Former Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe scored in the 60th minute Saturday to give Toronto a 1-0 victory over DC United in the Canadian Major League Soccer club’s home opener.
It was the first time in club history that Toronto had opened a campaign with back-to-back wins, following a 2-1 triumph last week at Seattle.
Defoe netted both goals in the first half at Seattle and once again made the difference, swiping a failed clearance attempt in the penalty area and beating United goalkeeper Bill Hamid.
The 31-year-old Englishman netted 143 goals in two stints at Spurs to rank fifth on the London side’s all-time scoring list and left the English Premier League side last month to join Toronto in time for this month’s start of the MLS campaign.
Expectations are high for a Toronto side that managed only six wins and 11 draws in 34 MLS matches last year.
In other MLS action, a successful Dom Dwyer penalty in the second half put Sporting Kansas City over the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0.
FC Dallas scored three times in a span of 15 minutes in the second half to beat Chivas USA 3-1. Michel, Je-Vaughn Watson and Fabian Castillo secured the scores for Dallas.
The Colorado Rapids extened a winless start for the Portland Timbers, as Vicente Sanchez netted in the 73rd on a penalty and Deshorn Brown added the second two minutes later (and missed a penalty two minutes after that) for a 2-0 victory.
The Columbus Crew were also winners, staking a 2-0 lead with Bernardo Anor registering a double in the first half which would stand in a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union.
The New England Revolution and Vancouver Whitecaps played to a scoreless draw and Robbie Keane scored for the Los Angeles Galaxy in a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake.
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Company Profile
Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
Company Profile
Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices
Zombieland: Double Tap
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone
Four out of five stars
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
THE SPECS
Engine: 3-litre V6 turbo (standard model, E-hybrid); 4-litre V8 biturbo (S)
Power: 350hp (standard); 463hp (E-hybrid); 467hp (S)
Torque: 500Nm (standard); 650Nm (E-hybrid); 600Nm (S)
Price: From Dh368,500
On sale: Now
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
HAJJAN
Director: Abu Bakr Shawky
Starring: Omar Alatawi, Tulin Essam, Ibrahim Al-Hasawi
Rating: 4/5
THE STRANGERS' CASE
Director: Brandt Andersen
Starring: Omar Sy, Jason Beghe, Angeliki Papoulia
Rating: 4/5
