SPORTSaturday 14 July 2018

PAGE | 18 PAGE | 242018 World Cup is

the ‘best ever’: FIFA President Infantino

Dejected England, Belgium aim to leave World Cup on a high

E | 18 PAGup is FIFA

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DejecBelgiWorl

France focus on World Cup glory

Maaloul leaves Tunisia job to join Al DuhailTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Tunisia head coach Nabil Maaloul has stepped down from his role with the national team to join Al Duhail as their new manager, it was revealed yesterday.

The 55-year-old rejoined the

North African side last April and helped the team qualify for this year’s World Cup in Russia, with Tunisia winning one of their three group games to finish third in Group G, behind Belgium and England.

“The club’s management con-tracted with the Tunisian coach

Nabil Maaloul to be the new tech-nical manager of the first football team...” Al Duhail said on their website

“Coach Nabil Maaloul will arrive to Austria in the upcoming hours to join the team’s camp which is held in Austria these days.”

Maaloul, who has prior coaching experience in Qatar with El Jaish, will take the reins of Al Duhail from Djamel Belmadi, who left the club for “special reasons” and is widely expected to be named as the Algerian national team’s new coach.

Nabil Maaloul

AFP

MOSCOW: France fine-tuned their preparations for the World Cup final

against Croatia yesterday, desperate to overcome the bitter disappointment

of losing the Euro 2016 final as FIFA declared Russia 2018 the best-ever tournament.

Didier Deschamps’ men are firm favourites to win tomorrow’s showpiece in Moscow and become world champions for the second time -- 20 years after their first triumph in 1998.

But they will come up against a hungry Croatia side boasting one of the players of the tournament in Real Madrid star Luka Modric, who is desperate to win the trophy for the nation of just over four million people.

France failed to click in the group stages but they have gone up through the gears during the knockout rounds and look a for-midable blend of youthful vitality and experience.

They will approach the match at the 80,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium full of con-fidence and with the pain of losing the final of Euro 2016 on home soil to Cristiano Ron-aldo’s Portugal spurring them on.

“The tears have dried from Euro 2016 but it’s still there in a little corner of people’s minds,” said midfielder Blaise Matuidi yesterday.

“It will be useful for us on Sunday, even if I don’t like to keep bringing up the past. It will serve as a lesson to us and it means we know what it is to play in a final.

“We’ll approach it differently and hope that we play really well and win it. It’s up to us to put everything into place to achieve our dream of lifting the World Cup.”

Deschamps’ team is packed with attacking stars such as Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann but it is their defence that has shone in the past two rounds, not conceding a single goal.

Croatia -- the smallest nation to make it to the final since Uruguay in 1950 -- have battled through three periods of extra-time to reach the final. That means they have played the equivalent of a whole extra match more than France.

But coach Zlatko Dalic said there would be no excuses despite their exertions.

“We prepared to get to the final and we want to play it,” he said. “Going to extra-time might be a problem along with the fact France

have had an e x t r a d a y

to recover but there will be no excuses.”As the tournament drifts towards its end,

FIFA president Gianni Infantino declared it the best ever.

“I was saying this would be the best World Cup ever. Today I can say it with more con-viction... it is the best World Cup,” Infantino said in Moscow.

More than one million foreign fans have visited Russia during the World Cup, according to FIFA figures.

“A lot of pre-conceived ideas have changed thanks to this World Cup,” said Infantino.

“Everyone has discovered a beautiful country, a welcoming country, full of people keen to show to the world what maybe some-times is said is not what happens here.”

He also said the use of the VAR (video assistant referee) had been a success and praised the quality of the football, with just a single 0-0 draw in 62 games so far.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pour onto the streets of Paris at the weekend, 20 years on from the 1998 win on home soil, when Deschamps was captain of the side.

A security operation swung into full gear, with plans for 110,000 law enforcement officers to be deployed across France as the country celebrates the national Bastille Day holiday and the World Cup final.

“Everything is being done so the French can live these festive moments with peace of mind, despite the terrorist threat which remains at a high level,” Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said.

Before the final, England will play Belgium in a low-key battle for third place in Saint Petersburg on Saturday.

Gareth Southgate said his young team, who were just 22 minutes from reaching the final before Croatia’s impressive comeback in the semi-final, would have to learn from their bitter disappointment.

“The team will be better in a couple of years,” Southgate said in comments to the British press. “We have to build. We have some good young players coming through. We’ve had success at youth level.

“What we’ve done over the last few weeks has shown what is possible. We want to be in semi-finals and finals and we’ve shown to our-selves that can happen.

AFP

MOSCOW: France fine-tuned their preparations for the World Cup final

against Croatia yesterday, desperate to overcome the bitter disappointment

of losing the Euro 2016 final as FIFA declared Russia 2018 the best-ever tournament.

Didier Deschamps’ men are firm favourites to win tomorrow’s showpiece in Moscow and become world champions for the second time-- 20 years after their first triumph in 1998.

But they will come up against a hungry Croatia side boasting one of the players of the tournament in Real Madrid star Luka Modric, who is desperate to win the trophy for thenation of just over four million people.

France failed to click in the group stagesbut they have gone up through the gears during the knockout rounds and look a for-midable blend of youthful vitality and experience.

They will approach the match at the80,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium full of con-fidence and with the pain of losing the final of Euro 2016 on home soil to Cristiano Ron-aldo’s Portugal spurring them on.

“The tears have dried from Euro 2016 butit’s still there in a little corner of people’s minds,” said midfielder Blaise Matuidi yesterday.

“It will be useful for us on Sunday, even if I don’t like to keep bringing up the past. It will serve as a lesson to us and it means we know what it is to play in a final.

“We’ll approach it differently and hopethat we play really well and win it. It’s up tous to put everything into place to achieve ourdream of lifting the World Cup.”

Deschamps’ team is packed with attacking stars such as Kylian Mbappe and AntoineGriezmann but it is their defence that hasshone in the past two rounds, not concedinga single goal.

Croatia -- the smallest nation to make itto the final since Uruguay in 1950 -- havebattled through three periods of extra-time to reach the final. That means they have playedthe equivalent of a whole extra match morethan France.

But coach Zlatko Dalic said there wouldbe no excuses despite their exertions.

“We prepared to get to the final and we want to play it,” he said. “Going to extra-time might be a problem along with the fact France

have had an e x t r ad a y

Didier Deschamps’ men are firm favourites to win tomorrow’s showpiece in Moscow and become world champions for the second time -- 20 years after their first triumph in 1998.

French forward Antoine Griezmann (right) and defender Lucas Hernandez in action during a training session at the Glebovets Stadium in Istra, Moscow on Thursday, ahead of their FIFA 2018 World Cup final against Croatia.

18 SATURDAY 14 JULY 2018SPORT

2018 World Cup is the ‘best ever’: InfantinoREUTERS

MOSCOW: FIFA President Gianni Infantino described the 2018 World Cup as the best-ever yesterday and said it had changed perceptions of the host nation Russia.

Infantino, dressed in a red volunteer’s uniform and in tri-umphant mood, hailed the success of video assistant ref-erees (VARs) and predicted that goals scored from offside posi-tions would be a thing of the past, at least in competitions where the new technology was

used. “For a couple of years, I was saying it would be the best World Cup ever, today I can say that with more conviction,” he said. Infantino promised that the tournament would leave a lasting legacy and there were “concrete plans” to make sure the stadiums were used in the future.

“This country, Russia, has changed. Russia has become a real football country... where football has become part of the country’s DNA and the culture,” he said.

“We had 98 percent occu-pancy of the stadiums, one million fans from abroad to dis-cover this country, more than three billion viewers on tele-vision and there will certainly be one billion for the final.

“Everyone has discovered a beautiful country, a wel-coming country, full of people who are keen to show to the world that what maybe is sometimes said is not what happens here.”

Infantino, who is paid an annual salary of 1.5m Swiss francs ($1.49m) according to FIFA, faced an awkward question when he was asked why the 17,000-odd volunteers

were not paid. “We are all, as well, volunteers,” he said.

“Maybe not at the World Cup, because we have a job, but as soon as we go back home we drive our children to their football or basketball

tournaments and we help selling drinks, preparing sau-sages, or helping in the restaurants.”

VAR SUCCESS Infantino said that, despite

initial fears, the VAR system had worked well, it had reviewed a of 19 decisions in the 62 matches so far and had cor-rected 16 decisions which were initially wrong.

