Ronaldo, Kane set soccer marks
It was a record-breaking night for Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane as qualifying for the European Championship in 2024 got underway on Thursday.
Already the leading scorer in men’s international soccer, the 38year-old Ronaldo now has more international appearances than any other male player after racking up No. 197 in Portugal’s 4-0 win over Liechtenstein. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker marked the occasion by converting a penalty and adding another second-half goal to move onto 120 in international matches.
Kane became England’s outright leading scorer of all time, netting a first-half penalty in a 2-1 win at Italy. He has 54 goals for England, one more than Wayne Rooney.
UEFA to investigate Barcelona
NYON, Switzerland — Barcelona faces a new legal threat from UEFA, including a possible Champions League ban, because of its payments of millions of dollars to a company linked to a Spanish refereeing official. The European soccer body asked Thursday for an investigation into the matter, which is already being pursued by prosecutors in Spain. Champions League rules in place since 2007 allow UEFA to ban teams for a season if they were involved in fixing matches.
Bayern coach on hot seat
MUNICH — Bayern Munich might be about to change coaches for the final stretch of the season. The German champions were on the verge of firing Julian Nagelsmann and replacing him with Thomas Tuchel, according to reports in Germany on Thursday. Both Kicker magazine and German tabloid Bild reported that Bayern was ending Nagelsmann’s tenure after the team’s 2-1 loss at Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on Sunday that dropped Bayern to second place, one point behind Borussia Dortmund.
Mavs’ owner: Refs dropped ball
DALLAS — Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he plans to protest a loss to Golden State after a confusing sequence led to an uncontested basket for the Warriors on Wednesday night. Kevon Looney had an easy dunk on an inbounds play with the Mavs lined up on their offensive end after a timeout late in the third quarter of Golden State’s 127-125 win. Dallas thought it had the ball after official Andy Nagy pointed in Golden State’s direction for possession but then quickly pointed to the Mavericks’ bench to indicate a timeout. Looney protested when Nagy pointed toward the Mavericks’ bench, but Nagy appeared to explain that he was signaling the timeout.
Cornell tops Denver in NCAAS
Ian Shane made 27 saves and Ben Berard and Jack O’leary scored goals as ECAC member Cornell topped defending national champion Denver in the NCAA Tournament.also, St. Cloud St. topped Minnesota St. 4-0 and BU beat Western Michigan 5-1.
Brady a WNBA part-owner
LAS VEGAS — Recent NFL retiree and seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady has acquired an ownership stake in the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.