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MILAN: Inter Milan wasted no time flexing their attacking muscle as they dismantled Torino 5-0 at home to open their Serie A campaign on Monday.

Marcus Thuram scored twice as Inter at times turned the Torino box into a playground, creating far more chances than the scoreline suggested.

Inter asserted their superiority from the first whistle at San Siro, with Thuram almost striking inside the opening minute when his header flashed just over the bar.

The hosts’ dominance was rewarded in the 18th minute when Alessandro Bastoni rose highest at a corner and guided a looping header over the Torino defense and inside the far post.

Nine minutes before the interval, Petar Sucic slipped Thuram through inside the Torino box, and the Frenchman finished with ease from an acute angle to double Inter’s lead.

The goal appeared to free Inter up creatively in attack, with both the forward and midfield carving out chance after chance against a disorganized Torino defense who looked relieved at the halftime whistle.

Inter carried their superiority into the second half, as Lautaro Martinez pounced on a misplaced Torino backpass in the box and calmly slotted home Inter’s third seven minutes in.

Thuram continued the onslaught in the 62nd minute when he rose high to head in a cross from Bastoni.

In the 72nd minute Torino were punished again for sloppy defending when Denzel Dumfries intercepted a misplaced pass out from the back. A quick exchange of passes left Ange-Yoan Bonny unmarked in the box, and he calmly slotted home to complete the rout.

It was Inter’s first victory by at least five goals in a season opener since 1961, and a far cry from their Champions League final defeat in May, when Paris St. Germain won by the same score.

“This victory means we started well without conceding a goal, and that was important. We’re not 100 percent yet, but we’re working toward that. It was a good match,” Thuram told Sky Sport.

“What happened last season is in the past, this is a new campaign and we have learned from that experience.”

Bastoni agreed with his teammate.

“We were all really eager to come back and prove to ourselves that despite a difficult end to the season, we were still hungry and wanted to show what we could do,” he said.

RIYADH: The New Global Sport Conference 2025, held alongside the closing weekend of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, finished Monday with a series of announcements and partnerships aimed at shaping the future of gaming and electronic sports.

The event, organized by the Esports World Cup Foundation, brought together more than 1,500 delegates, including 500 CEOs from the gaming, sports, technology and investment sectors.

Senior Saudi officials, including Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal and Saudi Esports Federation Chairman Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, outlined the Kingdom’s ambitions to make gaming and e-sports a driver of future economic growth.

A key announcement was the launch of the Esports Nations Cup, the first international competition where national teams will represent their countries.

The inaugural edition is scheduled for November 2026. Ubisoft’s Francois-Xavier Deniele said: “There is something different with nations, this sentiment of pride that continues to grow around the world.”

Hans Jagnow, director of NGSC 2025, said the scale of collaboration marked a turning point for the industry.

“NGSC 2025 has solidified its role as the platform where the future of our industries is shaped,” he said. “The outcomes of this year’s conference will set the direction of our industry and drive the growth and transformation of gaming and e-sports worldwide.”

Ubisoft also unveiled a partnership with �������� to recreate AlUla, a UNESCO World Heritage site, as free playable content in “Assassin’s Creed Mirage.”

CEO Yves Guillemot described it as “an opportunity to share ��������’s cultural heritage with players worldwide.”

Panels and sessions featured leading figures including World Chess Champion and Esports World Cup winner Magnus Carlsen, Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan, LA28 Olympics Chairman Casey Wasserman, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, and game creator Hideo Kojima.

Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation, said: “Players need more opportunity, more great stages, more moments where they can become heroes.”

Morgan urged an “athlete-first approach,” while Wasserman underlined the need for inclusive competition structures.

Over the course of the conference, more than 250 meetings were held and 30 agreements signed, including with UNICEF, the World Football Summit, Savvy Games Group and AWS.

NGSC 2025 also introduced two new formats: The Foundry, focused on start-up pitches and investment, and NGSC Studio, which broadcast live sessions to more than 100,000 viewers worldwide.

The event will return to Riyadh in 2026.