SOCCER
Man City duo honored
Manchester City duo Phil Foden and Khadija Shaw on Tuesday were voted the men’s and women’s player of the year in English soccer for last season at the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) awards. The 24-year-old Foden helped City win a fourth consecutive Premier League title, scoring 19 times and providing eight assists. Shaw was the top scorer in the Women’s Super League (WSL) as the Jamaican forward netted 21 goals, although City lost the title on goal difference to Chelsea. Foden and Shaw also won the equivalent award from the Football Writers’ Association, which is voted on by journalists. The PFA winners are selected by professional players. Chelsea attacking midfielder Cole Palmer was voted the men’s PFA young player of the year, with Manchester United midfielder Grace Clinton winning the women’s prize after her performances on loan at Tottenham Hotspur last season. Palmer was second only to City’s Erling Haaland in the Premier League scoring charts with 22 goals and also had more assists than any other Chelsea player, with 11. Haaland won the men’s player of the year award last year. Clinton contributed four goals and four assists in 20 WSL appearances.
Photo: AP
SOCCER
Villarreal sign ’keeper
Villarreal have signed Brazilian goalkeeper Luiz Junior from Portuguese club Famalicao on a six-year deal, the La Liga side announced on Tuesday. The clubs did not disclose the transfer fee, but Spanish media reported that Villarreal paid about 12 million euros (US$13 million) for the 23-year-old. “At an impressive 1.93 meters, he is quick between the posts, he is able to dominate aerial duels and has excellent reflexes — all of which make him a very talented goalkeeper with a big future,” Villarreal said in a statement. Luiz Junior made 140 appearances for Famalicao since joining their academy at the age of 18. He is to replace Filip Jorgensen at Villareal, who joined Chelsea last month on a seven-year contract.
CRICKET
BCB names new president
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) yesterday named former captain Faruque Ahmed as president after the resignation of Nazmul Hassan, a close ally of ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Nazmul, who also served as Bangladeshi minister of sports during Hasina’s 15 years in office, wrote to the BCB to resign, board chief executive officer Nizam Uddin Chowdhury told reporters. “His wish was granted,” he said. Chowdhury said that Faruque was elected by the board’s directors and “took charge immediately.” Nazmul had been BCB president since 2012, serving multiple terms, with his last tenure scheduled to end next year. Faruque briefly captained Bangladesh in the 1994 ICC Trophy in Kenya and played seven one-day internationals. He retired from the national team after the Cricket World Cup in 1999. He also held the position of national chief selector from 2005 to 2014.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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