San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
SLOVENIA MEN BEAT U.S. IN AN EXHIBITION
Nejc Gradisar scored in the 26th minute of his international debut following an American giveaway, and Slovenia extended the United States' winless streak against European opponents to six with a 1-0 victory in an exhibition Saturday at San Antonio between nations missing top players.
Twenty-four players made international debuts, including 13 Slovenians. Seven of the 11 American debutants were starters, tying the Americans' most since modern records began in 1990.
“It wasn't always perfect, but the will was there, the desire was there, the competitiveness was there,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said. “This is going to be a great learning experience for this group.”
All Americans were from Major League Soccer for a match not on a FIFA international date. Europebased players return when the U.S. faces Jamaica on March 21 in a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal.
Following a November defeat at Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S. has lost consecutive games under Berhalter for the first time since a pair of matches against Mexico in 2019. The 12th-ranked U.S. has lost four straight games against European opponents and is winless against Europe since beating Bosnia and Herzegovina in December 2021.
Slovenia scored after Danijel Šturm stripped the ball from winger Bernard Kamungo just short of the center line, dribbled and passed to the 21-year-old Gradišar, who sprinted ahead of defender Sean Zawadzki. With the outside of his right foot, Gradišar slotted the ball past onrushing goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.
More soccer
Kylian Mbappé scored twice and set up two goals as Paris Saint-germain won 4-1 at third-tier Orléans to reach the French Cup round of 16. Mbappé netted in the 16th minute — after being set up by France teammate Randal Kolo Muani — and also scored with a 62nd-minute penalty following a handball. That took him to 28 goals in 26 games this season and extended his clubrecord haul to 240.
• Valencia ended Athletic Bilbao's 14-game unbeaten streak across all competitions after edging the Basque club 1-0 in the Spanish league.
• Central defender Gabriel Magalhaes helped Arsenal solve its scoring problems as the Gunners ended a three-game losing streak in all competitions with a 5-0 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
• Four days after being named FIFA'S best men's player, Lionel Messi began the preseason with Inter Miami of Major League Soccer, which played to a scoreless draw with the El Salvador national team in an exhibition on Friday night.
• Manchester United announced Omar Berrada as its new CEO after raiding rival Manchester City in a dramatic statement of intent.
Locally
The San Diego Seals rode a big fourth quarter to defeat the host Albany Firewolves, 14-7, in National Lacrosse League play. San Diego scored six goals in the final 5:24 to blow the game open after Albany had climbed to within 9-7. Curtis Dickson and Austin Staats both scored a team-high four goals.
Local colleges
The San Diego State women's basketball team (12-8, 3-4 MW) knocked off San Jose State (6-12, 1-4) 6351 at home. The Aztecs were led by Adryana Quezada,
who had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sarah Barcello also had double-digits, finishing with 13 points.
• The No. 23 SDSU women's water polo team got three goals from sophomore
Claudia Valdes, but the No. 1-ranked USC proved to be too much for the Aztecs in an 18-7 defeat at the 2024 Titan Invitational in Fullerton.
• The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (7-10, 6-5 CCAA) came up short against visiting Cal State East Bay (11-6, 7-4), falling 68-65. Edwyn Collins
scored 30 points for CS San Marcos.
Skiing
In a race overshadowed by a season-ending knee injury for home favorite Petra Vlhova following a crash, Olympic champion Sara Hector dominated an eventful women's World Cup giant slalom at Jasna, Slovakia, for her first win in nearly two years. Hector posted the fastest time in both runs as she led American star Mikaela Shiffrin by 1.52 seconds. New Zealand's Alice Robinson trailed by 2.71 in third. It was the biggest winning margin in a women's GS in 20 years, since Swedish great Anja Paerson
beat runner-up Tina Maze
of Slovenia by 1.98 at a race in Germany.
• A former giant slalom specialist, Cyprien Sarrazin
never raced a World Cup downhill until just over 13 months ago. Now the French skier is among the main candidates to win the seasonlong title in Alpine skiing's fastest discipline.
Sarrazin mastered the demanding Streif course in Austria for a second time in 24 hours, beating world champion Marco Odermatt
to repeat his downhill triumph from the previous day.
Swimming
Australian gold medalist Mack Horton, who had an intense rivalry with China's Sun Yang, announced his retirement from international swimming.
The 27-year-old won gold in the 400-meter freestyle at the Rio Olympics in 2016, but six months out from the Paris Games, Horton says he no longer has the necessary motivation to continue.
Horse racing
Winless in her last 11 starts, Arizona-bred Desert Dawn ($5.80), ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat, produced an authoritative one-length score in the Grade III, $100,000 La Cañada Stakes at Santa Anita.