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U.S. extend pre-Gold Cup roster to 28

Published in Soccer
Saturday, 01 June 2019 16:24

U.S. men's national team manager Gregg Berhalter announced his roster for the second phase of the team's pre-Gold Cup training camp, with 19 additional players called in, bringing the total to 28.

The new additions are comprised of players from MLS as well as Schalke midfielder Weston McKennie and Vitoria Guimaraes forward Tyler Boyd. The final 23-player Gold Cup roster will be submitted to CONCACAF on the night of June 5, following the U.S. team's friendly with Jamaica in Washington, D.C., and announced the following morning. The U.S will take on Venezuela in a friendly at Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium on June 9.

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"After a great week of training, we now enter the phase of playing competitive matches," Berhalter said. "The game against Jamaica will represent an opportunity for us to evaluate new prospects, as well [as] continue to develop the group for the Gold Cup. We are excited about the group coming in and the opportunity ahead of us this summer."

Conspicuous by their absence from the roster are Chelsea midfielder Christian Pulisic and RB Leipzig midfielder Tyler Adams, but the expectation is that they will join the U.S. team at a later point in the camp.

Also absent is goalkeeper Ethan Horvath, who has sustained a finger injury that will render him unavailable for the Gold Cup.

Nine players that took part in last week's opening phase of the training camp will remain with the U.S. team. These players include midfielder Jonathan Amon, defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, defender Omar Gonzalez, midfielder Joe Gyau, midfielder Duane Holmes, defender Matt Miazga, defender Tim Ream, defender Antonee Robinson and forward Josh Sargent.

San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Jackson Yueill will also take part in the camp, though he isn't on the Gold Cup provisional roster, and thus ineligible to participate in the tournament.

Eleven players from the roster that took part during the first week of camp - which included a mix of senior team and U-23 players - have departed. These players include: goalkeepers JT Marcinkowski, Andrew Thomas and Justin Vom Steeg; defenders Kyle Duncan, Marlon Fossey and Andrew Gutman; midfielders Emerson Hyndman, Keaton Parks and Eryk Williamson; and forwards Luca de la Torre and Haji Wright.

ROSTER BY POSITION (Club; Caps/Goals)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 7/0), Tyler Miller (LAFC; 0/0), Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew SC; 8/0)

DEFENDERS (9): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG; 7/0), Omar Gonzalez (Club Atlas/MEX; 49/3), Nick Lima (San Jose Earthquakes; 2/0), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 5/0), Daniel Lovitz (Montreal Impact/CAN; 3/0), Matt Miazga (Chelsea/ENG; 12/1), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 28/1), Antonee Robinson (Everton/ENG; 6/0), Walker Zimmerman (LAFC; 6/2)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Michael Bradley (Toronto FC/CAN; 145/17), Duane Holmes (Derby County/ENG; 0/0), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 9/2), Weston McKennie (Schalke/GER; 8/1), Djordje Mihailovic (Chicago Fire; 2/1), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC; 9/0), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC; 15/0); Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0)

FORWARDS (8): Jonathan Amon (Nordsjælland/DEN; 1/0), Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC/CAN; 110/41), Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 21/3), Tyler Boyd (Vitoria Guimaraes/POR; 0/0), Joe Gyau (Duisburg/GER; 2/0), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC; 27/5), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen/GER; 6/2), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew SC; 44/7)

Poch targets UCL final return with Spurs

Published in Soccer
Saturday, 01 June 2019 16:24

Mauricio Pochettino appeared to rule out the possibility of leaving Tottenham following their Champions League final defeat against Liverpool.

Pochettino has been linked with the vacant Juventus manager's job following Massimiliano Allegri's departure last month.

- Who qualifies for Europe from the Premier League?

But, when asked whether he would be in charge to lead Spurs in the Champions League next season, he said: "Always. We have to try, we have to believe. We hope it will happen again as soon as possible."

Pochettino also stressed how happy he was at Tottenham and how keen he is to experience similar occasions in charge of the club.

