While still disappointed at losing their chance to qualify for next year’s World Cup, Iraq’s players are at least relieved they won’t have to cope with the Johannesburg traffic again.
The squad has been preparing for today’s Confederations Cup opener against host South Africa with regular training sessions, but the city sprawl and the traffic that at times chokes its main motorways makes it tricky to keep players focused and in top physical condition.
The 45km journey from the team hotel to training at Ruimsig Stadium just outside the city took an hour on Friday. That delayed the start of the open session by 35 minutes, pushing the practice game into the dark and cold winter evening.
PHOTO: AP
“This is a big problem,” Iraq playmaker Nashat Akram said. “The hotel we live in is not a five-star or six-star hotel and the journey to training is so far, maybe one hour.”
But the squad is at pains to stress that the country’s friendly fans have compensated for the difficulties they face.
“This is the price you pay to be here,” Iraq coach Bora Milutinovic said. “It is better to be here and travel a little bit more. It is not easy to make perfect conditions but the people of South Africa make great efforts to make everybody happy.”
About 100 people attended training on Friday, cheering every spectacular volley and diving save.
They chanted names, including that of striker Younis Mahmoud, while Akram, who has signed a contract for next season with Dutch league runners-up FC Twente, cheerfully posed for photographs and signed his autograph across the back of some young South African fans’ jerseys.
Milutinovic said he had the players believing in themselves again after they followed their surprise Asian Cup title with a dismal elimination from the Gulf Cup and failure to challenge for a place at the 2010 World Cup.
And the veteran Serb coach, who has led five teams at the World Cup, is hoping the atmosphere generated by the passionate South African fans helps inspire his players.
“It’s important to believe and important to play,” Milutinovic said. “I hope the atmosphere helps. The ambiance can inspire. For me, to be in this competition one year before the World Cup is so exciting.”
Familiar with the pressure that can come from fervent fans desperate for success to lift and bind a whole country, Iraq’s players hope the noisy Bafana Bafana fans can do them a favor.
“We hope we can make our target and qualify for the next round,” Akram said. “There may be more pressure on South Africa because the fans want South Africa to score or make something, but this is football.”
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
RSS