AP Sports Summary for Tuesday, July 25th.
Former Stanford goalkeeper in US players' hearts at the Women's World World Cup
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Sophia Smith flashed the zipping her lips gesture as she celebrated her second goal against Vietnam during the opening United States' opening match at the Women's World Cup in tribute to former Stanford teammate Katie Meyer. The goalkeeper died by suicide last year, so Smith and teammate Naomi Girma came up with the tribute. Meyer led Stanford to the 2019 NCAA title with two penalty shots
Rematch time: USA and Netherlands to meet at the Women's World Cup
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — The United States meets the Netherlands on Thursday in Wellington at the Women's World Cup. The game is a rematch of the World Cup final four years ago in France, which the Americans won 2-0 for the team's second straight title in soccer's biggest tournament. Thursday's match is the second for both teams in group play. Both come into the game with a Group E win in hand, so the results are important for positioning in the knockout stage. The Dutch have defeated the Americans just once in 10 matches, back in 1991 in their first-ever meeting.
Contract disputes steal the spotlight from start of NFL training camp
NFL camps open this week with most of the focus on players who aren't showing up. All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones skipped Sunday's first workout with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs over a contract dispute. Veterans on the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders are scheduled to report on Tuesday, but Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs are expected to hold out because they didn't receive long-term deals after getting the franchise tag. Both star running backs would earn $10.1 million this season under the tag. Neither Barkley nor Jacobs would be fined for missing practices, but they'd lose more than $500,000 per game if they sit out during the season.
Rookie QBs C.J. Stroud of Texans, Anthony Richardson of Colts agree to guaranteed 4-year contracts
HOUSTON (AP) — Rookie quarterbacks C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans and Anthony Richardson of the Indianapolis Colts have both agreed to fully guaranteed four-year contracts. A person familiar with Stroud's $36 million deal confirmed the contract to The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced. Richardson, the fourth overall pick in the NFL draft, agreed to a $34 million contract. Both are expected to compete for starting jobs and eventually turn their struggling franchises around.
NFL suspends Broncos defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike indefinitely for gambling on games
DENVER (AP) — The NFL has indefinitely suspended Denver Broncos defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike for betting on league games during the 2022 season. Uwazurike, a fourth-round draft pick from Iowa State in 2022, becomes the 10th player this offseason to be suspended for gambling on games or in NFL locker rooms. Uwazurike will be eligible to petition for reinstatement no earlier than July 24, 2024. NFL players and personnel are not allowed to gamble while in NFL facilities, disclose any nonpublic NFL information, enter a sportsbook during the NFL season, or maintain relationships with sports gamblers.
Saudi Arabian soccer team Al-Hilal makes record $332 million bid for France striker Kylian Mbappe
SYDNEY (AP) — Saudi Arabian soccer team Al-Hilal has made a record $332 million bid for France striker Kylian Mbappe after missing out on Lionel Messi. Paris Saint-Germain has confirmed the offer and says it has given Al-Hilal permission to open negotiations directly with Mbappe. The 2018 World Cup winner is in a contract standoff with PSG after his decision not to take up the option of a 12-month extension on his deal. He instead plans to walk away as a free agent at the end of the upcoming season when he is widely expected to join Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo is among the stars to have made the move to play in Saudi Arabia.
Russians can qualify for Olympic spots in some sports. That doesn't mean they'll be allowed in Paris
DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Officials from many of the sports on the Olympic program are still split on how to treat Russian athletes one year before the Paris Games and nearly a year-and-a-half since the country's invasion of Ukraine. Various governing bodies are increasingly allowing teams of Russians back into Olympic qualifying competitions as neutral competitors without national flags or anthems. Most sports initially barred Russians from competing soon after last year's full-scale invasion. The International Olympic Committee strongly backs those moves even as the body itself says it hasn't decided if athletes from Russia and ally Belarus can compete at the Paris Games.
Extremist attacks wounded Paris. Here's why the city turned to the 2024 Olympics to heal
PARIS (AP) — The first Olympic Games since the ebb of the COVID-19 pandemic open in a year in France's capital. The 2024 Paris Games were partly born of attacks by Islamic extremists in 2015. The killings at a kosher Parisian supermarket and a satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, persuaded Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo that bringing the Summer Olympics back to France's capital for the first time in a century could unite the hurting nation. That need has rarely been more pressing. The 10,500 Olympians and millions of visitors will flock next July to a country that has lurched from crisis to crisis since Paris was chosen as host in 2017.
South Korea's Casey Phair becomes the youngest ever World Cup player at 16 years and 26 days of age
SYDNEY (AP) — Casey Phair has become the youngest player in soccer World Cup history at the age of 16 years and 26 days. Phair went on as a replacement in South Korea's 2-0 loss to Colombia in Sydney at the Women's World Cup on Tuesday. Phair has an American father and a South Korean mother and was raised in the United States. She says "It was a scary moment, but then going on and running around, I think it just settled in." The record was previously held by the late Ifeanyi Chiejine, who was 16 years and 34 days old when she played for Nigeria in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Penalty pain: Players converted just 4 of the first 8 penalty kicks at the Women's World Cup
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — How's this for a pair of stats? The first eight matches of the Women's World Cup each included a penalty kick – and the attacking team converted just four times from the spot. Some of the attempts were turned away by goalkeeping heroics, others were clean misses and all four denials had some of the game's biggest names on the short end. A mere 50% conversion rate, if it continued through the 2023 tournament, would be notably low. Norwegian psychologist Geir Jordet reported a near-80% success rate across 409 chances in top senior international competition in his 2006 research on the penalty kick.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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INTERLEAGUE
Final Detroit 5 San Francisco 1
Final Baltimore 3 Philadelphia 2
Final Toronto 6 L.A. Dodgers 3
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Kansas City 5 Cleveland 3
Final Minnesota 4 Seattle 3
Final Houston 10 Texas 9
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Colorado 10 Washington 6
Final Milwaukee 3 Cincinnati 2
Final Pittsburgh 8 San Diego 4
Final St. Louis 10 Arizona 6
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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INTERLEAGUE
Baltimore at Philadelphia 6:40 p.m.
Miami at Tampa Bay 6:40 p.m.
N-Y Mets at N-Y Yankees 7:05 p.m.
Atlanta at Boston 7:10 p.m.
Chi Cubs at Chi White Sox 8:10 p.m.
Oakland at San Francisco 9:45 p.m.
Toronto at L-A Dodgers 10:10 p.m.
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
L-A Angels at Detroit 6:40 p.m.
Kansas City at Cleveland 7:10 p.m.
Seattle at Minnesota 7:40 p.m.
Texas at Houston 8:10 p.m.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Colorado at Washington 7:05 p.m.
Cincinnati at Milwaukee 8:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh at San Diego 9:40 p.m.
St. Louis at Arizona 9:40 p.m.
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WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Las Vegas at Chicago 7 p.m.
Phoenix at Atlanta 7 p.m.
Seattle at New York 7 p.m.
Connecticut at Dallas 8 p.m.
Indiana at Los Angeles 10 p.m.
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