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De Bruyne, Belgium Need 2nd Chance to Impress at World Cup 

Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne arrives at a press conference at Salwa Beach, southwest of Doha on November 25, 2022, during the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament. (AFP)
Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne arrives at a press conference at Salwa Beach, southwest of Doha on November 25, 2022, during the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament. (AFP)
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De Bruyne, Belgium Need 2nd Chance to Impress at World Cup 

Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne arrives at a press conference at Salwa Beach, southwest of Doha on November 25, 2022, during the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament. (AFP)
Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne arrives at a press conference at Salwa Beach, southwest of Doha on November 25, 2022, during the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament. (AFP)

Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne knew he didn't play well in his team's opening World Cup game. He said as much when he accepted the man of the match award. 

"I don’t know why I got the trophy," De Bruyne said. "Maybe it’s because of my name." 

With De Bruyne looking to improve after the unimpressive 1-0 win over Canada, Belgium has a second chance against Morocco on Sunday to show why it is the No. 2-ranked team in the world behind Brazil. 

This could also be the last World Cup chance for many on the highly-rated Belgian squad, as the "golden generation" has often been reminded in the runup to Qatar. The spine of the team — De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Axel Witsel, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois — are all in their 30s. 

Coach Roberto Martinez, who said the performance against Canada was one of Belgium's worst since he's been in charge, might be tempted to bring in fresh faces against Morocco. 

Martinez would dearly love to bring back powerful striker Romelu Lukaku, who missed the Canada opener with a left thigh injury and is doubtful for the entire group stage. Some Belgian media has been reporting that Belgium's record goal-scorer could make an earlier-than-expected return against the Moroccans at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha. 

Morocco will be less fazed at the prospect of trying to contain De Bruyne having already succeeded at subduing another of the world's best midfielders in Luka Modric. 

A 0-0 draw with 2018 World Cup finalist Croatia in their first Group F game was a promising start to the World Cup for Morocco and especially for coach Walid Regragui, who had less than three months to prepare his team having only been hired at the end of August. 

He had coached Morocco in just three friendly games before entering the World Cup. Compare that to Zlatko Dalic's five years in charge of Croatia. Or Martinez's six years with Belgium. 

The World Cup schedule gave Morocco a daunting start with 2018 runners-up Modric and Croatia followed by De Bruyne and Belgium, who finished third in that last World Cup. But the point against Croatia provided a real confidence-booster. 

"Arriving in these conditions is not easy, but I accepted the challenge," Regragui said. And the Croatia result "made us believe," he added. 

