ENGLAND
Reds begin life without Luis
Liverpool started life without Luis Suarez on Wednesday with a 2-1 defeat against Danish side Brondby IF in the club’s opening pre-season friendly. Christian Norgaard gave the hosts the lead from a free-kick midway through the first half, before Liverpool’s Sweden international Kristoffer Peterson leveled early in the second half. Ferhan Hasani hit Brondby’s winner in stoppage-time. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers shrugged off the loss in the team’s first game since Suarez’s move to Barcelona, preferring to concentrate on the challenges of the new Premier League season which starts on Aug. 16. “This year, we know it’s going to be extremely competitive. Every team will strengthen and we’ll be exactly the same, but the beauty for us is that we’re a young group and we’re bringing in young players that are hungry,” Rodgers said. Also on Wednesday, Chelsea defeated fourth-tier Wycombe Wanderers 5-0, with Patrick Bamford, Izzy Brown (2), John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic on the score sheet. In Austria, Crystal Palace enjoyed a 13-1 romp at Grazer AK, with Stephen Dobbie grabbing four goals, and Glenn Murray, Joe Ledley and Jonathan Williams all netting twice. Yannick Bolasie, Jerome Thomas and Marouane Chamakh finished off the rout.
ENGLAND
Magpies sign striker Riviere
French forward Emmanuel Riviere has joined Newcastle United from AS Monaco for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League club said. “This is an important signing because the striking area is one we really had to improve,” British media quoted Newcastle manager Alan Pardew as saying. “We have looked at Emmanuel for a while and we know he will score goals for us.” Newcastle did not disclose the length of the deal the Martinique-born 24-year-old signed. “When the club spoke to me I said yes immediately. It was an easy decision,” Riviere said. “My dream was always to play in the Premier League and Newcastle have given me the opportunity.”
ARGENTINA
Pope Francis sent shirt
The FIFA World Cup runners-up have sent their compatriot, Pope Francis, a die-hard soccer fan, a jersey signed by the team, midfielder Maximiliano Rodriguez said on Wednesday on Twitter. The player posted a picture of himself holding up the sky blue and white jersey alongside national hero Lionel Messi, winner of the Golden Ball for the best player at the tournament. “This is the present the team sent to our Pope Francis,” Rodriguez wrote. Francis is known as a card-carrying member of Argentine club San Lorenzo, but the Vatican’s chief of ceremonies, Guillermo Karcher, said the pope had refrained from watching Sunday’s final in Rio de Janeiro as “a matter of neutrality.”
UNITED STATES
All-Star lineup announced
Eight players who took part in the World Cup have been named in Major League Soccer’s All-Star team for an exhibition clash with German club Bayern Munich, the league said on Wednesday. The All-Star team is dominated by members of the US national team who reached the round-of-16 in Brazil before losing 2-1 to Belgium. US captain Clint Dempsey is joined by World Cup teammates Michael Bradley, Graham Zusi, Kyle Beckerman, Matt Besler, DeAndre Yedlin, Omar Gonzalez and Nick Rimando, while former US striker Landon Donovan, 1998 World Cup winner Thierry Henry and Nigeria’s Obafemi Martins complete the team. The game is scheduled for Aug. 6 in Portland, Oregon.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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