ORLANDO, Fla. -- Despite his side beating the MLS All-Stars 3-0 on Wednesday night, Diego Simeone said the Major League Soccer outfit "could have hurt" his Atletico Madrid.

The score line showed a convincing performance from the La Liga outfit, complete with goals from new signings Marcos Llorente and Joao Felix, as well as warhorse Diego Costa. But the All-Stars could have made it a far closer contest, with second-half substitutes Diego Rossi, Pity Martinez, Ezequiel Barco and Bastian Schweinsteiger all coming closer to breaching Los Rojiblancos' goal.

Speaking to the media at the post-match news conference from Exploria Stadium, Simeone spoke of the growth of MLS, resulting in an All-Star team that gave his team a closer game than the score suggested.

"In the second half, we saw a dynamic MLS team that could have hurt us," he said. "The league is growing each day.

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"There's investment in players first, and then in coaches. The league will continue to grow."

That recognition was acknowledged by All-Star and Orlando City manager James O'Connor, whose playing career spanned more than a decade with Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday.

O'Connor noted that MLS is not only home to "some of the best players in the world," there are also an increasing number of young players - both homegrown and imported - who are making a name for themselves, specifically naming Mark-Anthony Kaye, Paxton Pomykal and Ezequiel Barco as three who grabbed his attention during All-Star Week.

"[The All-Star Game is] a chance for some of the young players to test themselves against some of the best players in the world," he said. "I think for the like of Mark-Anthony, Mark-Anthony's playing against Joao Felix, who's [€126 million] ... and he did a great job, playing out of position.

"There's a lot of really good young talent in MLS now, and I think it's very exciting. It's probably the most exciting time for the league, when you look at the young players that are actually in the league and the quality of the young players. There's a load of optimism that's around the league, and it's a very exciting time for everyone."

Liverpool winger Harvey Elliott has "wholeheartedly" apologised for appearing to mock England captain and Tottenham striker Harry Kane in an offensive video which has circulated online.

The video, which was shared privately on Snapchat and includes an offensive caption, appears to show Elliott imitating Kane and using derogatory language towards the striker following the Champions League final on June 1, in which Liverpool defeated Kane's Spurs 2-0.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Elliott, 16, said: "I would just like to wholeheartedly apologise for any offence caused on the back of a video of me circulating on the internet.

"The video was taken whilst messing around with friends in a private environment and was not directed at any individual but I realise that my actions were both immature and senseless.

"I would like to stress that the contents of the video do not represent who I am as a person or how I've been brought up, and I truly am sorry."

Elliott, who has supported Liverpool since he was a boy and completed a move to the European champions last week from Fulham, had made his second appearance for the club in their preseason win over Lyon earlier on Thursday.

He is yet to sign a professional contract with Liverpool and is unable to do so until his 17th birthday, which is in April next year.

Elliott is the youngest player to ever play in the Premier League having broken the record in May 2019 aged 16 years and 30 days. He made his debut for Fulham in the Carabao Cup aged 15.

Sources have told ESPN that Paris Saint Germain, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund were all interested in signing the England youth international, prior to his move to Liverpool.

Manchester United are set to sign French prodigy Hannibal Mejbri, one of the country's biggest talents, sources have told ESPN FC.

The 16-year-old attacking midfielder is currently playing at Monaco but a disagreement between him and the club has seen Mejbri not play for their youth team for months.

The Principality club initially didn't want their prized youth to leave, but have decided to accept United's offer of €10 million, according to sources. The Old Trafford outfit beat out Manchester City, Arsenal and Juventus to the France U16 international, who left his grassroots club Boulogne Billancourt in the west suburbs of Paris for Monaco a year ago.

Mejbri, a gifted technical player with great vision and intelligence, is expected to fly to Manchester on Thursday for his medical.

Monaco reportedly paid €1m to the Mejbri family to secure Mejbri's signature in the summer of 2018.

Mejbri has been identified as the biggest talent of his generation since he was young and has gone through the INF Clairefontaine pre-academy like Kylian Mbappe and Thierry Henry before him.

According to ESPN FC sources, Manchester United had been monitoring Mejbri's issues with Monaco for months and were ready to make a deal happen this summer if the opportunity presented itself.