“This is progress, this is

better than the past,” he said. “VAR is not changing football, it is cleaning football.”

“It is difficult to think of the World Cup without VAR, it has been certainly a more just competition...The goal scored from an offside position is fin-ished in football, at least in football with VAR,” Infantino added.

He said VAR’s deterrent effect had reduced the number of direct red cards for violent play from 16 in the 1998 tour-nament to none this time.

“Everyone knows that, whatever you do, someone will see it... one of the 30-odd cameras will spot it and you will be sent off,” the 48-year-old said.

Infantino did not give any new information on the whether the first 48-team tournament would be in Qatar in 2022 instead of in 2026 as originally planned.

“First we will discuss with the Qataris and then with the FIFA Council and stakeholders and decide calmly what the decision is,” he said.

“For the moment, we have a World Cup with 32 teams,” the FIFA president added.

It is difficult to think

of the World Cup

without VAR, it has

been certainly a more

just competition...

The goal scored from

an offside position is

finished in football, at

least in football with

VAR: FIFA President

Gianni Infantino

FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks during a press conference at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, yesterday.

FIFA fines Swedish and Croatian FAs over break of equipment rulesREUTERS

MOSCOW: The Swedish and Croatian Football Asso-ciations were fined 50,000 Swiss francs each by FIFA yesterday for breaches by some of their players of the global soccer body’s marketing and media regulations regarding equipment.

The Swedish FA had confirmed at the time that it had received the sanction about its kit and socks.

“Despite having been previously requested to cease the activity that led to the breach and receiving a sanction on 6 July 2018, one member of the Swedish national team (as opposed to several players in the previous case) displayed unauthorised commercial branding on playing equipment items during the... quarter-final match between Sweden and England,” FIFA said.

World Cup finalists Croatia, who face France at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium tomorrow, were also fined.

“A fine of CHF 50,000 and a warning to the Croatian Football Federation for breaching the Media and Marketing Regulations and the FIFA Equipment Regulations,” FIFA said.

“In particular and despite having been previ-ously requested by FIFA to cease the activity that led to the breach and receiving a sanction on 5 July 2018, one member of the Croatian national team displayed unauthorised commercial branding on playing equipment items during the... semi-final match between Croatia and England,” it said.

Rakitic promises ‘excess energy’ for finalAFP

MOSCOW: Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic insisted fatigue will not be an issue for the biggest game of his career despite being pushed to three periods of extra-time to make tomorrow’s World Cup final.

Barcelona’s Rakitic will make his 71st appearance of the season against France in Moscow after winning a La Liga and Copa del Rey double with the Catalans, more than any player at the World Cup.

“There will be excess power and energy, no worries about that,” Rakitic said yesterday.

Croatia have played 90 more minutes and had a day’s less rest than the French ahead of the final.

But Rakitic believes the pride of representing the smallest country to make the World Cup final in 68 years, with a population of just over four million, will motivate Croatia to create history.

“This is a historic game for not just us, for everybody who is a Croat. There are 4.5 million players on the pitch,” added Rakitic.

“We will carry one another, we will have the energy, we know this is the biggest game of our lives. We want to leave the pitch with our heads held high. We just need

a little bit of luck to get the result,” he said.

Ivan Perisic, who scored his side’s equaliser and set up Mario Mandzukic’s winner against England on Wednesday, is nursing a thigh injury.

Perisic missed training on Friday along with Ivan Strinic, Dejan Lovren, Sime Vrsaljko and Danijel Subasic.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic’s controversial decision to back Croatia at the World Cup has earned the Serbian tennis star praise from the finalists’ midfielder Rakitic.

With Serbia eliminated earlier

in the tournament, former Wim-bledon champion Djokovic caused a stir when he said he would support Croatia in their semi-final against England.

“I tip my hat to him, I root for him at Wimbledon. I would like to see him play the final so we both have a great day,” he said.

Tensions between Serbians and Croats have run high for years and Vladimir Djukanovic, an MP in the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, went on social media to berate Djokovic.

“Only idiots can support Croatia. Aren’t you ashamed Novak?” he wrote.

Ivan Rakitic

Belgium better than England: MeunierREUTERS

MOSCOW: Belgium are a better team than England and to finish third at the World Cup is a minimum for their squad, full back Thomas Meunier said yesterday.

The two countries meet in the third place play-off in St Petersburg today and the defender is expected to be back in the line-up after missing the 1-0 semi-final defeat by France on Tuesday because of suspension.

“We are better than England. Winning the match is not an obli-gation but something we want to do. Third place is a minimum for us,” he told a news conference at the team’s training base in Moscow.

“We beat England in the group phase and so we can do it again.” Both countries rested regulars for the Group G match in Kaliningrad on June 28 which Belgium won 1-0. The two teams had already secured qualification for the round of 16 before that encounter.

“We want third place for our-selves on a personal level, for those whose supported us over the last years and for all the work we did in qualifiers. We have a fantastic squad and to finish on the podium would be something.” Meunier admitted Belgium’s ‘golden gener-ation’ of players had likely lost their last chance at World Cup glory after their 1-0 loss in the last four.

“This group could still do

something in two years,” he said in a reference to the 2020 European Championship, “but in four years’ time, many will have left.”

“But there are a lot of exciting youngsters coming through who might continue our expedition,” the Paris St Germain player added.

Meanwhile, England manager Gareth Southgate hoped to make “as few changes as possible” for play-off against Belgium.

Southgate said his selection will be based primarily on the fitness of individual players suggesting he will resist the temptation to give some fringe players a run-out.

All 23 players in Southgate’s squad trained yesterday at the team’s Repino base.

“We’ve set the standard of how we work, the standard of how we play, and we want to maintain those standards right to the end.

The players did that this morning in training,” Southgate said.

“We have to decide who can go again physically. Everyone wants to play. Everyone trained this morning. Sometimes it’s not always a good decision to play if people’s energy isn’t quite there.

“It won’t be exactly the same starting eleven, but we want ideally to make as few changes as possible.”

Belgium players during training in Moscow, yesterday.

19SATURDAY 14 JULY 2018 SPORT

How Deschamps’s pragmatic approach took France to finalREUTERS

MOSCOW: Despite having the most talented squad at the World Cup, France have made it to tomorrow’s final against Croatia by embracing pragmatism over adventure, subsuming their indi-vidual flair for the collective benefit.

The 1998 winners have not blazed their way to a third final in 20 years.

Instead, their path has been a calculated shuffle, with coach Didier Deschamps abandoning plans for a free-flowing side in favour of a no-frills but highly effective winning machine that has kept four clean sheets in six games.

France’s only truly impressive display in Russia was their epic 4-3 win over Argentina in the last 16, when they cut through Jorge Sam-paoli’s dishevelled side on the counter-attack as Kylian Mbappe used his frightening power and pace to devastating effect.

That thriller was followed by solid 2-0 win over Uruguay in the quarter-finals and a slender 1-0 victory over Belgium in the semis.

In both games they found an opening from a set piece and then sat back, ceded possession, stayed solid and looked to pick their

opponents off on the break.It has not been the sweeping

display many believe the team are capable of, but it has been good enough to take them to a second consecutive major tournament final and Deschamps has altered his strategy to get them there.

The captain of the 1998 side who was nicknamed the water carrier, Deschamps appeared to have ambitious plans for France when he picked speedy winger Ousmane Dembele in a front three in their opener against Australia and benched the powerful but ungraceful Olivier Giroud.

But with his plan falling flat and his side drawing 1-1 midway through the second half, Des-champs reverted to type, bringing on Giroud for Dembele and replacing Corentin Tolisso with the more experienced Blaise Matuidi.

The team instantly had more balance and grabbed a 2-1 win with a scrappy deflected goal.

Deschamps has largely stuck with the same side since, and the key to his strategy has been his ability to convince flair players like Paul Pogba to take on extra defensive duties.

Assisted by the tireless N’Golo Kante, the once most expensive player in the world has limited his attacking tendencies to construct a formidable shield in front of the defence.

Deschamps called the Man-chester United man’s display against Belgium in the semi-final win “monstrous”.

Pogba, meanwhile, said he was happy to oblige his coach’s requests in order to win football’s biggest prize.

“I want to win this World Cup

and to do that you have to make sacrifices. Defending isn’t my strong point, I’m not Kante, but I’ll happily do it. I have grown up and matured,” he said.

France’s defence consists of the highly capable centre back pairing of Raphael Varane and Samuel Umtiti, key players for Spanish aristocrats Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively and who each broke the deadlock in tight knockout games.

