PARIS: Cristiano Ronaldo scored as Portugal beat Poland 3-1 for their third straight Nations League win on Saturday, while European champions Spain put an end to Denmark’s perfect start in the competition.
Bernardo Silva volleyed Portugal ahead in the 26th minute in Warsaw as Bruno Fernandes cleverly nodded a cross from Ruben Neves back toward the Manchester City midfielder.
Ronaldo then found himself in the right place at the right time to turn in the rebound for Portugal’s second after Rafael Leao’s shot came back off the post following a brilliant surging run by the AC Milan winger.
The 39-year-old Ronaldo has now struck in all three games of this Nations League campaign for Portugal, taking his record men’s international goals tally to 133.
Piotr Zielinski cut the deficit for Poland but Jan Bednarek’s own goal sealed victory for Portugal, the lone remaining team in League A with a 100 percent record, and they could secure a place in the quarter-finals next week.
Roberto Martinez’s side have a maximum nine points in Group A1, three ahead of Croatia who beat Scotland 2-1 to condemn them to a third successive defeat in the section.
Ryan Christie’s first half-goal gave Scotland a shock lead in Zagreb, but Igor Matanovic equalized before the interval and Andrej Kramaric bagged the winner midway through the second half.
Che Adams thought he had salvaged a stoppage-time equalizer but VAR disallowed his effort for offside, with Scotland winless in nine competitive outings — the longest run in their history.
Spain needed a 79th-minute effort from Martin Zubimendi to shrug off Denmark 1-0 in Murcia and replace their opponents at the top of Group A4.
The hosts were without Rodri and Dani Carvajal, both sidelined by long-term injuries, with first-choice goalkeeper Unai Simon still recovering from wrist surgery, and Dani Olmo and Robin Le Normand also ruled out.
But Luis de la Fuente’s team grabbed the only goal when Zubimendi’s low drive from just outside the edge squirmed past Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who had earlier denied Lamine Yamal and Alvaro Morata.
Spain moved up to seven points, one above Denmark, with Serbia picking up their first win after beating Switzerland 2-0 in Leskovac.
Serbia led through Nico Elvedi’s own goal in first-half stoppage time and Aleksandar Mitrovic doubled the advantage before Predrag Rajkovic saved a penalty from Swiss striker Breel Embolo.
Both games in Group C3 finished goalless as Bulgaria were held at home by Luxembourg and Northern Ireland drew against Belarus on neutral ground in Hungary.
Romania eased to a 3-0 win away to Cyprus in Group C2, while Kosovo beat Lithuania 2-1.
Ronaldo scores in Portugal’s Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
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Ronaldo scores in Portugal’s Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- The 39-year-old Ronaldo has now struck in all three games of this Nations League campaign for Portugal, taking his record men’s international goals tally to 133
Brazil held in Ancelotti debut, Paraguay move closer to qualifying
- Thursday’s result leaves the Selecao in fourth place in the qualifying table on 22 points while Ecuador, the surprise package in the campaign, remain in second on 24 points
- The top six teams in the 10-team qualifying group head directly into the World Cup draw while the seventh placed team must enter the inter-confederation playoffs
MONTEVIDEO: Carlo Ancelotti’s debut as coach of Brazil ended in a goalless draw in Ecuador in South American World Cup qualifying on Thursday.
Argentina, already assured of a place in next year’s tournament, beat Chile 1-0 in Santiago with a goal from Julian Alvarez, a result which guarantees Lionel Scaloni’s team top spot and leaves bottom placed ‘La Roja’ with virtually no hope of qualifying.
Ancelotti, the 65-year-old Italian, who left Real Madrid at the end of the European season, has been charged with taking Brazil through the latter stages of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
The former AC Milan and Chelsea manager replaced Dorival Junior, who was sacked at the end of March after the 4-1 thrashing at the hands of reigning champions and bitter rivals Argentina.
Thursday’s result leaves the Selecao in fourth place in the qualifying table on 22 points while Ecuador, the surprise package in the campaign, remain in second on 24 points.
Argentina lead the standings on 34 points and are the only team to have officially secured their place in the tournament which will be held in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Paraguay, who enjoyed a 2-0 win over Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay, sit in third place, level on points with Ecuador.
Ecuador knew a win would put them on the brink of qualification and there was a packed crowd at the Estadio Monumental in Guayaquil.
But the home side were dealt a blow just before kick-off when goalkeeper Hernan Galindez suffered a muscle strain in the warm-up and replacement Gonzalo Valle was hurriedly sent out to make his debut.