Mejbri and his father Lofti believe that United are the perfect club for him to continue his progression and to get closer to making his professional debut.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The 2019 edition of the MLS All-Star Game was one that won't go down as a night to remember for the home team. The All-Stars were humbled 3-0 against an Atletico Madrid side that seems well prepared for the upcoming La Liga season.

Even worse, the league's best didn't offer many reasons to get the capacity crowd of 25,547 fans at Exploria Stadium behind them. Yet for one pair of All-Stars in particular, there were still moments to savor.

Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando, now in his 20th professional season, was a commissioner's pick, making him an All-Star for the sixth time. San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski, who became the league's all-time leading goal scorer earlier this year, was named to his fifth All-Star squad.

Both are as competitive as they come, and have been stalwarts in the league for years. There's also no denying that they are approaching the tail ends of the careers. Rimando will retire at season's end. Wondolowski's future is more open-ended, although the end of his time as a professional can be espied from a distance. For them, these past four days went beyond the result, or debates about whether the format should revert to Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference. There is time to be shared and friendships to be formed or rekindled.

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For that reason, both Rimando and Wondolowski had the same goal coming into the week: Soak everything up, and don't miss a moment. Ultimately that goal was reached, even if the result isn't what either player wanted.

"I was surprised to come into this All-Star Game," Rimando said. "There are so many good goalkeepers in this league. It was special, of course, for them to pick me and honor me in my last year. I took everything in."

Wondolowski recalled his first All-Star experience in 2011 against Manchester United.

"That didn't go well either," he said about the 4-0 defeat.

Wondolowski acknowledged that back then he was eager, nervous and desperate to impress. This time was different.

"I wanted to enjoy it," he said. "It's an amazing week, but everything happens so quickly you forget the little things. I definitely took the approach where I wanted to talk to everyone, get to know the guys. I'm glad I did."

To be clear, there was no storybook ending on the field. Rimando was beaten in the 85th minute by Atletico's teenage prodigy Joao Felix and then again in stoppage time by Diego Costa. Wondolowski very nearly got on the end of a cross only for it to flash by.

But such is the respect the two players have accumulated during their careers that even a manager like Orlando City's James O'Connor -- who has managed in the league for just more than a year -- can acknowledge the depth of their contribution.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for guys coming toward the end," he said about Rimando and Wondolowski. "They're two absolutely incredible servants to the league, and I think both of them were very deserving of the call-up, and great to see them get the opportunity to play tonight. I think they've been trying to speak to a couple of the young guys and settle them down a little and share some of those experiences."

The two players took in the All-Star festivities in different ways. Rimando brought his family out from Utah, and his children were by his side in the locker room afterward. Wondolowski preferred to be the veritable mayor of the MLS All-Stars, seeking out every player in a bid to get to know them, lest the opportunity pass him by.

Tuesday's practice saw the Quakes forward partake in a small-sided game with the likes of Carlos Vela and Paxton Pomykal as teammates. The time away from the field provided the opportunity for longtime adversaries to become friends, although Wondolowski acknowledged that it takes some effort.

"Sometimes you end up in cliques or guys you know and you just end up sticking with those three or four guys," he said. "Whether it was a dinner or the Skills Challenge, I tried talking to different guys. I know for myself I'm different on the field than I am off the field. So you have Diego Chara, who is probably one of the nicest guys in the world and on the field he's one of the most intimidating. And you have guys like Carlos Vela and Wayne Rooney, who are just down to earth. You're wondering 'How? Why?' It's pretty cool to see the differences."

With the end drawing near for both Rimando and Wondolowski, those memories will be long lasting.

BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield has already shown that he isn't afraid to get after his star wide receivers.

Over the weekend, Mayfield briefly screamed at his receiving corps for not working their way back to him while he was scrambling.

Mayfield explained Wednesday that blowing up on them that way was about getting on the same page as the offense.

"Those guys know that's a big part of our offense. And they know that," said Mayfield, who can be a prolific playmaker through the air scrambling outside the pocket. "It's just the fact that if we get lazy and let things slide -- we need to be open to communicating right now.

