A makeshift France side were held to a 1-1 draw by Serbia in a friendly after Aleksandar Kolarov drilled in a ferocious free-kick for the hosts to cancel out a Paul Pogba opener on Sunday.
Having beaten Spain 1-0 in Paris on Thursday last week, France dominated long spells of the match after their coach Didier Deschamps fielded seven fresh starters.
A dour opening came to life when versatile midfielder Pogba fired France ahead in the 13th minute, tapping in at the far post Yohan Cabaye’s low corner which bobbled past a static Serbia defense.
Photo: AFP
The home team’s keeper Vladimir Stojkovic then kept out a stinging effort by Remy Cabella, one of Deschamps’ most impressive replacements, having also parried a Pogba shot with France looking sharper early in the second half, but the visitors fizzed out in the final 30 minutes and their goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was powerless when Manchester City leftback Kolarov unleashed a scorcher from long range into the bottom-left corner with 10 minutes left.
Serbia missed a stoppage-time sitter to turn the match on its head when Lloris palmed away a ricochet from a goalmouth scramble.
“We should have been 2-0 up, and having missed two good chances we struggled in the closing stages,” Deschamps told a press conference. “Kolarov scored a beautiful goal, but we could have done better. We played well defensively and some of the players who stood in for starters this evening may have a bright future, but they will have to work hard.”
Photo: EPA
Dutchman Dick Advocaat drew some positives from his debut as Serbia’s coach, although his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation at times looked unconvincing at the back and lacked spark in midfield.
“Everything can be better, but bearing in mind it was our first game since I took over, I think it was a solid performance and a good result,” Advocaat said. “We are still lacking a bit of cohesion and bite, so we will have to ponder in the next few weeks whether to start with a more creative midfield or stick with the present battling outfit in the center of the pitch.”
Serbia open their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign away to Armenia and home to Albania next month, with Advocaat praising the latter after their shock 1-0 win against Portugal.
“The result says enough how strong Albania can be and it just confirms that there will be no easy games in our group,” he said.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two