Navas Shines on Debut as Forest Edge Out Leeds

Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Leeds United - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - February 5, 2023 Nottingham Forest's Keylor Navas in action. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Leeds United - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - February 5, 2023 Nottingham Forest's Keylor Navas in action. (Reuters)
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Navas Shines on Debut as Forest Edge Out Leeds

Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Leeds United - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - February 5, 2023 Nottingham Forest's Keylor Navas in action. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Leeds United - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - February 5, 2023 Nottingham Forest's Keylor Navas in action. (Reuters)

Nottingham Forest's Brennan Johnson scored the winner but it was debutant keeper Keylor Navas they had to thank for a gritty 1-0 Premier League home victory over Leeds United on Sunday.

The 36-year-old Costa Rican, signed on loan from Paris St Germain until the end of the season, pulled off a string of superb reflex saves to deny a Leeds side who dominated possession, but could not find a way past him.

Forest took the lead against the run of play when Leeds defender Pascal Struijk fouled Johnson and he compounded the error by botching his headed clearance from the free kick, teeing up a chance for Johnson.

The Welsh forward needed no further invitation, firing a rasping volley into the net to breaking the deadlock with his side's first effort on target.

The visitors could have levelled but Luis Sinisterra somehow blasted his effort high over the bar with the goal at his mercy, and when Leeds managed to get efforts on target Navas reacted smartly to keep them out.

Despite spending much of a frenetic second half defending, Forest held on to extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to five games. They moved up to 13th in the table on 24 points, six ahead of Leeds who are 17th.



Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Saudi Team Highlights Cultural Heritage

Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
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Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Saudi Team Highlights Cultural Heritage

Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Chairman of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and his deputy, Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz, attended the opening ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris.

Held outside the traditional stadiums for the first time in history, the ceremony featured a parade of the 206 participating countries on 100 boats traveling approximately 6 kilometers along the Seine River.

The Saudi show jumping team player, Ramzy Al-Duhami, and his colleague, the Saudi Taekwondo champion Dunya Aboutaleb, raised the Saudi flag at the opening of the world’s largest sporting event.

Al-Duhami expressed his pride in raising the Kingdom’s flag alongside his teammate, noting that it was a dream for any Saudi citizen. He wished success for the Saudi athletes in representing Saudi sports with distinction.

Aboutaleb, in turn, said he was honored to carry the Kingdom’s flag at the Olympic Games, stating: “I aspire to perform at a level that reflects the support and attention given to sports in the Kingdom.”

The Saudi athletes’ uniform was admired by the international media and the audience, who applauded the players the moment their boat appeared on the Seine River.

The designs for the opening ceremony were chosen through a national competition organized by the Saudi Arabian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, with the participation of designers from across the Kingdom.

Out of 128 competing designers, the chosen uniform by Saudi designer Alia Al-Salmi featured traditional men’s thobes and bishts and brightly patterned thobe al-nashal for women, symbolizing the athletes’ pride in their homeland and cultural roots.

Mashael Al-Ayed, 17, will be the first Saudi athlete to compete, taking to the pool for the 200 meters freestyle swimming event on July 28. Al-Ayed is the first female swimmer to represent Saudi Arabia at the Olympics.