"That's what the good teams do."

Among the big questions surrounding the upstart Browns this training camp has been how star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will gel with the second-year quarterback.

Mayfield noted that so far he and Beckham -- along with leading returning receiver Jarvis Landry -- have been able to talk through any missteps or miscues that have surfaced on the field as they continue to establish chemistry.

"Absolutely. And there's an appreciation from my end that [Beckham] has been able to come communicate and talk through things," Mayfield said. "Just being able to talk through things and see it from their perspective and mine is really good."

Coach Freddie Kitchens has said that he has no issue with Mayfield yelling at his receivers or any other player on the team.

"I expect my quarterback to get everybody on the same page," said Kitchens, a former quarterback at Alabama. "That's what I want."

Mayfield added that when he does get on teammates, he considers it paramount to address it with them later.

"I'm not going to be a jackass. I'm gonna talk through it," he said. "I'm gonna harp on it, then I'm going to talk to them. And like I said, we need to be on the same page."

NEW YORK -- Yankees general manager Brian Cashman stood firmly behind his organization's inactivity at Wednesday's trade deadline, saying that despite his best efforts, he had trouble finding fair offers with the potential trade partners he spoke to in recent weeks.

"We didn't get close to anything," Cashman said a couple hours after the deadline passed. "But we certainly knocked on all doors and had a lot of ideas and exchange of ideas with clubs in our effort to improve."

He didn't specify what the differences were on many of those offers, but he noted that teams' asking prices for pitchers they were shopping were much steeper than the return he was willing to give up.

"As a buyer, it has to hurt. I get that," Cashman said. "But I was not willing to do what was available and what was being presented. And clearly, my counterparts were unwilling to do what I was willing to do in my offers.

"Maybe my counterparts felt my offers were underwhelming, and certainly I felt their offers were overwhelming. We just never matched up."

Cashman reaffirmed that he spoke to every team but the Boston Red Sox, adding that he had multiple conversations with New York Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen. It was Van Wagenen who authored one of the biggest early deadline deals, bringing starting pitcher Marcus Stroman to Queens from Toronto.

Stroman (with both Toronto and New York) and other Mets pitchers were thought to be possible pieces moved to the Yankees by the deadline.

As he tried to address his team's biggest need, starting pitching, Cashman ran into other road blocks. He said several pitchers who had been speculated about in the public sphere were, in actuality, unavailable. That also complicated matters, making it hard to find the types of deals his team was willing to pull off.

He pointed out that there were some pitchers whom the Yankees didn't value as highly as some other teams. Those pitchers also weren't options.

"The best play was we did nothing. And we did nothing for a very good reason because we felt everything that was in front of me was really not obtainable on the associated costs," Cashman said. "And that's with understanding that as a buyer, you have to step up and pay. But these were prices that were making things way out of reach -- way out of reach and way out of line."

Cashman said he was "disappointed" that he wasn't able to add to his team, but he takes comfort in knowing that the group the Yankees have assembled this season can be a World Series contender.

"The fallback is to look in that [locker] room and the players we have, and I feel really good about those guys and hope that the ones that we have that are coming off the [injured list] at some point come back and join the party and keep this thing rolling," Cashman said. "You fall back and look at the roster you have and feel like, 'This is a damn good roster,' and we can compete with anybody in the game."

That echoed similar statements uttered by other Yankees following Wednesday afternoon's 7-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"Was just in there celebrating a win with those guys, and looking around the room and knowing that we've got everything we need to be a championship club," manager Aaron Boone said. "That doesn't change. I have total faith in Brian and their staff that they're going to always do what's best for this organization as far as whether that's short-term, long-term, all those things."

Boone's players also believe this Yankees roster has World Series potential.

"If someone comes in [from a trade], then one of our guys goes out," starter Masahiro Tanaka said through an interpreter. "So just go out and do what we need to do. That's kind of the bottom line for us.

"Of course we can [still] compete. It's baseball. You don't know what's going to happen, but I definitely think we can compete."

In the weeks leading up to the NBA season last October, a bettor at the SuperBook at the Westgate Resort & Casino in Las Vegas placed a $67,000 wager on the Golden State Warriors to make the playoffs at minus-10,000 odds.

