Egypt Forward Omar Marmoush Lighting up the Bundesliga

Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
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Egypt Forward Omar Marmoush Lighting up the Bundesliga

Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)

Egypt forward Omar Marmoush is the man of the moment in the Bundesliga after a blistering start to the season for Eintracht Frankfurt.

Marmoush denied Bayern Munich a win in a thrilling game Sunday with a stoppage-time equalizer that made it 3-3. It was his second goal of the game. He also set up the other for Hugo Ekitiké, when he ran clear of Dayot Upamecano on a counterattack.

"Marmoush is a player who’s only going to get better with time," Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said. "What he did for Ekitiké’s goal is not normal. To push past Upa with strength, no one did that before for the whole season.

"And then to make the right decision at the end, the quality in his strike, and the speed. Sometimes he looks quite relaxed, then when he gets going, he’s really fast."

Marmoush has been stealing the attention from Bayern star Harry Kane, who failed to score Sunday and has five goals from six Bundesliga games this season.

Marmoush, who has now scored in five games straight, has eight, while he has also set up another six for his Frankfurt teammates.

"We’re like a family," he said. "You see that on the field, when we’re celebrating, the ones who didn’t play (join), we celebrate as a team."

Marmoush appears to have made a jump in performance since last season, when he scored 12 goals and set up nine in his 29 Bundesliga appearances.

Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller said he had made a "little deal" before the season with Marmoush, but wouldn’t reveal what it is.

"I told him that a second year with us would do him good because he’s on the way up and hasn’t reached the end," Toppmöller said. "And you can see that in this fantastic season."

The 25-year-old Marmoush is the latest in a long line of forwards who have excelled at Frankfurt, after Randal Kolo Muani, Sébastien Haller, Luka Jović and Jay-Jay Okocha.

Marmoush has had to be patient, working his way through at Wolfsburg, St. Pauli and Stuttgart after joining the former from Cairo-based Wadi Degla SC in 2017.

It’s only since he joined Frankfurt in 2023 that the tireless attacker has added goals to his repertoire.

On Sunday, he combined well with Ekitiké, while Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe headed the ball into his path for Marmoush's second goal.

"When I came last season, we took time to play together and to know what he likes on the pitch, what I like also, and I think in time we just created a connection," Ekitiké said. "Today he had two goals, one assist, So, yeah, he helped the team a lot."

Marmoush’s transformation into a goal-getter is good news for Egypt, which struggled for them without the injured Mohamed Salah at the African Cup of Nations in January.

Marmoush only scored one as the seven-time champion lost on penalties to Congo in the round of 16.

Next up for Frankfurt is a visit to defending champion Bayer Leverkusen after the international break.



Liverpool, Barcelona Risk Missing Automatic Qualification to Champions League Round of 16

Liverpool's Egyptian striker #11 Mohamed Salah talks to Liverpool's French striker #22 Hugo Ekitike during a team training session at their training ground in Kirkby, Liverpool, northwest England on January 20, 2026, on the eve of their UEFA Champions League, league phase football match against Olympique Marseille in Marseille. (AFP)
Liverpool's Egyptian striker #11 Mohamed Salah talks to Liverpool's French striker #22 Hugo Ekitike during a team training session at their training ground in Kirkby, Liverpool, northwest England on January 20, 2026, on the eve of their UEFA Champions League, league phase football match against Olympique Marseille in Marseille. (AFP)
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Liverpool, Barcelona Risk Missing Automatic Qualification to Champions League Round of 16

Liverpool's Egyptian striker #11 Mohamed Salah talks to Liverpool's French striker #22 Hugo Ekitike during a team training session at their training ground in Kirkby, Liverpool, northwest England on January 20, 2026, on the eve of their UEFA Champions League, league phase football match against Olympique Marseille in Marseille. (AFP)
Liverpool's Egyptian striker #11 Mohamed Salah talks to Liverpool's French striker #22 Hugo Ekitike during a team training session at their training ground in Kirkby, Liverpool, northwest England on January 20, 2026, on the eve of their UEFA Champions League, league phase football match against Olympique Marseille in Marseille. (AFP)

Liverpool and Barcelona are leaving it late to secure automatic qualification to the Champions League round of 16.

With just two rounds remaining, the defending champions of England and Spain currently sit outside of the top eight spots that will advance automatically.

Teams placed from nine to 24 enter a two-legged playoff to go through to the round of 16.

Liverpool topped the league phase last year, but then faced the daunting task of playing eventual winner Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16. Arne Slot's team is going a different way about it this time around and may have to navigate a playoff to advance.

Liverpool is away to Marseille on Wednesday and could be boosted by the return of Mohamed Salah from the Africa Cup of Nations. He headed off to represent his country last month after a public row with Slot raised doubts about his future.

Salah was unhappy with his lack of game time and aired his views in an explosive interview. He returns to Liverpool at a time when the Merseyside club needs more firepower following injury to record signing Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, who has only recently returned to action.

Barcelona was runner-up to Liverpool during the league phase last year and progressed to the semifinals before losing to Inter Milan.

Now it is playing catch up as it heads to Slavia Prague.

Chelsea's new coach Liam Rosenior takes charge of his first Champions League game with the club at home to Pafos.

Rosenior replaced Club World Cup-winning coach Enzo Maresca this month after leading Chelsea's sister club Strasbourg to the top of the third-tier Conference League standings.
Bayern Munich — one of this season's favorites — hosts Union Saint-Gilloise.


