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Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt, who is widely expected to leave Ajax Amsterdam in the coming weeks, said he was asked about a move to Italian champions Juventus by Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of Sunday's Nations League final.
Ronaldo's Portugal triumphed 1-0 in the showpiece match leaving the 19-year-old defender De Ligt, linked with several top European clubs, disappointed.
- Ogden: Nations League win shows Portugal are still tough to beat
- Sources: PSG the favourites to land De Ligt's services
But television images showed Juve forward Ronaldo having a chat with the centre-half at the end of the game and the Dutchman confirmed a possible move to the Italian side had been raised by the five-times Ballon d'Or winner.
"I didn't understand him at first. I was a little shocked, so I laughed. But I didn't say anything," De Ligt told the Netherlands' NOS television.
"So soon after the game you are not at all concerned with it. You are disappointed that you have lost and that is the only thing you are thinking about," he added.
De Ligt's impressive performances for Ajax in their run to the Champions League semifinals have made him one of the most wanted signatures in the transfer window.
But the defender said he had yet to make up his mind over his future and was in no hurry to do so.
"I don't mind that. The transfer period starts in a while, so I will first go on a nice vacation and rest. I will let it happen and then I will see," he said.
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Santa Anita won't close despite latest horse death
Published in
Breaking News
Sunday, 09 June 2019 17:46
The California Horse Racing Board recommended that Santa Anita Park suspend racing for the remainder of the track's season after another horse died on Saturday.
Santa Anita, the CHRB said, declined that request.
"Under current law, the California Horse Racing Board does not have the authority to suspend a race meet or remove race dates from a current race meet without the approval of the race track operator or without holding a public meeting with 10 days public notice," the CHRB said in a statement. "The Chairman, Vice Chairman and the Executive Director recommended to Santa Anita management that they suspend racing for the seven remaining race days but that they allow horses to continue to train during that period. This would provide the industry more time to fully implement announced safety initiatives and perhaps additional ones.
"It is our understanding that Santa Anita management, after consultation with certain other industry stakeholders, believes that for a variety of reasons, the future of California racing is best served by continuing to race."
Santa Anita has faced scrutiny since a rash of horse deaths began on Dec. 26, 2018. The 28th fatality, Formal Dude, fractured his pelvis Saturday after taking a bad step nearing midstretch during the final race on the card, a $30,000 maiden claiming race. He was vanned off the track and euthanized later that night, according to multiple reports.
Formal Dude last raced on May 10 and was the morning favorite in the one-mile dirt race.
Last month, California governor Gavin Newsom announced his support for legislation in the California Senate that would allow the CHRB to suspend horse racing licenses. The Los Angeles Times wrote an editorial in late May calling for Santa Anita to stop racing.
"The recent horse fatalities in California are unacceptable," Newsom said in a statement in May. "We must hold the horse racing industry to account. If we can regulate horse race meets, we should have the authority to suspend licenses when animal or human welfare is at risk."
The first 22 horse deaths led Santa Anita to close on March 5, not reopening until March 29. Another horse died days after the track reopened, and then Santa Anita went almost two months with no known equine fatalities. Since May 18, five more horses have died, including Formal Dude on Saturday.
An email sent by ESPN to officials at Santa Anita Park seeking comment was not immediately returned.
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MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Brewers topped their crowd-pleasing Christian Yelich bobblehead giveaway with another surprise gift, thanks to Mike Moustakas.
Moustakas launched a homer that won a new SUV for a fan, Yelich hit his major league-leading 24th home run and the Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 Sunday for a three-game sweep.
"That homer won us the game and somebody a car, which is pretty cool," Yelich said.
Moustakas connected for his 20th homer off Francisco Liriano (1-1). The tiebreaking, two-run drive in the eighth inning hit the roof of a metallic gray SUV, a promotional vehicle perched above the right-center field fence. One lucky fan got the same model to go along with their Yelich bobblehead.
"That was a first time for me," