Belgium on Monday held off a battling Wales, and Italy gave sacked coach Luciano Spalletti a winning send-off in FIFA World Cup qualifying.
Elsewhere Manchester City star Erling Haaland’s goal lifted Norway past Estonia, Luka Modric was among the scorers in Croatia’s 5-1 rout of the Czech Republic, and the Faroe Islands left it late to down Gibraltar 2-1.
Giacomo Raspadori and Andrea Cambiaso scored in each half as Italy beat Moldova 2-0 to inject a smidgeon of pride back in the Azzurri camp after last week’s 3-0 thrashing by Norway which cost Spalletti his job.
Photo: AFP
The Italians trail Norway by nine points in European qualifying Group I and are at risk of missing a third straight World Cup.
Even though they have played two games fewer, their ticket to the US, Canada and Mexico next year is far from certain.
Only top spot in each group guarantees automatic qualification with Italy’s best hopes appearing to rest on finishing second and reaching the playoffs.
“When you’re the national team coach you have no excuses, it’s you who selects the squad,” Spalletti told public broadcaster Rai. “It’s the coach who has to make the difference, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that.”
Over in Brussels, Belgium raced to a three-goal lead over Wales courtesy of Romelu Lukaku, Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku inside half an hour.
Wales rallied through a Harry Wilson penalty, Sorba Thomas and Brennan Johnson to stun the side ranked eighth in the world.
However, Kevin de Bruyne rode to his nation’s rescue, as he has so often in a stellar career, by steering in Tielemans’ perfect cross in the 88th minute.
It left Wales sitting second in Group J, one point behind North Macedonia, 1-0 winners over Kazakhstan, and three in front of Belgium, who have two games in hand.
This was Wales manager Craig Bellamy’s first defeat in his first 10 matches in charge.
“Getting back as close as we did is probably why it’s as painful as it is,” Wales captain Ben Davies told the BBC. “We knew we could do a lot better. You could see in the second half, we managed to nick a goal before halftime, and it gave us something to hang on to, and we pushed them close.
“We have plenty more games. We just have to focus on ourselves, and hopefully results go our way,” he said.
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Cycling great Marianne Vos won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France with a brilliant late attack on Saturday. The 38-year-old Dutchwoman overtook her Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot approaching the line, and then held off Mauritian rider Kim Le Court in the closing meters of a grueling uphill finish. Ferrand-Prevot looked set to win the stage, but the Frenchwoman attacked too early from 600m and could not withstand the late surge from Vos, who punched the air with her left fist as she crossed the line. Moments later, Vos hugged an exhausted-looking Ferrand-Prevot, the Paris-Roubaix winner. “I didn’t know if
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
RSS