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In the world of football, Qatar has won back-to-back AFC Asian Cup titles after defeating Jordan at home by 3-1. Jude Bellingham has sprained his left ankle during his recent La Liga appearance for Real Madrid, and he is expected to miss weeks of action due to his injury. Lindsay Vonn spoke about how Roger Federer is her forever GOAT in tennis. India defeated Spain by 4-1 at home in the FIH Pro League.
Read below to learn details about these top stories and other happenings in the sporting world in the last 24 hours.
Football
Qatar defeat Jordan by 3-1 to successfully defend AFC Asian Cup title at home
Qatar have successfully defended the AFC Asian Cup title at the Lusail Stadium in front of their home fans after defeating Jordan by 3-1. Akram Afif converted three spot kicks to complete a hat-trick for Qatar with the third one going in deep into second-half extra time, to put the game beyond Jordan, who had scored a consolation goal from Yazan Al-Naimat in the second half.
Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham sprains left ankle; set to miss weeks of action
Real Madrid released a statement to confirm that their English midfielder Jude Bellingham has sprained his left ankle during a 4-0 home win in La Liga against fellow title contenders Girona. The Spanish giants have confirmed that the recovery of the 20-year-old will be monitored, while reports have emerged that he is expected to miss weeks of action due to his injury.
Kalvin Phillips says time at Manchester City was “stressful”
The English midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who got a loan move to West Ham in the recently concluded January transfer window, stated that he felt “stressful” during his time at Manchester City under their manager Pep Guardiola. After making just six starts during his one-and-a-half-year spell at the English champions, the 28-year-old is now playing for West Ham, and he spoke about how is feeling “a lot more alive,” at the London-based club.
PSG offer Kylian Mbappe new two-year contract worth £136m: Reports
Paris Saint-Germain have reportedly offered a new two-year contract worth £136m to their French forward Kylian Mbappe to persuade him to turn down a potential move to Real Madrid, as per the report from AS. The 25-year-old is expected to become a free agent at the end of the 2023-24 season when his current contract runs out with Paris Saint-Germain, and with that, he will leave Stade de France.
Some major results in football are as under:
AFC Asian Cup 2023 Final
Jordan 1-3 Qatar
AFCON 2023 3rd Place Play-off
South Africa 0-0 (6-5) DR Congo
Premier League 2023-24
Manchester City 2-0 Everton
Liverpool 3-1 Burnley
Tottenham 2-1 Brighton
La Liga 2023-24
Real Madrid 4-0 Girona
Real Sociedad 0-1 Osasuna
Bundesliga 2023-24
FC Augsburg 2-2 RB Leipzig
Serie A 2023-24
Roma 2-4 Inter Milan
Ligue 1 2023-24
Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 Lille
Eredivisie 2023-24
Almere City FC 0-0 AZ Alkmaar
Tennis
Tommy Paul defeats Ben Shelton to reach Dallas Open final
Tommy Paul defeated compatriot Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4 to make his way through to the Dallas Open final. Paul will now aim for his second ATP Tour title after he eliminated 16th-ranked Shelton after 79 minutes. After the game, he said, “These courts helped me a little bit. They’re not jumping quite as high as some of the other courts we’ve played on. Kept the ball in my strike zone a little bit more. Didn’t serve as well as I would have liked to but somehow squeaked out a lot of those service games so that was huge.” In the final of the clash where he will lock horns with the winner of American Marcos Giron and French fourth seed Adrian Mannarin semifinal clash.
Gael Monfils clarifies UTS disqualification over “ playful exchange ”
Gael Monfils issued a clarification over his disqualification from the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) in Oslo. UTS is in an international tournament with rules that are different from conventional lawn tennis. In one of the clashes, Monfils was defeated by Alex de Minaur 15-12, 17-8, 16-9 on Friday. However, after the game, it was announced that he was disqualified from the competition. After the disqualification, Monfils issued a statement and said, “As per the release from UTS directly, there was no malice or negativity on my part. No abuse, no violence. However, whilst joking around in the locker room, Stephane was unfortunately hurt. It was never my intention to hurt or cause harm and thankfully Stephane knows that.”
The quality of work is not going to win a major for her in 2024: Eric Riley comments on Coco Gauff
Prominent tennis coach Eric Riley said that the kind of work that Coco Gauff puts in won’t win her any major in 2024. He believes that Riley would need to make significant improvements in her game to stand a chance of winning a Grand Slam in 2024. He said, “The quality of the work she did to win the US Open [in 2023] is not going to win in 2024, it's not going to win a Major. So, Brad knows that and she's going to have to play better this year and she's going to have to improve.”
Roger Federer is forever GOAT: Lindsey Vonn
Former Alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn believes that Roger Federer will remain ‘forever GOAT’, no matter what statistics depict. She said, "You and your family are truly one of a kind and no matter what the statistics say (or Leo lol) you’re the forever GOAT because it takes a lot more than numbers to make the kind of impact you have, I’m just one of millions. Cheers my friend.”
Tennis
Indian men’s hockey team defeat Spain in FIH Pro League 2023-24 opener
Indian men’s hockey team started its FIH Pro League 2023-24 campaign on a triumphing note as it defeated Spain with a 4-1 scoreline at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar on Saturday, February 10. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh netted two goals, in the 7th and 20th minute of the game, and India’s tally saw the addition of one more goal in the 50th minute, owing to Lalit Kumar Upadhyay. On the other hand, Spain’s only goal came from Marc Miralles in the 34th minute of the game.
