Karim Benzema poses holding the jersey of Saudi Arabian soccer team Al Ittihad in this handout photo obtained by Reuters June 6, 2023. (Al Ittihad/Handout)
SAUDI ARABIA - Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema became the latest big-name player to head to Saudi Arabia as he joined Al Ittihad as a free agent, the club said on Tuesday, after the French striker's departure from Real Madrid. Benzema, who ended a trophy-laden 14 years at Real this week, joins the Saudi Arabian champions on a three-year deal and will wear the number nine shirt. "I am excited to experience a new football league in a different country. I have been fortunate to achieve amazing things in my career and achieve everything I can in Spain and Europe," Benzema said. "It now feels the time is right for a new challenge and project ... I am looking forward to joining my new team mates and, together with them, help take this amazing club and the game in Saudi Arabia to new levels."
Benzema follows his former Real team mate Cristiano Ronaldo to the Gulf country after the Portugal forward signed a 2-1/2 year contract estimated by media to be worth more than 200 million euros ($213.78 million) with Al Nassr in December. Having joined Real in 2009 from Olympique Lyonnais, Benzema became the spearhead of the club's attack after Ronaldo left to Juventus in 2018, winning the Champions League five times and the LaLiga title four times. He had his best season with Real in the 2021-22 campaign when he scored 44 goals in all competitions to lead the club to a record-extending 14th European title as well as the LaLiga crown. Early in 2021 he earned a recall from France manager Didier Deschamps to the national team for the first time in six years, after falling out of favour due to his alleged involvement in the Mathieu Valbuena sex tape scandal. The 35-year-old won the Ballon d'Or award for the best men's player in the world last year and he looked set to stay at the Spanish club for one more year, after a 2022-23 season in which he struggled with injuries and missed out on France's World Cup squad in Qatar. However, an offer estimated by media to be worth more than 100 million euros from Saudi Arabia made him rethink his decision to stay in Spain for a final season, with the striker deciding to void the one-year extension clause he had in his contract.
Al-Ittihad last month clinched the Saudi Pro League title for the first time since 2009. Huge Step For Saudi Football Last week, Portuguese forward Ronaldo said he hoped that other big-name players would follow him to the league. "Benzema's arrival is the most impactful transfer in the club's history to date," Al Ittihad said in a statement. "It also marks another huge step in the Saudi Pro League's journey to become one of football's leading destinations for the world's very best after its biggest season to date." Several high-profile players have been linked with moves to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, with a source close to Argentina captain Lionel Messi - Ronaldo's rival for the title of best player of his generation - last month telling Reuters that he had received a formal offer to join Al-Hilal next season. Al Ittihad's club president Anmar Alhailae hailed the signing of Benzema as a major achievement for the club, saying, "Karim is a global football icon, he's box office and very much at the top of his powers. "He joins a club and hugely competitive league – in a country with big ambitions both on and off the pitch."
PARIS- - Defending champion Iga Swiatek needed only 31 minutes to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Monday as her Ukrainian opponent Lesia Tsurenko retired after feeling unwell. World number one Swiatek was 4-1 up in the opening set when Tsurenko called on the trainer and had her blood pressure and pulse checked. Following a five-minute medical timeout, the match resumed but Tsurenko threw in the towel after losing the following game to love. "I'm sorry, playing Iga was my priority, I'm very sorry," Tsurenko told a press conference.
"I've had this virus for a couple of days and today it was tough for me to warm up and I hoped I would feel better during the match but unfortunately it got worse. My body could not take it. "I was fine at my last match although I started to have a sore throat and then yesterday I could practice for only 10 minutes. I had litres of water and healthy things, vitamins, a lot of fruits. I need another two, three days to recover." Swiatek next faces American sixth seed Coco Gauff in a repeat of last year's final, which the Pole won6-1 6-3and she will enter the contest having spent just over four hours on court.
