The U.S. men's national team will stumble into the CONCACAF Gold Cup after losing 3-0 to Venezuela in a friendly Sunday at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati.

After losing 1-0 to Jamaica on Wednesday, the U.S. looked to rebound in its final tuneup before opening the tournament June 18 vs. Guyana in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Instead, the U.S. squad left the field at halftime to a smattering of boos after a 3-0 deficit on two goals by Salomon Rondon (16th and 36th minutes) and another from Jefferson Savarino (30th) to help Venezuela defeat the USMNT for the first time (1-3-2).

The win gives Venezuela a boost ahead of the Copa America, which kicks off in Brazil on Friday (watch all matches on ESPN+ in the U.S.).

- When is the CONCACAF Gold Cup?
- Full Gold Cup fixtures schedule

While the U.S. was without mainstays Christian Pulisic, Michael Bradley and Tyler Adams, it had an early chance denied on a diving stop in the seventh minute by Wuilker Farinez on Weston McKennie's header from a Tyler Boyd corner kick.

An unforced error by goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who last week completed his transfer to Manchester City from the Columbus Crew, gifted Venezuela the 1-0 lead in front of 23,955 in the first USMNT match played in Cincinnati.

His outlet was intercepted by Yangel Herrera, who passed to Jhon Murillo. With Steffen and the defenders scrambling to protect the open net, Rondon had an easy goal. Steffen's gaffe was similar to a play he made vs. Jamaica that did not result in a goal.

Savarino made it 2-0 off a throw-in when U.S. defender Matt Miazga made a poor decision to leave Rondon unmarked for a flick header to Savarino, who converted his own rebound after his first shot hit the left post. Savarino plays for Real Salt Lake of MLS.

Farinez had back-to back saves on McKennie and Aaron Long in the 34th and 35th minutes to preserve the two-goal advantage.

Soon after, Rondon became Venezuela's all-time leading scorer (24) off the transition, turning Long around before firing a shot.

Farinez's fourth and final save came in the 80th on a shot by Paul Arriola.

PORTO, Portugal -- Cristiano Ronaldo has grown accustomed to lifting trophies and the relish with which he hoisted aloft the silverware that comes with winning the UEFA Nations League, following Portugal's 1-0 win vs. Netherlands, suggested that it meant every bit as much as all of the prizes he has won in the past for club and country.

It is not the World Cup or European Championship, but it is a hefty, glittering trophy and the qualification process to reach the four-team finals means that the winners had to overcome strong opposition to come out on top, so Portugal's triumph should not underestimated.

Their success in the inaugural Nations League, which was sealed by Goncalo Guedes' 60th-minute goal in Porto, means that this small nation of just over 10 million people has won back-to-back UEFA tournaments, following on from their surprise Euro 2016 triumph in France, when they beat the host nation in the final.

It is a remarkable success story and one that has largely been driven by Ronaldo's unique talents for the past 15 years, but should we take Portugal's latest success as a sign of their dominance as a force in Europe or nothing more than helping to measure the current temperature of the continent's leading teams?

Euro 2020 kicks off in Rome one year this coming Wednesday -- June 12 -- and Portugal, assuming they qualify, will be a formidable opponent. Fernando Santos' side perhaps has one big tournament performance left in them, especially as Ronaldo will be 37 by the time the Qatar World Cup rolls around in 2022.

In the meantime, the growing importance of Bernardo Silva, who was exceptional against in this final, as well as emerging players such as defenders Ruben Dias and Nelson Semedo and forwards Guedes and Joao Felix, ensures that the Portuguese can contend as they defend their continental crown next year.

So will the Dutch, though, having developed into a force under Ronald Koeman. They lack a true striker -- Memphis Depay and Ryan Babel led the line with mixed success in these finals -- so should prioritise the discovery or development of a goalscorer between now and next summer to play in front of the formidable Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt.

"To play a final, even if you don't win it, you take experience for the next time," Koeman said. "We have taken big steps in the Nations League, against France, Germany, England and Portugal, but to take the next step, we maybe need more time and offensive strength to take the chances we created tonight. But maybe it's too early for us to win."

