The Mercury News Weekend

Levi’s Stadium gets Mexico-Iceland game

- Staff, news service reports

Mexico is returning to the Bay Area and this time it’s matched against European darling Iceland.

The World Cup-bound teams are scheduled tomeet in a friendly March 23 at Levi’s StadiuminS­anta Clara as part of El Tri’s U.S. tour.

Mexico, whichhas a large Northern California following, played in Levi’s first internatio­nal soccer game in September 2014 when attracting 67,175 fans for a scoreless draw against Chile. The same teams met during the 2016 Copa America Centenario quarterfin­als in front of 70,547 fans, with Chile winning 7- 0.

The contest against Iceland is scheduled during the FIFA internatio­nal break allowing both teams to bring their senior rosters to Levi’s, which is bidding to be one of the sites for the 2026World Cup that would be hosted by the United States, Canada andMexico.

SULLIVANTA­KENNO. 1 » Former Stanford star Andi Sullivanwa­s the first overall selection in the 2018 National Women’s Soccer League draft, selected by theWashing­ton Spirit. Sullivan is the third Stanford player taken in the first round and the first taken No. 1 overall

• Cal’s Emily Boyd and Indigo Gibson were both drafted by the Chicago Red Stars in the second round. Boyd, a goalkeeper, went as the 15th overall pick while Gibson, a center back, was taken three picks later. — Elliott Almond

NFL BRADY MISSES PRACTICE »

Tom Brady hasn’t missed many starts during his 18year NFL career, and no one sounds too worried that he’ll be sidelined for Sunday’s AFC championsh­ip game. Nonetheles­s, after Brady sat out the Patriots’ practice and did not speak to reporters as scheduled in Foxborough, Mass., there was plenty of speculatio­n about the 40-year- old quarterbac­k’s health.

Brady sat outwith a righthand injury after being limited by the same issue a day earlier as New England prepares for its matchup with Jacksonvil­le. Brady wore a glove on the injured hand during the stretching portion of practice that was open to reporters. He usually wears a glove only on his non-throwing hand. FALCONSTOK­EEPSARKISI­AN » Steve Sarkisianw­ill return as Atlanta’s offensive coordinato­r despite a decline in production in his debut 2017 season. Sarkisian, who replaced 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, has been the target of criticism as the Falcons fell short of a return trip to the Super Bowl.

Baseball PLAYRS REJECT PROPOSAL »

The players’ associatio­n re- jected Major League Baseball’s proposal to institute 20-second pitch clocks and limits on mound visits, a move that dares management to unilateral­ly impose the changes designed to speed pace of games. Management can change on-field rules on its own with one season of advance notice. GONZALEZGE­TSMINIUMUM » Amonth after former Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was released by Atlanta froma contract that guaranteed him $21.5 million this year, Gonzalez finalized a one-year deal with the Mets for the $545,000 major league minimum. The Braves are responsibl­e for all of his salary except for the amount offset by what the Mets are paying.

College football

MAYFIELD WINS MANNING AWARD » Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield has been named the 2017 Manning Award winner after a season in which he passed for 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns. TheManning­Award is given to the nation’s topQBand is the only award to consider postseason performanc­es in voting by a national media panel as well as Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning.

Gymnastics

NASSAR SENTENCE NEXT WEEK » A Michigan sports doctor whomoleste­d young gymnasts won’t get his prison sentence until next week. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina has listened to more than 60 victims this week, but there are more to come today. She said Larry Nassar will be sentenced Monday or Tuesday in Ingham (Mich.) County court.

Also, USA Gymnastics is ending its long relationsh­ip with the Karolyi Ranch, terminatin­g its agreement to have the ranch outside of Huntsville, Texas, serve as theNationa­lTrainingC­enter.

Motorsport­s

DANICADOUB­LE? » The original “GoDaddy Girl” is back with sponsorshi­p intact to push forwardwit­h her “Danica Double.” Danica Patrick has secured the money needed to race in both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapol­is 500. Now she just needs to find the rides to get her back on racing’s two biggest stages. GoDaddy reunited with Patrick for the final two races of her career, even though she still has to close deals with teams to make it happen.

Olympics

RUSSIAN COLORS » The Olympic Athletes fromRussia will be wearing gray and red in Pyeongchan­g. As many as 200 Russians could end up competing under the Olympic flag next month. Russian sportswear company Zasport published sketches of what it says are IOC-approved designs for the competitor­s.

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