"I am so happy to manage this group of players," he said. "Congratulations to Liverpool, they have a fantastic set of players and they've had a fantastic season.

"The standard are so high. It wasn't enough today and it's a shame. When you live this experience, you want to be again and you want to repeat. It is the best game in the world after the World Cup [final]. I hope we can repeat in the future."

Henderson: UCL win 'impossible' without Klopp

Published in Soccer
Saturday, 01 June 2019 15:53

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson said the Champions League victory would have been "impossible" without manager Jurgen Klopp.

An early Mohamed Salah penalty and a late strike by Divock Origi gave Liverpool a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday's all-English final as Klopp finally got his hands on Europe's biggest prize.

"Without this manager this is impossible. You go through tough times in a season, but what he has done since coming in is unbelievable," Henderson told BT Sport after the win.

"There's such a togetherness, he has created a special dressing room -- all the praise goes to the manager.

- Champions League seeding confirmed for 2019-20

"I'm so proud to be a part of this football club and to cap it with this is so special to me."

Despite reinvigorating Liverpool since taking over in 2015, Klopp has gone through an unlucky streak in finals. Before Saturday's win in Madrid, Klopp had lost sixth straight finals apperances stretching back to his time at Borussia Dortmund.

"I am so happy for the boys all these people, and my family. They suffer for me, they deserve it more than anybody," Klopp said afterward.

"Did you ever see a team like this, fighting with no fuel in the tank? And we have a keeper who makes difficult things look easy. It is the best night of our professional lives.

Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold said: "I am just a normal lad from Liverpool whose dream has just come true.

"It took a while, it is important for our development and improvement, This little mark helps a lot, now we can carry on. The owners never put pressure on us.

"It is hard to put into words. The season we have had, we deserved it more than any other team. We have done something special, we dominated the game.

"We will not look back and think it was sluggish game, we will see we are European champions.

Williams 'far away' from best in French Open defeat

Published in Tennis
Saturday, 01 June 2019 13:23

Serena Williams says she is "pretty far away" from her optimal level and may seek a wildcard for a grass-court tournament to prepare for Wimbledon after her early French Open exit.

The three-time champion was stunned by fellow American Sofia Kenin in the third round, losing 6-2 7-5.

It was Williams' earliest Grand Slam exit since 2014 and the 37-year-old now has a month to prepare for Wimbledon.

"I'm working on getting there. I think it will be enough time," she said.

"I haven't been able to be on the court as much as I would have. At least I can start trying to put the time in now."

Williams has not played a pre-Wimbledon grass-court event since Eastbourne in 2011.

That tournament is among those she might be considering before the grass-court Grand Slam begins on 1 July, along with Nottingham, Birmingham, s-Hertogenbosch, Mallorca and Eastbourne.

Since losing to Karolina Pliskova in the Australian Open quarter-finals in January, Williams has played in only three tournaments - Indian Wells, Miami and Rome - and has withdrawn from all of them.

She has struggled with a persistent knee injury since reaching the the US Open final last September and she says she needs more game-time to get back to her best.

"I'm definitely feeling short on matches and just getting in the swing of things," she added. "I don't really like playing out points when I practise.

"I have some time on my hands, so maybe I'll jump in and get a wildcard on one of these grass-court events and see what happens."

The last time Williams, who was seeded 10th at this year's French Open, was knocked out this early at a Grand Slam was at Wimbledon in 2014, when she lost in the third round.

This latest defeat means her bid to equal Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles continues.

And the seven-time Wimbledon champion admitted she is disappointed by her showing at Roland Garros.

"[If someone had told me I'd come this far] I would have thought they were lying, because I wouldn't expect to have gotten only to the third round," she said.

"So I would have been, like, That's not true."

Hawksworth & Heistand Stand Tall In Belle Isle Brawl

Published in Racing
Saturday, 01 June 2019 12:50

DETROIT – AIM Vasser Sullivan is getting comfortable atop the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup standings.