Varane’s powerful header from a freekick opened up an unforgiving Uruguay side, while Umtiti’s glancing nod proved the difference against Belgium.

Both deliveries came from Antoine Griezmann, the top scorer at Euro 2016 who has enjoyed little freedom in attack but who has proved just as effective in other ways.

The background of France’s two full backs is another sign of the durability of Deschamps’ side. Both Lucas Hernandez and Ben-jamin Pavard have plenty of expe-rience playing in central defence, meaning they do not madly commit themselves forward.

Both have proved highly useful in attack, though: Pavard struck a sensational equaliser against Argentina, striking first time a pass made by Hernandez.

France’s head coach Didier Deschamps looks on during a training session at the Glebovets stadium in Istra, some 70 km west of Moscow on Thursday.

The 1998 winners have not blazed their way to a

third final in 20 years. Instead, their path has been

a calculated shuffle, with coach Didier Deschamps

abandoning plans for a free-flowing side in favour

of a no-frills but highly effective winning machine

that has kept four clean sheets in six games.

Chelsea finally put an end to Conte’s reignAFP

LONDON: Antonio Conte’s two-year tenure as Chelsea manager which began with a bang last year after winning the Premier League title ended sourly yesterday with the club announcing they had parted company with him.

The 48-year-old Italian had been seen as vulnerable despite winning the FA Cup last term having fallen out with both the board and senior players.

The former Italy national coach returned to take training this week but the writing was on the wall and the drawn out process was reportedly due to how much compensation the club should pay Napoli for his likely suc-cessor Maurizio Sarri.

“Chelsea Football Club and Antonio Conte have parted company,” the club said in a terse statement.

“During Antonio’s time at the club, we won our sixth league title and eighth FA Cup.

“In the title winning season, the club set a then-record 30 wins in a 38-game Premier League season, as well as a club-record 13 con-secutive league victories.

“We wish Antonio every success in his future career,” the club added.

Conte leaves with the best win percentage 65.1% of any of Chelsea’s managers in the

Premier League era.Former banker Sarri, 59,

will be Chelsea’s eighth manager inside a decade as Russian owner Roman Abramovich has never shown a sentimental side to his nature regarding them, no matter the trophies they won the preceding season as Roberto di Matteo found just months after delivering Abramovich’s holy grail the Champions League.

Conte -- who had a year to run on his contract -- is seen to have contributed to his own demise by falling out both with the players and the board as the sheen of the title victory quickly disappeared.

His intense training methods angered senior players and he alienated the board with disparaging treatment of Spanish striker Diego Costa and constant

carping over the club’s failure to replace top players with those of similar ability.

However, while present players may have had issues with Conte, former Chelsea legend John Terry, who left after the league title winning campaign had nothing but praise for him.

“Thank You Boss,” Terry posted on Instagram alongside a photo of the two of them holding the Premier League trophy.

“Great man, Great manager. I wish you every success in the future.”

Sarri has been favourite to succeed his compatriot after impressing as manager of Serie A side Napoli, who have replaced him with former Chelsea handler Carlo Ancelotti.

Sarri, who split his time between banking and playing

football before he took up coaching aged 40, has not won a major honour in three years at Napoli but has guided the club to finishes of second, third and second again.

Conte is due a reported £9 ($11.9m) if he remains out of work for the season and with the major jobs such as Real Madrid and the Italy national post -- which he occupied for two years till after Euro 2016 -- filled it is likely he will sit the year out.

Napoli are also expecting compensation of around £4.5m for Sarri, who is under contract even though he is no longer their coach.

Sarri is believed to have agreed to bring former Chelsea favourite Gianfranco Zola -- whose managerial career has stalled after a series of failures -- along as one of his backroom staff.

TOP ANTONIOCONTE QUOTES

“Now after this win I think we must be happy and pleased for all the season. It wasn’t easy for me to arrive in England and try a different language after a bad season (for the club).” -- Happier times when victory at West Bromwich Albion secured the 2016/17 title in his first season at the club, although his remark stirred things up with Jose Mourinho who had been sacked the previous campaign months after they were crowned champions. “In the past he was a little man in many circumstances, he’s a little man in the present and for sure he will be a little man in the future. I consider him a little man and I consider him a man with a very low profile.” -- Conte and Jose Mourinho had heated exchanges throughout his tenure. This was the Italian’s angry riposte to the Manchester United manager raising the topic of matchfixing which enveloped Conte in 2012 but was eventually cleared of, although he originally received a 10 month suspension. “We are having the season that we are deserving. It is only a problem of time - don’t forget in the last two or three years we lost important players for Chelsea. When you lose important players with great experience and charisma and players used to winning, you lose a lot.” -- Conte’s frustration, a constant refrain during last season, at leading players not being replaced by similar quality surface again in April.

“I can’t change. My way is always the same; hard work and to build a strong mentality with my players. I’m this and I think my past speaks very clear as a player and as a manager. You can say what you want, but I’m a serial winner.” -- Conte’s defiant message to the Chelsea board after saving something from last season with the FA Cup win over Mourinho’s United.

In this file photo taken on November 05, 2017 Chelsea’s Italian head coach Antonio Conte gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League match against Manchester United in London.

Chelsea parted company with Antonio

Conte a year after the Italian guided them

to the Premier League title.

His rapid fall from grace is not unique as

listed below the fate of previous managers

this decade to win the title (season, club,

manager, fate):

2009-10 -- Chelsea - Carlo Ancelotti -

sacked at end of 2011/12 season

2010-11 -- Manchester United - Alex Fergu-

son (see below)

2011-12 -- Manchester City - Roberto Man-

cini- sacked in May the following season

2012-13 -- Manchester United - Alex Fergu-

son - retired

2013-14 -- Manchester City - Manuel Pel-

legrini - survived two seasons.

2014-15 -- Chelsea - Jose Mourinho -

sacked in December 2015

2015-16 -- Leicester City - Claudio Ranieri -

sacked February 2017

2016-17 -- Chelsea - Antonio Conte -

sacked July 2018

2017-18 -- Manchester City - Pep Guardiola

- one year left on his contract

Antonio Conte factfileAntonio Conte

Date of birth: July 31, 1969

Birthplace: Lecce, Italy

Married: Elisabetta Muscarello

Children: One daughter, Vittoria

Playing career

Club

1985-91 Lecce

1991-2004 Juventus

Honours (all with Juventus)

Serie A titles (5): 1994-95, 1996-97, 1997-

98, 2001-02, 2002-03

Italian Cup (1): 1994/95

Champions League (1): 1995/96

UEFA Cup: 1992/93

Italian Super Cup (4): 1995, 1997, 2002,

2003

Italy

Caps (1994-2000): 20 (2 goals)

Selected for both the 1994 World Cup and

Euro 2000 squads in which Italy reached

the final of both.

Coaching career

2006-07 -- Arezzo

2007-09 -- Bari

2009-10 -- Atalanta

2010-11 -- Siena

2011-14 -- Juventus

2014-16 -- Italy

2016-18 -- Chelsea (ENG)

Honours

Juventus

Serie A titles (3): 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14

Italian SuperCup (2): 2012, 2013

FATE OF RECENT EPL WINNING MANAGERS

Conte leaves

with the best win

percentage 65.1%

of any of Chelsea’s

managers in the

Premier League era.

20 SATURDAY 14 JULY 2018SPORT 21SATURDAY 14 JULY 2018 SPORT

NG (N’Golo Kante) is always very reserved, very calm and very timid. Except when he is playing cards. We understand each other very well, we talk, we give each other advice. It is a very special relationship. He is just a great guy: French midfielder Paul Pogba

They (Croatia) are a team who defend well and attack well after recovering the ball. We are up against players of a high quality and with lots of experience. It is going to be important to concentrate hard because they have tremendous qualities: French midfielder Blaise Matuidi

Luka has never conformed to the norm when it comes to the usual positions a central midfielder would take up to receive the ball. In training he would get the ball from anywhere and all of a sudden he would be at you - and past you. He is quicker than most people think, and a lot stronger too: Retired English star Jermaine Jenas

Croatian midfielder Luka Modric

Modric’s masterclass key to Croatia’s success

France not expecting tired Croatia in final

REUTERS

MOSCOW: France have been surprised by the physical fortitude of Croatia and are not expecting a tired opponent in tomorrow’s World Cup final, midfielder Blaise Matuidi said yesterday.

