ST. LOUIS -- U.S. men's national team defender Tim Ream said that it's easy to have Tim Weah back in the squad, and there had been little discussion in this camp about the red card that Weah received against Panama during the Copa América.

The incident, in which Weah struck Panama defender Roderick Miller, played a significant role in the USMNT's 2-1 defeat to the Canaleros in July, and subsequent group stage elimination in the Copa América. Gregg Berhalter was fired as head coach following the tournament.

Weah received a two-match suspension, the second game of which was served during last Thursday's 1-0 win over Jamaica in the first leg of the quarterfinals in the Concacaf Nations League. The second leg is set for Monday night in St. Louis, with Weah expected to be back in the starting lineup.

"I don't think there's been too much discussion in this camp at all regarding that situation," Ream said during Saturday's media availability, in reference to Weah's red card. "And obviously, emotions run high and situations happen in games. But I think everything that needed to be said was said straight after that Panama game.

"That's not even dressing him down and yelling at him or telling him that he's messed up. He knew that himself, and that's the sign of somebody who understands their role. It's the sign of a good group of a good team that we didn't have to.

"You could see it on his face from the minute we walked in inside from that game. So I mean, easy for us to have him back, easy for him to just jump back in and be with the group and be with the guys. It's probably been harder for him being away from the last two camps than anything."

As for Ream, the U.S. captain continues to defy the odds, with the 37-year-old still a key figure under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino. Ream moved to MLS side Charlotte FC earlier this year after spending over a decade in England with Bolton Wanderers and Fulham.

He said he still wants to keep playing, and doesn't feel like age is creeping on him.

"I think it definitely helps coming in next to these guys here who are 24, 25, 26 and listening to them and just having conversations with them," Ream said, pointing to fellow center back Mark McKenzie, who is 25.

"I still feel young. I feel great, still feel like I can play at least two to three more years, and as long as I continue to be happy and healthy -- mentally, physically, emotionally -- and still have that desire to go out and train every single day and play every single weekend, I don't see it stopping anytime soon."

The U.S. has a one-goal lead but the Reggae Boyz will have little to lose heading into Monday's second leg. The away goals rule, which sees away goals counting double in the event of a tie on aggregate, will be in force.

The U.S. will also be without midfielders Aidan Morris and Johnny Cardoso. Morris is out with a sprained knee and has traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to continue his rehab before rejoining English club side Middlesbrough. Cardoso suffered a left hamstring strain, and will fly out later on Saturday to return to his club, Real Betis. In addition to Weah's return, Brenden Aaronson is available after recovering from an illness that kept him out of the first leg.

McKenzie expects Jamaica to make some adjustments heading into the match, but added that it's up to the U.S. to build on Thursday's result.

"They're obviously going to break down film and figure out ways where they can hurt us," he said. "But at the same time, for us as a team, it's about continuing to build on the foundations that we've already been building on and continue to find those areas, those details where we need to improve.

"And ultimately adjusting because we can do all the Xs and Os and training and the meetings and on the board, but at the end of the day, once we step on the pitch, it's about solving problems and creating solutions, finding solutions for whatever difficulties or challenges they may throw at us."

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury saved all three penalties she faced as the Spirit defeated reigning champion NJ/NY Gotham FC in a 3-0 penalty shootout on Saturday at Audi Field to advance to next week's NWSL championship.

The two teams played to a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes after the Spirit forced extra time in the final moments of regulation.

Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt scored the equalizer for Washington in second-half stoppage time to offset Esther González's goal earlier in the period for Gotham, who played the final 19 minutes of extra time down a player. Kingsbury followed with her heroics in the shootout to send a sold-out crowd of over 19,000 fans into a frenzy in the U.S. capital.

"[I] just got a good read," Kingsbury said after the match. "And I think it's more just the confidence and having the fans behind me. I was really trying to get them into it because I knew that would give us a great advantage for their penalty takers coming up and trying to make one in front of that wall of fans. Like, I would be scared."

Washington will play the winner of Sunday's semifinal, between No. 1 seed Orlando Pride and No. 4 seed Kansas City Current, in the NWSL championship on Nov. 23 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

"I think we are here because we deserve it," Spirit head coach Jonatan Giráldez said. "Nobody gave us anything. We deserved to win last week. We deserve it today because we created more chances than Gotham. But I don't want to stay here. I want to keep moving forward."

The No. 2 seed Spirit weathered early pressure from the No. 3 seed Gotham, including González's shot off the crossbar in the opening minute, before turning up the pressure on the visitors.

But Gotham got on the board first through González, whose goal in the 56th minute was Gotham's first shot in 47 minutes.