If Valle had any nerves they eased when he did well to parry a shot from inside the box from Vinicius Jr. who had been set up by Gerson following a turnover.
Chances were limited in a contest where neither side was able to get control of midfield.
The pattern continued after the break with Ecuador, missing their injured striker and talisman Enner Valencia, struggling to pose a threat.
Real Madrid star Vinicius was quiet for much of the game and with Rodrygo absent, Brazil also lacked potency in attack.
The best opening came in the 75th minute when Vinicius broke down the left and cut back to Casemiro, but the Manchester United midfielder, recalled to the national side by Ancelotti, saw a tame side-footed effort easily dealt with by Valle.
While there was no instant impact from Ancelotti, Vinicius, who played under the coach in Madrid, said he needed time to make his impact felt.
“I’m very happy to have Ancelotti here with us, because I’ve always said he’s the best coach I’ve ever worked with. Having the opportunity to work with him in the Brazilian national team is the best,” the winger told SporTV.
“He hasn’t had time to show his work, his game plan, because he’s only had two or three days of training,” he added.
Atletico Madrid striker Alvarez put Argentina ahead at the Estadio Nacional in the 16th minute with a deft finish after he had been put through by a perfectly weighted pass from Thiago Almada.
Lionel Messi came off the bench in the 57th minute but Chile sensed a chance to get something from the game and created more as the game progressed.
Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez made a series of crucial saves and Lucas Cepeda went closest with a fierce shot which struck the bar.
Cepeda then had the best chance of the game when he was found at the back post but he blasted his volley wide.
Messi set up Giuliano Simeone with a chance to make it 2-0 but the son of former Argentina captain and Atletico Madrid coach Diego, fired his shot into the side netting.
A header from midfielder Matías Galarza just 13 minutes into the game and a late penalty from Julio Enciso earned Paraguay a crucial victory over a depleted Uruguay.
The victory left Paraguay on the verge of securing their return to the World Cup for the first time since qualifying for the 2010 finals in South Africa.
Victory in Sao Paulo on Tuesday against Brazil would secure their place in the tournament.
The top six teams in the 10-team qualifying group head directly into the World Cup draw while the seventh placed team must enter the inter-confederation playoffs.
Haliburton’s last-second shot lifts Pacers over Thunder in NBA Finals
- Indiana overcame a 38-point performance by Oklahoma’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league's MVP of the season
- The Pacers seek the first NBA crown in their 58-year history. The Thunder, who took a title in 1979 as Seattle, have not won a crown since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY: Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton sank the game-winning basket in the final second to give the Pacers a stunning 111-110 fightback victory over Oklahoma City in Thursday’s opening game of the NBA Finals.
Haliburton, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds, gave the Pacers their only lead of the game on a dramatic 21-foot jump shot with 0.3 of a second remaining to deliver a shocker after Indiana had trailed by 15 points with 9:42 remaining.
“We got the stop and coach trusts us in those moments to not call a timeout, trusts me in those moments, guys trust me and just trying to make a play,” Haliburton said of the last shot.
“Basketball is fun, man, winning is fun,” he added in an on-court interview. “That’s a great win for us.”
With a game-closing 14-2 run, the Pacers seized a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with game two on Sunday at Oklahoma City.
Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 19 points while reserve Obi Toppin added 17, Myles Turner had 15 and Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard each added 14.
“It was a total team effort, we had so many guys chip in. Obi was huge off the bench, Myles in the fourth, Andrew Nembhard in the fourth — so many guys stepped up and just really proud of this group,” Haliburton said.
The finish evoked memories of the first game in the Eastern Conference finals, when a Haliburton shot at the buzzer bounced high and went in to force over-time as the Pacers stunned New York on the way to a series victory.
The Pacers seek the first NBA crown in their 58-year history while the Thunder, who took a title in 1979 as Seattle, have not won a crown since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008.
Indiana overcame 24 turnovers and a 38-point performance by Oklahoma City’s NBA Most Valuable Player and top season scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
A 12-2 run pulled Indiana within 98-94 with 6:16 remaining in the fourth quarter, with Turner and Toppin each making two three-pointers in the spurt.
The Thunder, with the NBA’s best regular-season record, clung to the lead as Gilgeous-Alexander made a driving layup and added two free throws for a 106-98 edge with 3:24 remaining.
