SOCCER
Giroud to end France career
France striker Olivier Giroud said he plans to end his international career after the UEFA European Championship next month. The 37-year-old forward has scored 57 goals in 131 matches for France and was part of the France squad who won the 2018 FIFA World Cup. “To be honest, this will be my last competition with Les Bleus. Obviously, I’m going to miss it a lot,” Giroud told L’Equipe in an interview published on Thursday.
SOCCER
Stefano Pioli leaves Milan
Stefano Pioli has left AC Milan, the Serie A club said yesterday, after a season of disappointing results. The 19-time Italian champions were second this season, miles behind champions Inter, and had a lackluster run in the UEFA Champions League and the domestic cups. “AC Milan extends heartfelt thanks to Stefano Pioli and his entire staff for leading the first team over the past five years, securing an unforgettable league title and re-establishing AC Milan’s consistent presence in the top European competition,” the club said.
SOCCER
Lucas Paqueta charged
West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paqueta on Thursday was charged by English soccer authorities after it was alleged that the Brazil international deliberately received cards during Premier League matches to influence betting markets. “I deny the charges in their entirety and will fight with every breath to clear my name,” Paqueta wrote on Instagram. The case centers around four matches from November 2022 to August last year. Paqueta received a yellow card in each of them. The Football Association said Paqueta has been charged with misconduct for breaching two of its rules. “It’s alleged that he directly sought to influence the progress, conduct, or any other aspect of, or occurrence in these matches by intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting,” it said. He was also charged with “alleged failures to comply,” it said.
SOCCER
Trophy sale opposed
Diego Maradona’s heirs have taken legal action in France to block the sale of the Argentine legend’s Golden Ball trophy from the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. The trophy given to the tournament’s best player had been missing for decades before being found by an antique dealer in the French capital. It is due to be sold by Aguttes auction house in Neuilly-sur-Seine on June 6. Lawyers for the family of Maradona, who died in 2020 aged 60, said that the item, which is expected to fetch millions, rightly belongs to his five heirs.
BASKETBALL
Toronto to get WNBA team
Toronto is to be the home of a WNBA expansion franchise, the first outside of the US, starting in 2026, officials said on Thursday. “Toronto, welcome to the W,” league commissioner Cathy Engelbert told a news conference. “It’s such a pivotal moment for our league,” she said. Toronto’s as-yet-unnamed WNBA team is to be the league’s newest club, with the 13th team coming next year, the Golden State Valkyries, playing out of San Francisco.
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
RSS