Türkiye’s Sonmez Soaks up the Support in Dream Melbourne Run

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 21, 2026 Türkiye’s Zeynep Sonmez celebrates after winning her second round match against Hungary's Anna Bondar. (Reuters)
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 21, 2026 Türkiye’s Zeynep Sonmez celebrates after winning her second round match against Hungary's Anna Bondar. (Reuters)
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Türkiye’s Sonmez Soaks up the Support in Dream Melbourne Run

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 21, 2026 Türkiye’s Zeynep Sonmez celebrates after winning her second round match against Hungary's Anna Bondar. (Reuters)
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 21, 2026 Türkiye’s Zeynep Sonmez celebrates after winning her second round match against Hungary's Anna Bondar. (Reuters)

Anyone strolling past Melbourne Park's outer courts might have felt like they were wandering through Istanbul on Wednesday as the roars behind Turkish trailblazer Zeynep Sonmez reached deafening levels ​at the Australian Open.

A popular draw among Turkish fans and now a crowd favorite in Melbourne after assisting an ill ball girl during her opener, Sonmez fed off the energy on court seven to beat Hungarian Anna Bondar 6-2 6-4 and progress.

"I felt like I was at home," Sonmez told reporters after matching her best Grand Slam run of reaching the third round at Wimbledon last ‌year.

"I was ‌feeling the energy. It was unreal. I ‌appreciate ⁠it. ​I felt ‌very good on the court. I felt the support, and I felt like we were all playing together, actually.

"In Wimbledon when I was playing third round, it was similar to this, but today ... I felt like I never experienced something like this."

Sonmez is part of a growing group of players from nations without traditional tennis pathways who are lighting ⁠up the sport's biggest stages.

Filipina Alexandra Eala was watched by heaving crowds outside practice ‌courts in the build-up to the Grand ‍Slam while Janice Tjen has won ‍new fans by becoming the first Indonesian to win a ‍match at the Australian Open in 28 years.

"I think it's good ... there are some countries that are very good at tennis. You know, they're like tennis countries. We aren't one of them," Sonmez said.

"It's a good thing, because ​there are more players and more surprises. I saw Alex playing few days ago. The crowd was crazy. I ⁠really enjoy watching those matches."

Like the biggest players from the strongest nations, Sonmez also dreams of someday winning a Grand Slam.

"But I'm not focusing specifically on that dream," she said.

"I'm just focusing on getting better every day. I want to enjoy being on the court, because I know that I feel and I play better when I enjoy being on the court."

Having come through three qualifying rounds before stunning 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and taking out Bondar, the 112th ranked Sonmez will look to keep her run going when she meets Kazakh Yulia ‌Putintseva in the third round.

"Right now I'm tired, because I just finished," she said. "But I'm not tired overall."


Daniil Medvedev’s New Outlook Fuels Australian Open Comeback

21 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Daniil Medvedev of Russia in action during the Men's 2nd round match against Quentin Halys of France on day 4 of the 2026 Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne. (Lukas Coch/AAP/dpa)
21 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Daniil Medvedev of Russia in action during the Men's 2nd round match against Quentin Halys of France on day 4 of the 2026 Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne. (Lukas Coch/AAP/dpa)
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Daniil Medvedev’s New Outlook Fuels Australian Open Comeback

21 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Daniil Medvedev of Russia in action during the Men's 2nd round match against Quentin Halys of France on day 4 of the 2026 Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne. (Lukas Coch/AAP/dpa)
21 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Daniil Medvedev of Russia in action during the Men's 2nd round match against Quentin Halys of France on day 4 of the 2026 Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne. (Lukas Coch/AAP/dpa)

After the season he's coming off, 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev is celebrating his run to the third round at the Australian Open as positive progress.

His results in Grand Slam events in 2025 — losing in the first round at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open after a second-round exit in Australia, after smashing a tiny camera attached to the net while avoiding a monumental upset in the first — were his worst since his debut season in 2017.

He lost his cool in New York and was fined $42,500 by the US Open — more than a third of his $110,000 tournament prize money — for his meltdown during a first-round loss after a photographer wandered onto the court during the match.

He won a single title in 2025 — at Almaty, Kazakhstan in October — from 24 tournaments contested, and only reached one other final. He has 22 career titles.

Nothing much was working for the three-time Australian Open runner-up.

So after he dropped the first set Wednesday against French qualifier Quentin Halys in the second round, he had to mentality set it aside and start all over again.

“Performance could be better I think, but a win is a win,” he said. “Last year on Slams, when people played good against me, I was struggling.

“So I’m happy that I managed to win it, turning it around and ... looking forward for next rounds.”

He reached three finals in four years at the Australian Open but lost them all, including the 2024 championship to Jannik Sinner.

The 29-year-old Russian opened this year with a title in Brisbane, and now he's on a seven-match winning streak in Australia. He has put 2025 behind him. The difference, he said, comes down to mentality.

When he was regularly in the top five and going deep at the majors, he expected to win all the time. Now he's learned to compartmentalize, and can put losing — games, sets or matches — behind him.

“I managed to fight. I was losing with a break in the second — I mean, you saw the match. Why am I telling you?” Medvedev said in his on-court interview Wednesday. “His forehand was on fire. He didn’t miss much. He made some unbelievable ones.

“Very tough match mentally but I'm happy (I could) dig deep and managed to win it.”

He's looking forward to his next match against Fabian Marozsan of Hungary, and won't think any further than that for now.

“I need to rebuild my confidence step by step,” he said. “Always, always keep the faith!”