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Verstappen Captures 4th F1 Championship after Mercedes Sweep of Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
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Verstappen Captures 4th F1 Championship after Mercedes Sweep of Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Max Verstappen cruised to a fourth consecutive Formula 1 championship on Saturday night by finishing fifth in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen needed only to finish ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren to give Red Bull a fourth straight driver championship. The Dutchman started fifth but was already up to second by the 10th lap around the street circuit that includes the famed Las Vegas Strip.
Norris, who had to score at least three points more than Verstappen to extend the championship fight, finished sixth. Verstappen needed only to finish higher than Norris to win the title, which he did with two races remaining on the season.
He ended the race up 63 points over Norris with two events remaining this season.
“Max Verstappen you are a four-time world champion," team principal Christian Horner said on the radio. "That is a phenomenal, phenomenal achievement. You can be incredibly proud of yourself as we are."
Verstappen, only the sixth driver in F1 history to win at least four titles, sounded unusually emotional on the radio.
“Oh My God, what a season. Four times. Thank you, thank you guys,” he said. “We gave it all.”
The race was won, meanwhile, by George Russell who was followed by Lewis Hamilton in the first 1-2 sweep for the Mercedes drivers since 2022. Hamilton came from 10th on the grid — two weeks after a demoralizing race in Brazil — to capture his podium finish.
The duo crossed the finish line under a checkered flag waved by actor Sylvester Stallone.
Carlos Sainz Jr. finished third for Ferrari as the constructor championship remains a tight battle between leader McLaren and Ferrari. Charles Leclerc, his teammate, was fourth. Red Bull had won the title that pays roughly $150 million in prize money the last two seasons but has slipped to third in the standings.
But that championship battle appears headed to next month's season finale in Abu Dhabi. McLaren has a 24-point lead over Ferrari headed into this weekend's race in Qatar after Norris and Oscar Piastri finished sixth and seventh in Las Vegas.
“Max deserved to win it. He drove a better season than I did, he deserved it more than anyone else,” Norris said. “Max just doesn't have a weakness. When he's got the best car, he dominates and when he's not got the best car, he's still just there always.”
Verstappen, meanwhile, made easy work of Norris after a season where the McLaren driver pushed him harder than he'd been challenged since Verstappen's first title in 2021.
“To stand here as a four-time world champion is something I never thought would be possible,” Verstappen told actor Terry Crews, who moderated the podium news conference held in front of the Bellagio's famed fountains.
“It was a very challenging season and I had to be calm. I think this season taught me a lot of lessons and we handled it well as a team, so that of course makes it a very special and beautiful season.”
Verstappen, who is 27, won 19 races last year. He opened this season on a tear but a long winless streak from June until Brazil two weeks ago has him with only eight wins, his fewest since 2020.
Verstappen asked at the Bellagio what time it was, noting he was in Las Vegas and “I'm very thirsty.” He had a champagne celebration awaiting him.
Race-winner Russell, meanwhile, said he’d be skipping his scheduled flight home to celebrate the victory with actor Crews. He also twice had to sit down on the podium to wipe champagne out of his eyes.
Verstappen was cruising in third with about 20 laps remaining and not overly pushing when Red Bull urged Verstappen to be patient over the team radio.
“Max, just don't lose sight of our aim today, yeah?” he was told.
Verstappen wasn't interested in receiving any instructions.
“Yeah, yeah. I'm doing my race,” he replied.
When he later saw the Ferrari drivers behind him, he asked for instructions because of the constructor championship implications.
"Do you want me to try to keep them behind or what?" Verstappen asked of Sainz and Leclerc.
"I think you should, yeah," Red Bull told Verstappen.
He couldn't hold them off but it made no difference as his season was dominant enough to match former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel as four-time champions for the organization.
This was the second year of the race after last year's debut was a bit of a disaster in that locals were livid for months over ongoing construction, as well as traffic detours and delays, the inability to access many local businesses, outrageous price gouging by the tourism industry as well as LVGP ticketing, and then a loose valve cover that nearly destroyed Sainz's Ferrari minutes into the first practice.
It caused an hours-long delay for repairs, fans were kicked out of the circuit, and F1 ran practice until 4 a.m. — when it legally had to reopen the streets to the public.
This year has been far less hectic, in part because all of the infrastructure headaches were a year ago, but also that last year's race was spectacular. Despite all its speed bumps, the actual running of the race was one of the best of the F1 season.
Russell started on the pole ahead of Sainz, who wanted redemption after the valve-cover fiasco last year. He had to serve a penalty because his car was damaged in the incident.
“I was hoping Vegas had something to offer me after last year, but I will take a podium," Sainz said. "I was looking at every manhole, avoiding them this time.”
The race is the final stop in the United States for F1, which has exploded in American popularity the last five years. The trio of races in Miami; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas are more than any other country.
After the race completion, F1 next week is expected to announce it will expand the grid to 11 teams to make room for an American team backed by General Motors' Cadillac brand. The team was initially started by Michael Andretti, who could not receive approval from F1 on his expansion application.
Andretti has since turned over his ownership stake to Indiana-businessman Dan Towriss and Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They would run the Cadillac F1 team that would likely join the grid in 2026.
The announcement of the American team did not come during the weekend to not derail from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which is the showpiece of the Liberty Media portfolio.
The race drew 306,000 fans over three days.