Aaron Nesmith and Nembhard sank back-to-back three-pointers to lift Indiana within 108-105 with 1:59 remaining and after a layup by Gilgeous-Alexander, Nembhard made two free throws and Siakam scored off a rebound to lift the Pacers within 110-109.
Nesmith rebounded a Gilgeous-Alexander miss to set up Haliburton’s game-winning shot.
“We just had to figure out how to win in so many different ways all year,” Haliburton said. “There’s so many weird different ways... we’re a resilient group... We keep believing and we stay together.”
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 points in the first quarter and the Thunder forced nine turnovers on the way to a 29-20 lead.
Oklahoma City surged to a 57-45 half-time lead with 19 points from “SGA” while the Thunder, playoff leaders at forcing turnovers, got 18 from Indiana in the first half.
The Pacers pulled within 85-76 entering the fourth quarter but a Jalen Williams slam dunk produced the Thunder’s biggest lead at 94-79 with 9:42 remaining, setting up the intense finish.
Oklahoma City lost its only prior NBA Finals appearance in 2012 to Miami while the Pacers dropped their only prior NBA Finals trip in 2000 to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Aaron Rodgers ends months-long dance with Steelers by agreeing to a 1-year deal
PITTSBURGH: Aaron Rodgers and Mike Tomlin are taking their long-simmering bromance to the next level.
The four-time NFL MVP ended months of “Will he? Or won’t he?” speculation by agreeing to a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, pending the 41-year-old passing a physical.
The Steelers and Rodgers had been circling each other for months. Rodgers even visited the team’s facility in late March, driving in undercover in a nondescript sedan wearing a hat and sunglasses.
While there were plenty of nice words from both sides in the aftermath, Rodgers didn’t rush to put pen to paper, telling “The Pat McAfee Show” in April that his attention was focused on helping people in his inner circle who were “battling some difficult stuff” and that he didn’t want to decide until he knew he could fully commit.
With mandatory minicamp coming next week, Rodgers apparently finds himself in a place where he can give the Steelers his full attention.
Rodgers joins a team that has been stuck in a transitional period at quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season. Either Rodgers or Mason Rudolph — who returned to Pittsburgh on a two-year deal in March — will likely be Pittsburgh’s fifth different Week 1 quarterback in as many seasons.
Sabalenka downs Swiatek as Gauff ends Boisson’s French Open run
- The Belarusian snapped Swiatek’s French Open winning streak at 26 matches with a 7-6 (7/1), 4-6, 6-0 success to reach her first final in the clay-court Grand Slam
- Gauff and Sabalenka are level at 5-5 in their head-to-head record and have won one each of their two meetings at major tournaments
PARIS: Aryna Sabalenka ended Iga Swiatek’s French Open reign with a devastating third-set performance on Thursday to tee up a Roland Garros final against Coco Gauff after the American knocked out French hero Lois Boisson.
The Belarusian snapped Swiatek’s French Open winning streak at 26 matches with a 7-6 (7/1), 4-6, 6-0 success to reach her first final in the clay-court Grand Slam.
“Iga is the toughest opponent, especially on the clay and at Roland Garros,” said Sabalenka after becoming the first player to defeat Swiatek in a deciding set at the French Open.
“I’m proud that I was able to get this win.”
World number two Gauff ended the dream run of 361st-ranked wildcard Boisson with a 6-1, 6-2 victory in the second semifinal on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Gauff and Sabalenka are level at 5-5 in their head-to-head record and have won one each of their two meetings at major tournaments.
Sabalenka edged a topsy-turvy first set that featured eight breaks of serve in a tie-break, before Swiatek hit back to level the match.
The finale turned out to be a complete anti-climax, as Swiatek made 12 unforced errors in the third set and won only six points.
“I’m glad that I found my serve. It was a bit easier with the serve,” added the 27-year-old Sabalenka. “What can I say, 6-0 — it couldn’t be much more perfect than that!“
Sabalenka is targeting a fourth Grand Slam title and first not on hard courts, after winning last year’s US Open and the Australian Open back-to-back in 2023 and 2024.
Swiatek has still not reached a WTA final since lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen 12 months ago.
She showed signs of a revival on the Paris clay where she has dominated since winning as a teenager in 2020, but her game deserted her in the deciding set as she slipped to only the third French Open defeat of her career.
“I love playing here, so for sure I’m happy that I was fortunate enough to play so many great tournaments here,” Swiatek said.
Sabalenka has now won their last two meetings, and five of 13 in total.
