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Morocco reach AFCON last 16 | The Express Tribune

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Morocco reach AFCON last 16  | The Express Tribune


Ayoub El Kaabi (L) celebrates with Brahim Diaz after scoring his second goal and Morocco’s third in their win over Zambia at the Africa Cup of Nations. Photo: AFP


RABAT:

Ayoub El Kaabi scored twice as hosts Morocco eased to a 3-0 victory over Zambia at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday to secure progress to the last 16 as winners of their group.

The Olympiakos striker netted in each half in front of 62,532 fans in the capital Rabat, while Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz got the other goal as he scored for the third match running at the tournament.

Morocco finish the first round with two wins and a draw, allowing them to progress from Group A in first place with seven points. Mali finished second after a third straight draw, 0-0 against Comoros in a game they ended with 10 men, while Zambia go out.

Walid Regragui’s Moroccan side will therefore have the advantage of staying in Rabat for a last-16 clash against one of the best third-placed finishers on Sunday, January 4.

“I think the competition really begins now,” said Regragui.

“When you have four third-placed teams going through, I don’t think you can call the first round a warm-up lap but for us it just makes it about trying to make sure we get through to the next stage in the best possible shape.

“Hopefully we will go as far as possible. That is the dream for all of us.”

A comfortable evening for the host nation also saw captain Achraf Hakimi, the African player of the year, come on as a second-half substitute for his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury with Paris Saint-Germain in early November.

The Atlas Lions had seen their world record 19-match winning run come to an end in a 1-1 draw with Mali last time out, but bounced back from that by outclassing their Zambian opponents.

Morocco are Africa’s best side according to the FIFA rankings and lie 80 places above Zambia who are 91st. Their record winning run included victories home and away against the Copper Bullets during World Cup qualifying.

Hakimi comeback

The visitors were also in the unenviable position of needing to win their last group game to be sure of going through to the knockout phase — a tough task for a country without a single AFCON victory since lifting the trophy in 2012.

Morocco went ahead with just nine minutes on the clock when a corner from the right was played short to Azzedine Ounahi and he clipped a first-time ball to the back post where El Kaabi nodded in before running away covering his face in celebration.

A superb move led to the second goal just before the half-hour mark, with Ounahi’s fantastic pass in behind the Zambian defence releasing Abde Ezzalzouli. His low ball in from the left was missed by El Kaabi but Diaz swept home for a third goal in as many matches.

Morocco made it 3-0 six minutes after half-time as El Kaabi escaped the Zambian offside trap and met another assist from the brilliant Ounahi with an overhead kick.

The goal was initially ruled out for offside before being awarded after a VAR check, allowing El Kaabi to join Diaz and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez on three goals atop the AFCON scorers’ chart.

A huge cheer then greeted Hakimi when he came on in the 64th minute in place of Noussair Mazraoui for his first appearance of the tournament — he was only prevented from getting on the scoresheet by a good Willard Mwanza save late on.



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Silver considering all remedies for rampant tanking in NBA

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Silver considering all remedies for rampant tanking in NBA


INGLEWOOD, Calif. — NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday that tanking has been “worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory” and he’s considering “every possible remedy” — including taking away draft picks — to stop the type of overt behaviors he fined the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers for this week.

“In the old days, it was just sort of an understanding among partners in terms of behavior,” Silver said before Saturday’s All-Star Saturday events. “I think what we’re seeing is modern analytics where it’s so clear that the incentives are misaligned. … Are we seeing behavior that is worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory? Yes, is my view. Which was what led to those fines, and not just those fines but to my statement that we’re going to be looking more closely at the totality of all the circumstances this season in terms of teams’ behavior, and very intentionally wanted teams to be on notice.”

Silver began his news conference by saying he had recently talked to 97-year-old Bob Cousy about the first All-Star Game in 1950, and they had both remarked at how far the game had come since then. That framed Silver’s line of thinking that after 75 years, it might be time to rethink how the league runs its draft, just as the league continues to experiment with its All-Star Game format.

Silver noted that in conversations with general managers and other members of the league’s competition committee, the incentive structure of the lottery has made it unclear that the worst teams are actually the teams with the worst records.

“If teams are manipulating their performance in order to get higher draft picks even in a lottery, then the question becomes … are they really the worst-performing teams?” Silver said. “It’s not clear to me, for example, that the 30th-performing team is that much measurably worse than the 22nd-performing team, particularly if you have incentive to perform poorly to get a better draft pick.

