impress in Europe.

Lionel Messi has gone, so has Sergio Ramos. They needed attacking reinforcements even if Mbappe stays, and Portugal striker Goncalo Ramos has joined from Benfica.

The arrivals of Lucas Hernandez, Milan Skriniar, Manuel Ugarte, Lee Kang-in and Marco Asensio mean they look stronger across the pitch.

“I could have stayed at Bayern Munich, but the interest PSG showed in me, their ambition and the project they are trying to put in place for the future convinced me to come,” Hernandez told sports daily L’Equipe.

PSG begin as overwhelming favourites to win a 10th title in 12 years, but their domestic rivals might sense their chance if Mbappe moves on.

The French football landscape is changing.

Ligue 1 has been reduced to 18 clubs. The move, after over two decades with 20 teams in the top flight, has been made with the aim of helping French clubs become more competitive in Europe by having fewer league games.

Despite that, and despite seeing Messi depart and Mbappe maybe follow, the French league is hoping an upcoming auction for the next broadcast deal will allow it to make far more money than it does currently, especially for international rights.

League executives want their competition to be able to rival those in England, Spain, Germany and Italy for international popularity, but the growing trend of multi-club ownership threatens to turn several French sides into feeder teams.

Strasbourg have been taken over by BlueCo, the US-led consortium that owns Chelsea.

“Although there was no financial urgency for us to do so, we were conscious that we had gone as far as we could with our existing model,” said Strasbourg’s president, Marc Keller.

He refutes any suggestion that Strasbourg, French champions in 1979, will become a mere feeder team, and they have appointed former Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira as coach.

Lorient are now 40 per cent owned by Bill Foley, the American owner of Premier League club Bournemouth.

The Brittany side have made headlines by signing Benjamin Mendy following his acquittal in England of sex offences.

Once the dominant French team, uncertainty surrounds Lyon’s prospects in their first full campaign since American businessman John Textor bought the club.

Textor also owns Brazilian side Botafogo and Belgian club Molenbeek, and holds a significant share in Crystal Palace.

However, his failure to convince the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, of the soundness of his spending plans means a cap has been imposed on their wage bill.

They have not been able to significantly strengthen a squad that finished seventh last season, outside the European places.

Last season’s runners-up Lens have lost captain Seko Fofana to Saudi Arabia and top scorer Lois Openda to RB Leipzig but will hope to remain competitive even with the addition of Champions League football.

Marseille, now with former Valencia coach Marcelino in charge, look potentially the best placed to challenge PSG after making some ambitious signings.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could be a big hit if he rediscovers the prolific form he showed earlier in his career.

Rennes and Lille will aim to once again challenge towards the summit while Monaco and Ineos-owned Nice will hope new coaches can help them improve on disappointing last campaigns.

AMMAN — The Jordanian national basketball team, also known as the Jordan Falcons, won the 11th King Abdullah Cup (King’s Cup 2023) on Monday night at Prince Hamza Hall Arena, defeating the Mexican national basketball team 86-71. 

The King's Cup is part of a series of preparation matches ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, which will take place from August 25 to September 10 in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The Jordanian team has played nine preparation matches thus far, with four wins and five losses. In addition to Monday’s game, Jordan most recently played Portugal on August 4, where the Jordanian team won 69-61, and Angola on August 5, where the Jordanian team won 70-56, according to the official FIBA website.

This year marks Jordan’s second consecutive and third overall time qualifying for the World Cup finals. The team is set to play against Greece on August 26, before facing New Zealand on August 28 and the United States on August 30. 

As for the Mexican team, they have only qualified for a Basketball World Cup twice in 50 years: in 2014 and this year, according to a statement from the Mexican embassy.

The Jordanian team is trained by Head Coach Wesam Al Sous, Assistant Coach Mohammad Hadrab and Assistant Coach Abdullah Radwan Mustafa Abuqoura.

ADELAIDE, Australia — France issued a Women’s World Cup warning on Tuesday to set up a tasty quarterfinal clash against Australia, with Colombia joining them in the last eight and facing England.

A rampant France scored three times in eight minutes in a first-half blitz as they won 4-0 to bring Morocco’s fairytale run to a brutal end.

Veteran striker Eugenie Le Sommer scored twice, once in each half, and Kadidiatou Diani and Kenza Dali were also on the scoresheet in Adelaide.

