MESSI CLAIMS SEVENTH BALLON D’OR
Lionel Messi won the men’s Ballon d’Or for a record-extending seventh time, ending the year in style after a brilliant final season with Barcelona and earning his first major international trophy with Argentina.
Alexia Putellas became the third winner of the women’s award for an outstanding season with Barcelona and
Spain.
The 34year-old
Messi led Argentina to the Copa America title in July after losing in four major international finals.
Messi finished with 613 points to top prolific Bayern Munich and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski at 580.
“I would like to say to Robert that it’s an honor to be your rival, and everyone would say you deserved to win it last year,” Messi said.
Both 2020 awards were canceled because the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the season.
The 33-year-old Lewandowski set a new single-season scoring record for the Bundesliga with 41 goals — one more than late Germany great Gerd Muller — when he scored in the last minute of the last game.
More soccer
Revered German coach Ralf Rangnick was hired to lead Manchester United until the end of the season, an appointment that will shake up the playing style and management structure of the Premier League team in its bid to return to the top of the English game.
The 63-year-old Rangnick has left his role as head of sports and development at Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow to take charge of United, which has been managed by former player Michael Carrick since the firing of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Nov. 21.
Portuguese health authorities on Monday identified 13 cases of the omicron coronavirus variant among members of a professional soccer club and were investigating whether it was one of the first reported cases of local transmission of the virus outside of southern Africa.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar will be out for up to eight weeks with a sprained left ankle.
Former Canadian national team player and twotime Olympic bronze medalist Rhian Wilkinson has been named coach of the Portland Thorns. Wilkinson, 39, replaces Mark Parsons, who stepped down at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League season to take over as head coach of the Netherlands national team.
Bruce Arena won a record fourth Major League Soccer Coach of the Year award after leading the New England Revolution to a league-record 73 points.
Basketball
USA Basketball’s road to the 2023 Basketball World Cup got a little tougher after the Americans were handed a surprising loss at Mexico in a qualifying game.
Orlando Mendez scored 27 points, Gabriel Giron added 19 and Mexico — playing before its home fans in Chihuahua — stunned the Americans 97-88 to conclude the first window of the opening qualifying round.
Isaiah Thomas had 21 points and 10 assists for the U.S. (1-1), which was outscored 31-12 in the third quarter and played from behind the rest of the way. BJ Johnson scored 15 points for the Americans, while Luke Kornet and Shaquille Harrison each finished with 12.
Tennis
Four-time defending women’s singles champion Hiromi Sasano of San Diego will take on La Jolla’s Francesca Kornberg today at 9 a.m. in her first match of the USTA National 40 Hard Court Championships at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.
Admission for spectators is free. The tournament continues through Sunday.
Croatia became the first team to reach the Davis Cup semifinals after seeing off Italy 2-1. With the singles squared, the top-ranked doubles team of Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic had no trouble beating Fabio Fognini and Jannik Sinner
6-3, 6-4 in the decider.
College sports
UConn sophomore guard Paige Bueckers is the first college athlete to represent Gatorade, announcing a multiyear name, image and likeness deal.
It is the second NIL deal announced for Bueckers, last year’s national player of the year. Bueckers is averaging 20.5 points, 6.5 assists and five rebounds a game for No. 2 UConn (3-1).