Croatia have been forced into extra time in each of their three knockout matches, edging Den-mark and hosts Russia on post-match penalties before scor-ing late in added play to come from behind and beat England in Wednesday’s semi-final in Moscow.

France by contrast have won all of their matches since the round of 16 inside 90 minutes, effectively playing a full match less than Croatia at the tourna-ment in Russia.

But Matuidi said he did not think the Croats would be fatigued

by their added time on the pitch over the last week.

“I don’t think it’s a factor,” he said at

news conference at the French train-

ing base on the outskirts of

Moscow.

“We saw in the last game that they finished the stronger of the two teams. They did not look like a side who were playing extra time for a third time in a row. Sur-prisingly, they looked like they were playing their first game.

“ T h e y are a

team playing in the World Cup final, a team with players who have a lot of experience. It will be a match they will be ready for and I don’t think extra time or penal-ties has been or will be a handicap for them.”

The 31-year-old, who said it would be his last World Cup, pre-dicted an exciting final with a high level of expertise.

“They are a team who defend well and attack well after recov-ering the ball. We are up against players of a high quality and with lots of experience,” Matuidi said.

“It is going to be important to concentrate hard because they have tremendous qualities.”

But it was much the same with the French team too, he added.

“It’s the game of our lives to play in a World Cup final, a dream I’ve had since I was a kid. The cup feels so close we can almost touch it but there is still a lot to do to get there,” he said.

“We’ve prepared everything to win the game even if its extra time or penal-ties. It’s the winning that counts.”

Kante having the World Cup of his life

REUTERS

MOSCOW: It is easy to ignore diminutive N’Golo Kante amid all of France’s star-studded World Cup squad that includes $100 million-plus players such as Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann.

But when the French take on Croatia on Sunday in the World Cup final, Kante will have contributed as much to that success if not more than the big name team mates, as every one of France’s opponents in Russia can testify.

The 27-year-old does not have the stature of fellow mid-fielder Pogba, nor does he have the lightning speed of Mbappe or the goal-scoring ability of Griezmann.

He has, however, “15 lungs”, according to Pogba, an incom-parable work ethic and a unique ability to read the game like few others, a fact that makes him a one-man wall as beaten semi-finalists Belgium can attest after he helped neutralise their famed attacking threat.

Playing in front of defenders, for much of his career Kante’s abilities had gone unnoticed given that as recently as 2013 he was playing in France’s second division.

Only when he came to Leicester City in 2015 did the world start to take notice of the player who patrols the area in front of his defence in such a way that allows both midfielders and defenders to play up.

Leicester’s shocking run to the Premier League title in 2016 was as much down to Kante’s interceptions and tackles as it was to James Vardy’s goals.

At the end of that season he had more tackles and inter-ceptions than any other Premier League player.

But the 1.68m-tall Frenchman was just warming up. His move to Chelsea may have surprised some at the time but by the end of the 2016/17 season there was no doubt who one of the best defensive midfielders in the world was.

“NG is always very reserved, very calm and very timid,” Pogba said on Thursday. “Except when he is playing cards.”

“We understand each other very well, we talk, we give each other advice. It is a very special relationship. He is just a great guy.”

France could win their second World Cup title on Sunday and while everyone could be hailing their big-name players, Pogba, Griezmann and Mbappe know well any title would not have been possible without Kante’s tireless work in midfield.

REUTERS

A - AFRICA: For the first time since 1982 no African teams made it to the knockout stage. Egypt and

Tunisia never got close, Morocco were a bit unlucky, while Nigeria and Senegal were a matter of minutes

away - but when the dust settled it was a huge disappointment for the continent to spend the second

half of the tournament watching from home.

B - BOOT (GOLDEN): With the final and third-place playoff to come, England’s Harry Kane is in

pole position on six goals, ahead of Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Russia’s

Denis Cheryshev, all on four. Kane’s tally matches Gary Lineker in 1986 as England’s tournament best

and is the first to include three penalties. Brazil’s Ronaldo, who got eight in 2002, is the only player in

the last 10 tournaments to score more than six.

C - COUNTER-ATTACK: Belgium proved the masters of the counter-attack and there can have

been few better, or more dramatic, examples than their brilliant 94th-minute winner against Japan.

From a Japanese corner, via the hands of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, four Belgians somehow found

the will to drive the length of the pitch to create a wonderful goal of pace and precision, finished off

by Nacer Chadli.

D - DEBUTANTS: Iceland continued from where they left off at the 2016 Euros, drawing with

Argentina, giving their all and coming up just short in a tough group. Panama were horribly outclassed

- thrashed by Belgium and England and even beaten by Tunisia.

E - EUROPE: For the third tournament in four, there is an all-European final. This and the previous

Europe-based tournament also featured all-European semi-final lineups. Once again the continent’s top

sides, and some of its lesser ones, have left the rest of the world trailing - and that was with Italy and

the Netherlands watching from home.

F - FORGOTTEN: It could have been one of the greatest-ever World Cup goals and instead turned

into one of the greatest-ever World Cup saves, but Jordan Pickford’s unbelievable stop from Mateus

Uribe’s 30-metre top-corner piledriver was not even repeated on the big screen in the Spartak Stadium

as from the resulting corner Colombia snatched a mayhem-inducing equaliser.

G - GOLDEN GENERATION: Belgium’s players were sick and tired of hearing about and being

asked about the tag and how it was “time to deliver.” In most ways they did, performing superbly, scoring

memorable goals and dispatching Brazil in the quarter-finals, but they could not muster enough ideas

to unpick the French defence in the last four. The bulk of the team, certainly its creative end, is still far

from retirement age so stand by for more GG headlines in two years.

H - HAZARD: Finally he wore the mantle of superstar like it was not a hair shirt. After disappearing

as Belgium slipped out of the last World Cup and 2016 Euros, Eden Hazard really stepped up to the

mark in Russia. Demanding the ball, dominating the key games, he could not quite get them over the

line in the semi-final but nobody can this time accuse him of not trying.

I - “IT’S (NOT) COMING HOME”: England’s unexpected run to the semi-finals launched

a nationwide reprise of the 1996 anthem “Football’s coming home,” which also boomed out of the

loudspeakers at every stadium before they played and after every goal. Back at Euro ‘96 they sang about

“30 years of hurt” in relation to the barren spell after the 1966 World Cup. It’s now up to 52... and counting.

J - JAPAN: Flew the Asia flag with pride on and off the pitch. After their heart-breaking late defeat

by Belgium Japan’s players might have been forgiven for throwing a few cups and punching the odd

wall. Instead they picked up every piece of debris and left their dressing room looking as if it had never

been used. All they left behind was a note, in Russian, thanking their hosts. Pure class.

K - KANTE: Can any player ever have had so much influence on the success of his teams while

attracting so little attention? N’Golo Kante patrols the area in front of his defence with such understanding

and appreciation that he rarely seems to need to sprint, let alone stretch. He is a dream-screen for

the men behind him and, as so many teams in Russia have discovered, an absolute nightmare to

have to get past.

L - LATE GOALS: Barely a day seemed to pass without some team snatching a goal in the dying

moments - helped by what seemed to be the new minimum of five minutes’ stoppage time. Iran,

Colombia, England, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Tunisia and others all enjoyed that explosion

of joy and relief that comes with a last-gasp winner or equaliser and that have contributed to so much

of this tournament’s excitement.

M - MODRIC (NOT MESSI): Luka Modric has matured through the tournament, and matured

through the game in Croatia’s semi-final victory over England. His ease of movement, eye for the right

pass and overall class eventually shone through as those around him fell away.

Not so Lionel Messi, who left with his World Cup dream unfulfilled. One of the greatest players of all

time alongside Pele and Diego Maradona went out with barely a whimper to join the sub-set of GOATs

who have never won the World Cup - including Ferenc Puskas, Johan Cruyff and George Best, who

never even got to play in one.

N - NEYMAR: Option 1. Bravely recovering from a long injury absence, Neymar, the most-fouled

player in the tournament, had more attempts on goal than any other player and did all he could to drag

a disappointing Brazil team towards a first final for 16 years. Option 2. Neymar personified everything

bad about the world’s most popular game - his amazing talent overshadowed by diving, cheating, and

truly ridiculous rolling around that made him the planet’s biggest laughing stock.

O - OLDEST: Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary became the oldest player to appear in a World

Cup finals game when he played in his country’s final group game against Saudi Arabia at the age of

45 years, 161 days.

