Saudi Crown Prince Celebrates Kingdom’s Historic Win over Argentina 

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman celebrate the national team's win against Argentina. (Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz on Instagram)
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman celebrate the national team's win against Argentina. (Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz on Instagram)
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Saudi Crown Prince Celebrates Kingdom’s Historic Win over Argentina 

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman celebrate the national team's win against Argentina. (Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz on Instagram)
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman celebrate the national team's win against Argentina. (Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz on Instagram)

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, celebrated on Tuesday Saudi Arabia’s historic win against Argentina during the Group C match in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, photos circulated on social media showed. 

The photos, posted by Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz on Instagram, showed a jubilant crown prince celebrate the victory. 

Social media users shortly after posted a video in which Crown Prince Mohammed spoke to the Saudi players ahead of the kick off of the World Cup that started on Sunday. 

He urged them to remain calm and enjoy playing against other teams in their group, which also includes Poland and Mexico. 

The social media users said his words were a great motivation to the national team that succeeded on Tuesday in defeated Lionel Messi’s Argentina, one of the favorites to win the tournament. 



Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv Plays Soccer Game Without Incident in Hungary

28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa
28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa
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Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv Plays Soccer Game Without Incident in Hungary

28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa
28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa

Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv's game against Besiktas in the Europa League was played without incident before empty stands in Hungary on Thursday, with the stadium closed to fans over security concerns following attacks on Israeli supporters in Amsterdam this month.
Maccabi won the game 3-1 on a cold and rainy evening in Debrecen, Hungary's second-largest city. Groups of police patrolled outside the stadium but security levels did not appear overwhelming in the city of around 200,000 residents, The Associated Press reported.
After the match, Maccabi coach Zarko Lazetic said playing in front of an empty stadium without fans is always a struggle for the team.
“We play football because of the fans, to give them some pleasure, some excite(ment) and to be together,” he said.
Israel’s soccer teams play domestic games at home despite the Israel-Hamas war. But European soccer body UEFA has ruled that the war in Gaza means Israel cannot host international games.
The Thursday match was Maccabi’s first in Europe since its fans were assaulted in the Netherlands on Nov. 7 in attacks that were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Israel and across Europe.
Before that match in Amsterdam, a large crowd of Israeli fans chanted anti-Arab slogans, and later, youths on scooters and on foot crisscrossed the city in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them, according to the city's mayor.
Five people were treated in hospitals and police detained dozens of people.
Even before the Amsterdam attacks, the European soccer body UEFA announced that Thursday’s Europa League match, originally scheduled to take place in Istanbul, would be moved to a neutral venue “following a decision by the Turkish authorities.”
Hungary, which has hosted several home games for Israel’s national team since the war in Gaza began, agreed to host the game.