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FOOTBALL

Sweden beat China 1-0 in lacklustre friendly

Sweden beat China 1-0 on Thursday in a lacklustre warm-up match that saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic sit out the second half ahead of the hosts' World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan next week.

Sweden beat China 1-0 in lacklustre friendly

“We created many opportunities, but sometime you just don’t nail them. I don’t know why but that’s how football is sometimes. Hopefully we’ll do it on Tuesday instead. Otherwise I am happy with our performance,” coach Erik Hamrén said to daily Dagens Nyheter after the game.

The game’s only goal came right at the start of the second half, when Sweden’s Ola Toivonen set up Johan Elmander who easily slipped the ball past China’s keeper Dalei Wang.

Playing in a near-empty Olympia Stadium in Helsingborg in southern Sweden, both teams appeared to lack energy and motivation in the first half.

Sweden in particular failed to take advantage of a few good chances and Paris Saint Germain striker Ibrahimovic hit the post. But the Swedish captain took no chances with his bruised right foot and sat out the second half with an ice pack.

He suffered a bruise in mid-August when he was kicked during the French Ligue 1 opener against Lorient and has been bothered by it since.

Ibrahimovic, 31, has scored 33 goals in 81 matches for Sweden and sat out a friendly against Brazil last month because of his foot woes.

Prior to Thursday’s match against China, Swedish coach Erik Hamren had made it clear that his priority was to have Ibrahimovic game-ready for Sweden’s all-important qualifier against Kazakhstan on September 11th.

The Scandinavian country faces off in Group C against Germany, Ireland, Austria, Kazakhstan and the Faroe Islands.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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