SOCCER
Egypt win penalty shoot-out
Veteran 44-year-old goalkeeper Essam El Hadary saved Bertrand Traore’s spot-kick as Egypt beat Burkina Faso 4-3 on penalties on Wednesday to secure their place in the Africa Cup of Nations final. A tense semi-final in Libreville, Gabon, had ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra-time, with AS Roma star Mohamed Salah’s superb 66th-minute opener for Egypt quickly canceled out by Aristide Bance for Burkina Faso. That goal was the first conceded by El Hadary — the oldest ever player at the Cup of Nations — in 653 minutes at the tournament going back to 2010. Abdallah El Said missed Egypt’s first penalty in the shoot-out, but El Hadary kept the Pharaohs in it when he saved from opposing goalkeeper Herve Koffi, before denying Traore. Unbeaten in 24 games at the tournament, Egypt play Cameroon or Ghana in the final on Sunday.
SOCCER
Totti fires Roma to semi-final
A last-gasp penalty from Francesco Totti fired AS Roma into a Coppa Italia semi-final with city rivals SS Lazio after a shaky 2-1 win over AC Cesena on Wednesday. Totti was given a rare start by Roma coach Luciano Spalletti, but it took the Serie A title challengers until the 68th minute to hit the mark, Edin Dzeko making up for a series of glaring misses by sweeping Stephan El Shaarawy’s pass from the left past onrushing goalkeeper Federico Agliardi. Second-tier Cesena were given a chance to pull level when Roma goalkeeper Alisson, standing in for Wojciech Szczesny, almost collided with defender Kostas Manolas as he rose to challenge for a high ball, spilling it into the path of a thankful Luca Garritano, who fired home from the edge of the penalty area on 73 minutes. The match looked to be heading for extra-time until Totti stepped up to beat Agliardi from the spot in the seventh minute of stoppage-time.
CRICKET
Morgan laments batting
Skipper Eoin Morgan said England’s batting collapse in the third Twenty20 international was their worst performance in recent times after India inflicted a crushing defeat in the series decider in Bengaluru. Chasing 203 for victory, England’s much-vaunted batting lineup imploded on Wednesday, losing their final eight wickets for eight runs after being set to push for victory. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s 6-25 combined with Jasprit Bumrah’s three wickets ripped through the English middle and lower order, with five batsmen being dismissed without scoring. “I can’t put my finger on it. We haven’t produced a batting performance as bad as that in two-and-a-half years,” Morgan said.
ICE HOCKEY
Blues fire coach Hitchcock
The Blues abruptly fired coach Ken Hitchcock on Wednesday, cutting short the veteran’s final season in St Louis and putting coach-in-waiting Mike Yeo in charge of the underperforming team months earlier than planned. General manager Doug Armstrong announced the change one day after the Blues’ fifth loss in six games. “We don’t lose with pride,” Armstrong said. “I don’t think that we’ve given our best effort and Ken, ultimately he’s paying the price with all our failures, starting with mine.” Hitchcock had a 248-124-41 record and made the playoffs in each of his five seasons, but St Louis are 24-21-5 and mired in eighth place in the Western Conference.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on Tuesday struck out 11 in five shutout innings to match a franchise record during his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. “Pretty sick performance,” teammate Romy Gonzalez said. “It was fun to watch.” The only other Red Sox starter to rack up 11 strikeouts in his first career game was Don Aase versus the Milwaukee Brewers on July 26, 1977. “It was amazing, just to go out there and have that first opportunity,” Early said after getting the win in a 6-0 victory. “A long day of travel yesterday and just getting to the field, seeing
Mikel Merino on Sunday scored a hat-trick as a majestic Spain thumped Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying, while a brilliant Florian Wirtz free-kick helped Germany beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to get their bid up and running. European champions Spain were in unstoppable form in the central Turkish city of Konya, claiming their second biggest-ever away win in World Cup qualifying as Arsenal midfielder Merino scored his first professional hat-trick. Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring inside six minutes and later completed the scoring, with Ferran Torres netting the visitors’ other goal. The quality of Merino’s strikes was remarkable, with his
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
SWEDEN BEATEN: Goals in the first half by Elvis Rexhbecaj and Vedat Muriqi were enough to give Kosovo their second-ever win in World Cup qualifying Sandro Tonali’s last-gasp winner on Monday edged Italy to a 5-4 victory over Israel in FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifying, while Kosovo beat Sweden despite Alexander Isak making his first appearance of the season. After collapsing from leading 4-2 in the final two minutes to drawing 4-4, Tonali’s 91st-minute strike in the Hungarian city of Debrecen sent Italy above Israel and into the playoff spot in Group I. New coach Gennaro Gattuso’s side trail leaders Norway by three points and still have a chance of taking first place and the group’s sole direct qualifying spot as they seek to avoid missing out
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