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Morocco dealt huge blow as injured Saibari out of World Cup quarterfinal
Morocco’s plans for their World Cup quarterfinal against France have been shaken up after it was confirmed that star forward Ismael Saibari will miss the match.
Saibari sustained a hamstring injury in the last-16 match against Canada and has not recovered in time for the crucial knockout match, coach Mohamed Ouahbi said on Wednesday.
“Everyone is 100 percent fit except Saibari. This game comes too soon for him, but I hope he is not out for the rest of the competition,” Ouahbi told reporters ahead of Thursday’s last-eight showdown in Boston.
Saibari, who has just joined Bayern Munich from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven on a five-year deal for a reported fee of 50 million euros ($57m), has been one of the standout players at this year’s World Cup.
He scored in each of his team’s three group games and converted the winning penalty in the shootout as Morocco beat the Netherlands in the last 32.
However, the attacking midfielder came off early with a hamstring problem in the 3-0 win against Canada in the last 16 last Saturday.
Should Morocco progress, Saibari might make a comeback in the semifinals.
“He’s not ready, but I hope it’s not the end of the tournament for him,” Ouahbi said.
Saibari went off the pitch to receive medical attention after sustaining an injury against Canada [Aljazeera]
Soufiane Rahimi, who is an out-and-out striker, came on for Saibari in that game and scored Morocco’s third goal.
The Atlas Lions are seeking to avenge their 2-0 defeat against France in the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup.
That was the first time any African or Arab team had reached the last four of the tournament, and their incentive this time is to match that run.
Ouahbi dismissed suggestions that his team can say they have already had a successful tournament by getting to the quarterfinals.
“We absolutely want to win the game tomorrow, so we will not listen to people who say it doesn’t matter if we go out now,” said the coach, who took over from Walid Regragui in March.
“Tomorrow, we will try to get to the semifinals. I don’t like this sentiment that we have already done well and anything else is a bonus,” added Ouahbi, who said he had watched the 2022 meeting of the sides as a fan, on television.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz insisted his side can compete with the much-fancied France as he prepares to come up against Kylian Mbappe, his colleague at club level.
“Tomorrow, we are playing one of the favourites, but we have shown we can compete, and that is why we are here. I have full faith and full confidence in the team.”
[Aljazeera]
The annual rugby encounter between Dharmaraja College and Kingswood College, played for the William Weerasinghe Memorial Trophy, is set to take place tomorrow (July 11, 2026), at 4:00 PM at the Bogambara Stadium, Kandy.
The official unveiling of the trophy took place this week at the Dharmaraja College premises with the participation of the Principals of the two schools, teachers-in-charge of sports, coaches, the Rugby teams, and several distinguished guests, including Dharmaraja College Old Boys’ Association President Mahesh Wijetunga, Kingswood College Old Boys’ Association President Muditha Abeykoon,
by S K SAMARANAYAKE
It has been reported quoting family sources that veteran singer Mariazelle Goonetilleke has passed away this morning (10) at the age of 68
She had been receiving treatment at the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital.
The US and Iran again traded strikes in exchanges that continued into Thursday, as observers reported a “dramatic” drop in the number of ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.
The US says it hit 90 military targets, some near the Strait. Iran says 14 people have been killed in the past two days.
State media also reported that targets near the Bushehr nuclear power plant were hit, citing the deputy governor of the province. The US has not commented on the latest strikes.
Iran said it targeted US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar in response. Later on Thursday, Tehran launched more strikes on sites in Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq, state-linked media reported.
Separately, huge crowds gathered as Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was buried after six days of funeral events.
Crowds massed on the streets of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran waving Iranian flags, while some were pictured holding signs carrying death threats directed at US President Donald Trump.
Khamenei was killed on 28 February during the first hours of US and Israeli strikes against Iran.
Iran’s foreign ministry denounced the latest US strikes as a “grave war crime”, describing the US administration as “evil and psychopathic”
Bridges and a railway route connecting Tehran to the city of Mashhad, where the late supreme leader’s funeral is being held, were also damaged, the foreign ministry said.
Iran’s health ministry said 14 people had been killed and 78 people injured across five provinces.
Gulf nations reported Iranian attacks following the US strikes, with explosions in Bahrain’s capital Manama, Kuwait intercepting missiles and drones, and Qatar issuing a security alert.
Later on Thursday, explosions were heard in Iran’s southern port of Konarak, with a local official telling Iran’s official news agency a navy site was attacked by an “enemy”.
However a US defence official told the BBC it had not carried out any strikes in Iran in recent hours.
The funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei is being held in the city of Mashhad [BBC]
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also the country’s chief negotiator with the US, said on X that America “still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free”.
“Let me put it plainly: if you strike, you’ll get hit,” he wrote, adding that the Strait of Hormuz will only open under Iranian arrangements – not “American threats”.
US Central Command (Centcom) said the most recent round of strikes was carried out to “further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners” in the vital waterway.
In a statement, it said it had struck 90 Iranian military targets, which included air defense systems and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline.
“The latest strikes follow successful execution of offensive strikes in Iran the night before,” Centcom added.
Phil Belcher, marine director at Intertanko, an international organisation for independent tanker owners, said the number of ships travelling through the Strait via the southern route closer to Oman was now in “single figures” following the step up in hostilities.
Belcher added that the overall daily figure of about 30 ships was down from about 70 a week ago and well below the normal number of 130 ships that was seen before the Iran war began earlier this year.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that there had been an “exuberance of optimism” around shipping in the region following the signing of the SMemorandum Of Understanding between Iran and the US last month, but now the mood has changed.
“This cycle of violence, this cycle of up-and-down, positive-negative news, it’s having an enormous impact both on business and on the seafarers themselves,” he said.
On Wednesday night Iranian state TV reported eight explosions in Bandar Abbas, and said two missiles had hit the ports of both Sirik and Jask – also in southern Iran.
It added that two projectiles had hit the island of Abu Musa, which has been the subject of a longstanding ownership dispute between Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
The extent of damage from the US strikes is not yet known, but Iranian media have reported power cuts in Chabahar and a fire at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) barracks in Bushehr. Images on social media showed damage to a marine control tower in Chabahar.
Earlier on Wednesday, Centcom wrote in a statement that it held Iran accountable for “recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”
President Trump said late on Wednesday that Iran had “called a little while ago” and wanted to make a deal “so badly”.
Trump added: “I just don’t know if they’re worthy of making a deal – I don’t know that they’re going to honour the deal, that’s the problem.”
The current flare up has been the worst exchange of strikes between the US and Iran since the deal – known as a memorandum of understanding (MoU) – was signed on 17 June.
Trump said the ceasefire agreement signed last month with Iran was now “over”. He told reporters: “I don’t want to deal with them anymore, they’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people.”
In response, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X: “We do not answer vulgarity with vulgarity, but with action: fearlessly and with great valour.”
The deal between the US and Iran included 14 points, among them a 60-day period for a ceasefire during which negotiations should continue, the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and the US lifting sanctions on Iran.
The 60-day period for negotiations is not yet up, but Trump said he saw further talks as “a waste of time”.
[BBC]
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