The bettor was rewarded with a $670 profit when the Warriors reached the postseason.

The same bettor was back at the SuperBook on Wednesday and this time played a little Philly Special.

According to Jeff Sherman, vice president of risk for the SuperBook, the anonymous bettor placed a $100,500 bet on the Philadelphia 76ers to make the playoffs at minus-5,000 odds Wednesday. If the 76ers reach the postseason, the bettor will win a net $2,010.

Sherman confirmed to ESPN that the Sixers bet was placed by the same customer who wagered on the Warriors last year. The customer will have to wait a little more than nine months for the wager to be graded.

Philadelphia added Al Horford and Josh Richardson in the offseason and traded away Jimmy Butler. The 76ers, along with the Milwaukee Bucks, are considered the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. At the SuperBook, the Bucks are plus-125 to win the Eastern Conference, followed closely by the 76ers at plus-150.

The SuperBook has the over/under on Philadelphia's regular-season wins pegged at 55.5. The Bucks at 58.5 are the only team with a higher season-win total at the SuperBook.

The 76ers went 51-31 last season and earned the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They reached the conference semifinals before being eliminated by the eventual champion Toronto Raptors in seven games.

Boston Red Sox starter Rick Porcello took out his frustrations on a couple of TV monitors in the dugout Wednesday night.

Porcello allowed six runs on nine hits and one walk, striking out seven in 5⅔ innings before leaving with a 6-2 deficit against the Tampa Bay Rays. He proceeded to smash two TV monitors in the dugout as he headed to the locker room.

"I kind of wish I did that without cameras being on me,'' he said after the Red Sox's 8-5 loss. "I apologize to everyone that had to see that. It's not a behavior that I feel like is representative to me and my personality. The frustration got the best of me.''

Porcello, the 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner, was the beneficiary of the best run support in the majors in his previous four starts, with the Red Sox scoring 49 runs while he was in the game. He was 4-0 in those starts, despite allowing 19 runs in 22⅔ innings.

Porcello is 9-8 with a 5.74 ERA this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Right-hander Trevor Bauer was officially traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, but he was still on hand as the Tribe took on the Houston Astros at Progressive Field.

Bauer also met with Indians manager Terry Francona for a final time. Francona said the meeting with Bauer was "pretty short'' and it brought him relief.

"Sometimes it's emotional, and sometimes it's not quite as emotional,'' Francona said. "That's just being honest.''

Francona acknowledged that he was concerned about long-term effects within the team following Bauer's spectacle Sunday, when he angrily threw a ball from behind the mound over the center-field wall in Kansas City. Bauer later called the act "childish'' and was fined by Major League Baseball.

"I had concerns what it could do to our team, and I voiced those concerns," Francona told reporters. "I would never, ever go tell [the front office] something, but they are good enough to always allow me my opinion, and you just try to do the best you can, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit worried."

Bauer, who met with Cleveland reporters during Wednesday's game, reacted with a smile and a long exhale when told of Francona's comments.

"Well, I'm not on the team. So none of that really matters," he said.

Bauer added that he has been pitching with an assortment of injuries -- torn ankle ligaments, back spasms -- since early this season.

"It's been really frustrating,'' he said. "One of the things I'm most proud about is I haven't missed a start this year through two months of probably needing to be on the IL and probably should have missed some starts. I was able to get myself ready and take the ball.''

Among the players the Indians got back in the three-team, seven-player swap is mercurial outfielder Yasiel Puig, who was expected to arrive in Cleveland late Wednesday. Puig had a memorable departure from Cincinnati on Tuesday, when he ended up in the middle of a benches-clearing brawl with the Pirates shortly after the trade was agreed upon.

Francona watched the brawl unfold on a TV in his office but said he isn't worried about Puig being a troublemaker. MLB has yet to announce any discipline.

"I need to talk to him. I need to ask him what's important to him,'' Francona said. "The fact that he may have done something four years ago in L.A. doesn't affect how he'll be treated here.''

But what about last night?

"I can tell you that if something ever happens, I'll be behind him every step of the way,'' Francona said.