SOCCER
Chapecoense player honored
Chapecoense goalkeeper Danilo, who was killed in an air crash in Colombia last month, was posthumously named Brazil’s Player of the Year after a vote by fans on Monday. Danilo, whose last gasp save in the semi-final against San Lorenzo helped his side into the Copa Sudamericana final, got 48 percent of the Internet vote. His mother, Ilaides Padilha, collected the award on his behalf at a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. “In the name of Chapecoense, I want to thank everyone for their affection and ask for their prayers,” Padilha said. “May the future warriors that come to Chapecoense be like the warriors that left there.”
SOCCER
Atletico Madrid fall further
Atletico Madrid’s struggles continued in La Liga on Monday with a 3-0 loss against Villarreal, a result that left the club 12 points behind leaders Real Madrid. Two defensive mistakes in the first half led to Atletico’s third loss in five rounds and dropped Diego Simeone’s team to sixth place after 15 rounds. Manuel Trigueros opened the scoring for the hosts at El Madrigal, Jonathan dos Santos got the second and Roberto Soriano sealed the victory.
SOCCER
Roma score 1-0 win
AS Roma’s Radja Nainggolan hit a second-half scorcher to secure a 1-0 win over AC Milan, who saw M’Baye Niang miss a first-half penalty, to close to within four points of Serie A leaders Juventus on Monday. Nainggolan beat Milan’s teenaged goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 62nd minute to make it three wins in succession. Roma remained second, four points off the lead, with Milan seven adrift in third.
CRICKET
De Villiers steps down
A.B. de Villiers has stepped down as South Africa’s Test captain, a decision prompted by his prolonged absence through injury and the success of stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis on the victorious tour of Australia. Following De Villiers’ announcement on Monday, Cricket South Africa confirmed Du Plessis as the new captain.
BOXING
LeBron part of Ali production
HBO says Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James is to be the executive producer of a documentary on Muhammad Ali for the network. The film will be directed by Antoine Fuqua, who also helmed the boxing dramas Southpaw and Training Day. Fuqua will also produce. James said in a statement announcing the still-untitled project that Ali “transcended sports and used his platform to empower people, which paved the way for all athletes and people of every race and gender that came after him, myself included.”
BASEBALL
‘Hazing’ rules implemented
The baseball ritual of dressing up rookies as Wonder Woman, Hooters Girls or Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders is now banned. Major League Baseball created an Anti-Hazing and Anti-Bullying Policy that covers the practice. The policy prohibits “requiring, coercing or encouraging” players from “dressing up as women or wearing costumes that may be offensive to individuals based on their race, sex, nationality, age, sexual orientation, gender identify or other characteristic.”
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
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
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