Wolfsburg signs Croatia attacking midfielder Lovro Majer from French club Rennes

Several coaches leading teams at the World Cup have NBA or North American ties. The group includes head coaches for Germany, Japan, Egypt, Canada and South Sudan.

Jamal Murray of the NBA champion Denver Nuggets says he won't play for Canada in the World Cup. He cited a need for ongoing recovery after a long season. Murray was in camp with the Canadian team earlier this month. He did not accompany the team to Germany and Spain for its exhibition games that will precede the World Cup while weighing his options. Canada will play France, Latvia and Lebanon in the group stage of the tournament that starts Aug. 25 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. The Canadians will be led by All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Their group games are in Jakarta.

Deco is taking over as Barcelona’s new sporting director. The former Portugal and Barcelona playmaker signed a contract for the next three seasons and is already working to try to boost the squad during the current transfer window. He played for Barcelona between 2004-08, helping it win the 2006 Champions League. The 45-year-old Deco will replace Mateu Alemany, who will remain with the club only until the end of the current transfer window in September. Barcelona’s main signing this season was veteran midfielder Ilkay Gundogan from Manchester City.

Former West Virginia men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins has entered a 12-month diversion program to resolve a drunken driving arrest. Huggins had been scheduled for a formal arraignment on Thursday. But court records in Pittsburgh show that the hearing was canceled last month after he was accepted into the program. Under the agreement, his one-year probation period can be done after six months if he meets all conditions, including completion of an alcohol treatment program. Huggins was assessed $2,810 in court costs and fees and his driver’s license was suspended for at least 60 days. Huggins was arrested June 16 and West Virginia announced he had resigned the next day.

Francesco and Edoardo Molinari are on a Ryder Cup team again. This time they are vice captains before a home crowd at Marco Simone in Rome. Francesco Molinari was chosen as the fifth and final vice captain for Luke Donald when Europe tries to win back the cup against the Americans. The matches start September 29. The Italian brothers played together in the Celtic Manor matches in 2010 in a European victory. Edoardo Molinari was among Donald’s first choices as an assistant. His brother is the 2018 British Open champion. He had hopes of making the team again.

Some England soccer fans watching the Women’s World Cup back home were already starting to prepare for the final as soon as the eruption of excitement dissipated and the dancing died down. England advanced to the championship match for the first time. The Lionesses will play Spain on Sunday in Sydney. England fan Dani Beazley says “I will definitely be back on Sunday.” Revellers at the fan zone at Croydon Boxpark jumped on tables and started dancing after the final whistle. Fans at the Big Penny Social venue in London cheered, hugged and danced after each of England’s three goals. Strobe lights flashed as the game ended with England victorious.

It took fives games and 62 minutes for Sam Kerr to finally make her mark on the Women’s World Cup. The superstar striker’s only goal in open play was a second-half equalizer against England in Wednesday’s semifinal. The shot brought the sold-out crowd of 75,000-plus roaring to their feet in support of the Matildas. But England scored twice more to win 3-1 and eliminate Australia from the tournament it is co-hosting. Kerr missed the first three games with a calf injury and only returned to the starting lineup for the first time in the semifinals. She says the result is so disappointing the only joy she could muster was over the way the Matildas captivated the country during the tournament.

The Michigan State University Board of Trustees on Wednesday authorized the school to request liquor licenses to sell alcohol at four football games beginning with a Sept. 16 game against the University of Washington. Alcohol sales had previously been banned at public university sporting venues until Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a new law last month. Whitmer said she believes that lifting the ban will help “reduce the likelihood of binge drinking before games." If the liquor licenses are approved by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, the university also plans to sell alcohol at three other home games. The university hopes to sell alcohol at venues for other sports.