Gotham midfielder Yazmeen Ryan got on the ball on the right flank and played a pass inside to midfielder Rose Lavelle, who dribbled briefly before slotting a no-look pass behind the Spirit's defense and into the path of Ryan, who had continued her run. Ryan collected the ball on the end line and delivered a cross to the penalty spot, where an unmarked González adjusted her body to head the ball back toward the near post.

Lavelle nearly doubled the lead 13 minutes later when she blocked a slow attempted clearance by Spirit goalkeeper Kingsbury at Washington's 6-yard box, but the ball deflected just wide of the goal.

Washington, led by United States star and MVP finalist Trinity Rodman, continued its onslaught of pressure throughout the second half and eventually found the equalizer in stoppage time.

Gotham substitute fullback Jenna Nighswonger fouled Washington defender Tara McKeown just outside the box to concede a free kick in a dangerous position. Spirit substitute Makenna Morris pinged a free kick straight to the head of fellow rookie Hershfelt for the equalizer in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.

Three minutes later, Morris stepped up and hit a driven corner kick -- an area of struggle throughout the day for the Spirit -- to the head of Hershfelt again, but her header went just over the bar.

Gotham played most of the extra time down a player after defender Bruninha, who entered the game in the 65th minute, received a second yellow card and was ejected for a professional foul on Rodman right in front of the Spirit's bench. Rodman stared down Bruninha and held up her hand to mimic a card being shown before Rodman exchanged words with Gotham defender and USWNT teammate Emily Sonnett. Rodman also received a yellow card.

Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós said he did not want to speak negatively about the referees but pointed out that Bruninha was shown two yellow cards for two fouls. Gotham had already used all available substitutions by the time Bruninha was sent off.

"We had a specific plan," Amorós said about how the team adjusted. "I think it worked really well, how we wanted to attack, how we wanted to defend. We limited their chances, so maybe they put us under pressure, but we limited the chances. And at the end, we really had two very good chances to win it."

Each team had a clear opportunity to win the game following Gotham's reduction to 10 players.

Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger tipped a shot from Spirit forward Ashley Hatch over the bar just before the extra-time break, and Esther nearly headed in a second goal in the 115th minute when she connected with a corner kick delivered by Nighswonger. Kingsbury dove to her right to push the shot wide.

Kingsbury then stepped up and saved all three Gotham attempts in the shootout, first from González, followed by shots from midfielder McCall Zerboni and then Nighswonger. Hatch, Lena Silano and McKeown converted penalties for the Spirit.

"She's brilliant," Giráldez said about Kingsbury. "Not because of penalties -- because she's a professional in the way that she faces training sessions every day. It's crazy. I have never seen that before."

The penalty shootout was just the second in NWSL playoff history. Washington lost the previous occasion to the Western New York Flash (now the North Carolina Courage after relocation) in the 2016 NWSL championship.

The Spirit are in search of their second NWSL championship after winning the title in 2021, when a then-rookie Rodman delivered an assist to Kelley O'Hara for the trophy-winning goal.

Washington won that trophy while players publicly protested their former owner, Steve Baldwin, for allegedly enabling a toxic culture at the club.

"I have similar feelings, honestly, as '21 -- kind of like that felt like destiny," Kingsbury said. "And I would say the same thing. Obviously, we don't have the media circus and all the chaotic energy around us that we did back in '21, but on the flip side, it's all the positive stuff."

Instead of being on opposite sidelines Sunday, as they have been for the past six seasons, Pro Bowl wide receivers Deebo Samuel and DK Metcalf nearly wound up on the same team after the 2019 NFL draft.

The Seattle Seahawks intended to draft both receivers in the second round that year, and thought they had a deal in place to do it, league sources told ESPN on Saturday.

During the first round, the Seahawks traded pick No. 30 to the New York Giants for Nos. 37, 132 and 142 with the idea that -- the next night -- they would move back up from No. 37 to No. 35 to select Samuel.

Shortly before the second round, Seattle had a trade worked out with the Raiders to move up to No. 35, with Samuel as the target.

But before that trade was finalized, the Raiders instead decided to send the 35th pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who selected offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor. To this day, the Seahawks don't know why the Raiders reneged on the deal, according to sources.

One pick later, at No. 36, the San Francisco 49ers drafted Samuel. Once the Seahawks missed out on Samuel, they traded down again, moving from No. 37 to No. 47, with No. 77 also coming their way. At No. 47, Seattle drafted Utah free safety Marquise Blair.

