Asia

MELBOURNE — Eight months after fleeing Kabul as the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan, Farida trains at a suburban Melbourne pitch, dreaming of one day playing soccer for her country while lamenting the fate of fellow women players back home.

The 20-year-old striker was one of 77 Afghan athletes, family members and officials evacuated from Afghanistan last year by the Australian government after lobbying by prominent figures in the sporting world.

Since the Süper Lig's inception in 1959, only two clubs outside Istanbul have ever won the title. Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş and İstanbul Başakşehir have combined for 58.

It makes sense when you consider Istanbul's standing as the most populated of Turkey's 81 provinces, and the most populous European city, at 15,519,267 — almost three times more than Turkey's capital city and second-most populated Ankara.

LONDON - Son Heung-min continued his prolific season, striking twice after Harry Kane had opened the scoring as Tottenham Hotspur beat Leicester City 3-1 at home on Sunday to boost their hopes of Champions League qualification.

The win moved Spurs a point above North London rivals Arsenal into fourth place in the Premier League, at least for a few hours, with the Gunners at West Ham United later on Sunday.

Making her 110th appearance for Australia, captain Sam Kerr scored her 58th and 59th goals for the Matildas on Tuesday in a 3-1 friendly victory over New Zealand in front of over 13,000 in Canberra.

Australia raced to a three-goal advantage after 32 minutes with Kerr registering a brace. The first, in the 15th minute, was a towering header off Steph Catley's corner kick.

SYDNEY - Substitute Kaoru Mitoma scored twice in the final few minutes to give Japan a 2-0 win over Australia at a rain-soaked Olympic Stadium on Thursday and send his country through to seventh successive edition of the World Cup finals.

Japan's first victory over the Socceroos in Australia since 1998 also secured Saudi Arabia's passage to Qatar and condemned Australia to a tricky path through two playoffs if they are to make the finals for the fifth time in a row.