De Bruyne Allowed to Miss Belgium’s Next Nations League Game

Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne in action during the UEFA Nations League - Group 4 match between Wales and Belgium in Cardiff, Wales, Britain, 11 June 2022. (EPA)
Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne in action during the UEFA Nations League - Group 4 match between Wales and Belgium in Cardiff, Wales, Britain, 11 June 2022. (EPA)
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De Bruyne Allowed to Miss Belgium’s Next Nations League Game

Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne in action during the UEFA Nations League - Group 4 match between Wales and Belgium in Cardiff, Wales, Britain, 11 June 2022. (EPA)
Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne in action during the UEFA Nations League - Group 4 match between Wales and Belgium in Cardiff, Wales, Britain, 11 June 2022. (EPA)

Kevin De Bruyne is one of three Belgium players given permission to go off early on holiday after their 1-1 draw with Wales on Saturday, coach Roberto Martinez said.

De Bruyne, Yannick Carrasco and Thomas Meunier have all been allowed to skip the last of this month's four Nations League A Group Four matches, which is away against Poland in Warsaw on Tuesday.

"De Bruyne has given enough, so has Carrasco," Martinez said. "Meunier played two games in quick succession after not playing for three months. We can't force anyone."

However, De Bruyne, who had been critical about having to play in the Nations League this month after a long season with Manchester City, said he would have been happy to continue.

"I have played three matches for almost 90 minutes. Physically I am okay and I would have liked to play the last game against Poland, but it is the decision of the coach," he told reporters.

De Bruyne leaves after Belgium let slip a lead in Cardiff and allowed Wales to equalize in the 86th minute.

"It is a pity about the late equalizer," added De Bruyne. "We were in command at the beginning of the second half, but then we forgot to play football. But with all the changes in the team, it was not the worst performance."

"We lacked rhythm and all the players were fatigued, having already played many matches."

Martinez fumed about Wales' late goal, scored by Brennan Johnson and initially flagged offside but then awarded after a lengthy VAR check.

"A shocking decision," said the Belgian coach, adding that VAR wrongly reversed the linesman's decision.

"The lines don't seem to be parallel, the assistant was completely correct. We were robbed," he told Belgium´s VTM television.



Lithuania’s Baciuška Wins Dakar Rally’s Longest Stage in Saudi Arabia

 Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)
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Lithuania’s Baciuška Wins Dakar Rally’s Longest Stage in Saudi Arabia

 Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)

Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuška proved he's a contender in the Dakar Rally when he won the longest stage in the Saudi Arabia desert on Monday.

Baciuška was 22 minutes off the lead starting the second half of the two-day, 967-kilometer second stage. But on the day's 341-kilometer drive back to Bisha, he finished within seven minutes of provisional winner Yazeed Al Rajhi, and hours later was promoted to stage winner.

Baciuška was given back time lost for faulty refueling, giving him the win by nearly three minutes over Al Rajhi. Juan Cruz Yacopini of Argentina was also promoted after the race to third, giving the Overdrive Racing team's Toyotas 1-2-3 on the stage.

Al Rajhi and Nasser Al-Attiyah's Dacia dueled over the entire stage, and were as close as 20 seconds apart. But at the finish they were penalized two and four minutes respectively for exceeding speed limits.

Baciuška's credentials aren't in dispute. He made the podium in his first three Dakars in the buggy classes, and turned them into world rally-raid titles the last three years.

This year he's stepped up to the major car category, reunited with his first Dakar co-driver, Oriol Mena, after his usual partner Oriol Vidal withdrew with a back injury. They got off to a horrible start on stage one when mechanical problems cost them 2 hours, 20 minutes.

But by Sunday night, despite another late mishap, Baciuška was only 22 minutes off the pace.

Another big improver was Sebastien Loeb, who rebounded from engine fan problems on Sunday by slashing 15 minutes on Monday to finish only 16 minutes back in seventh.

Defending champion Carlos Sainz, who landed on his roof on Sunday, lost more time on Monday and finished more than 1 1/2 hours behind.

Overall, the leader was South Africa's Henk Lategan after finishing fourth on the stage; Al Rajhi was nearly five minutes behind, and Al-Attiyah third more than 11 minutes back.

“The dust was a problem for most of the stage,” Lategan said. “The navigation was also super, super tricky. Brett (Cummings, co-driver) did really well. It's actually a big surprise to be first because we haven't been really focusing on it. But I'm happy with that. We've been playing a more strategic game over these two days.”

Toby Price and navigator Sam Sunderland, both two-time motorbike champions trying four wheels for the first time, were fourth.

In the motorbike class, Daniel Sanders became the first rider to win three consecutive stages since Joan Barreda in 2017.

Sanders was seventh to start the day but the Australian caught the pathfinders after about 150 kilometers and controlled the rest of the race.

After 11 hours of racing over two days, Sanders won the stage by more than seven minutes from American Skyler Howes. Spain's Tosha Schareina, who opened the way, was only another four seconds back.

Overall, Sanders was more than 12 minutes up on Howes and Botswana's Ross Branch.

Defending champion Ricky Brabec fell 15 minutes back in fifth.

“The body feels good and I don't feel tired at all,” Sanders said. “I just saved a lot of energy ready for next week. It was good to get the stage win, but it was on me to decide whether I wanted today or not.”

Stage three heading north on Tuesday was reduced by 169 kilometers to 327 kilometers because of storms in the Al Henakiyah region.