P - PENALTIES: The 28 awarded up to and including the semi-finals was a tournament record by a

distance with the previous highest being the 18 given in 2002. Several were the result of VAR intervention.

Q - QATAR: Host country for the next World Cup, to be held in November/December 2022, where

determined fans will be sometimes able to watch three games in a day - instead of taking three days

to get to a game in Russia.

R - RONALDO: With his shorts hitched to the max, Ronaldo’s last-gasp, free-kick equaliser in the

3-3 draw with Spain was one of the highlights of the early matches. He continued to perform heroics

but was unable to drag a very limited Portugal team into the quarter-finals. Of the “Big Three” in Russia,

however, he can probably be most pleased with his contribution.

S - SNEAKY: Colombia’s players appeared to have been overtaken by mass hysteria when a penalty

was awarded against them for hauling down England’s Harry Kane but in the midst of the four-minute

protest one of them was “in the moment” enough to repeatedly dig his heal into the grass around the

penalty spot in a feeble attempt to make things difficult for the penalty-taker. It didn’t work as Kane

converted and England went on to win on a penalty shootout.

T - TIKI-TAKA: Spain made an astonishing 1,137 passes in 120 minutes against Russia but barely

created a scoring opportunity and went out on penalties. Pointless passing suddenly looked so last

decade. Back to the tactical drawing board.

V - VAR: With very few exceptions the first use of the Video Assistant Referee system has been a

huge success. Several penalties were awarded, and a handful overturned, on the basis of replays and

fears of repeated and lengthy delays proved largely unfounded.

U - UPSETS: In World Cup terms they don’t come any bigger than Germany losing to South Korea to

finish bottom of their group. Spain being knocked out by 70th-ranked Russia, Argentina held by Iceland

and torn apart by Croatia and Spain and Portugal clinging on by their fingertips to draws against Morocco

and Iran also had the neutrals cheering.

W - WRESTLING: For some unknown reason, dozens of players decided that the best way to

defend a corner was to ignore the ball and instead wrap their arms around their opponent and wrestle

them to the ground. After initially turning a blind eye, FIFA and its referees decided to clamp down and

started awarding penalties - much to the shocked outrage of those who had grappled with impunity

in their opening games.

X - XENOPHOBIA: Despite all the dire warnings, there has been none, and Russians have shown

themselves to be friendly hosts in every city.

Y - YELLOW: The famed and adored kit of Brazil, which they chose to sometimes replace with a

new shiny blue one, as did Colombia. Nigeria introduced a kit that was a world-wide best-seller, then

wore a change strip for their first game. Commercial imperative blew tradition out of the window and

left fans scratching their heads.

Z - ZAGALLO: Mario Zagallo won the World Cup twice with Brazil in 1958 and 1962 then managed

them to the title in 1970. Franz Beckenbauer followed him (1974 and 1990) and now Didier Deschamps,

captain of France’s 1998 winners, has the chance to join a very exclusive club.

FIFA 2018 WORLD CUP - A TO ZFrench midfielder N’Golo Kante (front), Kylian Mbappe (centre) and Paul Pogba warm up at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in Saint Petersburg in this file photo.

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REUTERS

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extra time or penalties:

Blaise Matuidi

There is more to Croatia than just Modric magic

REUTERS

MOSCOW: Croatia’s run to the World Cup final is largely down to Luka Modric’s tireless work in midfield but their abil-ity to switch tactics efficiently should be a warning for opponents France tomor-row.

When the two sides meet at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium all eyes will be on Modric and how the French will attempt to put shackles on the creative midfielder, who at 32 is eyeing the biggest prize of the sport.

While Modric may be a worthy con-tender for Footballer of the Year, his team’s quick switch in tactics during their World Cup semi-final against England shows that danger lurks around every corner playing against this Croatia squad.

The English were already with one foot in the final after leading 1-0 and completely dominating the game, with Modric and fellow midfielder Ivan

Rakitic, who have five Champions League titles between them, unable to feed their forwards.

But after the break, a quick switch from their favoured 4-3-3 to a 4-1-4-1 meant that suddenly the game moved higher up the England half and the wings became Croatia’s main points of attack.

Sime Vrsaljko is not your average rightback. At times he operates as a world-class winger whose power, accu-racy in crosses and passes have little to do with that of a full-time defender.

When Modric is bogged down in mid-field, it is Vrsaljko who will often shoulder the duty of carrying the ball past the mid-field and it was one of his forays into the English half that allowed him to cross for Ivan Perisic to level.

The same goes for the other wing, with Ivan Strinic equally attack-minded and his replacement late in the game, Josip Pivaric, doing as he was told, cross-ing into the box from the left to give Mario

Mandzukic the chance to score the win-ner and send his team into the final.

With opponents’ defenders kept busy with trying to contain the three strikers and the holding midfielders working to deal with Modric and Rakitic, it is the full-backs who could prove to be key.

With a strike force that is the envy of almost every other World Cup team, with players such as Mandzukic, Perisic, Ante Rebic and Andrej Kramaric, Croatia can be lethal.

But they can equally turn into a hard-working defensive mechanism as they showed when Russia pressed high in their quarter-final stopping from unfolding their attacking game plans.

France will obviously need to use N’Golo Kante’s and Paul Pogba’s power and stamina to rein in Modric and Rak-itic early but their defence must also be equally alert to the danger from the wings if they are to shut out the Croats and lift their second World Cup.

REUTERS

MOSCOW: In Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final against England Luka Modric showed, for the umpteenth time in his career, that you can’t keep a good man down as he orchestrated a third successive comeback that sent Croatia into the dreamland of the final.

For almost an hour of Wednesday’s game Modric just could not get a foothold, as England’s relentless pressing harried him into mis-takes and cut down his supply line.

England deservedly led and should have had more goals as Modric and his misfiring team mates were perhaps perceived as suffering the effects of back-to-back extra time and pen-alty shootout wins over Denmark and Russia.

However, as the second half unfolded, if England thought the job was done and they had run the legs off the 32-year-old, they had clearly not been paying attention to his extraordinary career.

As befits a man playing his 111th international and 11th in the World Cup, Modric did not panic and did not waver, instead he gradually found a way to shoehorn himself and his team back into the game.

There were no extravagant 50-yard passes or wavy runs leaving multiple defenders in his wake, just a steady cranking up of the momentum. The movement got sharper, passes were more quickly released and there was the trademark bodyswerve and check to suddenly create a yard of space from nothing.

Galvanised by their leader, his team-mates, far from flagging, looked the fitter of the two teams and started giving him and the equally re-energised Ivan Rakitic targets - and the passes started to stick.

Ivan Perisic duly equalised and Mario Mandzukic won it in extra time, where it was Modric still skipping around the turf like a spring lamb who had emerged as the dominant force on the pitch while an exhausted Jordan Henderson had to be substituted after chas-ing him all night.

“Luka has never conformed to the norm when it comes to the usual positions a central midfielder would take up to receive the ball,” Jermaine Jenas wrote this week as he contemplated the chal-lenge England faced in nullifying his former Tottenham Hotspur team mate.

“In training he would get the ball from anywhere and all of a sudden he would be at you - and past you. He is quicker than most people think, and a lot stronger too.

“When you consider how well balanced he is, I just don’t see a better player in that area of the pitch anywhere on the planet right now.”

Now, it is France’s turn to try to keep the lid on the Real Madrid man and if they task N’Golo Kante with the job it could be the most pivotal match-up of the final.

Kante reigns supreme at snuffing out danger at source, yet even the arch anticipator might find himself torn between abandoning his preferred zonal patrol nd chasing Modric into his unconventional shadows.

France did a superb job at generally forcing Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne into cul-de-sacs in their semi and they know they will to repeat the job tomorrow - and not just for an hour.

Luka Modric has matured through the

tournament, and matured through the game

in Croatia’s semi-final victory over England.

His ease of movement, eye for the right pass

and overall class eventually shone through

as those around him fell away.

22 SATURDAY 14 JULY 2018SPORT

Spinners put Sri Lanka on top against South Africa in GalleAFP

GALLE, SRI LANKA: Spinners led by Dilruwan Perera put hosts Sri Lanka in firm command of the first Test yesterday after South Africa were bowled out for 126 -- their lowest Test innings in the country.

First innings centurion Dimuth Karunaratne then made a fluent 60 as the hosts ended day two on 111 for four, leading by 272 runs at the Galle Interna-tional Stadium.

