Civil war raging at home. Soccer players who struggle to play or get paid. A coach who never enters the country — it was not a surprise that Yemen exited the Asian Cup after losing all three games.
However, just qualifying for the tournament for the first time was an achievement for a country in the grips of what the UN says is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
With Yemen’s domestic soccer league suspended since 2014, there are few chances for players. Most of the 23-man squad at the Asian Cup plays in Oman and Qatar, where most of the federation is based. Only nine players in the squad are based in Yemen.
Photo: AFP
“There is no league at home and that does affect the national team in many different ways, especially physically,” goalkeeper Mohammed Ayash said. “It makes it much harder for us to play against strong teams like Iran, with players who play in Europe.”
Soccer in Yemen is virtually nonexistent apart from the occasional informal tournaments held in Sana’a. Most clubs have little to no income, often leaving professional players needing to seek alternative employment.
Ayash, who found work in the oil industry before securing a move to Iraqi club Erbil in November last year, said that divisions in Yemen are not reflected in the national team.
“The spirit is strong, we are together on this journey,” Ayash said. “If we were not united then we would never have been able to come here at all.”
Yemen benefited from the expansion of the Asian Cup from 16 to 24 teams. Qualification was clinched in March last year with a victory over Nepal in Doha. Yemen have not played home games since 2011, when anti-government protests broke out during the Arab Spring.
Ethiopian coach Abraham Mebratu delivered qualification, but left the job after being unable to get financial backing for tournament preparations. Jan Kocian, a Slovakian, is now in charge.
Ranked 135th in the world by FIFA, Yemen were thrashed in their opening game at the Asian Cup 5-0 by Iran, who are 106 places higher.
Games against Iraq and Vietnam also ended in defeat.
Yemen left the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with no points and no goals, but with pride at just having participated.
“Our problem is that the players abroad in Qatar and Oman did not have time for preparation and the players in Yemen can’t play football as there are no league games there,” said Kocian, whose contract states that he does not enter Yemen. “When you have more time, you can do more.”
The greatest achievement might be giving fans at home and in the UAE a chance to cheer on their team in a major international tournament.
“I’m very happy to see people from Yemen in the UAE,” Kocian said. “For people in Yemen the situation is very bad, for those who stay there the life is very hard, but maybe with victory we can give a good representation of them in the Asian Cup.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB