��������

MIAMI GARDENS, United States: Gonzalo Garcia’s 54th-minute header was enough to give Real Madrid a 1-0 win over Juventus at Hard Rock Stadium on Tuesday and book their place in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup.
The Spanish giants will face the winner of Tuesday’s other game between Borussia Dortmund and Mexico’s Monterrey in the last eight.
It was an impressive display from Xabi Alonso’s Madrid side and adding to a positive day, Kylian Mbappe made his return from illness, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for his first appearance of the tournament.
The first half was a finely-balanced contest with Igor Tudor’s Juventus starting brightly before Real ended it on top.
There was an early chance for Juve’s Randal Kolo Muani after clever work from Kenan Yildiz to put him through on goal, but the French forward opted for an attempted chip of Thibaut Courtois and his shot floated over the bar.
The impressive Yildiz then burst through the middle and unleashed a fierce effort which deflected off Aurelien Tchouameni and flew wide.
The Turin team, beaten 5-2 by Manchester City in their final group game, were moving the ball around with confidence but Real grew into the contest and they went close when Jude Bellingham forced a save out of Michele Di Gregorio from close range.
Federico Valverde then tested the Juve goalkeeper from long range and Trent Alexander-Arnold whipped a low ball across the face of the goal as Madrid finished the half strongly.
The interval did nothing to alter the momentum of the game with Real creating several chances — Bellingham laid off to Valverde, whose sweetly-struck shot was just wide and then Bellingham himself brought another good save out of Di Gregorio with a shot from the edge of the box.
Dean Huijsen’s rocketing drive was parried out by the busy goalkeeper as Real laid seige to the Juventus goal and it was no surprise when the breakthrough finally arrived.
Alexander-Arnold floated in a cross from the right which Gonzalo met with a perfectly-timed header for his third goal in four games in the tournament.
Juve responded with Portuguese winger Francisco Conceicao bringing Courtois into action from a low shot the Belgian shot-stopper did well to get down to.
But Real wanted to finish the contest off and Valverde tested Di Gregorio’s reactions with an overhead kick before Alonso decided to introduce Mbappe to the delight of the 62,149 crowd.
Juve’s belief remained however and Nicolas Gonzalez flashed a 25-yard drive just wide.
At the other end, Real’s Turkish midfielder Arda Guler saw his crisp shot kept out by the feet of Di Gregorio, but the one goal was enough.

LONDON: Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova survived a stiff examination from promising 20-year-old Filipino Alexandra Eala before finding her groove to triumph 3-6 6-2 6-1 on her return to Wimbledon’s Center Court on Tuesday. Czech Krejcikova, a shock winner as 31st seed last year and seeded 17th this time, came into the tournament short on form after a succession of injuries and initially had no answer to the confident, free-swinging Eala, who is the first woman from the Philippines to play at Wimbledon.
Eala turned 20 in May and was making her first Wimbledon appearance but she immediately looked at home in the daunting surroundings of the sport’s most iconic court.
Krejcikova forced the first break in the third game, however, Eala hit straight back, swinging her lefty forehand freely and throwing in a beautifully disguised drop shot.
She then upped the ante, holding confidently and breaking again as her two-fisted backhand came to the fore and, from 2-1 down with a break against, Eala reeled off four games in a row.
Krejcikova struggled to find any consistency and was not helped by five first-set double faults and very cautious shot choices.
The champion just about held serve after six deuces but Eala was not to be denied and served out to take the first set.
Krejcikova looked as if she had had a physical and mental reboot for the second set where she showed much more energy and found her serving range.

LIGHTWEIGHT SERVE
With Eala also starting to lose her radar and with her lightweight serve being punished, the champion swept to a 5-0 lead and took the set 6-2.
Krejcikova grabbed an early break in the third with pounding returns and though Eala had an immediate breakback opportunity, she could not take it and quickly trailed 3-0.
It was relatively straightforward from then, as a tired-looking Eala’s error-count rose and Krejcikova raced home in ever-more confident style.
Krejcikova was quick to credit her opponent.
“I mean, what the hell she played in the first set?,” she said. “She was smashing the ball and cleaning the lines, so wow, wow. She’s going to be really good in a couple of years.”
Krejcikova said she was “super happy” to even be back to defend her title after a back injury ruled her out of the Australian Open and a thigh problem curtailed her grasscourt build up.
“Definitely six months ago I was in a lot of pain with my back and I didn’t really know how my career was going to go,” she said.
“So I’m super-excited that I can be here and that I can play and that I can play on such a great court.”
She said she also took time before the match to inspect the trophy, with her name engraved from last year.
“I was definitely enjoying the moment,” she said. “Having that opportunity, that I can see my name there and that I can see the trophy and that I can just enter such a beautiful court, such a beautiful venue — it’s super, super special.”