In Saturday’s 100-minute Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, the No. 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth and Richard Heistand crossed the finish line first in the GT Daytona class to score their second consecutive victory in the new-for-2019 championship.

The WeatherTech Sprint Cup – contested solely by GTD teams – encompasses the class’ seven races that are two hours and 40 minutes or less in length.

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After Heistand qualified the car in fourth and held steady in the top five, Hawksworth got behind the wheel and closed in on Patrick Long in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. Long, who inherited the lead from substitute teammate and polesitter Zacharie Robichon, gave way as Hawksworth ducked inside the Porsche to steal the lead with 51 minutes remaining.

Although Long was able to keep Hawksworth in his sights, the No. 14 Lexus did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the race.

“We got a bit of a streak going, don’t we?” said Hawksworth. “It was a good race. We did good job qualifying yesterday and were able to have a good stint and put it in the top five. We had a really good pit stop. To be honest, we knew it would come down to that stop because the GTD class was a lot shorter than normal, in terms that we normally have 40 seconds to fuel between driver change, fuel, and tire change. We knew the driver change would be important, and it went well. We ended up coming out in third and I minded my way.”

While it was a victory celebration for AIM Vasser Sullivan’s No. 14 Lexus, the team’s second entry of Frankie Montecalvo and Townsend Bell in the No. 12 earned a podium finish of its own to stand next to their teammates with a third-place finish. Sandwiched between the two Lexus RC Fs were Long and Robichon for a runner-up finish.

“Fundamentally, racing is about getting the basics right,” said Hawksworth. “This team is what we’re really focusing on. The race pace needs to be good. Pit stops need to be good. We’ve got a really good silver driver in Richard and a great package in pit lane. And when you put that all together, it’s a testament to what the team is doing and that’s how you end up winning races.”

With wins in the first two races of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup – the first being at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course four weeks ago – Hawksworth and Heistand now have opened up a 10-point lead, 70-60, in the standings over Long.

It’s a tie for third place with Montecalvo and Bell, along with the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 drivers Bryan Sellers and Ryan Hardwick, with 56 points. Hardwick and Sellers finished fifth on Saturday behind another Lamborghini, the No. 44 for Magnus Racing and drivers Andy Lally and John Potter.

Custer Beats Reddick With Last-Lap Pass

Published in Racing
Saturday, 01 June 2019 12:54

LONG POND, Pa. – Cole Custer dominated Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway, but it took a pass on the last lap for him to earn a trip to victory lane.

Custer, who started from the pole, drove by Tyler Reddick in the last corner on the last lap after an overtime restart to win the Pocono Green 250. It was Custer’s third victory of the season, a personal best for the California native.

Custer had a comfortable lead of more than eight seconds after the final round of pit stops and looked set to cruise to victory until the caution flag waved with seven laps left when Jeffrey Earnhardt spun in turn two after contact with Austin Cindric.

During the caution period Reddick was one of a handful of drivers to hit pit road. His team had two fresh tires left behind the pit wall and the bolted them on the left side of his Chevrolet and sent him back out on track to restart eighth.

The green flag waved again with three laps left in regulation, but the field didn’t make it through turn one before the caution waved again. This time the caution flag was for a spin by stage two winner Justin Allgaier, who lost control of his car in the middle of the corner.

That set up an overtime restart with Custer leading his teammate Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell and Reddick, who had advanced four positions during the previous restart. Custer chose the outside for the restart, meaning he would be lined up in front of fourth-place Reddick.

When the green flag waved over the field Reddick gave Custer a big push down the fronstretch, allowing both drives to clear the inside line heading towards turn one. Reddick saw his opening and dove to Custer’s inside entering the turn. Reddick emerged with the lead, but the race wasn’t over.

Custer stayed right in Reddick’s tire tracks as they came to the white flag, with Reddick darting back and fourth across the track in an effort to break the draft. Custer stayed patient and followed him until they got to turn three, at which point Reddick’s car didn’t stay on the bottom and slid up the track.

