ENGLAND
Wax Mbappe unveiled
France superstar Kylian Mbappe on Friday received one of the greatest honors that England can bestow upon a sportsman from a rival nation — a lifelike waxwork at London’s Madame Tussauds museum. The statue shows the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner striking a familiar pose — arms crossed and wearing France’s white away jersey from last summer’s UEFA European Championships, along with the captain’s armband. “The entire ... outfit was donated by Mbappe himself,” Madame Tussauds said in a press release. The statue went on public display at the central London venue, with Mbappe take his place alongside waxwork clones of other greats such as Pele and Cristiano Ronaldo. “Let me introduce you to my twin,” Mbappe joked in a post on Instagram.
Photo: AFP
BUNDESLIGA
Bayern beat Augsburg
Bayern Munich on Friday came back from a goal down to beat hosts Augsburg 3-1 and move nine points clear at the top of the table. However, Jamal Musiala was taken off injured ahead of next week’s UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. Bayern, who are to host Serie A pacesetters Inter in the first leg on Tuesday, are already without injured defenders Hiroki Ito, Alphonso Davies and Dayot Upamecano. They moved to 68 points with six games left in the German league, nine ahead of Bayer 04 Leverkusen ahead of their game yesterday.
LA LIGA
Espanyol ease pressure
Two goals in the first 15 minutes on Friday set relegation-threatened RCD Espanyol on their way to a vital 4-0 win over Rayo Vallecano. The result — only their second away win all season — extended a run in which Espanyol have lost only once in six league matches and lifted them one place into 15th and five points clear of the relegation zone.
ITALY
Mats Hummels to retire
Mats Hummels has announced the end of his soccer career. The AS Roma defender and 2014 FIFA World Cup winner on Friday said that he will retire from professional soccer at the end of the season. “I’m struggling with my emotions right now,” the 36-year-old Hummels said in a video on X. “Now comes the moment that no footballer can avoid. After 18 years and so many things that football has given me, I’m ending my career this summer.”
LIGA MX
Sergio Canales kicks door
Sergio Canales on Thursday injured his left leg from kicking and breaking a crystal door after an argument with his Monterrey coach Martin Demichelis, the club said on Friday. The disagreement and injury happened in the locker room after practice at the team’s training center, the club said. Canales was reportedly frustrated about the team’s poor performances and questioned Demichelis. The injury put in doubt Canales’ availability to face CD Guadalajara yesterday.
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
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in
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