ALG : Les beaux mots de Nathan Aké envers les Verts

Le défenseur international néerlandais, Nathan Aké, a tenu à saluer la qualité de la sélection algérienne, après la défaite concédée par les Pays-Bas face aux Verts (1-0), mercredi dernier, à Rotterdam, en match amical de préparation au Mondial-2026. Le joueur de Manchester City a souligné le niveau élevé affiché par l’équipe algérienne, estimant que cette dernière dispose d’un potentiel notable sur la scène internationale. Dans une déclaration relayée après la rencontre, Aké n’a pas caché son respect pour l’adversaire du jour.

«L’Algérie est une très bonne équipe, elle possède un niveau élevé. Je connais bien Mahrez et Aït-Nouri», a-t-il affirmé, mettant en avant ses coéquipiers en club et anciens partenaires en sélection. Le défenseur néerlandais a également été aperçu dans une séquence vidéo en train de signer un maillot de la sélection algérienne pour un supporter, un geste symbolique qui a été largement relayé par les supporters des Verts. Cette sortie médiatique vient confirmer la bonne impression laissée par la sélection algérienne lors de cette rencontre, remportée face à une nation majeure du football européen. librea.one

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Benfica Lisbonne a officialisé ce mardi le départ de José Mourinho, qui va rejoindre le Real Madrid. Dans la foulée, les Aigles ont annoncé avoir trouvé un accord avec Marco Silva pour lui succéder à la tête de l’équipe première.

Arrivé avec l’ambition de ramener Benfica au sommet du football portugais et européen, José Mourinho ne poursuivra finalement pas l’aventure à Lisbonne. Le technicien portugais a donné son accord au Real Madrid, qui a décidé de lever sa clause de départ pour s’attacher ses services.

« Benfica SAD a informé la CMVM que le Real Madrid avait officialisé son intention de recruter José Mourinho pour un montant de 15 millions d’euros, l’entraîneur ayant donné son accord. Merci, José Mourinho », peut-on lire dans le communiqué de Benfica ce mardi.

Marco Silva prend le relais

Pour assurer la succession du « Special One », les dirigeants lisboètes ont rapidement trouvé leur nouvel entraîneur. Il s’agit de Marco Silva, technicien portugais reconnu pour son travail en Premier League.

« Sport Lisboa e Benfica, SAD annonce, dans un communiqué adressé à la CMVM, avoir conclu un accord avec Marco Silva en vue de la signature d’un contrat de travail d’une durée de deux saisons, prolongeable jusqu’à la saison 2028/2029 », a annoncé le club portugais.

Une solide expérience du haut niveau

Âgé de 48 ans, Marco Silva débarque avec une expérience significative du football européen. Au cours des cinq dernières saisons, il a dirigé Fulham en Premier League, où il a réussi à stabiliser durablement le club londonien parmi l’élite anglaise.

Son arrivée marque le début d’un nouveau cycle pour Benfica, qui espère poursuivre ses ambitions nationales et continentales sous la direction d’un entraîneur réputé pour la qualité de son jeu et sa capacité à développer des effectifs compétitifs.

Sédric Maurace ASSOGBA

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Serena Williams said she had “so much fun” as the American legend rolled back the years in her victorious return to tennis in the Queen’s Club doubles on Tuesday.

Four years after appearing to end her glittering career, Williams and Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko powered to a 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 win over third seeds Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the first round of the grass-court tournament.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, stunned the sporting world a week ago with her shock announcement that she would compete in the Queen’s Club doubles.

The 44-year-old icon relished every minute of her remarkable return — after conquering a pre-match bout of nerves.

“I got nervous like, maybe 30 minutes before, and then I just just let it go,” she said.

“I didn’t really think about being nervous, I thought about having fun, which I did.

“It was so fun. I had so much fun playing with Victoria.

“I never got to play here before, it was always just the men. It feels really special to play somewhere so iconic.”

Not completely satisfied

Williams’ decision to pick up a racquet in a competitive setting for the first time since losing to Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2022 US Open had sparked questions about the wisdom of her move.

It was like she had never been away as Williams produced her trademark thunderous serve and fearsome ground-strokes to the delight of a capacity crowd.

But Williams wasn’t completely satisfied with her first victory since beating then world number two Anett Kontaveit in the 2022 US Open second round.

“Oh my god! What do you think? A C minus?,” she said when asked to rate her performance.

“All the elements, considering coming back on grass is probably not the easiest surface. On the grass, four years… Overall I think it was decent.”

