USMNT goalkeeper Steffen loaned out to stay sharp for '22 World Cup

American goalkeeper Zack Steffen was loaned from Manchester City to second-tier Middlesbrough for the 2022-23 season on Tuesday, a move he hopes will help him compete to start at the World Cup.

“Everyone knows his situation. He needed to play because of the World Cup,” Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder said. “He had an agreement with Man City, but he could have easily stayed there and sat comfortably as their No. 2. He wanted to go out and he's agreed to come here. I think it's a big coup for us.”

Steffen, a 27-year-old, has been Ederson's backup at City since the start of the 2020-21 season after spending 2019-20 on loan to Fortuna Düsseldorf. He signed with City from Major League Soccer's Columbus in July 2019.

Steffen played in just nine matches last season — one Premier League game along with four in the FA Cup, two League Cup, one Champions League and the Community Shield.

He agreed in November to a contract with City that runs until 2025.

“We knew we had to improve the goalkeeping department,” Wilder said. “We brought in Liam Roberts and now we're adding Zack, who has just signed a 4 1/2-year deal with Man City. Man City don't hand out 4 1/2-year contracts if they don't think anything of them.”

Steffen is competing with Matt Turner and Ethan Horvath to start at the World Cup, where the U.S. plays Wales, England and Iran in the group stage this November. Steffen started six of 14 qualifiers and Turner started eight.

Turner, 28, left Major League Soccer's New England Revolution to join Arsenal this month, and he figures to be a backup to Aaron Ramsdale.

Horvath, 26, was loaned from Nottingham Forest to second-tier Luton Town this month, also in a search of playing time.

• American right back Shaq Moore was acquired by Nashville of MLS and agreed to a contract through the 2025 season.

Nashville acquired the 25-year-old's MLS rights from Montreal for $50,000 in general allocation money. The deal includes an option for 2026.

Moore spent the last three seasons with Tenerife in Spain's second division.

• American forward Haji Wright is staying with Turkey's Antalyaspor, agreeing to a three-year contract.

The 24-year-old from Los Angeles spent last season at Antalyaspor on loan from the Danish club SønderjyskE. He scored 14 goals in 32 league matches and had a seven-game scoring streak that ended in May's season finale.

• Australia striker Sam Kerr will become the first female player to feature on the global front cover of the popular soccer video game, FIFA.

The Chelsea forward will feature alongside Paris St-Germain star Kylian Mbappé on the cover of FIFA 23 for the global edition.

“Two phenomenal forces up front. One ultimate strike partnership,” EA Sports FIFA wrote in the announcement on Twitter with a picture of the cover art.

While Kerr is the first female player to be featured on the cover of the global edition of the game, she's not the first woman on a FIFA game cover as a whole.

Women players have appeared on regional editions of the popular game, including the USWNT's Alex Morgan and Canada's Christine Sinclair featured alongside Lionel Messi in their respective countries.

Kerr joined Chelsea in 2019, playing a key part in helping the club to three successive Women's Super League titles since.

The 28-year-old won the Golden Boot last season with 20 goals in 20 league games, leading the club to a domestic double with the league title and an FA Cup victory.

She was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the Football Writers' Association Player of the Year.

Alcaraz, Kontaveit first-round winners

Top-seeded players Carlos Alcaraz and Anett Kontaveit won their first-round matches at the Hamburg European Open, while Emil Ruusuvuori recorded an upset win over Diego Schwartzman.

The 19-year-old Alcaraz dropped the first set but recovered to win 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3) against 259th-ranked German wild card Nicola Kuhn. His second-round opponent at the clay-court event will be Filip Krajinovic.

Ruusuvuori won 7-5, 6-4 against third-seeded Schwartzman, who was coming off a 6-1, 6-0 loss in his last match against Pablo Carreno-Busta last week at Bastad. Tallon Griekspoor won 7-6 (8), 7-5 to eliminate eighth-seeded Holger Rune.

