Real Madrid edges MLS All-Stars
After a 1-1 tie to end regulation, Real Madrid finally shook free from a determined MLS All-Star side, 4-2 in a penalty shootout to prevail in the MLS All-Star Game at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Real made all four of its tries against Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei in the round.
Borja Mayoral gave the Spanish club the lead in the 59th minute. Dom Dwyer, traded from Sporting Kansas City to Orlando City SC last week, equalized late, with a header that bounced in off the post in the 87th minute.
Goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of manager Zinedine Zidane, stopped Dwyer’s penalty-kick-round opener, and the crossbar stopped Giovani Dos Santos on the MLS’s second try.
“I believe the league showed a good face against one of the best teams in the world,” Chicago Fire coach Veljko Paunovic, heading the MLS All-Stars, said. “I’m going to repeat that over and over.
“Five years from now, I think it would be great to face Real Madrid again and see where we are then.”
David Beckham is on the brink of being awarded a MLS expansion team after league owners voted to move into final stages of closing the deal on a club that might begin play in a new Miami stadium in 2020. Beckham has been trying to bring a team to Miami for more than four years.
“We’re not announcing MLS Miami today,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said, “but I am confident that we’ll be able to do that sometime, perhaps by the end of the summer.” Obituary: Former Florida and NFL quarterback John Reaves, who finished his college career as the NCAA’s all-time leading passer, has died.
Mr. Reaves was found dead at his home in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, according to the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office. The cause of death is being investigated.
In his first game for Florida in 1969, Mr. Reaves threw for a school-record 342 yards and five touchdowns, breaking the mark of 1966 Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier. Mr. Reaves left school as the NCAA’s all-time leading passer, throwing for 7,581 yards and an SEC-record 54 touchdowns.
Mr. Reaves dealt with dependency for most of his 11year career as an NFL journeyman, a run that began as a first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1972.