Wearing a ribbon in the Ukrainian colours pinned to her cap while Tsurenko had one on her top, Swiatek raced to a 4-0 lead as the world number 66 started to show signs of weakness. She still managed to pull a break back but requested the trainer to come on court as she sat down on her bench at the change of ends. She was seen explaining her problems to the medical staff and after being given the green light to continue, it soon became evident that she was struggling to play her shots and ended the match prematurely. Swiatek has dropped only nine games en route to the quarter-finals as she chases a third Roland Garros title in four years. "Obviously it's not the way you want to win a match," Swiatek told a press conference. The 22-year-old, however, was satisfied with her campaign so far as she can now rely on experience to deal with the demands of a Grand Slam. "Before I was exhausted mentally and physically, every match cost me a lot but now I'm able to do better," she explained.
"In the first part of the tournament it's important to keep something for the next round." Swiatek is now well established as a top player and reaching the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam gives her little to celebrate, although that does also depend on the major. "If I could be in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon I would be over the moon," she said with a laugh.
PARIS-- Fourth seed Casper Ruud and holder Iga Swiatek stayed on course to reach consecutive finals at the French Open while a couple of unheralded names in the women's draw continued to show their immense potential on a sunny Thursday at Roland Garros.
SPAIN-- Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday to stretch his Formula One lead to 53 points and continue Red Bull's sweep of the season with the team's seventh success in as many races. Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton was second for Mercedes, but 24.09 seconds behind, with team mate George Russell completing the podium on a cloudy but dry afternoon at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya. Red Bull's Sergio Perez, Verstappen's closest rival in a season that looks sure to crown the dominant Dutch 25-year-old for a third time, finished fourth after fighting back from 11th at the start. The victory was Verstappen's fifth of the season, third in a row, third in Spain and the double world champion's 40th in Formula One. The man who took the first grand prix win of his career at the Spanish circuit in 2016 and also triumphed last year, secured the bonus point for fastest lap to cap a day of domination.
"It's a big pleasure to drive with a car like this. I think it showed again today," said Verstappen, who fended off Ferrari's home hero Carlos Sainz at the start in the only challenge of an otherwise straightforward afternoon. "I had the harder compound so I knew the start would be a bit tricky. Going around the outside at Turn One is always quite difficult but luckily nothing happened." Verstappen was also shown a black and white flag for exceeding track limits late in the race but the risk of a five second penalty was hardly going to trouble someone so far up the road from the rest. "Well done Max, that was mega. Very well controlled, even though you went over the white lines a few times," said team boss Christian Horner.
McLaren's Lando Norris, who started third on the grid, suffered a broken front wing on the first lap after contact with Hamilton and had to pit, plunging down the order and finishing 17th. Talking Point The form of the Mercedes drivers, with a re-designed car after a disappointing start to the season, provided a main talking point. Mercedes moved up to second in the championship on 152 points to runaway Red Bull's 287 and with Aston Martin dropping to third on 134. "Mega job guys, mega job," said Hamilton over the radio. "Thank you so much to everyone back at the factory, continuing to push. This is a real showing for all your hard work. Let's keep pushing." Russell went off into the gravel on his way to the grid, where he lined up 12th, but his car was undamaged and his pace strong. "It definitely feels better," he said of the car. "You are just putting in those lap times and comparing it to the guys around you -- the Ferraris and Astons -- and you are going quicker and quicker." Sainz was fifth, and said it was the best he could do, with the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso sixth and seventh. Alonso was 10th after his final stop but made a charge back up the order before settling in behind Stroll and assuring the Canadian he was no threat. "I damaged one floor yesterday already, I didn't want to damage another one today," said the Spaniard, who had finished five of the previous six races on the podium. "I didn't want that he damaged a floor either, by defending. For us it was the same, sixth and seventh, same points so bringing it home seemed the right choice.".
Alpine's Esteban Ocon was eighth, Alfa Romeo's Guanyu Zhou ninth and Pierre Gasly, who qualified fourth before a six-place grid penalty, took the final point for Renault-owned Alpine. AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda collected a five second penalty for forcing Zhou off the track, dropping him from ninth out of the points. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who started from the pitlane after a nightmare in qualifying left him on the back row, finished 11th.
BUDAPEST-- Europa League thoroughbreds Sevilla worked their magic yet again to beat AS Roma 4-1 on penalties on Wednesday and lift the trophy for a record-extending seventh time, handing Roma boss Jose Mourinho his first defeat in six European finals.
