MARGAO, India (AP) — Without star Cristiano Ronaldo, Saudi club Al-Nassr beat FC Goa 2-1 on Wednesday to maintain its perfect record in the Asian Champions League Two.
Ronaldo, who signed a two-year contract extension with the Saudi club in July, stayed in Riyadh to rest while Al-Nassr traveled to India.
The Saudi club took the lead with goals from Brazilian winger Angelo Gabriel and Haroune Camara before Brison Fernandes pulled one back for Goa. But it wasn't enough to stop Al-Nassr winning a third consecutive game in Asia’s second-tier continental club championship.
In the AFC Champions League Elite, Al-Hilal extended its winning run to four games with a 3-1 victory over Qatar’s Al-Sadd. Turkish midfielder Yusuf Akcicek opened the scoring in the 25th minute, and former Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly doubled the lead just before halftime.
Al-Sadd cut the deficit in the second half through Roberto Firmino, but Sergej Milinkovic-Savic sealed the win for Al-Hilal nine minutes from time.
Al-Hilal, a four-time champion, leads the western group of the 24-team tournament, which is split into two geographic zones. The top eight teams from each zone advance to the knockout stage.
“The first half was excellent, and in the second half our opponents regained confidence and played better,” Al-Hilal coach Simone Inzaghi said. “We didn’t start well in the first 15 minutes, but we came out with the win and remain on top of the table.”
In the eastern zone, South Korean clubs prevailed over Japanese opposition. Two-time champion Ulsan HD moved into first place with a 1-0 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and Gangwon FC edged second-place Vissel Kobe 4-3 to draw level on points.
In Asian Champions League action Monday, former AC Milan coach Sergio Conceição earned his first win in charge of Saudi club Al-Ittihad with a 4-1 victory over Al-Shorta of Iraq.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring during a World Cup 2026 group F qualifying soccer match between Portugal and Hungary in Lisbon, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after scoring during a World Cup 2026 group F qualifying soccer match between Portugal and Hungary in Lisbon, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo walks off the pitch after a World Cup 2026 group F qualifying soccer match between Portugal and Hungary in Lisbon, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to meet Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-President Nicolás Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month.
Less than two weeks after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country.
“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump told Reuters in an interview about Machado. “I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”
The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and along with others in the deposed leader's inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.
Rodríguez herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.
Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump told reporters. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”
In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key advisers like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a political gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government. She also intends to have a meeting in the Senate on Thursday afternoon.
Despite her alliance with Republicans, Trump was quick to snub her following Maduro’s capture. Just hours afterward, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”
Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump coveted. She has since thanked Trump and offered to share the prize with him, a move that has been rejected by the Nobel Institute.
Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.
Janetsky reported from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
