SOCCER
Diallo extends contract
Manchester United forward Amad Diallo on Thursday signed a contract extension that would keep him with the Premier League club until 2030. The 22-year-old Ivory Coast international has shone this season with six goals and seven assists, including a late winner against Manchester City last month and an equaliser against Liverpool on Sunday. “I am really proud to have signed this new contract,” Diallo said in a statement. “I have had some incredible moments with this club already, but there is so much more to come.” United are 13th in the English Premier League and travel to Arsenal for an English FA Cup third-round tie tomorrow.
SOCCER
Suarez touts Neymar deal
A reunion of Barcelona’s famed trio of Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar at Inter Miami would certainly be welcome — if it happens.Suarez addressed rumors that Neymar could be headed to Major League Soccer on Thursday. “Everyone knows what Neymar can offer, and what we achieved together in that special period. Now we are in a different period and older, but the team will certainly feel grateful to have a player like him with us,” he said. “As always, anything is possible in football, but turning these expectations into reality is difficult and complicated.” Neymar, who currently plays for Saudi club Al Hilal, fueled the rumors with comments to CNN Sport earlier this week. “Obviously, playing again with Messi and Suarez would be incredible,” Neymar said. “They are my friends. We still speak to each other. It would be interesting to revive this trio. I’m happy at Al Hilal, I’m happy in Saudi Arabia, but who knows. Football is full of surprises.” He also posted a selfie on Instagram stories with his son, who was wearing an Inter Miami jersey. In October last year, Neymar bought a waterfront home in Miami’s Bal Harbour for US$26 million. Neymar, Messi and Suarez played together at Barcelona for three memorable seasons from 2014-2017. Known as MSN, the trio combined for 364 goals and had 173 assists.
Nfl
LA Rams’ game moved
The NFL has moved Monday’s playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, after wildfires ravaged the region surrounding the Rams’ SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The league announced the decision on Thursday after another fire broke out several miles from the Rams’ training complex in the Woodland Hills neighborhood, about 20km north of fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades. While none of the fires were burning near the stadium southwest of downtown Los Angeles, the NFL made the decision amid concerns about air quality and whether the community could handle such an event.
NBA
Lakers game postponed
The NBA postponed the Los Angeles Lakers’ home game against the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. It was the second straight day a game slated to be played in downtown Los Angeles was postponed. The NHL’s Los Angeles Kings were scheduled to host the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. The dates for the rescheduled games have not been announced.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
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