Herve Renard’s side will now play co-hosts Australia in Brisbane on Saturday, with the winners of that going on to play either England or Colombia in the semifinals.

“We fulfilled our objective. You always want a little bit more, but it’s fine,” Renard told broadcaster M6.

France were knocked out in the quarterfinals as hosts in 2019, losing to eventual winners the United States.

A win against Australia will see them equal their best-ever performance at the World Cup, when they got to the last four in 2011.

“We have matched our performance of four years ago, but our objective was to do better than we did in 2011, so we know what we have left to do,” Renard said.

Asked if his side could beat the Matildas in front of a hostile crowd, he added: “We are capable of doing it but it won’t be easy, albeit not easy for either team.”

While France are desperate to win a first major women’s international title, Morocco came into the game with the pressure off, their World Cup already a huge success.

They recovered from a 6-0 thrashing to Germany on their World Cup debut to exceed all expectations by defeating Colombia and South Korea to reach the knockout rounds.

Colombia make history

Colombia reached the quarterfinals for the first time and a meeting with England after a 1-0 win over Jamaica.

Skipper Catalina Usme scored the only goal of the game in Melbourne in the 51st minute, bringing the ball down expertly and bending it into the bottom corner.

It was the first time at the tournament that Jamaica had conceded a goal.

It set a cagey game alight and sent the pumping pro-Colombian crowd into deafening delirium.

Fired up, Jamaica almost had an immediate reply with Jody Brown’s shot cleared off the line.

Behind for the first time at the World Cup and facing the exit door, Jamaica abandoned their defensive posture and threw players forward frantically looking for the equaliser.

Drew Spence almost grabbed it with a header that spun just wide, but Colombia held on.

They will play European champions England in Sydney on Saturday.

James says sorry

England will be missing attacker Lauren James after she was sent off for stamping on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie in their last-16 game on Monday.

England went on to squeeze through on penalties.

The 21-year-old James apologised on Tuesday.

“All my love and respect to you,” James tweeted to Alozie, who had written on social media that she had “all respect for Lauren James”.

“I am sorry for what happened,” James added.

In the other quarterfinals, Spain play the 2019 runners-up the Netherlands, and Sweden — who sent holders the United States home — face Japan.

Jamaican call for help

Jamaica bowed out but made history of their own, winning a World Cup game for the first time with a 1-0 victory over Panama and holding heavily fancied Brazil and France to goalless draws.

But despite boasting the prolific Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw, Jamaica’s lack of goals proved to be their undoing — they scored just one all tournament, against Panama.

It was a victory, though, of sorts in the team’s wider battle with their federation — they hope their displays will mean more support in future from Jamaican football bosses.

“Obviously we need some help from mainly the government,” said coach Lorne Donaldson, whose team has been in a row with their federation over pay and conditions.

“Hopefully now we can all come together and try and figure something out so we don’t do things hodgepodge all the time,” he added.

AMMAN — Jordan is putting the final preparations in place to host the United World Wrestling World U-20 Championships which will be held at the Princess Sumaya Hall in Amman’s Al Hussein Youth City from August 14-20, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) News Service.

The Jordan Wrestling Federation is working around the clock to ensure all of the requirements will be met, having stepped in last month to offer to host the event after it was switched from Poland.

The Federation’s President Mohammad Al Awamleh, said his organising committee was pulling out all of the stops so that the Kingdom is ready to welcome more than 1,000 participants from across the world. Jordan got the nod from the world body after staging a the Asian Championships for Youth and Juniors in July.

The Jordan event will be seeing world titles up for grabs in various weights for both sexes in Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling.

Al Awamleh thanked the vital support provided by the JOC, under the presidency of HRH Prince Feisal, in addition to the Ministry of Youth, represented by its minister, Muhammad Salama Al-Nabulsi, along with the various security authorities, the Public Security Directorate and its Director General Major General, Obaidullah Al-Maaytah.

The role of the local media has also been praised with the organisers recognising the vital role that the coverage will play in positioning the Kingdom as a leading leisure destination.

BRISBANE, Australia — England survived the sending-off of Lauren James to scrape past Nigeria on penalties on Monday and were joined in the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals by an Australia side boosted by the return of Samantha Kerr.