But the Seahawks' grand plan in the second round was to get Samuel near the top and Metcalf later. They did wind up getting Metcalf when they traded up to the last pick in the round, No. 64 overall. Seattle traded third- and fourth-round picks to the New England Patriots for that selection.

So the Seahawks were able to get only one of the two wide receivers they targeted on a draft day that would have changed the NFC West, and the NFL, in a different manner for years.

Each receiver is coming back from an adverse set of circumstances Sunday. One week ago, Samuel began yelling at 49ers kicker Jake Moody after he had missed his third field goal of the day, only to then place his hand on long snapper Taybor Pepper's throat before removing himself from the situation. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said the situation was handled, and Sunday's game against the Seahawks will be Samuel's first since the sideline incident.

Samuel is San Francisco's third-leading receiver this season, with 468 yards on 29 catches.

Metcalf, who has missed Seattle's past two games with a knee injury, returned to practice last week and is expected to play in San Francisco. The two-time Pro Bowler has 35 receptions for 568 yards -- tied for the team lead -- and three touchdowns in seven games this season.

Bela Karolyi, the charismatic -- if polarizing -- gymnastics coach who turned young women into champions and the United States into an international power in the sport, has died. He was 82.

USA Gymnastics said Karolyi died Friday. No cause of death was given.

Karolyi and wife Martha trained multiple Olympic gold medalists and world champions in the U.S. and Romania, including Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton.

"A big impact and influence on my life," Comaneci, who was just 14 when Karolyi coached her to gold for Romania at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, posted on Instagram.

Yet Karolyi's strident methods sometimes came under fire, most pointedly during the height of the Larry Nassar scandal.

When the disgraced former USA Gymnastics team doctor was effectively given a life sentence after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting gymnasts and other athletes with his hands under the guise of medical treatment, over a dozen former gymnasts came forward saying the Karolyis were part of a system that created an oppressive culture allowing Nassar's behavior to run unchecked for years.

While the Karolyis denied responsibility -- telling CNN in 2018 they were unaware of Nassar's behavior -- the revelations led to them receding from the spotlight. USA Gymnastics eventually exited an agreement to continue to train at the Karolyi Ranch north of Houston, though only after American star Simone Biles took the organization to task for having the athletes train at a site where many experienced sexual abuse.

The Karolyis defected from Romania to the United States in 1981. Three years later, Bela helped guide Retton -- all of 16 years old -- to the Olympic all-around title at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. At the 1996 Games in Atlanta, he memorably helped an injured Kerri Strug off the floor after her vault secured the team gold for the Americans.

Karolyi briefly became the national team coordinator for USA Gymnastics women's elite program in 1999 and incorporated a semi-centralized system that eventually turned the Americans into the sport's gold standard. It did not come without a cost. He was removed from the position after the 2000 Olympics when it became apparent his leadership style simply would not work, though he remained around the sport after Martha took over for her husband in 2001.

While the Karolyis' approach helped the U.S. become a power in the sport -- an American woman has won each of the past six Olympic titles and the U.S. women earned the team gold at the 2012 and 2016 games under Martha Karolyi's leadership -- their methods came under fire.

Dominique Moceanu, part of the "Magnificent 7" team that won gold in Atlanta, talked extensively about her corrosive relationship with the Karolyis following her retirement. In her 2012 memoir, Moceanu wrote that Bela Karolyi verbally abused her in front of her teammates on multiple occasions.

"His harsh words and critical demeanor often weighed heavily on me," Moceanu posted on X Saturday. "While our relationship was fraught with difficulty, some of these moments of hardship helped me forge and define my own path."

Some of Karolyi's most famous students were always among his staunchest defenders. When Strug got married, she and Karolyi took a photo recreating their famous scene from the 1996 Olympics, when he carried her onto the medals podium after she vaulted on a badly sprained ankle.

Being a gymnastics pied piper was never Karolyi's intent. Born in Cluj, Hungary (now Romania), on Sept. 13, 1942, he wanted to be a teacher, getting into coaching in college simply so he could spend more time with Martha.

After graduating, the couple moved to a small coal-mining town in Transylvania. Looking for a way to keep their students warm and entertained during the long, harsh winters, Karolyi dragged out some old mats and he and his wife taught the children gymnastics.

The students showed off their skills to their parents, and the exhibitions soon caught the eye of the Romanian government, which hired the Karolyis to coach the women's national team at a time when the sport was done almost exclusively by adult women, not young girls.

Karolyi changed all that, though, bringing a team to the Montreal Olympics with only one gymnast older than 14.

It was in Montreal, of course, where the world got its first real glimpse of Karolyi. When a solemn gymnast named Nadia Comaneci enchanted the world with the first perfect 10 in Olympic history, a feat she would duplicate six times, Karolyi was there to wrap her in one of his trademark bear hugs.