- England seal third place with shootout win vs. Switzerland
- Kuper: New Dutch team is not the finished product yet

England earned a penalty shootout win against Switzerland in the third-place playoff earlier on Sunday and will regard their progress as positive following a run to the semifinals at the World Cup in Russia last year, but Gareth Southgate's team have some work to do before they can legitimately consider themselves among Europe's elite.

They do not score enough goals from open play and still lack creativity in midfield and reliability at the back. Nonetheless, Southgate is working with a talented generation and the likes of Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Harry Kane should give England belief at Euro 2020, a tournament in which the semifinals and final will be staged at Wembley.

World champions France, eliminated at the Nations League group stage by the Dutch, should be the team to beat next summer. Didier Deschamps' team suffered a surprise qualifying defeat against Turkey on Saturday, but any side that can rely on the talents of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba has to be regarded as the favourites.

Among Europe's other traditional powers, Spain and Germany are in a state of transition, rebuilding teams that had previously enjoyed great success, but each boasts a depth of talent that ensures they cannot can be dismissed as contenders next year.

Elsewhere, Croatia will believe they can go one better than at the World Cup in what could be a last hurrah for their own golden generation, led by Luka Modric, while Belgium and Italy have 100 percent winning records in qualification.

Belgium have knocked on the door in several major tournaments recently and if Roberto Martinez can rely on a fully-fit Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, it may well be their year. Italy, having failed to qualify for the World Cup, are slowly recovering under Roberto Mancini and could be a force to be reckoned with again.

Much can happen in the upcoming 12 months, but international football in Europe is in a state of flux, with none of established heavyweights at the peak of their powers. As such, the Nations League might be the most accurate form guide, one year out from the European Championship.

The four teams who contested the finals qualified at the expense of more historically successful countries and Portugal's victory ensured the competition made for a headline-making start; successful host nations always give a tournament added lustre.

While it would be foolish to suggest they are favourites to defend their Euro title next year, with Ronaldo fit and able, Portugal will always be a threat. Who knows, this tournament could prove to be a pre-cursor for a hat trick of success.

The key, Aaron Finch had said the day before this game, was to bowl well early against India's top order. To be on the ball from the very first ball. For nearly the first ten overs, Australia did bowl well, maintaining tight lines usually just back of a length to Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. It made no difference.

The pair saw off early spells from Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, put on yet another century stand, and essentially set the game up. It was that early wicketless phase, according to Finch, that was key.

"Yeah, I think they took their time, obviously, and they assessed the conditions really quickly and probably identified that they were going to be the two hardest or the two biggest threats early on in the innings," Finch reflected later.

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"It felt as though they swallowed their pride and really pulled back a gear and made sure that they got through them first 10 overs, and when you've got world-class players on good wickets and you've got 10 wickets in hand, you can start to up the ante a bit earlier.

"I think not getting wickets early on was probably key there. To have them guys batting deep into the innings, that just gives them so many options where they can shuffle [Hardik] Pandya up the order and [MS] Dhoni, so yeah, I think they played it really well, and probably negated our biggest threats early on."

It turned out that equally challenging opening spells from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah when Australia began their reply were just as vital. Australia kept themselves within touching distance of a mammoth chase until late in their innings. But there was always the sense that they were leaving the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Alex Carey just a little too much to do.

Half-centuries from both David Warner and Steven Smith were made at steady pace but more tellingly, they both fell at moments when Australia could think about launching.

"I thought if we could have some wickets in hand and some batters in toward the back end of the innings, we could potentially do some damage," Finch said. "But we probably just kept losing wickets when we were trying to up the run rate, and then as you know, when new batters come in, the run rate creeps up slowly. When it gets to 10, 12 and over, it cranks up pretty quickly, as well."

Warner's innings, in fact, could even be said to be slow - by the standards of the chase and certainly in the context of the kinds of innings he can produce. That makes two, what could be called, un-Warner like innings in the tournament - his 84-ball 56 following a 114-ball 89 not out against Afghanistan.

It was in part, Finch said, down to the nature of The Oval surface, a used wicket. Finch had wanted to bat first because he knew the pitch would slow down, playing into the hands of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

"They bowled really well to him early, and I think particularly playing on a used wicket again for our second time in three games played a little bit of a part in that," he said. "Their spinners probably had a bigger impact than what ours did. Well, they did have a bigger impact than what our spinners did, through the middle overs in particular where the ball was just starting to hold up.