Custer seized the opportunity, slicing under Reddick to regain the lead and steal the victory in the final corner.

“Tyler gave me a great push down there, but I have no idea how he made it stick when he drove down in there into turn one,” said Custer, who led a race-high 59 laps. “I was nervous once he got by me, but drove into the corner real deal (on the last lap) and went up the track a little bit. I had my downshift planned right and was able to get by him.”

Reddick, who started at the rear because of a transmission change prior to the start of the race, admitted his car simply got loose in the final corner.

“We got a really good restart to get by Cole,” Reddick said. “I was just so tight out front. Even out front in clean air I was just too tight to really hold the bottom that well. I probably could have held the bottom, I’m not going to lie to you. I just thought I was going to be really tight going through three, so I put some rear brake in it and I just got loose in three and pretty much gave it right back to him.”

Briscoe finished third, followed by Ryan Preece and Bell.

DUBLIN, Ohio – It’s become somewhat of an annual tradition around this time of year, as players either predict potential pitfalls for the U.S. Open course setup or reminisce about recent miscues.

The USGA’s relationship with PGA Tour pros has worn thin on a variety of fronts, but the most high-profile is how the governing body has chosen to set up courses for its biggest event. Largely absent among the masses lodging gripes, however, is three-time champion Tiger Woods.

“We all have to play it,” Woods pointed out Saturday at Memorial.

After a string of U.S. Open miscues, Rory McIlroy wants to give the USGA another chance. 'If they can't redeem themselves at Pebble Beach, then there could be a problem,' he said at the Memorial.

But pressed on the topic, Woods did share his perspective on where the USGA has erred in recent years. One point of concern is the increased use of flexible teeing grounds, a trend that Woods traced back to his win at Torrey Pines in 2008, and one that became a significant factor at Chambers Bay in 2015 when Nos. 1 and 18 had interchangeable pars.

“I don’t agree with some of the times when they move the tees up and change the golf course,” Woods said. “I didn’t agree with the setup at 14 in ’08 (the hole was shortened to 277 yards in the final round). It was a great par-4, but why move it all the way up there and make it drivable?”

Woods also lamented the introduction of graduated rough, which he dated back to Winged Foot in 2006. While some players have thrived amid the relatively spacious setups in recent years at places like Chambers Bay and Erin Hills, Woods would prefer to keep things old school. 

“I thought it was just narrow fairways, hit it in the fairway or hack out, move on. Now there’s chipping areas around the greens. There’s less rough,” Woods said. “They try to make the Open different, and strategically different. I just like it when there’s high rough and narrow fairways and it’s, ‘Go get it, boys.’”

Champions League seeds confirmed for 2019-20

Published in Soccer
Saturday, 01 June 2019 15:16

Liverpool are confirmed as the final seeds for next season's Champions League group-stage draw after lifting the trophy in Madrid on Saturday night.

Jurgen Klopp's side won the biggest prize in European football with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Wanda Metropolitano.

The winners of the Champions League automatically slot into Pot 1, which is reserved for the holders of the two European competitions and the champions of the six strongest domestic leagues.

That means Liverpool will join Europa League holders Chelsea among the eight seeds, along with Barcelona (La Liga), Manchester City (Premier League), Juventus (Serie A), Bayern Munich (Bundesliga), Paris Saint-Germain (Ligue 1), Zenit Saint-Petersburg (Russian Premier).

The Premier League will therefore have three teams in Pot 1.

The rest of the teams are seeded based on UEFA's five-year coefficient score for performance in European competition, with the strongest teams in Pot 2 and the weakest in Pot 4. One team from each pot will be drawn into the eight Champions League groups in the draw ceremony on Aug. 29.

Tottenham were in Pot 3 for last season's group-stage draw and had to navigate their way through a tough group that also contained Barca, Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven. They have a greater chance of a favourable draw this season from Pot 2.

Ajax, if they come through qualifying, will benefit from Chelsea winning the Europa League by taking the spare place in Pot 2.