Romania, which had won only three bronzes in Olympic gymnastics before 1976, left Montreal with seven medals, including Comaneci's golds in the all-around, balance beam and uneven bars, and the team silver. Comaneci became an international sensation, the first person to appear on the covers of Sports Illustrated, Time and Newsweek in the same week.

Four years later, however, Karolyi was in disgrace.

He was incensed by the judging at the Moscow Olympics, which he thought cost Comaneci a second all-around gold, and the Romanian government was horrified that he had embarrassed the Soviet hosts.

"Suddenly, from a position where we've been praised and considered the foremost athletes in the country, I was stigmatized," he once said. "I thought they could put me away for political misconduct."

When he and Martha took the Romanian team to New York for an exhibition in March 1981, they were tipped off that they were going to be punished upon their return. Despite not speaking any English and with their then-6-year-old daughter, Andrea, still in Romania, they decided to defect.

"We knew what kind of risks we were taking, because nobody was guaranteeing us anything," Martha Karolyi once said. "We started out with a suitcase and a little motel room. From there, it's gradually improved."

The couple made their way to California, where they learned English by watching television and Bela did odd jobs. A chance encounter with Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner -- who would later marry Comaneci -- at the Los Angeles airport a few months later led to the Karolyis' first coaching job in the United States.

Within a year, their daughter had arrived in the U.S. and the Karolyis had their own gym in Houston. It soon became the center of American gymnastics, turning out eight national champions in 13 years.

Three years after the Karolyis left Romania, Retton became the first American to win the Olympic all-around title, scoring a perfect 10 on vault to claim gold at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Retton also posted the highest score in the team competition as the Americans won the silver, their first team medal since 1948.

Four years later, Phoebe Mills, another Karolyi gymnast, won a bronze on balance beam. It was the first individual medal for an American woman at a non-boycotted Games. And in 1991, Kim Zmeskal -- "the little Kimbo," as Bela Karolyi called her -- became the first American to win the world all-around title.

"My biggest contribution was giving the kids the faith that they can be the best among the best," Karolyi once said. "I knew that if the Americans could understand they were not inferior ... then they can be groomed like international, highly visible athletes."

But as Karolyi's résumé grew, so did the criticism.

Other coaches were irritated by his brash personality and ability to always find his way into the spotlight. When Retton won gold, Karolyi leaped a barrier -- he had an equipment manager's credential, not a coach's -- so he could scoop Retton up in a hug, right in front of the TV cameras, of course.

He could be a harsh taskmaster, calling his gymnasts names, taunting them for their weight and pushing them to their limits.

Even those warm embraces weren't always quite what they seemed.

"A lot of those big bear hugs came with the whisper of 'Not so good,' in our ears," Retton wrote.

Yet Retton and Comaneci remained close with Karolyi, making appearances with him at gymnastics events or sitting with him at competitions. Zmeskal had her wedding at the Karolyi ranch.

Karolyi briefly retired after the 1992 Games in Barcelona, where he led the Americans to their first team medal, a bronze, at a non-boycotted Olympics in 44 years. But he kept his gym and summer camps, and by 1994 was again coaching elite-level gymnasts after Zmeskal asked him to help in her attempt to make the Atlanta Games.

Zmeskal didn't make the Atlanta squad. But two of Karolyi's other gymnasts, Strug and Moceanu, did, and it was Strug who provided one of the signature moments of the Olympics.

The Americans went into their final event in team finals, vault, trying to hold off Russia for their first-ever title at an Olympics or world championships. Despite injuring her left ankle when she fell on her first vault attempt, Strug went ahead with her second attempt, believing -- wrongly -- the Americans needed her score to clinch the gold.

With Karolyi shouting, "You can do it!" Strug sprinted down the runway, soared high above the vault and landed on both feet -- ensuring it was a clean vault -- before pulling her left leg up. After saluting the judges, she fell to her knees and had to be carried off the podium. Tests would later show she had two torn ligaments in her ankle.

As the rest of the Americans gathered on the podium to receive their gold medals, Karolyi carried Strug back into the arena, cradling her in his arms.

But even that drew criticism. Many said Karolyi never should have encouraged Strug to vault on her injured ankle in the first place, and then should have stayed out of the spotlight rather than carrying her to the podium.

"Bela is a very tough coach and he gets criticism for that," Strug said at the time. "But that's what it takes to become a champion. I don't think it's really right that everyone tries to find the faults of Bela. Anything in life, to be successful, you've got to work really hard."