Motivation to return

Williams has said her return was inspired by a desire to play in front of her children.

Her two young daughters Olympia and Adira and husband Alexis Ohanian were all courtside in west London to witness a typically combative display from one of the sport’s all-time greats.

But Williams revealed the victory couldn’t distract her children from more pressing matters.

“Adira wanted to go to the toy store, and Olympia wanted to know what was for dinner,” she said.

Williams and Mboko will play Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals.

The American is also scheduled to play doubles at the Berlin Open next week.

But it is the possibility of taking her unexpected comeback to Wimbledon that has her fans eagerly awaiting an update.

Potential doubles appearance

Williams played down the prospect of featuring in the singles at Wimbledon — where she had won the title seven times — when she faced the media on Sunday.

Pressed on Tuesday about featuring in the Wimbledon doubles, said: “Yeah, like I said the other day, it’s just a day at a time.

“I still have a little time to decide, and they (Wimbledon officials) have been great about giving me that space and time to decide.”

When Mboko was born in 2006, Williams had already won seven Grand Slam singles titles.

The 19-year-old has called Williams as her “idol” and she said it was a memorable experience to play alongside her.

“Of course even knowing I could play with Serena with me, I’m so grateful, first of all,” she said.

“I don’t play that much doubles, but I think sharing the court, I think I can learn a lot, even though we’re still competing. I just had so much fun today.”

And Mboko, ninth in the singles rankings, has no doubts Williams will quickly get back to her best.

“I thought she was doing great. I understand it felt far from her level but it’s great to have that much room for improvement and have the motivation to get better,” she said.

“Overall I thought it was pretty good. There was one shot where I thought ‘oh my gosh she’s got it’.”

The South African A team ended a superb tour of England with a six-wicket loss to the England Lions in their final tour match at the County Ground, New Road, Worcester on Tuesday evening.

It was an unfortunate way to end their five-game tour, but the team can still be very proud of their efforts after they won the four-day series 2-0 and the one-day series 2-1.

In fact, they had dominated every other match, picking up thumping wins throughout, until they came unstuck after a poor batting performance in the final match.

Batting first

It was the first game in all five that SA A batted first, after captain Marques Ackerman won the toss and chose to, only for them to be let down by the majority of their order as they were skittled for just 146.

Opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius was the only star performer with the bat, backing up his century in the second one-day, with 65 off 57 balls (5×4; 4×6).

But only two other batters reached double figures, middle order batter Dian Forrester (22) and Ackerman (14).

They were destroyed by the Lions spinners, with Rehan Ahmed claiming 6/34 and James Coles 3/23, and after being in a strong position on 93/1 in the 18th over, SA A ended up losing their last nine wickets for just 53 runs as they crashed to a low total.

The Lions batting had been dismal in the previous four games, and despite their top three of Ben McKinney (16), James Rew (19), and Ahmed (15), all getting starts, they still lost regular wickets and looked in danger on 72/4 in the 17th over.

But Coles then struck a match winning 63 off 58 balls (7×4; 2×6), sharing in an unbeaten 76-run fifth wicket stand with Ben Mayes (17 not out), to get them over the line in the 29th over.

Gerald Coetzee (2/35) was the best of the SA A bowlers, while Ottneil Baartman (1/31) and Nqaba Peter (1/38) were the other wicket takers.

Successful tour

Despite a poor finish, the SA A team enjoyed a very successful tour of England, winning both four-day matches by eight wickets, while they won the first one-day by nine wickets and the second an emphatic 10-wicket win, while there were also some memorable performances by various players.

In the four-day series Jordan Hermann was the top performer with the bat, scoring 211 runs across four innings with an average of 105.5 and a highest score of 103, while the biggest individual score went to Ackerman who struck a superb 173 in the first match.

On the bowling front Tiaan van Vuuren starred in the only match he played, picking up a brilliant 11 wickets thanks to two five-wicket hauls over two innings, while Dane Paterson also impressed taking 10 wickets across the two games he played.

In the one-day games, Pretorius dominated with the bat with his 181 in two innings, thanks to an unbeaten 116 and his half-century in the last game, while Rubin Hermann scored 141 in two innings with a high score of 83 not out.

On the bowling front, SA A shared the load, as shown by seven players taking wickets, with six picking up three or more, as Coetzee finished top of the list with five scalps across two matches, while Nqobani Mokoena’s 4/40 in his only appearance was the best individual effort.

Take a look at this week’s Fairtree First Team Netball Rankings.

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