"They bowled nice and straight, back of the length, where the ball was just skidding quite low to start with, and to myself, as well, they just didn't give us any width to get away or any length to really work with, either over the top or get a drive away. Their bowling plans were pretty simple but really effective on a wicket like that."

Virat Kohli expressed his sympathy for Steven Smith and apologised on behalf of the crowd after the former Australia captain was heckled by the India dominated crowd at the Oval.

Kohli was batting when Smith was sent to field on the boundary at one stage of India's innings. Spectators near Smith started chanting, "Cheater!" repeatedly but Kohli, in the middle, gestured to the India insignia on his helmet, pointed at Smith and clapped in an effort to quiet the crowd.

"Just because there's so many Indian fans here, I just didn't want them to set a bad example, to be honest, because he didn't do anything to be booed in my opinion," Kohli said. "He's just playing cricket. He was just standing there, and I felt bad because if I was in a position where something had happened with me and I had apologised, I accepted it and I came back and still I would get booed, I wouldn't like it, either.

"So I just felt for him, and I told him, I'm sorry on behalf of the crowd because I've seen that happen in a few earlier games, as well, and in my opinion that's not acceptable."

Smith and David Warner have been booed and heckled repeatedly on the field since their return to the Australian team following their one-year bans over the ball-tampering incident at Newlands. But while Kohli has had various run-ins with Smith - most memorably when he suggested Smith had deliberately sought guidance from the dressing room while deciding whether to review a decision during Australia's Test tour of India in 2017 - he said he felt for Smith in his current circumstance.

"Look, I think what's happened has happened like long back, the guy is back, he's trying to play well for his side," Kohli said. "Even in the IPL I saw him, it's not good to see someone down like that, to be honest. We've had issues in the past. We've had a few arguments on the field. But you don't want to see a guy feeling that heat every time he goes out to play.

"What's happened has happened. Everyone has known that. He's come back. He's worked hard. He's playing well for his side now."

ANCASTER, Ontario -- Rory McIlroy ran away with the Canadian Open, closing with a 9-under 61 on Sunday for a 7-shot victory.

Starting the day in a three-way tie for the lead, McIlroy ended any suspense about who would emerge as the champion with five birdies in his first seven holes, none from longer than 8 feet.

It was McIlroy's 16th PGA Tour victory and 25th win worldwide, and the fourth by at least 7 strokes. The world's fourth-ranked player will hope to ride the momentum into next week's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

The only question on the back nine was whether McIlroy would shoot the 11th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history. He made four straight birdies from Nos. 11-14, and a bogey on the par-3 16th stalled him only momentarily. He followed with a 7-iron from 196 yards to 2½ feet for eagle on the par-5 17th to get to 10 under at par-70 Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

But he missed the green on the par-4 18th and his bunker shot went long. He ended up tapping in for bogey to finish at a tournament-record 22-under 258. The 61 equaled the low round of McIlroy's PGA Tour career.

Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson tied for second at 15 under.

Adam Hadwin, seeking to become the first Canadian winner of the event since 1954, closed with a 70 and finished sixth, 10 shots back. His consolation prize was a spot in the British Open at Royal Portrush in July.

Graeme McDowell also earned his place in the British Open. The native of Portrush, Northern Ireland, guaranteed a tee time in his hometown by holing a hard-breaking 29-footer for par on the par-4 18th to shoot 68 and finish in a tie for eighth. This year's Open will be the first in Northern Ireland since its only previous visit to Royal Portrush in 1951.

A third spot was available at the British Open for a player not already eligible who finished inside the top 10, but the other top-10 finishers were exempt from qualifying.

The victory in McIlroy's Canadian Open debut was his fifth in a national open, following the U.S. Open (2011), Australian Open (2013), British Open (2014) and Irish Open (2016). McIlroy also counts the Hong Kong Open (2011) as part of his national-championship tally.

Nine players received invitations to attend the NBA draft and sit in the green room, a source told ESPN.

Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, RJ Barrett, Darius Garland, De'Andre Hunter, Jarrett Culver, Coby White, Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes received the first batch of invites, the source said, with an additional 11 invites expected to be sent out in the coming days, depending on confirmations the NBA receives from the first group. The league hopes to have 20 players in the green room.

The green room is a staging area in front of the NBA draft podium where players, families and agents await commissioner Adam Silver to call a player's name upon selection.