Angelo Mathews, on 14, and Roshen Silva, on 10, were batting at close of play after left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj claimed three wickets for South Africa.

But it was the Sri Lankan bowlers who starred on a dra-matic day that witnessed South Africa slip to 51-6 before being bowled out in the second session of play.

The dismal effort set a new low for South Africa in Sri Lanka, worse than their 169 in Colombo in 2006.

“We wanted to take a lead. We stopped easy runs, put pressure and got the wickets early and things went on pretty well I thought,” Perera told reporters.

“We didn’t expect to get them bowled out for 126 though,” he added.

Perera returned impressive figures of 4-46 with his off-spin, while paceman and stand-in skipper Suranga Lakmal took three wickets.

Veteran spinner Rangana Herath started Sri Lanka’s dom-inance by sending back night-watchman Maharaj early, and

Perera soon took crucial wickets including the dangerous Hashim Amla for 15.

Skipper Faf du Plessis made a gritty 49 and his 64-run seventh-wicket partnership with Vernon Philander, who made 18, was the best that South Africa could muster in their 54.3 overs.

Herath grabbed two wickets while left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan claimed one -- the three spinners sharing seven wickets in total.

“We were trying not to let a batsman settle. Keep changing

angles and Herath even changed ends. If the wicket is turning, I tend to change those angles,” said Perera.

Lakmal did not bowl at all until the 37th over of the innings, but was effective after lunch on day two, rattling the off-stump of du Plessis with a delivery that jagged in sharply.

Lakmal then quickly got rid of the number nine and 10 batsmen to end the innings with figures of 3-21 from only 4.3 overs.

Having established a lead of 161, Sri Lanka quickly set about

extending it when they began their second innings, with the openers putting on a 51-run partnership.

Karunaratne became only the second Sri Lanka batsman to score a hundred and a fifty in the same Test against South Africa, but was caught at slip off the bowling of Kagiso Rabada late in the day.

Amla said a lot would depend on South Africa’s top order if they have to chase over 300 runs on a seemingly turning sub-continent pitch.

“272 (Sri Lanka’s lead) on

that type of wicket is a lot of runs. If we manage to restrict them to I’d say 320, then cer-tainly that would be a good target for us,” said Amla.

“Any of the batsmen in the top six would like to occupy the crease for a long time and get us close to the total we have to chase. We want to get stuck in and bat for as long as possible.”

Sri Lanka’s Dilruwan Perera (left) celebrates after

dismissing South Africa’s Quinton de Kock (not pictured)

during the second day of the opening Test match at the Galle International Cricket

Stadium in Galle yesterday.

Imam, Khan propel Pakistan to crushing win over ZimbabweAFP

BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE: Pakistan leg spinner Shadab Khan yesterday credited his team’s recent successes on their camaraderie after a crushing win over Zimbabwe in the opening game of a five-match one-day series.

After Pakistan won by 201 runs in Bulawayo, Khan, who starred with the ball, was asked to explain his team’s form.

“We’re very good friends, and maybe that’s why,” Khan said. “If anyone in the team per-forms, the whole team appre-ciates them.”

Khan and opening batsman Imam-ul-Haq delivered career-best efforts to ensure that Pakistan controlled the match throughout.

Imam cracked a career-best 128 to set up Pakistan’s 308 for 7 after they had been put in to

bat under grey, wintery skies this morning. Then Khan made short work of Zimbabwe’s lower order to collect 4 for 32 as the hosts were bowled out in the 35th over.

“I’m very happy with the career best, and I’ll try to bowl even better in the next game,” Khan said, adding that the surface “was a bit on the slow side. I’ve been here with Pakistan

A, in 2016, and I knew it was a slow pitch. And it helped us as well, especially me as a spinner.”

Imam was backed up by Fakhar Zaman, who continued his good form with 60, and Asif Ali, who smashed a rapid 46 on debut to boost Pakistan’s total.

Pakistan started slowly with the bat. With the new ball nipping around Imam played and missed at several deliveries and was lucky to survive an edge off fast bowler Blessing Muz-arabani, the ball dropping just in front of second slip. But Imam gritted his way through the dif-ficult patch, and, with Fakhar scoring fluently, Pakistan put on an opening stand of 113 in under 25 overs.

Fakhar brought up his fourth fifty of Pakistan’s tour but then hit a return catch to debutant off-spinner Liam Roche. Imam then shifted through the gears to bring up a 109-ball hundred in the 37th

over. Zimbabwe’s bowlers struck back at the death with Tendai Chatara and Donald Tiripano picking up two apiece, as Pakistan lost five wickets in the last 10 overs.

“We thought 300 was a very good total,” said Khan. “In the first few overs it was very dif-ficult to survive out there, but Imam and Fakhar batted really well so we were happy to even-tually get 300.”

Pakistan’s seamers were disciplined with the new ball, and were rewarded with five top-order wickets inside the first 15 overs.

Ryan Murray, on debut, was the only Zimbabwean batsman to come to terms with Pakistan’s attack, compiling a tidy unbeaten 32 but Khan dismissed four of Zimbabwe’s last five to ensure the hosts slumped to the lowest ODI total recorded at the Queens Sports Club

India’s Natwest hero Kaif retires at 37AFP

NEW DELHI: Indian batsman Mohammad Kaif yesterday retired from all forms of cricket -- nearly 12 years after he last stepped out to play an international match for his country.

Kaif, who played 125 one-day internationals during his six-year career, is famous for his match-winning 87 in the Natwest final against England at Lord’s in 2002.

The 37-year-old Kaif, a lightning quick fielder and a useful middle-order batsman, decided to quit on the same day he hit the

memorable knock -- July 13.

“It was 16 years back on this day -- July 13 -- that we won the Natwest Trophy and I played an important role. So it’s apt

that I retire from all forms of cricket on this day,” Kaif said in a video message on Twitter.

“It’s been a while since I last played for India, so people think that I am already retired but I was busy playing domestic cricket.

“But it’s time to thank all those who helped me along this journey, my family, and team-mates.”

Kaif anchored India’s 326-run chase during his 121-run partnership with Yuvraj Singh to give his team a two-wicket win in the last over. Indian captain Sourav Ganguly celebrated

the win by taking off his shirt and waving it from the Lord’s balcony, one of the game’s most enduring images.

Kaif, who played just 13 Tests for India, last featured in an ODI against South Africa in November 2006 before falling off the selectors’ radar.

He scored 2,753 runs in one-day cricket and 624 runs from 13 Tests.

Kaif rose to prominence after captaining India to their first Under-19 World Cup title in 2000.

He is now a cricket analyst and a popular Hindi commentator.

Groenewegen

wins seventh

stage of Tour

AFP

CHARTRES, FRANCE: D u t c h m a n D y l a n Groenewegen burst past Colombian sprint rival Fernando Gaviria to win the Tour de France seventh stage at the end of a 231 km run from Fougeres to Chartres yesterday.

The Lotto NL-Jumbo rider, who won the final stage to Paris last year, beat Quick Step’s Gaviria into second place with Slovakian Peter Sagan (Bora) taking third.

Belgian Greg Van Avermaet, of BMC, retained the leader’s yellow jersey ahead of today’s eighth stage.

French duo Arnaud Demare and Christophe Laporte were fourth and fifth respectively as the home nation were left empty-handed for the seventh day in succession.

With a notoriously dif-ficult 90 degree bend with 2km to go and speeds hitting 60 km/h, tensions were high over the closing kilometres as the sprinters’ teams jockeyed for position.

But the peloton slowed and hostilities began with a ‘faux plat’ incline to the final 150m, with Sagan’s Bora, Gaviria’s Quick Step and the winner’s Lotto outfit prom-inent into the final stretch.

The peloton set off amid good racing conditions for the longest stage on the race, with a finish line opposite the 800-year-old cathedral of Chartres, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Around 95km from Chartres the peloton split in a cross wind, trapping Thurs-day’s stage winner Dan Martin (Team Emirates) in the second group.

The Irishman was swift to react leading his team across the breach within a couple of kilometres.

Craddock turns

misfortune into

fundraising

opportunity

AFP

CHARTRES, FRANCE: When Lawson Craddock pinned his race number - 13 - on his Tour de France jersey last weekend, he had no idea just how unlucky it would be.

A crash in the opening stage left him with a bloodied face and a fractured scapula. Since then, the 26-year-old Texan has been riding through the pain.

