Japan men's football captain Maya Yoshida has called on Olympics organisers to reconsider their decision to stage the Tokyo Games behind closed doors.
The call to ban spectators from attending events was taken earlier this month after Japan's capital city was placed into a state of emergency amid rising COVID-19 cases.
However, fans are still able to attend certain other sporting contests within the country away from the Olympics, such as Japan's friendly with Spain in Kobe on Saturday.
A socially distanced crowd was present for the 1-1 draw and Yoshida has questioned why locals will not be permitted to attend matches when the Games begin next week.
"I think a lot of people's tax money is going to hold these Olympics," Yoshida is quoted as saying by the Asahi newspaper.
"Despite that, people can't go and watch. So you wonder about who the Olympics is for, and what it is for. Of course athletes want to play in front of fans."
Tokyo 2020 officials confirmed the first coronavirus case at the Olympic Village on Saturday, since when two athletes have reportedly tested positive.
"Our families have sacrificed and put up with things, they supported us when we were competing in Europe," Sampdoria defender Yoshida added.
"It's not just the players who were competing, but the family members, every one of them.
"So if they can't watch the match, well who and what is that match for, there is that question. I really hope we can reconsider that seriously."
Japan will take on South Africa in their opening Group A game on Thursday, before facing Mexico and France. The top two sides will advance to the quarter-finals.
Double gold: Jamaica sweeps sprint relay finals at World Under-20 Championships
Saturday’s final day of the 2024 World Athletics Under-20 Championships was a productive one for Jamaica in the 4x100m relay as both the female and male quartets claimed gold medals.
The women combined to run a season’s best 43.39 to win gold ahead of Switzerland (44.06) and Canada (44.60).
200m bronze medallist Shanoya Douglas ran the first leg before handing off to Alliah Baker. Baker ran a solid leg before handing off to Briana Campbell who then gave the baton to individual 100m champion Alana Reid who then brought it home.
The men’s race was as exciting as they come with Deandre Daley producing a brilliant anchor leg to secure gold for Jamaica in 39.18 ahead of Great Britain (39.20) and Thailand (39.39).
Jamaica were on the back foot early after the opening leg from Jace Witter before the second and third legs from Gary Card and Nyrone Wade, respectively, meant that Daley got the baton in fourth and in striking distance of the top three.
Similar to what he did at the 2023 Carifta Games in Nassau, Daley then produced an excellent anchor leg comeback to secure the gold for Jamaica.
Elsewhere, Jamaica’s Shaiquan Dunn threw 59.79m for seventh in the final of the men’s discus. The USA’s Bryce Ruland took gold with a personal best 62.59m ahead of The Netherlands’ Jarno Van Daalen (62.22m) and Finland’s Mico Lampinen (62.20).
The USVI’s Michelle Smith narrowly missed out on a medal in the women’s 400m hurdles final, finishing fourth in 57.21. France’s Meta Tumba took gold in a national under-20 record 55.59. Poland’s Wiktoria Gadajska ran a national under-20 record 56.87 in second while South Africa’s Hannah Van Niekerk was third in a personal best 56.98.
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
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