U.S. men to play exhibition in Fort Lauderdale

The U.S. national soccer team will play a Dec. 9 exhibition match against El Salvador at Inter Miami Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, according to Hugo Carrillo, the president of the El Salvadoran soccer association.

Carrillo said in a Thursday press conference that the teams have scheduled a closed-door friendly at Inter Miami’s home stadium, the first international match held at the 18,000seat venue.

It will be El Salvador’s first match in 10 months since the pandemic began. The U.S. team just played a pair of exhibition games in Europe — a 0-0 tie at Wales and a 6-2 win over Panama in Austria.

A U.S. Soccer Federation spokesman said they do not announce matches until all the logistics are finalized, but a source confirmed that the match is scheduled and details are being worked out. Presumably, coach Gregg Berhalter will use the match to evaluate MLS players, as the two matches last week were for Europebased American players.

The U.S. and El Salvador teams would be likely train at Inter Miami’s state-ofthe-art practice facility adjacent to the stadium.

The MLS Cup final is Dec. 12, so any players in that game would likely not play.

— MICHELLE KAUFMAN

HOMESTEAD RACES SET

NASCAR announced its 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule and the series’ second stop of the year on Friday, Feb. 19 at HomesteadMiami Speedway, will kick start a tripleheader weekend of NASCAR action.

For the first time in history, the 1.5-mile venue will play host to all three of NASCAR’s top-tier national series in February. In addition to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event, Homestead

Miami Speedway, which celebrated its 25th Anniversary this year, will also play host to a NASCAR Xfinity Series event on Feb. 20, followed by the Dixie Vodka 400 for the NASCAR Cup Series on Feb. 21.

The trio of HomesteadMiami Speedway races will mark two consecutive weeks of racing in the state of Florida as the season kicks off at Daytona International Speedway the week prior, headlined by the 63rd annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 14.

Fans wishing to attend the 2021 Dixie Vodka 400 and the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at HomesteadMiami Speedway can take advantage of early access presale that includes multiday packages. For information visit www.HomesteadMiamiSpeedway.com or call (866) 409-RACE (7223).

For the Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series races, children 12 and under are admitted free in select grandstands. Tickets to the Dixie Vodka 400 are available by phone or online, and start at $35 for adults and $10 for 12 and younger.

ETC.

Golf: Tiger Woods

● still has one tournament left this year that might feel as big as any to him. The PNC Championship announced that Woods will play with 11-year-old son

Charlie in the tournament that has paired major champions with their sons since 1995, the year before the 44-year-old Woods turned pro. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to be playing with Charlie in our first official tournament together,” Woods said.

“It’s been great watching him progress as a junior golfer, and it will be incredible playing as a team together in the PNC Championship.” The PNC Championship is Dec. 19-20 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando in Central Florida. Added to the field this year is Justin Thomas playing with his father, longtime Kentucky club pro Mike Thomas.

Tennis: Rafael Nadal ● advanced to the semifinals at the ATP Finals for the first time in five years and knocked out the defending champion in the process, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 Thursday at the O2 Arena in London. It is the sixth time in 10 appearances that Nadal has reached the last four of the season-ending tournament, which is the biggest title he has yet to win in his illustrious careers. Tsitsipas won it on his first try last year but exited after a second loss of the group stage, done in by a shaky serve in the third set when he was broken three times. Earlier, the already eliminated

Andrey Rublev beat U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem 6-2, 7-5 in a contest that had little real consequence for either player. Thiem was assured of winning the group after beating Tsitsipas and Nadal in the first two rounds.

College football: Legendary college football coach Lou Holtz has confirmed he has tested positive for COVID-19. Holtz, 83, told ABC Columbia that he is recovering from the virus. “I don’t have a lot of energy right now,” Holtz said.

Skiing: Mikaela Shif●

frin returns to racing on Saturday after 300 days away. “Hopefully it is a positive experience. And I don’t mean, ‘hopefully I win,’ but hopefully it is a positive experience to be a ski racer, still, and hopefully that will be the driving force,” Shiffrin said two days before the longest break in her decade-long World Cup career is expected to end at a slalom in Levi, Finland. The twotime Olympic gold medalist and three-time overall World Cup champion is approaching her first race since Jan. 26, when she picked up her 66th career win at a super-G in Bulgaria. Her father, Jeff Shiffrin, suddenly died a week later following an accident at the family’s home in Colorado.