Jota Out for Months, Says Klopp, as Liverpool’s Injury Crisis Deepens

Football - Premier League - Brentford v Liverpool - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - February 17, 2024 Liverpool's Diogo Jota touches hands with Brentford's Sergio Reguilon as he is stretchered off after sustaining an injury. (Action Images via Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Brentford v Liverpool - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - February 17, 2024 Liverpool's Diogo Jota touches hands with Brentford's Sergio Reguilon as he is stretchered off after sustaining an injury. (Action Images via Reuters)
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Jota Out for Months, Says Klopp, as Liverpool’s Injury Crisis Deepens

Football - Premier League - Brentford v Liverpool - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - February 17, 2024 Liverpool's Diogo Jota touches hands with Brentford's Sergio Reguilon as he is stretchered off after sustaining an injury. (Action Images via Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Brentford v Liverpool - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - February 17, 2024 Liverpool's Diogo Jota touches hands with Brentford's Sergio Reguilon as he is stretchered off after sustaining an injury. (Action Images via Reuters)

Liverpool forward Diogo Jota will be missing for months because of injury, manager Jurgen Klopp said on Tuesday.

The Portugal international hurt his right knee in the first half of Liverpool's 4-1 win at Brentford in the English Premier League on Saturday.

“We have Diogo with a knee issue ruled out — it will obviously take months,” Klopp said ahead of Liverpool's home match against Luton on Wednesday.

The injury potentially threatens Jota's involvement in the European Championship in Germany starting in June.

Liverpool’s injury crisis has deepened, with nine senior players unavailable heading into a key period of the season that includes the English League Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday.

Klopp didn't give a return date for injured pair Curtis Jones or Alisson Becker and he described Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai as “longer term” problems. Striker Darwin Nunez was replaced at halftime against Brentford as a precaution.



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.