Kontaveit started her campaign in the women's draw with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over Irina Bara despite losing her serve four times. She next plays Rebecca Peterson.

• Top-seeded Martina Trevisan withdrew from the Palermo Ladies Ope because of a back injury, but No. 2 seed Yulia Putintseva advanced after comfortably winning her opening match.

Putintseva beat Jaimee Fourlis 6-3, 6-1 and will face Diane Parry in the round of 16 after she beat Lauren Davis 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Trevisan was replaced by lucky loser Carolina Alves, who went on to lose 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 to Elina Avanesyan in a repeat of their match in the final round of qualifying.

Avanesyan will next face Lucia Bronzetti, who eliminated Wang Xiyu 6-3, 6-3.

Alabama players made $3 million in NIL deals

Nick Saban has been vocal about his issues with the status quo in name, image and likeness (NIL) deals and their use in recruiting.

But it's not like Alabama's coach and his players haven't benefited, too. Saban said Crimson Tide players have made more than $3 million in NIL money.

“The biggest concern is how does this impact and affect recruiting?” he said at Southeastern Conference Media Day. “On the recruiting trail right now, there's a lot of people using this as inducements to go to their school by making promises they may or may not be able to keep in terms of what players are doing.

“I think that is what can create a competitive balance issue between the haves and have-nots. We're one of the haves. Don't think that what I'm saying is a concern that we have at Alabama because we're one of the haves.”

The $3 million figure stands out for another reason: Very few schools have shared details about how much their athletes make on NIL deals, but the number is growing since it could be seen as a way to show recruits another benefit to signing. Earlier this year, Ohio State said its athletes had earned $2.98 million over the first six months of the NIL era.

Goalie Vanecek inks contract with Devils

The New Jersey Devils acquired Vitek Vanecek so he would compete for the starting goaltender job. Now they're paying him in line with those expectations.

Vanecek and the Devils agreed to terms on a $10.2 million, three-year contract that counts $3.4 million against the salary cap through 2025. After avoiding arbitration, he will make $3.55 million next season, slightly less than incumbent starter Mackenzie Blackwood, who is going into the final year of his contract.

“There is an opportunity for me to play lots of games,” Vanecek said Tuesday from his home in. “I am really happy for that. I will battle with Mackenzie, and that's what I need.”

Vanecek went 20-12-6 with four shutouts, a 2.67 GAA and .908 save percentage with the Capitals last year, splitting time with Ilya Samsonov.

• Former Kings defenseman Andrej Sekera announced his retirement after almost two decades in the NHL.

The Slovak played the past 15 full seasons since making his debut in 2006. Sekera played 888 regularseason and playoff games for the Sabres, Hurricanes, Oilers, Stars and Kings.

Sekera skated in the Olympics twice represented Slovakia eight times at the world championships, helping his country come away with the silver medal in 2012 and wearing the “C” as national team captain in 2019.

Defensive star Ibaka re-signs with Bucks

Serge Ibaka is staying with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks announced that they re-signed the 32-year-old center. Terms of the deal weren't released.

The three-time All-Defensive first-team selection averaged 7.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 17.8 minutes in 19 games with the Bucks last season.

• Hornets forward Miles Bridges is facing three felony domestic violence charges after being accused of assaulting his girlfriend in front of their two children last month, the Los Angeles County district attorney said.

Bridges was arrested on June 29 by Los Angeles police and was later released on $130,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Japan's `Ice Prince' Hanyu retiring

Japanese all-time great figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu announced his retirement from competition, marking the end of a stellar career that included breaking more than a dozen world records and winning two Olympic gold medals.

The 27-year-old said that while he was stepping back from competition he would continue his career as a professional athlete. He added he would keep striving to achieve the fabled quadruple axel — which has never been completed in competition — following his unsuccessful attempt at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Hanyu, a two-time world champion and winner of four Grand Prix Finals, is known to his worldwide fan base, including a massive following in China, as the “Ice Prince.”