Rayo fire coach: US men to play Colombia:
Spanish club Rayo Vallecano fired coach Francisco Rodríguez on Tuesday after a run of poor results.
The announcement came two days after the team’s 2-1 loss at Mallorca in the Spanish league, a result that left the team from southern Madrid in 14th place, seven points from the relegation zone.
Rayo has won only one of its last 11 games in all competitions at Getafe in January. Before that it had won only one of its last eight matches.
Rayo hosts Spanish league leader Real Madrid on Sunday.
A replacement to Rodríguez was not immediately announced. (AP)
The United States will play Colombia in an exhibition at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, on June 8 ahead of the Copa America.
The game, announced Tuesday, is on a FIFA international fixture date, which means top Europebased players will be available.
The U.S. hopes to play an additional exhibition on June 12, possibly against Brazil. The Americans open against Bolivia at Arlington, Texas, on June 23, play Panama four days later at Atlanta and close group play July 1 against Uruguay at Kansas City, Missouri.
Colombia opens against Paraguay at Houston on June 24, plays Costa Rica or Honduras four days later at Glendale, Arizona, and finishes the first round against Brazil on July 2 at Santa Clara, California. (AP)
Hamoud dies: Norwegian soccer club Strømsgodset said Mounir Hamoud, a former forward who played for the country’s youth teams, died after suffering cardiac arrest.
Hamoud, who was 39, died on the morning of the first day of his new job in player development with Strømsgodset, the team said.
Hamoud, a Moroccan-born forward, spent the final eight seasons of his 15-year playing career at Strømsgodset before retiring in 2019. He played for Norway’s Under-18, Under-19 and Under-21 teams and was selected once for the country’s senior team but didn’t get off the bench in a 1-0 win over Germany in Dusseldorf in 2009, the Norwegian news agency NTB said.
“This is a brutal and shocking message to receive,” Strømsgodset, a club from Drammen, south of Oslo, said in a statement.
Øivind Nilsen, of the Norwegian Football Association, said Hamoud’s death was “a shock that affects the entire football family.”
“We are in mourning,” Nilsen said. “Mounir will be deeply missed.”
Hamoud also played for FC Lyn and Bodø/Glimt in Norway. In total, he made 358 club appearances and scored 28 goals. (AP)