Pakistan coach Grant Bradburn wants to see his team play an aggressive brand of cricket when it starts the build-up for the World Cup with a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan next week. The series begins in Sri Lanka on Aug. 22. It will be followed by the Asia Cup in Pakistan and Sri Lanka before Pakistan heads to the World Cup in India. Bradburn says he doesn't want to see Pakistan “sit back and wait for bowlers to bowl badly.” Pakistan hasn’t played white-ball cricket since last hosting New Zealand for the ODI series in April.

This Date in Baseball, August 17 - Jim Thome ties a major league record for career walk-off home runs with 12

England has moved on to its first Women's World Cup final with a 3-1 victory over co-host Australia in Wednesday's semifinal. England moves on to face Spain in the championship game on Sunday. Ella Toone scored in the 36th minute as England dominated possession in the first half. Sam Kerr’s equalizer in the 63rd gave the 75,000-plus crowd some hope, but European champion England sealed it goals from Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo. England and Spain will each be playing in the Women’s World Cup final for the first time when they meet at Stadium Australia in Sydney. Australia will play Sweden for third place.

Wolfsburg has signed Croatia attacking midfielder Lovro Majer from French team Rennes. The Bundesliga club says the 25-year-old Majer signed a five-year contract through June 2028 and will wear the No. 19 jersey. Wolfsburg sporting director Sebastian Schindzielorz says “it’s no secret that Lovro has been high on our list for a while now. He is a creative, technically very gifted player who has proved his worth over the past two years in France." Majer scored eight goals in 62 league appearances for Rennes. He has made 22 appearances for Croatia and played at last year’s World Cup.

World Aquatics says the first “open category” swimming races to accommodate transgender competitors will take place at a World Cup event in Berlin in October. The sport’s governing body says “this pioneering pilot project highlights the organization’s unwavering commitment to inclusivity.” The governing body had previously banned transgender competitors from major events like the Olympics and world championships but said it was committed to creating an open category for all swimmers when it first adopted its “gender inclusion policy” last year during the worlds in Budapest, Hungary. Berlin's competition is scheduled to take place from Oct. 6-8.

Pittsburgh heads into the 2023 season looking to prove its recent success isn't a fluke. The Panthers won 20 games combined in 2021 and 2022. Still, Pitt finds itself picked to finish in the middle of the pack this year. Head coach Pat Narduzzi says he's used to people overlooking his team as he enters his ninth season. The Panthers have a new quarterback in Boston College transfer Phil Jurkovec, who starred in the Pittsburgh suburbs as a high schooler. The defense could again be among the best in the ACC. Pitt opens the season at home against Wofford on Sept. 2.

World Cup winner Leandro Paredes has returned to Roma and signed a two-year deal with the Serie A club. Paredes joins from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of around 4 million euros ($4.4 million). The Argentina midfielder will wear the iconic No. 16 shirt that previously belonged to retired Roma legend Daniele De Rossi. Paredes was teammates with De Rossi during his first spell at Roma. Paredes joined Roma in 2014 following a brief spell at Chievo Verona and spent two seasons in the Italian capital.

Bayern Munich has 11 Bundesliga titles in a row and a 12th in its sights. Anything else but a first career league title for new signing Harry Kane would be a monumental failure. Bayern's dominant streak has led to concerns over the health of the Bundesliga in an era of one-club domination. Its hold on the title may still be more fragile than it seems. Bayern needed goal difference to retain the Bundesliga ahead of Borussia Dortmund last season and Kane has been keen to dispel any belief that he left the Premier League behind for an easy life in Germany.

(Table for Aug. 20-Sept. 3)

HARTFORD, Conn. — Seven years ago, Jesse Cole was sleeping on an air bed, trying to sell enough tickets to keep his Savannah Bananas solvent in the Coastal Plain League.

Shortly before NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman arrived at the Women's World Cup in Australia, the U.S. was eliminated from the tournament. The metaphor was obvious: the NWSL, once home to the majority of the top players on the planet, and the U.S. national team, a four-time World Cup champi…

PITTSBURGH — The good news for Penn State? It is ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press preseason poll, which was released Monday afternoon. It will start the season in the Top 10 for the fourth time in seven years.

