SOCCER
Levante loss brings drop
Levante UD were relegated from La Liga after a six-season stay in the Spanish top flight as two late goals condemned them to a 3-1 defeat against Malaga on Monday. Croatian striker Duje Cop gave Malaga the lead in the 30th minute with a near-post finish barely a minute after Levante striker Mauricio Cuero had a goal harshly ruled out for offside. Jose Luis Morales leveled in the 42nd minute, but Malaga finished the game stronger and deserved to take the lead again in the 89th through Cop, which put Levante on the brink of relegation. Chory Castro delivered the final nail in the coffin with a powerful finish from the edge of the area in stoppage-time.
SOCCER
Sakho suspension extended
Liverpool and France defender Mamadou Sakho’s 30-day suspension for failing an anti-doping test has been extended worldwide by world soccer’s governing body FIFA. The 26-year-old was banned for 30 days by European soccer governing body UEFA after testing positive for an illegal substance following Liverpool’s Europa League tie against Manchester United on March 17. The new suspension covered all games, including domestic, international, friendly and official fixtures, FIFA said in a statement, and came on top of UEFA’s original European ban. France’s RMC radio reported in April that the center-back had tested positive for a fat-burning substance. His suspension is provisional on an investigation by UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary body, which is yet to announce the date of his hearing. Sakho chose not to challenge the results of his original positive test and did not ask for an analysis of his B sample. The player, who has featured in 34 games for Liverpool in all competitions this season, was dropped by the club as soon as it was informed of the investigation by UEFA.
SOCCER
‘Martian’ Messi hailed
Argentina’s all-time leading goal scorer, Gabriel Batistuta, on Monday said that the man closing in on his record, Lionel Messi, is a “Martian.” Batistuta told Argentine newspaper La Nacion that “when Leo takes the record from me, it will hurt a little, but it’s not just anyone taking it away. It’s not a normal person. A Martian is taking it from me. That makes me feel a little better.” The 47-year-old striker scored 54 goals for Argentina from 1991 to 2002, not counting two he chalked up against Slovakia in 1995 in a match that FIFA later ruled unofficial for record-keeping purposes. Messi has 50 goals for the national team. The 28-year-old Barcelona star last month scored his 500th career goal. Batistuta defended the five-time World Player of the Year against the criticism he has received in Argentina for failing to lead the country to its first World Cup title since 1986. “He plays 70 matches a year and wouldn’t need to come here to get cursed out playing for the national side, but he’s hungry, and even though he’s already won 200 things, he comes. Messi is a winner,” Batistuta said.
OLYMPICS
NBC names Rio pair
Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski are to serve as correspondents for NBC’s coverage of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The network on Monday announced that the NBC Sports figure-skating analysts will explore Rio’s culture, sights, sounds and fashion in August during the Games. “We are thrilled to have Johnny and Tara join us in Rio, a city whose color, vibrancy and spirit is a perfect match with their own,” NBC Olympics executive producer Jim Bell said.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
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
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
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