The process of deciding which players to invite to the draft involves communication with general managers of teams picking throughout the first round. This is to ensure that players aren't sitting for very long under the bright lights before a national television audience as the second round approaches.

Receiving an invitation is considered a positive sign for a player's draft stock, although there have been instances in the past of prospects falling to the second round while sitting in the green room.

All nine of the players invited thus far are projected to be drafted in the top 10 in the latest ESPN mock draft. French forward Sekou Doumbouya, who is projected ninth, is expected to be in the second wave of players invited, a source told ESPN.

Former Michigan guard Charles Matthews suffered a torn ACL, his agent Adam Pensack told ESPN.

Matthews, 22, suffered the injury at a workout with the Boston Celtics.

Matthews will have knee surgery in his hometown of Chicago in the near future, Pensack said. A timetable for his return will be established after the surgery.

After a strong showing at the NBA combine in Chicago, Matthews was garnering interest in the second round as one of the top defenders in the 2019 NBA draft class.

He is ranked No. 60 among the top 100 prospects available for this month's draft, according to ESPN.

"Injuries are tough, but Charles is an extremely hard worker and will be back stronger than ever," Pensack told ESPN. "He had a series of outstanding workouts lately and has helped himself. Charles will continue that momentum when he returns to action. As of now, we have interest in the second round as Charles is OK signing a two-way contract like Edmond Sumner did with the Indiana Pacers in 2017."

TORONTO -- It has been an eventful 24 hours for Raptors guard Fred VanVleet.

In the wake of getting his head cut open and a tooth chipped following an inadvertent elbow from Golden State Warriors guard Shaun Livingston in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, VanVleet made multiple medical visits to make sure everything was OK, and that he'd be ready to go for Game 5 here at Scotiabank Arena on Monday night.

"I got back home, went to the hospital, got a CT scan to make sure that no bones were broken in my face," VanVleet said Sunday afternoon. "Then [I] went and made a visit to the dentist, and went home and went to sleep."

It was unclear whether VanVleet would be able to joke about what happened Friday night when he was laying on the ground with his arms outstretched, blood pouring from his face and a piece of his tooth sitting in the lane. But after being cleared to return to Friday's game (though he never did), everything checked out Saturday, and his tooth was able to be repaired.

"I'm not going to smile for you, though," he said, "but I'm back to normal, so that was a good moment, and now I'm back."

VanVleet said he has never worn a mouthpiece before because he doesn't like the feel of them while he's playing. But after suffering the injury Friday night, he will be wearing one in the biggest game of his life Monday, when the Raptors have a chance to claim their first NBA title with a victory over the Warriors.

"I hate wearing mouthpieces," VanVleet said. "You know, I'm a gambler, so I gambled and sometimes it comes back to bite you on the butt. But all kids out there, you should wear mouthpieces.

"It was a weird play, and I took an unfortunate shot. And so now I will be wearing a mouthpiece for as long as I can manage it. I'll probably throw it at some point during the game, but I'm going to try."

He also said he has been cleared of any possibility of sustaining a concussion, and hasn't suffered any symptoms of one since the hit. The only thing that is bothering him is some of the swelling in his face from the direct hit from Livingston's elbow to his right eye.

"It's a little blurry, just my eye's watering a little at random points, but it's not too bad," he said. "I've actually had worse before, so I'm doing all right. I was more upset about the team than the eye."

VanVleet added it will be up to him to let Toronto's medical staff know if there are any further issues as a result of the hit.

"We have great doctors and great staff," he said. "We followed the [concussion] protocol, and we made sure that we're in a right state of mind before we go out there. So if anything, it will be on me to make sure that I report everything and tell them how I'm feeling."

VanVleet may be Toronto's backup point guard, but he has been a crucial part of the team's run to the brink of a title. He went 14-for-17 from 3-point range over the final three games of the Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks to help the Raptors make the NBA Finals, and has gone 8-for-23 from beyond the arc and played tremendous defense on Warriors star Stephen Curry during this series to help Toronto take its 3-1 lead.

The Raptors will need more of VanVleet's contributions at both ends to close this out and deliver this city its first championship since the Toronto Blue Jays won their second straight World Series in 1993.

