Ronaldo again FIFA’s top player
Cristiano Ronaldo has caught up with Lionel Messi to become a five-time winner of FIFA’s best player award.
The Real Madrid forward was crowned player of the year on Monday at the FIFA Best ceremony in London, where runner-up Messi and third-placed Neymar also were in attendance.
As well as Spanish league and Spanish Super Cup success, Ronaldo scored twice in the Champions League final against Juventus to win European soccer’s elite competition for the third time in four seasons.
Ronaldo’s coach at Madrid, Zinedine Zidane, was crowned coach of the year. ATLANTA GETS 2018 MLS ALLSTAR GAME >> The 2018 Major League Soccer All-Star Game will be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The city set attendance records in the inaugural year for Atlanta United, with an average of 48,200 fans a game. A crowd of 71,874 attended the regular-season finale against Toronto FC on Sunday.
The All-Star Game features top MLS players against a leading international team, which will be announced later. STRUGGLING BENEVENTO FIRES COACH >> Benevento has fired Marco Baroni and named Roberto De Zerbi its new coach after becoming the first squad in Serie A history to lose its first nine matches of the season.
The southern Italian club is the only team in Europe’s five major leagues without a point.
Olympics
OFFICIALS CONFIDENT WITH
SAFETY MEASURES >> South Korea’s Olympic organizers played down concern over ongoing tensions with North Korea on Monday and also said that work has been completed on all venues for the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
Lee Hee-beom, president of the Pyeongchang organizing committee, said the International Olympic Committee has made it very clear that the Feb. 9-25 games will go ahead as scheduled.
“There is no Plan B,” Lee said, speaking at Ancient Olympia, Greece, shortly after the last rehearsal for today’s official flame-lighting ceremony. “We continue to work very closely with all the relevant authorities and stakeholders to ensure we can deliver a safe and secure games for everyone involved.”
Lee said that all infrastructure, including highspeed rail and highways, will be fully operational by December.
College football
TEXAS QB IN CONCUSSION
PROTOCOL >> Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger is in a concussion protocol and will be checked over several days to see if he can play Saturday against Baylor.
Ehlinger was held out of practice Sunday after playing the entire game in a loss Saturday to Oklahoma State. The game ended when Ehlinger threw an interception on a pass he floated into the end zone. He had been tackled hard a few plays earlier.
Coach Tom Herman said Monday that Ehlinger started showing symptoms of a problem after the game.
Ehlinger has started five games, three of which have gone to overtime. FSU RUNNING BACK OUT FOR SEASON >> Florida State will play at Boston College on Friday without running back Jacques Patrick, who will miss the rest of the season due to torn cartilage in his knee.
Patrick suffered the injury during Saturday’s 31-28 loss to Louisville. He is 10th in the ACC in rushing, averaging 72.3 yards per game, and is second on the team with 434 yards on 76 carries and a touchdown. INJURY PUTS END TO CENTER’S COLLEGE CAREER >> Arkansas senior center Frank Ragnow will miss the rest of the season with a high ankle sprain, bringing an end to his college career.
Coach Bret Bielema said Ragnow injured his ankle during last week’s 5220 loss to Auburn, and that his recovery is expected to take 12 weeks. He expects Ragnow to recover in time to be prepared for the NFL combine and draft.
Bielema also said running back Chase Hayden suffered a lower leg fracture and will miss 4-6 weeks, putting him out for the rest of the regular season.
Tennis
TOP-RANKED HALEP WINS
WTA FINALS OPENER >> Playing her first match as the top-ranked player, Simona Halep beat Caroline Garcia, 6-4, 6-2, Monday at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
“I am really happy I can win the first match,” said Halep, the first Romanian woman to be ranked at the top. “It takes the pressure off.”
Halep is 1-0 in the Red Group; Garcia is 0-1.