European champions England will play either Colombia or Jamaica in the last eight on Saturday, but they got there the hard way.

Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty in Brisbane as England beat Nigeria 4-2 in the shoot-out after a tense last-16 tie finished 0-0 at the end of extra time.

England had a major scare before a crowd of 49,461, having come through the whole of extra time a player short following the 87th-minute sending-off of James for a stamp on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie.

Coach Sarina Wiegman, who welcomed key midfielder Keira Walsh back into her side after injury, called it “a very, very hard game”.

“How we did that and how the team just kept going, I’m so proud of them,” said Wiegman, whose side are regarded as favourites to take the crown from beaten holders the United States.

Georgia Stanway put the first penalty of the shoot-out wide for England, but Desire Oparanozie and Alozie followed suit, both missing the target with Nigeria’s first two attempts.

Beth England, Rachel Daly and Alex Greenwood all scored for England before Kelly converted the decisive kick.

“It’s amazing, anything that’s thrown at us we show what we’re capable of,” said the Manchester City forward Kelly, who scored the winning goal in last year’s European Championship final.

“We’ve been practising [penalties] a lot and it’s working.”

The defeat was cruel on Nigeria, the world’s 40th-ranked team, who followed up their impressive performances in the group stage by pushing England all the way.

Their England-born defender Ashleigh Plumptre crashed a shot off the woodwork in the first half and Uchenna Kanu also hit the frame of the goal.

“We had every opportunity to get the result and unfortunately we didn’t get it done,” said their American coach, Randy Waldrum.

“I think we could have [won it in 90 minutes]. We had the best chances, we hit the crossbar twice in regulation play. We were a bit unlucky not to get something out of it.”

England will discover the identity of their quarterfinal opponents on Tuesday when Colombia face surprise-package Jamaica in Melbourne.

Kerr makes comeback

World Cup co-hosts Australia is also into the last eight as their skipper Kerr came off the bench in a 2-0 win over Denmark in front of nearly 76,000 fans in Sydney.

They will play France or Morocco on Saturday in Brisbane after making fairly light work of a toothless Denmark.

To cap a good night’s work for the Matildas, talismanic striker Kerr came on with 10 minutes left to huge cheers for her first action of the tournament after a calf injury.

The dangerous Caitlin Foord ran Denmark ragged throughout and scored a fine first after being set up by the impressive Mary Fowler on 29 minutes.

Hayley Raso grabbed a second to make the game safe 20 minutes from time.

The Chelsea predator Kerr, who was supposed to have been the face of the World Cup before injury struck on the eve of the tournament, said it was “a big relief to be back”.

“I feel good. I think I was a bit rusty, but, no, I feel great. 

“I’ll sleep better tonight than I have for the last three weeks.”

Denmark coach Lars Sondergaard said he was “proud but disappointed”, having seen his side have the better of the opening part of the game.

“The match today was decided by Australia’s effectiveness in front of goal and us not being so efficient in front of goal,” he said.

“I think we started better. Up until the 1-0, I think we were the better team and played a very good game up until then.”

The home side are getting up a head of steam at this World Cup, where the demise of the United States has opened the door for a new champion.

“I think we’re embracing it, I think the girls are loving it,” Kerr said of the growing expectation and excitement.

“The Australian public has been amazing. We’ve felt the love, just walking down the street it’s been a real buzz.”

TORONTO, Canada — World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz is aiming to make amends as he plays an ATP Masters 1000 event in Canada for only the second time in his career.

The Wimbledon champion made a poor start a year ago in Montreal, losing his opening match to American Tommy Paul in his ATP debut in the country.

The 20-year-old Spaniard, who will defend the 2022 US Open crown in New York starting later this month, opens as a title favourite this year in Toronto.

Alcaraz said he’s aware of the need to address the pressure he will face as the top target from Monday.

“I remember last year I didn’t have a good tournament in Canada. I have come this year to change it,” he said after arriving in North America.

“I hope to go far, do better than last season. A year later, I think I’ve learned a lot from that situation, how to deal with pressure.”

In addition to becoming a two-time Grand Slam champion, Alcaraz has won five other titles in six finals appearances since last year’s Canada event, including crowns this year at Argentina, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid and Queen’s.

“I’ve been playing in big stadiums, big games, fighting for big things. I think that helped me a lot to grow as a player, as a person,” Alcaraz said.