“It’s a bit of a conundrum. As I’ve said, the All-Star [Game] is 75 years old. The league is 80 years old. It’s time to take a fresh look at this to see to whether that’s an antiquated way of going about doing it.”

On several occasions Saturday, Silver reflected on the conundrum between the short-term incentives teams might have to lose games to improve their draft position and the long-term best interests of the league.

“It’s the whole community coming together and deciding what’s in the best interest,” Silver said. “It’s part of my job to remind everybody. … I understand what your short-term interests may be, but we’d better not lose sight of our fans here. We’d better not lose sight of the people who support this league day in and day out.”

Silver noted that last point as part of an answer to a question about the ongoing investigation into whether the LA Clippers circumvented the NBA’s salary cap in an endorsement deal between then-team sponsor Aspiration and star forward Kawhi Leonard.

Silver said he had no updates on the investigation, which is being conducted by Wachtell Lipton in New York.

“It’s enormously complex. You have a company in bankruptcy. You have thousands of documents, multiple witnesses that have been needed to be interviewed,” Silver said.

“I will say, just in case anyone is wondering, the fact that All-Star [Weekend] is here this weekend has had no impact on the timeline of the investigation. Our charge to the Wachtell law firm is to do the work and then come back and make recommendations to the league office, and that’s where things now stand.”

Silver said he had no timeline on when that investigation might conclude.

He did, however, provide an update on the NBA’s plans for expansion, noting that he expected the board of governors to discuss the issue at its next meeting in March and then start reaching out to potential expansion cities and owners to gauge interest. He noted that the league was not considering a relocation of any of its current franchises.

“I think the logical next move would be to say, ‘All right, we’ve had those discussions internally, we’ve made decisions about cities to focus on and what the opportunity is, and now, we’ve got to go out into the marketplace,'” Silver said. “I think that’s probably the most important step, to find out who is potentially interested in owning a franchise in particular cities, what’s the value of that franchise. There’s some work to do in terms of potential conference realignment. That’s the next step there.”



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Big Clash in Colombo Today: PCB Chairman Meets National Team Ahead of India Match – SUCH TV

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Big Clash in Colombo Today: PCB Chairman Meets National Team Ahead of India Match – SUCH TV



Colombo: Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mohsin Naqvi, met the national cricket team and management ahead of the crucial match against India, boosting the morale of the Shaheens.

During the meeting in Colombo, the PCB chairman praised the players’ determination, commitment, and preparation, while extending his best wishes for the high-stakes encounter. He encouraged the team to play with confidence and maintain their fighting spirit on the field.

Captain Salman Agha, head coach Mike Hesson, team manager Naveed Akram Cheema, all squad members, and the coaching staff were present at the meeting. PCB Chief Operating Officer Sameer Ahmed, PSL Chief Executive Officer Salman Naseer, and Director Media Aamir Mir also attended the session.

It is worth noting that Pakistan and India are set to face each other today at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The much-anticipated clash is expected to be watched jointly by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and ICC Chairman Jay Shah.

 



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2026 Winter Olympics: Live updates from Milan Cortina

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2026 Winter Olympics: Live updates from Milan Cortina


The second Sunday of the 2026 Winter Olympics is a busy one for fans of Team USA.

Mikaela Shiffrin skis in the giant slalom — the race she won at the 2018 Olympics, and her second shot at a medal in Milan Cortina. It’s also the race where she suffered a severe injury with a puncture wound in 2024. Shiffrin has had to deal with PTSD from the crash, and competing again in Olympic giant slalom is part of her comeback. Speedskater Erin Jackson will attempt to defend her Olympic gold in the 500 meters. Pairs figure skating begins, with Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea the top American pair. They had clutch performances to help the U.S. win gold in the team event and have an outside chance of a medal. And U.S. men’s hockey will be back in action against Germany.

Key events (all times ET)

  • 4:00 a.m. — Women’s giant slalom

  • 11:03 a.m. — Women’s 500m speedskating

  • 1:45 p.m. — Pairs figure skating

  • 3:10 p.m. — Men’s hockey (USA vs. Germany)

MORE: Medal tracker | Full schedule of events | Olympics 101

Here’s a live look at the top moments from Sunday’s events.




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