"I know how important I am to this team, to this franchise and I know what I bring to the table," VanVleet said. "So that's never in question, never in doubt. For me, just try to focus on maximizing my potential each night and giving my team the best chance to win, and like I said, we got to go out there and do it again tomorrow."

The Washington Nationals hit four consecutive home runs in the eighth inning Sunday, becoming the first franchise in major league history to accomplish the feat multiple times.

With the score tied 1-1 and one out in the eighth inning Sunday, the Nationals' Howie Kendrick, Trea Turner, Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers off San Diego Padres reliever Craig Stammen.

The four homers off Stammen came in a span of seven pitches.

Kendrick's homer, which came with him pinch hitting, traveled 421 feed to left field. Turner and Eaton both homered to center, with the long balls traveling 421 feet and 402 feet, respectively. Eaton's shot traveled 391 feed to right field.

The Nationals also hit four consecutive home runs on July 27 of the 2017 season against the Milwaukee Brewers. The feat has been accomplished nine times in MLB history, including Sunday.

Stammen allowed just three home runs all of last season in 79 innings pitched. After Sunday's performance, he has allowed nine homers in 33 2/3 innings pitched.

ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.

British skyrunner and obstacle course racer gains gold in Portugal, while Edward Mothibi and Gerda Steyn win Comrades Marathon

Britain’s Jonathan Albon was crowned trail world champion after winning the IAU/ITRA-organised event in Portugal on Saturday, Adrian Stott reports.

The race was run over a very varied 44.2km (27.5-mile) course, with 2200m of climb, on the trails near Miranda do Corvo in central Portugal.

Albon was third at the first checkpoint at 16km behind early leader Christian Mathys of Switzerland. By the 27km checkpoint the Briton was holding a 2-minute lead over Mathys, with France’s Julian Rancon having made his way through the field to third.

“I knew there were a lot of good guys behind me with potential to be strong in the latter stages,” said Albon, who won in 3:35:35, two minutes and 13 seconds ahead of Mathys.

“Once I took the lead, I just worked as hard as I could up the hills and then switched into ‘power mode’ on the descents.

“It got warm in the last few kilometres and I was really starting to feel it. I knew Julian wasn’t too far behind me, so couldn’t afford to ease up really.

“I’m delighted with the win, obviously, and really enjoyed that course. It had such a lot of variation from fast land rover tracks then suddenly into very technical descents, with a few stream crossings thrown in too. I loved it, for you never quite knew exactly what to expect next.”

For Albon, it was another title to reinforce just how versatile an endurance athlete he is.

He is the current world Skyrunning champion and also Obstacle Course Racing world champion. In fact, his next event will be an obstacle course race in the Netherlands next weekend.

Read more: Jon Albon – the greatest runner you’ve never heard of

Great Britain took the team silver medals behind France, with Spain in third.

Albon was backed up by Carl Bell in 13th in 3:47:57 and Andrew Davies in 16th in 3:49:57.

Other British placings were Seb Batchelor, Ricky Lightfoot and Andy Symonds.

In an incredibly strong women’s field, France’s Blandine L’Hirondel dominated from the start to win in 4:06:17, over eight minutes ahead of New Zealand’s Ruth Croft with 4:14:28.

Spain’s Sheila Avilés took the bronze in 4:15:04.

In a team race dominated by the French and Spanish athletes who placed all their three counting runners in the top 10, France came out on top by just over a minute. Romania placed third with GB in fifth

The leading British athlete was Charlotte Morgan, who placed 14th in 4:26:43. The 2018 world long-distance mountain running champion was followed by Georgia Tindley in 25th in 4:39:29 and Katie Kaars-Sijpesteijn in 32nd in 4:45:15.

Montane Spine Race winner Jasmin Paris finished 35th in 4:46:23, with Jo Meek and Meryl Cooper completing the team.

Over in South Africa, the prestigious Comrades Marathon was won by Edward Mothibi and Gerda Steyn on home soil on Sunday, with Mothibi clocking 5:31:36 for the 89km route and Steyn 5:58:53 to become the first woman to win a Comrades ‘up run’ in sub-six hours.

Lee Grantham enjoyed a few home straight waves to the crowd as he finished as the first Brit in 12th in 5:54:44, while Samantha Amend placed 21st in the women’s race in 7:14:44.

Four-time world Ironman champion Chrissie Wellington finished 43rd in 7:49:30.