Sports
Brazil explain Estêvão-Lucas Paquetá penalty miss drama
Chelsea winger Estêvão said he followed orders and allowed teammate Lucas Paquetá to take Brazil‘s second penalty in Tuesday’s 1-1 friendly draw with Tunisia.
Estêvão, 18, had converted a penalty in the 44th minute of the encounter in Lille, France, to level the score, 1-1.
When Brazil were awarded another spot-kick in the 77th minute, substitute Paquetá and not Estêvão was chosen by coach Carlo Ancelotti to take it. The West Ham star struck his attempt over the crossbar.
“It was an order that came,” Estêvão said.
“I really wanted to take the spot-kick but the order came in. I supported my teammate so he could score the goal. Unfortunately, he missed, but heads held high, we have to train, improve because in a World Cup we have to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Ancelotti explained his decision.
“For the second penalty, I changed penalty taker because I wanted to take some of the pressure off Estêvão, so I put Paquetá in, who usually takes them very well,” Ancelotti said after the game.
Paquetá apologised for the penalty miss.
“I apologise for the missed penalty,” he said. “I’m sad. We probably would have won with that penalty. I’m very used to scoring at my club, I have great successes. Unfortunately, my anxiety to score made me make a decision before that final touch, so I think that’s what took me away from taking the penalty as I usually do and I ended up not converting it.
“I’ll try to put myself in those circumstances to improve in that sense, to convert in the next opportunity and help the team.”
While Brazil ended the year without a win, Estêvão focused on the positives.
Estêvão joined Chelsea from Palmeiras for £29 million ($38.6m) in the summer and quickly adapted to life in the Premier League.
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He has scored five goals in 11 appearances for Brazil.
“It’s been a very special year,” he said. “I don’t think I had many ups and downs, but I was able to handle everything that happened. Being here with the national team means that the work has been done well at the club and at home, so I’m very happy to represent the national team.
“Obviously, we always come here to help, and I’m very happy about that.”
The top-seeded teams for the Dec. 5 World Cup tournament draw, including Germany but not Croatia, were set Wednesday when FIFA published new rankings the day after four continents completed qualifying.
Co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico will be joined in the pot of No. 1 seeds by top-ranked Spain, defending champions Argentina, France, England, Portugal, Brazil, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
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Croatia, semifinalists in 2022 and beaten finalists by France in 2018, were edged down into Pot 2 for the draw ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., which President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend.
The updated FIFA rankings also decided seeding for the draw Thursday for playoff brackets in March that will decide the final six entries in the expanded 48-nation lineup.
The 22 playoff teams include 16 in Europe playing for four World Cup places and six from the other regions chasing two spots in the intercontinental brackets.
Italy are the headliner in the European brackets as the four-time world champions aim to avoid a humiliating third straight exit in the playoffs.
The 12th-ranked Italians were pushed into the playoffs after finishing as runners-up in a qualifying group won by Norway. Erling Haaland‘s Norwegian team shapes up as a dangerous option from Pot 3 in two weeks’ time.
Italy will be drawn Thursday at home against a fourth-seeded team. That could again be North Macedonia, who shockingly eliminated the Italians in 2022.
The winner on March 26 advances to a playoff final five days later against the team that emerges from the No. 2 seed vs. No. 3 seed pairing in its knockout bracket. Home advantage in the single-game playoff finals will be decided by the draw Thursday and not FIFA ranking.
The teams that eventually emerge from the four separate European playoff brackets are expected to be placeholders from low-ranked Pot 4 in the Dec. 5 draw.
The intercontinental brackets will see top-seeded Iraq and Congo each await the winner of playoff semifinals that involve Bolivia, Jamaica, New Caledonia and Suriname.
European playoffs seedings
Pot 1: Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Ukraine.
Pot 2: Poland, Wales, Czechia, Slovakia.
Pot 3: Republic of Ireland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo.
Pot 4: Northern Ireland, Romania, Sweden, North Macedonia.
Intercontinental playoffs
Seeded: Congo, Iraq.
Unseeded: Bolivia, Jamaica, New Caledonia, Suriname.
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RIYADH: Pakistan’s star athlete Arshad Nadeem added another feather to his cap by successfully defending his Islamic Solidarity Games’ gold medal in men’s Javelin here at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahad Stadium on Wednesday.
His compatriot Muhammad Yasir clinched silver.
Nadeem got off to a decent start in the final by registering a throw of 75.44m, which immediately put him at the top of the standings.
The star athlete threw his farthest in the second attempt – an 83.05m effort, which consolidated his lead at the top, while he followed it up with 82.48m in the next attempt to assert his dominance.
He threw at 77.06m in his fourth attempt, while his fifth was ruled out. He concluded his campaign with a 77.98m effort.
Besides him, no other athlete could breach the 80-metre barrier in each of their six attempts, with compatriot Yasir registering the next-best throw of 76.04m in his final attempt, which earned him the silver medal.
Nigeria’s Samuel Adams Kure clinched the bronze medal with a throw of 76.01m, which came in the fifth attempt, and could not reclaim his second position in the standings as he managed 75.84m in his final effort.
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