The teams in Pot 1 are now confirmed, while provisional pots can be drawn up for the others (though the teams in bold are guaranteed to be in that pot) based on the highest-ranked clubs progressing through qualifying.

POT 1: Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit St Petersburg

POT 2 (provisional): Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, FC Porto*, Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Ajax*

POT 3 (provisional): Benfica, Dynamo Kiev*, Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Salzburg, Valencia, Inter Milan, Celtic*

POT 4 (provisional): FC Copenhagen*, Dinamo Zagreb*, Lokomotiv Moscow, Genk, Galatasaray, RB Leipzig, Atalanta, Lille

*denotes must go through qualifying

Liverpool beat Spurs to win Champions League crown

Published in Soccer
Saturday, 01 June 2019 15:08

An early Mohamed Salah penalty and a late strike by Divock Origi gave Liverpool a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday's all-English Champions League final as their coach Jurgen Klopp finally got his hands on Europe's biggest prize.

Egypt striker Salah, who had painful memories of last year's final defeat by Real Madrid after suffering a shoulder injury, got his side off to a flying start in Madrid by lashing home from the penalty spot after a handball from Moussa Sissoko.

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Tottenham kept their heads after a nightmare opening and came to life when semi-final hat-trick hero Lucas Moura came off the bench but, with Harry Kane lacking sharpness after an ankle injury, another miraculous European comeback proved beyond them.

Liverpool did not produce much of their usual whirlwind attacking football but they were more intelligent and powerful than Spurs and sealed a sixth European Cup triumph with an arrowed finish from substitute Origi in the 87th minute.

The win was sweet redemption for Salah and especially German Klopp, who had suffered defeat on his last six appearances in major finals, including Champions League showpieces with Borussia Dortmund in 2013 and Liverpool last year.

His opposite number Mauricio Pochettino took a bold but ultimately misguided gamble in fielding Kane, who had only returned to full training a week ago after almost two months out with a serious ankle injury and struggled to influence play.

Kane was far from the only player who lacked sharpness in a game of few moments of real quality, a possible effect of both sides not playing any competitive games for three weeks.

Spurs put Liverpool under real pressure in the latter stages as Dele Alli headed over and Son Heung-min and Moura forced impressive saves from Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

Origi, one of Liverpool's heroes in their stunning semifinal second-leg turnaround against Barcelona, then killed the game with a ruthless finish into the bottom corner.

Cyclist sorry for slapping collision-causing fan

Published in Breaking News
Saturday, 01 June 2019 11:51

Cyclist Miguel Angel Lopez has apologized for smacking a fan who knocked him from his bicycle during Saturday's penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia.

Lopez had hoped to compete for a stage win but was tripped by a fan who was running alongside encouraging him, but collided with another spectator and fell onto the cyclist. As Lopez got back up, he slapped the fan.

"I'm sorry for what happened; I was full of pure adrenaline. But there needs to be more respect for the cyclists," Lopez said.

Lopez was still visibly furious when he crossed the line 18th, 1 minute, 49 seconds behind stage winner Pello Bilbao.

He isn't the first cyclist to fight back at the thought that a spectator crossed the line. In 2011, Alberto Contador gave a small right jab to the face of a fan wearing scrubs who came after the Spaniard with a stethoscope -- an apparent mockery of Contador's ties to doping allegations. During the 2009 Tour of California, Lance Armstrong shoved away a fan who came at him with two giant plastic needles. And in the 2016 Tour de France, Chris Froome punched a spectator in the face after the wig-wearing man got too close for the then-two-time Tour winner.

Another incident with a fan Saturday also cost Primoz Roglic. The Slovenian received a push from a spectator and didn't attempt to push him away and was penalized 10 seconds by the race jury. He ultimately finished 14th in the stage.

Ecuadorian cyclist Richard Carapaz took a huge step toward winning the Giro d'Italia as he preserved his overall lead of 1:54 over Nibali.

The Giro d'Italia ends with a final time trial in Verona on Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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