Japanese Kashima Antlers issued a strong warning to the rest of their competitors in the East region group in the AFC Champions League for elite football, at the beginning of their campaign in the continental competition.
Kashima Antlers achieved a sweeping victory over their Australian guest, Newcastle United Jets, today (Tuesday), in the opening round of the group.
Alexander Cavric opened the scoring for Kashima early in the 11th minute, before the same player scored the second goal for the Japanese team in the 16th minute.
Kashima's third goal came via friendly fire, after Newcastle player James Nicholas Delianov scored an error against his team in the 19th minute, before Homare Tokuda added the fourth goal in the 40th minute.
Cavric returned to score again, scoring Kashima's fifth goal and his third personal goal in the 42nd minute, establishing himself as the champion of the match, while Homari Tokuda and Kyosuke Takawa were responsible for scoring the sixth and seventh goals for the hosts in the 56th and 73rd minutes, respectively.
On the other hand, Newcastle United Jets' only goal came from Patrick Wood in the 79th minute.
Each team will play eight matches during the league stage, with the best eight clubs in both the East and West regions qualifying for the Round of 16. The Round of 16 matches will be held during the month of March 2027, while the quarter-final, semi-final and final matches will be held in the group system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
British runner Amy Hunt fears that the controversial advertisement submitted by American actress Sydney Sweeney for a betting company will constitute an “obstacle” to young girls who want to play sports.
The new advertisement for Sweeney, star of the series "Euphoria", for the American betting company "Novig", in which the actress appears semi-naked and covers her body with sports equipment, has faced widespread criticism from the mathematics community.
Hunt had already responded to the Hollywood actress, saying: “This is the true appearance of women in sports,” after her participation in the World Elite Athletics Championships, which was recently held in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.
Hunt, a four-time European champion, expressed her concern about the potential impact of this announcement on future stars.
“I think when we try to provide role models for young men and women in sports, we really want to show that it is about what the body can do, not about its outward appearance,” Hunt said on Good Morning Britain.
She added: “When we see statistics indicating that 64 percent of girls stop exercising and playing sports before they reach the age of sixteen, we certainly do not need to put any obstacles in their way. Rather, we must provide opportunities and empowerment for them to continue practicing sports, whether that is on a professional level or simply participating in community running races such as (Park Run) with friends.”
Hunt explained in her statements, which were reported by the British news agency (PA Media): “Therefore; "It's about empowering girls and boys and showing them that they can get involved in sport without worrying about how they look or what they wear."
She continued, saying: “Sports is not always a beautiful sight, and I think this is the essence of reaching the level we are at now.”
The British athlete noted: “We have shown people that ambition and striving to reach the elite level is a wonderful thing, and that one should really strive to be the best possible version of oneself.”
She revealed: “This matter does not always look attractive or beautiful. Sometimes it includes scenes such as vomiting in the corner of the track, or even crying after the end of training sessions, which is what happened to me personally this year.”
Hunt believes that the positive reactions from the female athletes who expressed their disapproval of the ad have already overshadowed any potential negative impact of it, adding: “I think the reaction has almost overshadowed the event itself, as the first thing I saw were these compilation clips highlighting the positive aspects of women’s participation in sports.”
Hunt confirmed: “The matter took a completely different turn and was completely separated from that original position, and there is nothing personal against that actress.”
Hunt concluded her speech by saying: “It has more to do with the nature of purpose and intention. The matter has now turned into a completely different context, where we can present various events that celebrate women’s sports.”
RB Leipzig, competing in the German Football League (Bundesliga), announced today, Tuesday, that its young player, Asane Ouedraogo, will be absent from the field “for the time being” due to a shoulder injury that requires surgical intervention.
Ouedraogo (20 years old) suffered the injury during the match that ended with his team’s 5-0 victory over “Hamburg” in the “Bundesliga”, the day before yesterday, Sunday.
Marcel Schäfer, the club’s managing director of sports affairs, said: “Assan has suffered a lot of bad luck with injuries over the past years, yet he has always succeeded in coming back strong.”
He added: “It is very unfortunate that he is now forced to deal with another setback, as we are fully aware of the amount of effort, determination and passion that Asan has exerted in order to return to the stadiums.”
Ouedraogo had just returned last week from another shoulder injury, as he participated as a substitute in the match that the team lost in the “Champions League” against the Italian “Como”, then he participated as a starter against “Hamburg”.
In general, the German player has been absent from competition for more than a year since July 2024 due to injuries.
This injury is expected to prevent Ouédraogo from joining the German national team roster chosen by new coach Jurgen Klopp to play 4 matches in the “European Nations League” against the Netherlands, Serbia and Greece (two matches), in the period between September 24 and next October 4.
It is noteworthy that Ouedraogo played his first international match, last year, against Slovakia and scored a goal in that match, in the European qualifiers for the “World Cup”, and he was also on the German national team’s roster in the “World Cup” as a replacement for the injured player Lennart Karl.