The Karolyis retired again after the Atlanta Olympics. But after the U.S. women finished last in the medal round at the 1997 world championships, USA Gymnastics asked Bela Karolyi to come back.

He agreed -- but only if he could implement a semi-centralized training system. Rather than a patchwork system of individual coaches who had their own philosophies, Karolyi would oversee the entire U.S. program. Gymnasts could still train with their own coaches, but there would be regular national team camps to ensure they were meeting established training and performance standards.

Though the idea was sound, Karolyi was not the right person to be in charge. Coaches who had been his equal chafed at his heavy-handedness, and were annoyed by his grandstanding. Gymnasts resented his bluster and demands.

By the time the Americans left the Sydney Olympics, about the only thing everyone agreed on was that Karolyi needed to step away.

He stepped aside and was replaced by his wife. Martha Karolyi's standards were just as high -- if not higher -- than her husband's, but on the surface, she was more willing to listen to other opinions.

"She's more diplomatic. Absolutely," Bela Karolyi said before the 2012 Olympics. "I'm wild. The opposite."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia coach Kirby Smart wouldn't say if being ranked 12th by the College Football Playoff selection committee motivated the Bulldogs to prove a point in Saturday night's game against No. 7 Tennessee.

Coming off last week's ugly 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, their second defeat of the season, the Bulldogs would be the first team left out of the playoff if the 12-team bracket was based on the current rankings. No. 13 Boise State would get an automatic bid as the fifth-highest ranked conference champion and would jump them.

That's probably not the case anymore, however, after Georgia manhandled Tennessee 31-17 at Sanford Stadium.

"I don't know what they're looking for. I really don't," Smart said of the CFP selection committee. "I wish they could really define the criteria. I wish they could do the eyeball test where they come down here and look at the people we're playing against and look at them. You can't see that stuff on TV, and so I don't know what they look for. But that's for somebody else to decide. I'm worried about our team."

For the first time in a while, Georgia looked pretty good on both sides of the ball against Tennessee. The Bulldogs fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter, but came back to tie the score at 17 at the half. Tennessee had only eight first downs and didn't score in the final 30 minutes. It was the ninth time a Josh Heupel-coached team has scored fewer than 20 points -- four of them came against Georgia.

The Bulldogs won their 29th consecutive game at home and defeated Tennessee for the eighth straight time, all by double digits.

"Our kids showed resilience," Smart said. "I'm proud of them. Look, it was a week ago, a couple of hours, that we were dead and gone. People had written us off. It's hard to play in this league, week in and week out, on the road."

After the Ole Miss loss, Georgia fell from third to 12th in the CFP rankings. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, the chairman of the CFP selection committee, said the Bulldogs' inconsistent offense and turnovers were a reason why.

"They're not in that environment," Smart said. "They're not at Ole Miss in that environment, playing against that defense, which is top five in the country with one of the best pass rushers in the country, and they're fired up. They got a two-score lead, and they're coming every play. They don't know. They don't understand that."

Georgia has played the most difficult schedule in the FBS, according to ESPN's College Football Power Index, and has the third-best strength of record, which reflects whether an average Top 25 team would have a team's record or better against its schedule.

The Bulldogs also lost 41-34 at Alabama on Sept. 28, after falling behind 28-0 in the first half. They defeated Clemson 34-3 in their opener and won 30-15 at Texas on Oct. 19.

Adding a dominant victory over Tennessee should only help Georgia's CFP chances. It closes the regular season with two non-SEC games at home, against UMass on Saturday and rival Georgia Tech on Nov. 29.

"It's just the tale of each week, and we're trying to be the cumulative, whole, really good quality team and not be on this emotional roller coaster that's controlled by people in a room somewhere that may not understand football like we do as coaches," Smart said. "We as coaches, look at people and say, 'What can we do better? How do we get better?' I respect their decision. I respect their opinion. But I mean, it's different in our league."

One of the big reasons for Georgia's success against Tennessee was quarterback Carson Beck, who completed 25 of 40 passes for 347 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He had thrown 12 interceptions in the previous five games.

Beck also scored on a 10-yard run that gave Georgia a 24-17 lead with 5:32 left in the third quarter.

"I didn't really feel any pressure, to be honest," Beck said. "I stood up in front of the team on Monday, and talked to them about how I felt about how our season has gone. I told them that whatever has happened has happened, and that all we can control is what we can control moving forward."

Georgia's offensive line didn't allow a sack, while the Bulldogs sacked Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava five times. Georgia had 453 yards and went 5-for-5 in the red zone.

"I think everybody understood the situation that we were in," Beck said. "When our backs are against the wall, the only way out is through what is in front of you."