QPR boss Marti Cifuentes praised his team for showing fighting spirit in their 1-1 draw at home to fellow strugglers Huddersfield.
The hosts were poor in a vital match for both sides at Loftus Road, where Jack Rudoni’s late goal looked like leaving third-from-bottom Rangers six points adrift of the Terriers who are immediately above them in the Championship table.
Kenneth Paal equalised in the fifth minute of stoppage time by kneeing a cross from Ilias Chair into the top corner of the net.
“Not a good performance and it was generally a poor game. I’m not very pleased with our performance,” Cifuentes admitted.
“Having said that, we knew there would be tension in this game because it was so important to both sides, so you could see we couldn’t get the grip on the game that we would have liked.
“Then we had to accept that the picture of the game was a lot of fight, a lot of duels and aerial situations.
“So I want to praise the guys, because after conceding a goal in that minute and having the courage and personality to chase the draw, and then to keep pushing to try to get the victory, shows that even when we’re not having our best performance the team is competing well.”
A win would have taken QPR out of the relegation zone, where they have been since September. They remain in deep trouble.
However, Cifuentes insisted: “To be able, on a day like today, when many things didn’t go well, to pick up a point, I think is a step to the next level and in the right direction.
“The first thing is to be competitive and the second is that, even on the bad days, you can pick up points. Hopefully we can maintain that.”
Huddersfield have won just one of their past 11 league matches and the draw was their 13th of the season.
Boss Darren Moore said: “To not come away with the points, we’re disappointed with the result.
“The positives are that it’s another solid performance. We’ve come to a difficult place and really controlled the game for large periods.
“You have to come here and set your stall out and I thought the boys did that today. We certainly felt we should have taken all three points.
“When you lose a goal that late in the game, especially when you’ve dominated large periods of the game, we certainly feel it’s two points dropped.
“My message to the players has been that we’ve got to keep pushing and believe that those three points are not far away.
“When we get the three points, I really think it will be a glue in terms of performances, confidence and our fans seeing it and us pushing on and going forward.
“We’re nearer to turning draws into victories than losing.”
Juventus withdraw from European Super League and request to re-join ECA
Juventus have confirmed their withdrawal from the European Super League project and requested to rejoin the European Club Association (ECA).
Juve were one of 12 European clubs that signed up to form a breakaway Super League in April 2021, a plan that sparked widespread protests from fans.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Milan and Inter were also part of the original breakaway group.
As a result of the announcement, those teams were also excluded from the ECA.
However, following the backlash from supporters and threats of sanctions by UEFA, nine of the clubs backed out swiftly, with the project collapsing within 72 hours.
They were then readmitted to the ECA, and in July 2023, Juventus began the process of pulling out of the European Super League.
ECA chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi said on Saturday: "I am pleased to report that Juventus has requested to re-join ECA, which will be formalised shortly.
"ECA's door is always open to clubs who believe in collective interests, progressive reform and working constructively with all stakeholders – we are delighted Juventus will rejoin the European football family."
Madrid and Barcelona are the only remaining teams backing the Super League and have led revived plans, proposing a revamped 64-club league.
T&T Women defeat Curacao 3-1 to move to two wins from two in Caribbean Queen’s Friendly Tournament
Trinidad & Tobago’s National Women’s Football Team defeated hosts Curacao 3-1 to remain unbeaten in the Caribbean Queen's Friendly Tournament which continued at the Stadion Rignaal ‘Jean’ Francisca, Willemstad on Thursday.
The Trinidadians were given a positive start through goals from senior team debutants Sonia Lamarre and Cherina Steele in the ninth and 14th minutes, respectively, before Curacao pulled one back in the 45th off a corner kick to cut the lead in half heading into the break.
Lille full-back Kedie Johnson restored the visitors' two-goal lead twenty minutes into the second half.
“Very happy with the result, not so much the football,” said T&T Head coach Richard Hood said after Thursday’s win.
Important to note, this game came just a day after they secured a 2-1 win over Aruba at the same venue.
“I thought it was really important that we pulled off a victory tonight given the physical conditioning of the girls. We saw tonight all our senior players struggled, having played 90 minutes last evening (Wednesday night) as well and again on turf which adds to the difficulty,” Hood said.
“The effort from the girls was tremendous and I am really happy with that. They showed a lot of resilience although they were very much dead on their legs. I thought it was really important that we were able to score three quality goals tonight, given our fatigued state,” he added.
Curacao's tactics forced the Trinidadians to play a style they weren't expecting and Hood gave his team credit for adjusting well.
“They forced us to run more than we would have liked and they played a lot of long balls...but all in all, I am really happy with the effort from the girls tonight and I’m happy with their determination to really win,” he said.
Hood expressed satisfaction with what he’s seeing from the next generation after using a number of younger players throughout the first two encounters of the tournament.
“The future is really bright for the youngsters once we do the right things in terms of nurturing them and assisting with their development and getting them involved in more tournaments such as these so all in all, very happy,” he added.
T&T will face Aruba again on Sunday before facing Curacao on Monday.
Dykes ruled out of Euro 2024 for Scotland
Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes has been ruled out of Euro 2024 after picking up an injury in training on Friday.
While preparing for their upcoming friendly against Gibraltar, Dykes left the training pitch on a stretcher with an apparent knee injury.
On Saturday, Scotland confirmed that the 28-year-old will miss the tournament, though the injury has not been specified.
Dykes has scored nine goals for Scotland in 36 appearances, and played in all eight of their Euro 2024 qualifiers, scoring once.
Steve Clarke's side will begin the tournament against hosts Germany in the opening match on June 14.
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