U.S. men’s soccer team gives glimpse of future in draw
Gio Reyna walked onto the field for his U.S. national team debut, just like mom Danielle in 1993, just like dad Claudio in 1994.
“I wasn’t too nervous, to be honest,” Gio said. “I was just happy. I’m sure it’s a moment I’ll remember forever.”
On the day before his 18th birthday, Reyna showed the superior passing and dribbling ability that earned him playing time this year at Borussia Dortmund, skills similar to those his father flashed as U. S. captain. Reyna played 78 minutes Thursday night and was among six debuts for the Americans in a 0- 0 tie against Wales in an exhibition at Swansea.
“Gio showed real quality at times,” said U. S. coach Gregg Berhalter, Claudio Reyna’s former teammate. “It was the fluidity on the ball, getting in good positions that hurt the defense. His defending, I thought was a good start starting point. And overall, a 17-year-old debuting and he didn’t look like that.”
Claudio Reyna made 112 international appearances from 1994 to 2006, playing in three World Cups. The former Danielle Egan played six matches for the American women in 1993 and married Claudio in 1997.
As the A mericans ended a 10-month layoff caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Reyna was joined in the starting lineup by Yunus Musah, a midfielder with Valencia who turns 18 on Nov. 19; and 19-year- old midfielder Konrad de la Fuente, who waits his first Barcelona senior team appearance.
Johnny Cardoso, a 19-year- old midfielder with Brazil’s Internacionale, entered in the 71st; Nicholas Gioacchini, a 20-year- old forward with Caen, in the 79th; and Owen Otasowie, a 19-year- old midfielder with Wolverhampton, in the 87th.
Reyna was in a mobile and dynamic midfield, combining with 21-year- old Tyler Adams of Leipzig and 22-year- old Weston McKennie of Juventus. The starting lineup included 20-year- old right back Sergiño Dest, in his first season at Barcelona.
Reyna and Musah became just the 12th and 13th Americans to make an appearance before turning 18. Starters averaged 22 years, 252 days, the fourth-youngest U.S. lineup.
There were no fans at Liberty Stadium for the Americans’ first match since Feb. 1.
College football
NO. 13 WISCONSIN’S QB SITUATION STILL UNCLEAR >> Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said he was “hopeful” about his quarterback situation as Graham Mertz attempts to come back in time for this weekend’s game with Michigan after testing positive for COVID-19 last month.
Mertz tied a school record by throwing five touchdown passes in his first career start but tested positive afterward as part of a COVID-19 outbreak in the program that caused the 13th-ranked Badgers to cancel games with Nebraska and Purdue the last two weekends.
He tested positive early enough to enable him to play Saturday while meeting Big Ten protocols that state an athlete can’t return to action until at least 21 days after his positive test. Chryst said this week that he’d have to see if Mertz gets enough practice time to be ready.
Wisconsin’s other scholarship quarterbacks are Jack Coan, Chase Wolf and Danny Vanden Boom. Coan was the Badgers’ starting quarterback last year but injured his right foot in preseason practice, underwent surgery last month and remains unavailable.
The Milwaukee Journal- Sentinel reported that Wolf tested positive for COVID-19 after the Illinois game. Wolf and Vanden Boom have one career pass attempt each. KENTUCKY ASSISTANT DIES OF CANCER >> Kentucky assistant coach John Schlarman, who was named to the All-Southeastern Conference team as a player and returned to his alma mater to the lead the Wildcats’ offensive line, has died after a two-year fight with cancer. He was 45.
The school announced Schlarman’s death from cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer, after being notified by his wife.
Schlarman was diagnosed in the summer of 2018 but continued to coach through treatments. He was most recently on the sideline for Kentucky’s 34-7 upset at then-No. 18 Tennessee on Oct. 17.
Men’s college basketball
UCLA PICKED TO WIN CONFERENCE >> UCLA was picked to win the Pac12 Conference in the preseason media poll released Thursday, the first time that’s happened in nine years. UCLA received nine first-place votes and 251 points, edging second-place Arizona State by just five points after the Sun Devils received five firstplace votes. Defending conference champion Oregon, which was picked third, received seven first-place votes and 241 points.
Stanford was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12, followed by Arizona, USC, Colorado, Utah, Washington, Cal, Washington State and Oregon State.
• Cal junior Matt Bradley joins Stanford senior Oscar da Silva and freshman Ziaire Williams as preseason all-Pac-12 picks. Williams is one of two freshmen on the first team, joining USC’s Evan Mobley.
Women’s college basketball
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE CAN’T COMPETE >> The women’s basketball team at Cal State University in Northridge doesn’t have enough athletes to safely compete this season after six women opted out of playing because of concerns about the novel coranvirus, the school said Thursday.
The Matadors had 12 players to start preseason camp but six of those then decided not to play. Another player can’t return to campus from out of the country because of travel limitations. That has left only six available players.
NBA
DRAFT PROSPECT BALL REPORTEDLY HOLDS SECOND NBA WORKOUT >>
For the second time this week, top NBA draft prospect LaMelo Ball conducted an individual workout, according to ESPN.
Ball’s latest showcase reportedly took place in front of head coaches and executives from the Golden State Warriors, Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons in Southern California. The Warriors hold the second overall pick in the Wednesday draft, with the Hornets set to select third and Pistons seventh.
Motorsports
HAMILTON POISED FOR RECORD - EQUALING 7TH F1 TITLE IN TURKEY >> Having already broken the record for Formula One race wins, Lewis Hamilton can equal the mark for championship titles this weekend at the Turkish Grand Prix.
Hamilton only needs to finish ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to secure his seventh F1 title, equaling Michael Schumacher’s record.
Hamilton has dominated the sport since that move to Mercedes and this season the British driver broke Schumacher’s record of 92 race wins. He is looking for his 94th on Sunday, and enters the race with an 85-point lead over Bottas in the championship standings.
Regardless of whether he clinches this weekend, a seventh title seems inevitable for Hamilton, who has nine victories from 13 races this season, including the past three GPs.