This was the first time the pair, the dominant players in women’s tennis of the past few years, have gone head-to-head at a Grand Slam tournament since Swiatek’s win in the 2022 US Open semifinals en route to the title.
Sabalenka will be the favorite to lift the trophy when she takes on Gauff, to whom she lost in the 2023 US Open final.
Swiatek, who was bidding to become the first woman to win four successive French Opens in over a century, will drop to seventh in the world rankings next week.
Boisson had got the better of third seed Jessica Pegula and world number six Mirra Andreeva in the previous two rounds but the test provided by Gauff proved to be a step too far.
The home crowd were silenced by a ruthless opening set from the second seed.
Boisson briefly raised the French fans from their slumber by breaking back in the second set, only to immediately surrender it straight back.
Gauff clinically finished the job after just 69 minutes on court to book her spot in a second French Open final.
“When you guys were chanting her name, I was thinking my name,” Gauff told the crowd in her on-court interview.
“Obviously there’s still a lot of work to do, but for now I’ll enjoy this one and then prepare for the final tomorrow.”
The 21-year-old suffered an emotional defeat by Swiatek in the 2022 final, but will believe she can finally win the tournament in which she has made at least the quarter-finals in five straight editions.
Boisson had been hoping to become only the second Frenchwoman to win the title in the Open era after Mary Pierce, but went out in a blaze of 33 unforced errors.
“Of course I’m really disappointed today, because obviously I wanted to go further than this semifinal, but I’m just going to take the time to digest this,” said the 22-year-old.
She will climb into the world’s top 70 next week and has added 690,000 euros ($789,536) to her previous career prize money of $148,009.
Yamal, Williams dazzle as Spain beat France in nine-goal thriller
- Yamal bagged a brace while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons
STUTTGART, Germany: Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart on Thursday, to set up a Nations League final with Portugal.
Yamal bagged a brace while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons.
Mikel Merino and Pedri were also on the scoresheet for the Euro 2024 champions.
Kylian Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, but Spain were 5-1 up and cruising, before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal.
France’s three late goals — a Rayan Cherki screamer, a Spain own goal and a stoppage time strike from Randal Kolo Muani — were not enough.
Spain held on to book an all-Iberian Nations League final against Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal on Sunday in Munich, while France will face hosts Germany in Stuttgart for the bronze medal, earlier in the day.
Returning to Germany where they won the European Championship in dominant fashion a year ago, Spain seem a more complete team, despite their late fadeout.
France were more dangerous in the opening stages, with Didier Deschamps electing to channel his attack through Ousmane Dembele rather than Mbappe.
Dembele, fresh from Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League triumph, created an early chance for Mbappe, but the Real Madrid superstar wasted it, electing to pass rather than shoot when one-on-one with the ‘keeper.
Minutes later, Spain escaped again as Theo Hernandez’s long-range effort shaved the top of the crossbar.
Spain made France pay soon after, when Williams and Oyarzabal, La Roja’s two goalscorers in the Euro 2024 final, linked up with 22 minutes played.
After a tear down the right, Yamal threaded it to Oyarzabal, who held off three defenders with his back to goal before finding Williams, who rifled his shot into the top of the net.
Spain grabbed full hold of the match just three minutes later when Oyarzabal dinked the French defense, allowing Merino to collect and hammer past an off-balance Maignan.
France had the better chances later in the half, with Dembele finding space in the box three times only to blast straight at a grateful Unai Simon.
Just before half-time, the narrowest of offsides robbed Spain of what would have been an incredible third.
In a clearly rehearsed free-kick play, Yamal found Martin Zubimendi behind the lines, who cut it back for Huijsen.
The second-half played out line the first, with France missing two big chances before Spain again scored a quick-fire double.
With 54 minutes played, Yamal won and converted a penalty, taking the ball from Williams before calmly slotting home.
France were reeling but Spain’s starlets had no sympathy, Williams setting up Pedri for a fourth just one minute later.
Mbappe won and converted a penalty with 59 minutes played but Yamal stepped up again to snuff out French hopes of an unlikely comeback, scoring Spain’s fifth with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Spain made four changes a their thoughts turned to Sunday, allowing France to score two late consolation goals.
Substitute Cherki scored a long-range effort and then forced Spain into conceding an own goal through Daniel Vivian.
Kolo Muani’s goal came in the fourth minute of stoppage time to cut the deficit to one, but France had left their comeback too late, as Spain held on.