“My body is fighting extremely hard just to recover from a broken bone, and when you add the toll the Tour de France naturally takes on one’s body, it’s quite a lot,” Craddock, his eyebrow still swollen from the crash, told reporters before the start of stage four.

After seven stages, Craddock may be firm favourite to remain the race’s ‘lanterne rouge’ or red lantern - the last rider in the standings, a full hour off the leader and about 17 minutes down on the second-last rider. The EF Education First-Drapac rider, however, has turned his misfortune into fundraising. or every stage he finishes, Craddock donates $100 to the Greater Houston Cycling Foundation, which runs the Alkek Velodrome after it was badly damaged by Hurricane Harvey last year.

He has also started an online fundraiser and after six stages has collected $40,000.

Indian batsman Mohammad Kaif (left)

celebrates with Zaheer Khan after winning the

Natwest final against England at Lord’s in this

2002 file photo.

SRI LANKA 1st innings 287 SOUTH AFRICA 1st innings (overnight 4-1)D. Elgar c Mathews b Perera .................................. 8

A. Markram c Mathews b Herath ........................... 0

K. Maharaj lbw b Herath ..........................................3

H. Amla c Mendis b Perera ....................................15

T. Bavuma b Sandakan ..........................................17

F. du Plessis b Lakmal ...........................................49

Q. de Kock b Perera ..................................................3

V. Philander lbw b Perera ......................................18

K. Rabada b Lakmal .................................................2

D. Steyn c Mathews b Lakmal ................................ 8

T. Shamsi not out ..................................................... 0

Extras (b2, nb1) ......................................................3

Total (all out, 54.3 overs) ......................126Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Markram), 2-9 (Maharaj), 3-13

(Elgar), 4-40 (Amla), 5-48 (Bavuma), 6-51 (de Kock),

7-115 (Philander), 8-115 (du Plessis), 9-123 (Rabada),

10-126 (Steyn)

Bowling: Herath 19-5-39-2, Perera 23-8-46-4,

Sandakan 8-1-18-1, Lakmal 4.3-0-21-3 (nb1)

SRI LANKA 2nd inningsD. Gunathilaka c Rabada b Maharaj .................... 17

D. Karunaratne c Amla b Rabada .......................60

D. de Silva b Maharaj .............................................. 9

K. Mendis lbw b Maharaj ........................................ 0

A. Mathews not out ................................................14

R. Silva not out .......................................................10

Extras (lb1) .............................................................. 1

Total (4 wickets, 37 overs) .....................111Still to bat: N. Dickwella, D. Perera, R. Herath, S.

Lakmal, L. Sandakan

Fall of wickets: 1-51 (Gunathilaka), 2-64 (de Silva),

3-64 (Mendis), 4-92 (Karunaratne)

Bowling: Rabada 7-0-28-1, Steyn 5-1-15-0, Maha-

raj 16-4-37-3, Shamsi 6-0-20-0, Philander 3-0-10-0

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTANI. ul Haq c Musakanda b Muzarabani .......................128

F. Zaman c & b Roche ................................................... 60

B. Azam c Chibhabha b W Masakadza .....................30

S. Malik c Murray b Tiripano ..........................................22

A. Ali c Tiripano b Chatara ........................................... 46

F. Ashraf c Chari b Chatara .............................................0

S. Ahmed not out ............................................................13

H. Ali c Musakanda b Tiripano .......................................0

S. Khan not out ..................................................................2

Extras (lb5, w2) .............................................................. 7

Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) .............................308Did not bat: M Amir, U Khan

Fall of wickets: 1-113 (Zaman), 2-172 (Azam), 3-235

(Malik), 4-268 (ul Haq), 5-287 (Ashraf), 6-292 (A Ali),

7-295 (H Ali)

Bowling: Chatara 10-0-49-2 (1w); Muzarabani 10-1-

56-1; Tiripano 10-0-66-2; Chibhabha 3-0-22-0; Roche

7-0-54-1; W Masakadza 10-0-56-1 (1w)

ZIMBABWEB. Chari c Zaman b U Khan ............................................2

C. Chibhabha b H Ali ..................................................... 20

H. Masakadza c Zaman b U Khan ................................. 7

T. Musakanda c Malik b Ashraf ..................................... 21

P. Moor c Azam b Ashraf ................................................2

R. Murray not out ...........................................................32

D. Tiripano b S Khan ...................................................... 12

L. Roche c Ashraf b S Khan ............................................4

W. Masakadza b S Khan ..................................................0

T. Chatara c Ahmed b Amir ............................................. 5

B. Muzarabani b S Khan ..................................................0

Extras (lb1, w1) ................................................................2

Total (10 wkts, 35 overs) ........................... 107Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Chari), 2-11 (Masakadza), 3-45

(Musakanda), 4-53 (Chibhabha), 5-55 (Moor), 6-79 (Tiri-

pano), 7-91 (Roche), 8-93 (W Masakadza), 9-106 (Ch-

atara), 10-107 (Muzarabani)

Bowling: Amir 7-1-21-1; U Khan 5-1-21-2 (1w); Ashraf

5-0-14-2; Ali 4-2-6-1; S Khan 9-0-32-4; Malik 5-0-12-0

SCOREBOARD

Kaif played

125 one-day

internationals

during his six-

year career and

is famous for his

match-winning 87

in the Natwest final

against England at

Lord’s in 2002.

REUTERS

LONDON: It was a case of better late than never as Kevin Anderson reached his first Wimbledon final with a heart-stopping 7-6(6) 6-7(5) 6-7(9) 6-4 26-24 win over the sport’s perennial ultra marathon man John Isner yesterday.

After being kept on the run for six hours and 36 minutes, the longest ever singles semi-final at the All England Club, how the 32-year-old was still standing was anyone’s guess.

When it was all done and dusted, there were no wild roars, no fist pumping and no raised arms in celebration - all Anderson had left in him was to give Isner a sympathetic hug after he came out on top in the second longest match ever con-tested at the All England Club.

“I don’t know what to say right now. Just playing like that in those conditions was really tough on both of us. At the end you feel like it is a draw, but someone has to win,” a drained Anderson, who had sensationally beaten defending champion Roger Federer in another nail-biting five setter two days ago, said.

“John is a great guy and I really feel for him. If I was on the opposite side I don’t know how you can take that playing for so long and coming out short... getting through something like that is quite different.

“I’ve known John for such a long time, he is a great guy. To be honest he has pushed me through my career and had a great one himself. I have pushed myself harder because of the

success he has had. I have to say congratulations to John on a great tournament, semi-finals here is a remarkable achievement and hopefully he can come back stronger.”

Playing Isner who is

enshrined in Wimbledon folklore for winning the “endless match” - an 11 hour five minute hum-dinger against Nicolas Mahut in 2010 - Anderson needed five nerve-shredding sets to topple the American and become the

first South African man to reach the Wimbledon final for 97 years.

A showdown between two tennis skyscrapers - with Isner topping the 6 foot 8 Anderson by two inches - predictably featured three tiebreaks and 102

thunderbolt aces but it was the 32-year-old South African who delivered the knockout blow.

After watching Isner strike a weary forehand wide, Anderson advanced to the Wimbledon final at the 10th time of asking.

The eighth seed will face either twice champion Rafael Nadal or three-times winner Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final.

Brian Norton was the last South African man to reach the final in 1921.

23SATURDAY 14 JULY 2018 SPORT

Lorenzo fastest in German Moto Grand Prix practiceAFP

SACHSENRING, GERMANY: Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo recorded the quickest time in practice on Friday for the German Grand Prix at the Sach-senring, with championship leader Marc Marquez fifth fastest.

Three-time MotoGP world champion Lorenzo clocked a best time of one minute and 20.85 seconds on his Ducati.

Danilo Petrucci, who is reportedly replacing Lorenzo at the factory Ducati team next season when the Spaniard leaves for Honda, was second on a Ducati Pramac, 0.257sec behind. Andrea Iannone, who recorded the best time in the opening session, was third for Suzuki at 0.319sec while Andrea Dovizioso was fourth on the second factory Ducati.

“We have a good oppor-tunity here to fight for the podium and victory is not impossible,” Lorenzo told the

MotoGP website.Reigning world champion

Marquez has won the top-class race at the Sachsenring for the last five years and is bidding for his ninth straight German GP win in total.

The Honda rider, who leads the riders’ standings by 41 points from Italian great Valentino Rossi, was 0.464sec slower than Lorenzo.

“It was a good first day, even if our opponents are all closer compared to last year,” Marquez said. “Tomorrow we’ll try and take another little step with the setup, because I’m not yet able to make the bike slide like I want.”