“A year later, I’m totally different.”

The top seed will face his initial test in the second round, awaiting the winner from compatriot Bernabé Zapata or American Ben Shelton.

Alcaraz heads the tournament field ahead of second-seeded Daniil Medvedev and No. 3 Casper Ruud.

The Spaniard will be competing for the first time this summer on hardcourt after stepping back onto clay for the Hopman Cup team event in Nice.

He will need to put last month’s Wimbledon triumph in perspective after achieving the biggest victory of his young career. 

“I have the Wimbledon trophy in my living room, so every time I have lunch or dinner with my family, I see the title. It’s something I don’t want to forget,” he said.

“I only had a week to think about it... it needed a little more because it’s crazy that it’s hard to realise.”

Alcaraz called winning Wimbledon at age 20 in only his third appearance “something I dreamed of when I started playing tennis”.

“For me it is an achievement and it is something that I have to take some time to think about it — and I still can’t believe it.”

Alcaraz has already trained on the cement with Medvedev, his main Toronto rival.

SILVERSTONE, United Kingdom — Alex Marquez woke up after a “sleepy” start to hold off a late charge from Marco Bezzecchi and win the British MotoGP sprint race at Silverstone on Saturday.

Maverick Vinales completed the podium as world champion Francesco Bagnaia suffered a rare day off on his factory Ducati finishing down the field.

“It’s great to start the season again with a sprint win,” said Marquez, with MotoGP resuming after its summer break.

“I knew before that today was the day to win the sprint,” added the Ducati-Gresini rider.

“I was a little bit sleepy in the first corner but later on I said I need to push as I was feeling really good.”

Bezzecchi, riding for Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Ducati-satellite team, had battled atrocious conditions to claim pole in a rain-drenched qualifying in the morning.

His runner-up spot moved him up to second in the riders standings, 27 points behind Bagnaia, ahead of Sunday’s main event, the ninth round of the championship.

Bezzecchi had been overtaken at turn two on the opening lap by Jack Miller’s KTM as Bagnaia dropped from fourth to the middle of the field.

Marquez took control at the front on lap two of 10, around half a second clear of Bezzecchi as Miller’s charge fizzled out.

Marquez had doubled his advantage at the half-way stage yet Bezzecchi knuckled down, inching ever closer to set up a tense final lap but Marquez held on for his first win sprint win.

“I kept focussed and was able to finish very close to him [Marquez] so I’m very happy and hoping for a dry day tomorrow,” Bezzecchi said.

Bagnaia was not the only big name to fail to deliver, with six-time world champion Marc Marquez, the winner’s brother, down in 18th and 2021 titleholder Fabio Quartararo beating one home in 21st.

Bezzecchi battles 

to pole

Bezzecchi battled atrocious conditions to claim pole for the British MotoGP at a soaking Silverstone on Saturday.

Jack Miller and Alex Marquez join the Italian on the front row of Sunday’s race.

Riding for Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Ducati-satellite team Bezzecchi was taking back-to-back poles after heading the grid at the Dutch MotoGP before the summer break in June.

He is lying third in the riders’ standings, 36 points behind world champion Bagnaia, who posted the fourth fastest time on his factory Ducati to start on the second row.

‘Pecco’ was second in the timesheets before crashing. He rushed back to his garage in a frantic bid to get back out on the circuit but time ran out for the 2022 Silverstone winner.

After setting the fastest time with a handful of minutes left of qualifying Bezzecchi promptly joined the long list of riders to hit the deck in the worst weather of the season so far.

After dusting himself down the 24-year-old, who won in the wet in Argentina, said: “I’m okay, it was a big crash, I didn’t expect to crash but I aquaplaned. We made this pole so I’m very happy.”

An indication of how tricky the conditions were came from the 18second-difference between Bezzecchi’s lap time of 2mins 15.3590s and the circuit record of last year’s pole-sitter Johann Zarco of 1:57.767.

One man distinctly unhappy was France’s 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo.

The Yamaha factory rider failed to fire at a track where he won two years ago to qualify in last place — his worst qualifying result since graduating to MotoGP in 2019.

“That wasn’t the start of the day we were expecting. I made a mistake and had to stop in the pits. The tyres were cold and I was only able to complete one lap,” reported Quartararo.