Soccer-African champions beat Asian counterparts to advance in Inter Continental Cup

Soccer Football - FIFA Intercontinental Cup - Mamelodi Sundowns v Al Ahli - Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria, South Africa - September 19, 2026 Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso lifts the trophy as he celebrates with Mamelodi Sundowns players after the match REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

PRETORIA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - African ⁠championsMamelodi Sundowns edged their Asian counterparts Al Ahli ⁠of Saudi Arabia 2-1 in the Inter Continental ‌Cup on Saturday, with a double strike from Portuguese import Nuno Santos.

Sundowns advance to a match against either Toluca of Mexico or ​the Copa Libertadores winners later this year ⁠in the annual competition ⁠for the six confederation champions.

Santos went ahead in the ⁠17thminute lead ‌at Loftus Versfeld but their lead lasted only two minutes until goalkeeper Ronwen Williams saved ⁠a close-range effort from Saudi striker Feras ​but could not ‌hold on to the ball which then hit him ⁠on the ​back of the head and went into his goal.

A diving header from Santos won the game for the home ⁠side nine minutes from time.

“I like to ​be in those type of positions on the pitch and today it was great that the ball arrived perfectly ⁠for me,” he said.

Al Ahli, with England international Ivan Toney leading the attack, had several good first-half chances which they squandered.

Holders Paris St Germain are directly through to ​the final of the Inter Continental ⁠Cup, which will be played in December. FIFA have yet to ​announce the dates or venue ‌for the last three games of ​the competition, which last year were held in Qatar.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Clare Fallon)

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足球 - 国际足联洲际杯 - 马梅洛迪日落队对阵阿尔阿赫利队 - 南非比勒陀利亚洛夫图斯球场 - 2026年9月19日 马梅洛迪日落队主教练米格尔·卡多佐在赛后与队员们一起举起奖杯庆祝。（路透社/西菲韦·西贝科摄）

比勒陀利亚，9 月 19 日（路透社）——非洲冠军马梅洛迪日落队周六在洲际杯中以 2-1 险胜沙特阿拉伯的亚洲对手阿尔阿赫利队，葡萄牙外援努诺·桑托斯梅开二度。

桑当斯队将在今年晚些时候与墨西哥的托卢卡队或南美解放者杯冠军队进行比赛，这是六大洲足联冠军球队参加的年度比赛。

桑托斯在洛夫图斯球场第 17 分钟取得领先，但他们的领先优势仅持续了两分钟，门将罗恩文·威廉姆斯扑出了沙特前锋费拉斯的近距离射门，但他没能控制住球，球击中了他的后脑勺，然后滚进了球门。

比赛还剩9分钟时，桑托斯鱼跃冲顶头球破门，为主队赢得了比赛。

“我喜欢在球场上处于那种位置，今天球传到我脚下真是太好了，”他说。

由英格兰国脚伊万·托尼领衔的阿尔阿赫利队在上半场创造了几次不错的机会，但他们都错失了良机。

卫冕冠军巴黎圣日耳曼直接晋级洲际杯决赛，决赛将于12月举行。国际足联尚未公布该项赛事最后三场比赛的日期和地点，去年的比赛在卡塔尔举行。

（撰稿：马克·格里森；编辑：克莱尔·法伦）

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