Yamaha struggled all day, though, as Maverick Vinales had to settle for the sixth-quickest time, with the 39-year-old Rossi all the way down in 17th place.

“When we try to put power on the ground we spin the tyre a lot and we suffer, because when we lose acceleration we lose drive,” lamented the nine-

time world champion.“We tried to do something

about it this afternoon, but unfortunately we weren’t able to improve. We have to continue and try to be stronger tomorrow.”

Marquez’s Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa, who announced on Thursday that he will end his 17-year career at the end of the season, was almost a second-and-a-half down on Lorenzo in 20th on the timesheets. The surprise of the day was Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami, who was seventh, while Finn Mika Kallio, a KTM wild-card, was taken to hospital for tests after injuring his right knee in a fall.

In Moto2, Spaniard Xavi Vierge edged compatriot Alex Marquez and German Marcel Schroetter. In Moto3, German Philipp Oettl, on a KTM, finished faster than the Hondas of Italian Tony Arbolino and Spaniard Jorge Martin, the championship leader.

Rage against ‘The Machine’: Pacquiao puts career on lineAFP

KUALA LUMPUR: Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao chal-lenges Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse for the World Boxing Association welterweight belt tomorrow knowing defeat could lower the curtain on one of the greatest careers in boxing history.

Pacquiao, 39, faced calls to retire from friends, family and even his Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach when he lost the WBO belt to journeyman Aus-tralian Jeff Horn a year ago.

A second successive defeat, this time against the dangerous Argentine at Kuala Lumpur’s Axiata Arena tomorrow, could see the veteran “National Fist” hang up his gloves for good.

But victory for Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs), who has won world titles in an unprece-dented eight weight divisions

in a glittering 23-year career, would extend his legendary status and his life in the ring beyond his 40th birthday in December.

“I am not saying it will be the last (fight), but it will be the basis to think about (whether) to continue or not,” Pacquiao SAID at his training camp.

But “Pac-Man’s” condi-tioning coach Justin Fortune thinks the world will see “the old Pacquiao” return and silence those who question whether his aging body still has the ability to compete against the world’s best.

Pacquiao is going for his 60th victory since turning pro in 1995, but despite winning 38 of his first 47 fights by knockout, he has not stopped an opponent in nine years.

“He looks like the old Pac-quiao,” declared Fortune of the boxer who is also an elected

senator in the Philippines and is tipped one day to run for pres-ident. “His metabolism is ridic-ulous. He’s a freak.” Matthysse (39-4, 36 KOs) paid tribute to Pacquiao but warned that his admiration for one of the world’s greatest pound-for-pound fighters would not stop him from taking his belt back to South America.

“He is a great champion but he still hasn’t faced ‘The Machine’,” Argentina’s Mat-thysse told a pre-fight press conference.

“If he decides to retire after I beat him then that is his decision. I am here to defend my title.”

Knock-out specialist Mat-thysse has finished 36 of his 39 wins inside the distance and took the vacant WBA belt after an eighth-round stoppage of Thailand’s Teerachai Sith-morseng in January.

Ducati Team’s Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo steers his bike during the second training session of the Moto GP for the Grand Prix of Germany at the Sachsenring Circuit in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, eastern Germany, yesterday.

Japan’s Ryuya Yamanaka (right) and Vic Saludar of the Philippines fight during their WBO minimumweight title boxing bout in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture, yesterday.

South Africa’s Kevin Anderson celebrates winning his Wimbledon

semi-final match against John Isner of the USA at the All England Lawn

Tennis and Croquet Club, in London, Britain yesterday.

Anderson topples Isner in Wimbledon epic to reach final

SPORT 24SATURDAY 14 JULY 2018

Dejected England, Belgium aim to leave World Cup on a highAFP

SAINT PETERSBURG: England manager Gareth Southgate admits the World Cup third-place play-off is a game that no team wants to play, but today’s match against Belgium offers the chance to finish the tournament on a winning note.

A gut-wrenching 2-1 loss to Croatia after extra-time denied England a shot at a second World Cup triumph, instead setting up a consolation game against familiar foes Belgium.

Roberto Martinez’s side, who were beaten 1-0 by France in the last four, topped Group G ahead of England after an Adnan Januzaj goal settled a low-key encounter in Kaliningrad.

That game saw both coaches heavily rotate their teams, and a similar scenario is likely in Saint Petersburg, with several fringe players pushing for a start.

“The honest thing is, it’s not a game any team wants to play in,” said Southgate, whose side have drawn praise for the way they have briefly united a country bitterly divided over Brexit.

However, he insisted that will not alter England’s approach as they look to achieve their best finish since they won the com-petition in 1966.

“We’ll want to give a per-formance of huge pride, there’s no question about that,” said Southgate.

“Every time we wear the shirt of our national team we want to play with pride, we want to play well and we want to win.”

Reserve goalkeepers Jack Butland and Nick Pope are the only two members of England’s 23-man squad yet to feature in Russia, as Southgate stuck with the same line-up throughout the knockout phase.

For Belgium and their “golden generation”, many of the key players should return for the 2022 World Cup, even if Vincent Kompany and Jan

Vertonghen will probably be gone by then.

Martinez, who signed an extension until after Euro 2020 in May, can guide Belgium to the nation’s best result at the World Cup. They finished fourth in 1986.

“We want to finish on a high and these players deserve to

finish on a high,” said the Spaniard. “You need to try to see the opportunity of finishing third at the World Cup. That doesn’t happen too often, so we need to understand that this is an important game.

“But I would accept it is very difficult when you had the ambition of getting to the final. It’s very difficult to prepare for the next game.”

European teams have claimed third place at the past nine World Cups.

The Netherlands beat Brazil 3-0 in 2014 after the hosts were embarrassed 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals.

England skipper Harry Kane is the tournament’s top scorer on six goals, while Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku trails by two in the race for the Golden Boot.

With one more goal Kane would become the highest scorer at the competition since 2002, when Ronaldo struck eight times, including twice in the final, as Brazil clinched a record fifth title.

The Tottenham forward would be just the second England player to scoop the award, after Gary Lineker was the top scorer in 1986.

England’s Harry Kane during a training session in Saint Petersburg, Russia, yesterday. INSET: Belgium players during a training session in Moscow on Thursday.

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You need to try to

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Roberto Martinez

England’s Southgate cites Germany blueprint as model for successAFP

SAINT PETERSBURG: England manager Gareth Southgate (pictured) hopes his team can ride the momentum generated by their run to the World Cup semi-finals and follow the path Germany took to the top of international football.

Southgate and his players have been hailed back home after reaching the last four for the first time since 1990, and for bringing together a nation bitterly divided over Brexit.

“They see a team that leaves everything on the pitch, which they have, and played with style. I think the public have enjoyed it,” Southgate said before today’s third place play-off against Belgium.

“They’ve got to know the players a little bit better and realised the perception is dif-ferent from the reality. I feel there’ll be an affinity and something we can build on.”

He used the example of the feel-good aspect of Germany’s performance at the 2006 finals, where the hosts -- with a young team like the current England crop -- won over a nation despite losing to Italy in the semi-finals. “The youth and enthusiasm of the team pro-pelled them back into the minds

of their public,” said Southgate.“The downside was it took

them another eight years to win (the World Cup). I’m not looking for eight years by the way but internationally you have to wait every two years.

“We’ll be stronger then because of age and big-match experiences that build resilience.”

Bobby Robson and Terry Venables, the last two men to lead England to semi-finals -- at the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96 -- left their jobs imme-diately afterwards.

However, Southgate has a contract until 2020, which

could be extended until beyond the 2022 World Cup, giving England stability.

“We’ve set a benchmark for how we work,” he said.

“There is a culture that exists now that any new player that comes in has to follow.” “We’re here to improve every time we play,” he continued.

“There were low expecta-tions that relieved the pressure coming into the tournament but still pressure to get out of the group, win a knockout game and win a shootout and they coped with that.

“If you want to play for England you have to cope with that. Players can now associate playing for England with enjoyment, fun and not feeling under siege as if everything is against them.”

The sense that a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity may have passed Southgate and his squad by still clearly resonates with the England boss.

“None of us knows if that’s as good as it gets,” he said, after England were beaten 2-1 by Croatia in extra-time on Wednesday.

“We were 20 minutes from a World Cup final and then in extra-time about 10 minutes from penalties to get into the final.”