1- England had to come from behind to get it done, but they defeated Colombia 2-1 in the World Cup quarterfinal this morning to advance to their third straight semifinal. Leicy Santos opened the scoring for Las Cafeteras in the 44th minute, but Lauren Hemp found the equalizer deep in first half stoppage time. A great finish from Alessia Russo was what decided the match in the 63rd minute. Mary Earps had to make a big save on a Lorena Bedoya drive from about 25 yards out in the second half.
2- England will face Australia in Wednesday morning's semifinal after the hosts won a penalty shootout with France to advance. It took ten rounds in the shootout to separate the teams, Cortnee Vine's goal put the Matildas into their first ever semifinal. It's the first time the hosts have reached a semifinal in a Women's World Cup since the USWNT did it in 2003.
3- Lionel Messi and Inter Miami comfortably handled Charlotte last night 4-0 in Fort Lauderdale to advance to the Leagues Cup semifinals. Josef Martinez converted a penalty and Robert Taylor added second to give the Herons a 2-0 lead at the halftime break, which was extended with an own goal and the icing on top from Messi in the 86th minute. Charlotte had a golden opportunity to cut the lead to 2-1 in the second half, but Patrick Agyemang's header was mistimed and Miami went down the other way almost immediately to force the own goal to make it 3-0.
4- Miami will have to head to Chester, PA to face the Philadelphia Union in the semifinals after they defeated Querétaro 2-1. Chris Donovan's 101st minute goal deep in stoppage time restored Philadelphia's lead and helped them advance. It looked like the Union would get through comfortably as they opened the scoring in the 10th minute through Jesus Bueno, but los Gallos Blancos fought hard and Ángel Sepúlveda leveled it in the 65th minute. Penalties were looming, but Donovan timed his run well to stay onside and put away Kai Wagner's cross to win it for Philly.
5- Nashville handled their business comfortably against an outmanned and outgunned Minnesota United 5-0. DJ Taylor was sent off in the 34th minute for the Loons, which opened the floodgates. Goals from Shaq Moore and Teal Bunbury in the first half were followed by goals from Alex Muyl, Sam Surridge, and Hany Mukhtar in the second half.
6- For 45 minutes, it looked like Nashville would be heading out west for their semifinal, but they will be hosting instead after the epic comeback from Monterrey at the Rose Bowl against LAFC. A 2nd minute penalty for Denis Bouanga and a 42nd minute tally from Mateusz Bogusz gave LAFC a comfortable lead at the break. Sergio Canales cut into that lead in the 68th minute, Sergi Palencia's own goal tied it up in the 80th, and Rayados legend Rogelio Funes Mori won it in the 88th minute. Monterrey, who has had a travel agent's dream of a tournament, will now have to head back across the country to play in Nashville on Tuesday night.
7- Harry Kane's transfer saga is finally over as he will be playing in the Bundesliga from now on with Bayern Munich. He could feature for Bayern today in the German Super Cup and could lift his first-ever trophy in his first day with the club. The Tottenham legend finishes his time there (for now) with 213 Premier League goals. His move to Bayern makes them a team to watch in the Champions League this year.
8- Chelsea are trying to get the deal done for Moisés Caicedo as it appears that the possibility of him going to Liverpool is now over. On Thursday, all accounts had Caicedo heading to Liverpool in a record-setting transfer. Now it appears that Chelsea will pay Brighton even more money to bring him to London. Also, rumors have mostly indicated that Chelsea was Caicedo's preferred destination. With the topsy-turvy nature of this entire saga, don't be surprised if there's one more twist to the story before it ends.
9- Two goals for Erling Haaland as Manchester City opened their defense of the Premier League title with a 3-0 win over Burnley yesterday. Kevin de Bruyne had to leave the match in the first half with a hamstring injury that Pep Guardiola said will keep him out for a few weeks.
10- Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Marco Verratti have been left out of the PSG squad for Saturday's Ligue 1 season-opening match at home against Lorient. The trio's future in the French capital is looking uncertain with all of them linked to moves, or wishes for moves. (Reuters)
11- Your song of the day is "Act Naturally" by Buck Owens the Buckaroos. Owens was born on this day in 1929. This was one of his 20 #1 singles on the country music charts and was famously covered by The Beatles in 1965. Owens pioneered the Bakersfield Sound in country music and has influenced so many musicians who followed him.
Comments