With his flowing curls and thrilling attacking play, it was no surprise that Akram Afif was likened to Liverpool star Mo Salah at the Asian Cup.
Over the space of a month the Qatar forward lit up the tournament. With eight goals, including a hat trick in the 3-1 win over Jordan in the final, he was the leading scorer and most valuable player as his team won back-to-back titles.
Full StoryNovak Djokovic is returning to the BNP Paribas Open for the first time in five years in pursuit of a record sixth title in the Southern California desert.
The world's top-ranked male player last competed at Indian Wells in 2019, when he lost in the third round. Djokovic didn't play here the last four years because he wasn't vaccinated against COVID-19. The U.S. required noncitizen visitors to be vaccinated through last spring.
Full StoryKylian Mbappé scored his 30th goal of the season Wednesday as Paris Saint-Germain advanced to the French Cup quarterfinals with a 3-1 win over Brest that extended its unbeaten run to 15 matches.
Amid persistent rumors he will leave PSG to join Real Madrid after his contract runs out at the end of June, Mbappé has been in tremendous form this season.
Full StoryAfter leaving fans disappointed in Hong Kong, Lionel Messi put in a 30-minute appearance in Tokyo on Wednesday in Inter Miami's latest exhibition match in Asia — although he still left some supporters wanting more.
Messi came off the bench for the final half hour, energized his teammates and probably had the best chance of the match in the 80th with two point-blank shots — the first stopped by goalkeeper Shota Aria and the second cleared off the line by the Vissel Kobe defense.
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On the first anniversary of his trade to Dallas, Kyrie Irving returned to Brooklyn on Tuesday and showed his old team what they had lost with 36 points as the Mavericks beat the Nets 119-107.
Full StoryJurgen Klinsmann's position as South Korea coach came under intense pressure on Wednesday after what local media called a "shameful" and "humiliating" Asian Cup semi-final defeat to Jordan.
The Koreans crashed out 2-0 to a team ranked 64 places below them in the world and they failed to muster a shot on target despite boasting Son Heung-min in attack.
Full StoryLionel Messi started on the bench for Inter Miami's pre-season friendly in Tokyo Wednesday, days after his absence on the pitch in a recent Hong Kong friendly angered fans there.
The decision not to come on in Hong Kong had prompted the ire of tens of thousands of fans, who booed the World Cup-winning Argentinian and the team's co-owner David Beckham.
Full StoryThe Spanish league will take action against the young fan who appeared to touch the backside of a Sevilla player during a game.
The league said on Tuesday it identified the fan with the help of authorities and will denounce him to local prosecutors.
Full StoryRafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and new Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner are slated to participate in an exhibition event in Saudi Arabia in October, the kingdom's latest move into tennis.
Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune are the other players involved in what is being touted as the "6 Kings Slam" in Riyadh.
Full StoryPhil Foden grabbed the spotlight from fit-again Manchester City superstars Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne by scoring a hat trick in a come-from-behind 3-1 win at Brentford that moved the champions two points behind Liverpool in a congested English Premier League summit on Monday.
City's opponents might be able to stop Haaland from scoring or close down the space for assist king De Bruyne, but there will always be a top-class player somewhere in the team to inflict the damage.
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