That Chuck Delaney, at age 90, is still running Game Fair, which opened last Friday in Ramsey, Minn., for two three-day weekends, is only surprising if you don't know the life he has lived.

A fugitive 400-pound female bear identified by California wildlife officials as 64F and known to the public as “Hank the Tank,” linked to 21 home break-ins and property damage south of Lake Tahoe, has been cleared for relocation across state lines to a refuge in eastern Colorado.

Sometimes events occur in a sequence that, considered together, divulges greater truths. Or, if not truths, revelations.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Aug. 30 was the third best day of Timmy Horne’s life. It was surpassed only by the day he got married to his wife, Jasmine, and the day Jasmine gave birth to their daughter Simone.

MINNEAPOLIS — The changes in our sports universe have become relentless and close to instantaneous. As a concept, "tradition" has less value than a fourth-down throw under-the-sticks late in a playoff game.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is meeting with Greece's prime minister as part of an effort to deal with organized violence in soccer in the wake of a deadly attack led by Croatian fans in Athens. Ceferin has started talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. They were to be joined later by representatives from Greece’s four major clubs. The meetings were held hours before the Super Cup match between Sevilla and Manchester City at Karaiskakis Stadium near Athens. A 29-year-old AEK Athens fan was stabbed and killed last week after scores of supporters of Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb staged an attack outside the Greek club’s stadium.

Claudio Ranieri will have to continue working his managerial magic if newly-promoted Cagliari is to avoid going straight back down to Serie B. Ranieri has already pulled off something of a masterstroke just to get Cagliari promoted. The Sardinian team is returning to Serie A a year after being relegated. Genoa is also going straight back up. Frosinone is the other promoted side and is ending a four-year absence. The odds are highly stacked against all three teams still being in Serie A at the start of the 2024-25 season.

UNDATED (AP) — The first Reality Check of the college football season from the Associated Press can be a real bummer. The truth hurts and the truth is a bunch of ranked teams won’t be as good as the voters think. The past two seasons have been particularly volatile. Each year has seen a new …

Australia star Sam Kerr has been included in the starting lineup for the Matildas semifinal match against England at the Women’s World Cup. The striker has been limited the entire tournament with a left calf injury. Kerr is the captain of Australia’s team and did not play at all in the group stage. She declared herself fit to start ahead of Australia’s quarterfinal match against France but was instead on the bench. She went on early in the second half, played all through extra time and made her penalty kick in Australia’s 7-6 shootout win. The victory put the Matildas in the semifinals for the first time in World Cup history and one game away from playing for the title.

Alexi Lalas was considered a pioneer when he joined Padova in 1994. Nearly two decades later came Michael Bradley at Chievo Verona and then Roma. Weston McKennie became Juventus’ first American player in 2020. There was a time when Americans’ soccer skills were not considered refined enough to join the highly technical Italian league. Now three United States internationals have joined Serie A during the same transfer window. Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah are at AC Milan and Tim Weah is at Juventus. The three Americans are some of the new faces to watch in the Italian league this season.

Kenya is likely to haul in another good chunk of medals in distance races at the upcoming track and field world championships in Hungary. Each one of them will throw more suspicion on a country that is in reputational crisis because of doping. The man whose job it is to fix Kenya's deep-rooted problem says it is “unique” to the sport. The head of track and field's anti-doping body says the crisis is not state-sponsored like Russia's but a result of an economic need for hundreds of poor Kenyan runners seeking to make a living out of running who face “a temptation to dope that’s like no other part of our sport.”

The Chicago White Sox visit the Chicago Cubs aiming to prolong a three-game road winning streak.

The Cincinnati Reds aim to end their three-game home skid with a win over the Cleveland Guardians.

The New York Yankees are looking to break their four-game skid with a victory against the Atlanta Braves.

The Miami Marlins and Houston Astros meet on Wednesday with the winner claiming the three-game series.