Sports

Uruguay striker Luis Suarez scored in the 23rd minute to secure his side's 1-0 victory against Saudi Arabia in their Group A game at Rostov-on-Don on Wednesday. Suarez scored the winning goal in his 100th international appearance for Uruguay, knocking in a corner kick from Carlos Sanchez It was the Barcelona striker's 52nd goal for his country in that century of games. Besides scoring, Suarez led his team with a hard-working performance. He fell back to defend and raced forward on the counterattack. Uruguay and Russia both have six points from their opening two matches, putting them into the round of 16. They will face each other on Monday in Samara with first place in Group A on the line. … [Read more...] about Uruguay beats Saudi Arabia, advancing to World Cup playoffs

Cristiano Ronaldo continues to shoulder Portugal in the World Cup, scoring his 85th international goal against Morocco that earned the three points and overtaking Hungarian legend Ference Puskas as the top European scorer for national teams. Ronaldo powered-home a fourth-minute header to give Portugal a 1-0 victory over Morocco that took them top of Group B on Wednesday and meant the unlucky North African side become the first to be eliminated from the tournament. Ronaldo's fourth goal of Russia 2018, following his hat-trick in the 3-3 draw with Spain, took the European champions to four points. Iran have three points and Spain one ahead of their meeting later on Wednesday. Morocco, who had a real go at the Luzhniki Stadium but failed to convert their chances, are pointless having also lost 1-0 to Iran and cannot progress to the second round. Despite their battling display, Morocco will rue the unforgivable defending that made all their subsequent good work irrelevant. They qualified … [Read more...] about Ronaldo shoulders Portugal against Morocco, becomes top European goalscorer for national teams

By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijani grandmaster Eltaj Safarli will join this year's Sunway Sitges Chess Festival 2018. The chess festival will take place in Sitges, some 40 kilometers south of Barcelona, on December 14-23 with about 100 chess  players. More than € 25,000  will be distributed among chess players. Sunway Sitges Chess Festival is held since 2014. GM Eltaj Safarli won the Azerbaijan Championships in 2010 and 2016. He played in the silver medal-winning Azerbaijani team at the European Team Chess Championship in Porto Carras in 2011. His 7.5/11 result in the European Individual Championships (2013) qualified him to play in the World Cup (2013), where he defeated Egyptian #1, GM Bassem Amin in the first round, moving to round 2 where he lost to Hikaru Nakamura. He was second reserve for the bronze medal winning team SOCAR in the European Club Cup (2013) in October 2013.  Chess for centuries has been a popular game in … [Read more...] about Eltaj Safarli to compete at Sunway Sitges Chess Festival 2018

Queiroz’s men go into the game at the Kazan Arena in pole position following their opening day win over Morocco. “All of the players are very excited and very happy for this opportunity to play against a fantastic team such as Spain which has great players,” said Queiroz. “We’re in a win-win situation. It will be a unique opportunity for the national team players. They will learn more about the game, grow up and be better and, for sure, we as a team will be better after playing Spain.” That Iran are Group B leaders is a surprise. It is a situation that Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta says he and his teammates play to deconstruct. "Players always want to win the biggest possible trophies and it's no secret we'd like to win the World Cup," he said ahead of the clash. The 34-year-old, who scored the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final, will retire from international duty after the tournament in Russia. He will continue his club career at Vissel … [Read more...] about It won’t be easy against Iran, says Iniesta

By Laman Ismayilova The National Equestrian Sport Festival, organized by the Azerbaijan Equestrian Federation (ARAF) with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, wrapped up in Baku.  The sport festival took place at Bina Equestrian Center on June 2-17, Trend Life reported. Within the framework of the festival dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, several tournaments of national and international importance were held. Arena Polo World Cup was held with the participation of representatives of Azerbaijan, Germany, Ireland and India. At this prestigious competition, Azerbaijan was represented by Elite Horse & Polo Club, athletes of the national polo team. The President of the Azerbaijan Equestrian Federation, the head of the State Border Service, Colonel-General Elchin Guliyev welcomed the participants of the competition dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the birth of the national leader Heydar Aliyev and the National Salvation … [Read more...] about Equestrian Sport Festival wraps up [PHOTO]