WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
US team to be cover girls
Each member of the US women’s Cup-winning soccer team are to be given the cover girl treatment by Sports Illustrated. The US sports magazine announced on Monday that copies of this week’s edition would be printed with 25 different covers — one for each player, one for coach Jill Ellis and one group shot of the whole squad. Sports Illustrated and other magazines often print multiple covers featuring different photographs to mark special events. However, the decision to print 25 separate covers for one edition is unprecedented. “Each player deserves her own cover, that is what we settled on,” Sports Illustrated managing editor Chris Stone said in a statement. The move comes after the US women’s team ended a 16-year drought to claim their third tournament crown on July 5 with a 5-2 rout of Japan. Last week, the team were honored with a victory rally in Los Angeles before being feted with a ticker-tape parade in New York, becoming the first women’s sports team in history to receive the honor in the Big Apple.
EPL
Spurs’ Lloris fractures wrist
Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris faces a race to be fit for the start of the new English Premier League (EPL) league season after suffering a fractured wrist, the club said on Monday. Tottenham did not disclose exactly how Lloris sustained the injury. Lloris, who joined the north London club from French Ligue 1 team Olympique Lyonnais in 2012, made 35 league appearances last season and was one of the star performers for Mauricio Pochettino’s side. Lloris has been reported as a potential transfer target for Manchester United if the Old Trafford outfit sell their first choice goalkeeper David de Gea to Real Madrid before the start of the season. “The club can confirm that Hugo Lloris has sustained a fractured wrist during the close-season period,” a statement on Tottenham’s Web site said. “The France goalkeeper will continue to work alongside the first-team squad to build up his fitness in a bid to be ready for the start of the season. Our medical team will continue to monitor his rehabilitation and progress during pre-season.”
MLS
United’s Hamid out injured
Bill Hamid, star goalkeeper for Major League Soccer’s (MLS) overall leader DC United, is to be sidelined for four to six weeks after undergoing operations to his right knee and left hand. The team announced on Monday that Hamid underwent the separate operations on Wednesday last week, including arthroscopic knee surgery to repair his meniscus as well as a procedure to release the flexor tendon of the second finger knuckle joint on his right hand. The 24-year-old American was last season’s Goalkeeper of the Year, but missed his fifth game of the season on July 3 when United lost 1-0 to Seattle. United lead the Eastern Conference at 10-6 with five drawn for 35 points, nine more than New York, although the Red Bulls have three matches in hand. Seattle, Vancouver and Dallas top the Western Conference with 32 points each.
LIGUE 1
El Shaarawy joins Monaco
AC Milan’s Italy striker Stephan El Shaarawy has been loaned to AS Monaco for a season with an option to buy, the French club said on Monday. “Stephan El Shaarawy joins AS Monaco’s workforce after more than 100 matches played in the Milan jersey,” Monaco said on their Web site.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite