American Claire Liu won her first title on the WTA Tour, after defeating Filipino Alexandra Eala in the final of the Hong Kong Open - 250 points category on Sunday.
Liu won in two sets without a response, after she presented her best levels during the tournament, and she succeeded in winning 9 consecutive games to win 6-3, 6-0, and ended her journey without losing a set throughout her tournament.
The American player maintained her calm during the match, while Ayala asked to stop the match in order to receive treatment and place a compression bandage on her knee.
Liu defeated British Katie Poulter and Turkish Zeynep Sonmez on her way to the final, concluding the season with the biggest achievement in her career so far.
Liu, who started the tournament outside the “top 100 players in the world rankings,” is expected to jump more than 30 places to reach 69th place, while Eala achieved the best ranking in her career by occupying 15th place starting Monday.
Gian Piero Gasperini, the coach of the Roma team, confirmed that his team is now among the competitors for the Italian Football League title, following its great victory over Sassuolo 3-0 on Saturday evening, praising the attacking performance of his players, despite the losses to Manchester United and Real Madrid in the “Champions League.”
Roma regained its balance by defeating Sassuolo, after giving up a two-goal lead and losing 3-2 to Manchester United in the Champions League in midweek, achieving a convincing victory at home, thanks to goals from Mario Hermoso, Donyiel Malen, and Rodrigo Moura.
Gasperini said, in statements to Sky Sport Italia, after the match: “Some players performed at very strong levels. Among them was a great goal by Hermoso that gave us the lead. “The match was not easy against a team that was compact defensively, but we played with great quality.”
He added that the team has developed a lot on the offensive level this season, explaining: “We are scoring many goals in different ways and through different players. We also became sharper and more confident, with Hermoso scoring a striker-like goal and Mattia Sulli giving an exceptional performance. Even when we lost, we scored many goals.”
The Italian coach explained that the victory “was not just a reaction to the loss to Manchester United, but rather an affirmation of the development the team is witnessing,” noting that the two defeats against Real Madrid and Manchester United came after strong performances against first-class competitors.
Regarding Roma’s chances of competing for the title, Gasperini said: “It is fun to compete this season. We should not deceive ourselves or feel disappointed... There is no harm in dreaming, especially in light of the journey we are presenting. “I don’t know how far we can go.”
He added: “As everyone says, Inter is the team most likely to win the title, but the rest of the teams, including Roma, are within the competition and can get their chances. Lazio has won 9 of its last 10 matches, so it is also among the contenders. If Inter stumbles a little, everyone will be able to dream and try to compete with them.”
After fending off the attacks of Spain, which subsequently won the title, and turning into a global star overnight, Fusenha was one of the most prominent surprises in this year’s FIFA World Cup finals.
But four months after his achievement at the World Cup, the veteran Cape Verdean goalkeeper discovers that adapting to his new fame is not easy.
The 40-year-old goalkeeper, whose full name is Josemar Jose Evora Diash, moved to Chile in July, and now finds himself struggling to adapt to his new club Colo-Colo.
During the World Cup, Fosinha helped the Cape Verdean national team secure a goalless draw with Spain in its first match in the tournament, and the small African island nation’s national team reached the round of 32, where it dragged Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, into extra time before bowing out of the competition.
Before that match against Spain in Atlanta, Fosinha was nothing but a traveling goalkeeper who spent his career between modest clubs in Portugal, Cyprus and Slovakia.
But his clean sheet against one of the most prominent candidates to win the title led to a huge jump in the number of his followers on Instagram, from 50,000 to several million within a few hours. Today he has 27.5 million followers.
Fosinha cried after that match because of the magnitude of the achievement he and his team had achieved, and was also saddened by his mother’s inability to obtain a visa to come and follow him.
When he joined Colo-Colo, the most decorated club in Chile, based in the capital, Santiago, he was presented at the Estadio Monumental stadium in front of thousands of fans amid fireworks displays.
International brands, such as Adidas, Pepsi, and Red Bull, also chose him to be the advertising face of their marketing campaigns.
Fosinha also recently attended the “Golden Ball” ceremony, in London, after coming sixth in voting for the best goalkeeper in the world award.
But things on the field were not as successful for the player, who spent last season in the Portuguese second division.
At the beginning of November, he had only participated in five matches out of a possible 14 with Colo-Colo, who won the Copa Libertadores title, the South American equivalent of the Champions League, in 1991.
It was expected that he would sit again on the bench this week, at a time when his new team was close to winning the Chilean League title and securing a place in the Copa Libertadores next season.
Fosenha told reporters: “I came here with the aim of playing in the Copa Libertadores, but my focus is on this week, which may be very important for Colo-Colo. My future will be decided then. "I don't think about it now."
Fosinha's life was turned upside down after his brilliance in the World Cup. He moved to a new country and transformed from an almost unknown person into a famous person who lost much of his privacy.
He worked as a garbage collector before playing professional football. To understand the extent of his new fame, the number of his followers on Instagram far exceeds the population of his country, Cape Verde, which numbers a little more than half a million people.
He told the British newspaper The Observer: “I lost my calm and comfort.”
He added: “I no longer have any kind of privacy, or at least much less than I had before.” Now I go out to a restaurant, for example, and there is always someone who wants to take a picture with me or ask for an autograph. What's worse is that someone is photographing me.
During the first weeks after joining Colo-Colo, Fusenha used to frequent a bakery in the upscale Vitacura neighborhood in Santiago.
Director of the Metissage Café, Gustavo Cassin, told Agence France-Presse: “I think it was a good thing for him to go there, because he felt welcome and was able to talk to people.”
Cassin and Vosenha avoided talking about football, while the goalkeeper spoke longingly about his home country while waiting for his morning croissant.
The past, when he combined playing football and teaching beach volleyball, is now just a distant memory.
He told The Observer newspaper: “Honestly, if I had a choice between the life I live today and the life I lived before, I would choose my previous life.”
In Chile, speculation is growing about whether Fusenha will stay until 2027, knowing that he signed a six-month contract with Colo-Colo that can only be extended for an additional year if he participates in a sufficient number of minutes.
He was also criticized; Chilean goalkeeping legend Claudio Bravo, the former goalkeeper of Barcelona, Spain, and Manchester City, England, doubted his abilities.
The former captain of the Chilean national team said: “He made several mistakes in situations that required high coordination.”
“And if you don’t have that coordination, you will never be able to do it,” he added.
Vosenha only has a limited number of matches remaining before his contract expires, and perhaps also the end of his Chilean adventure.
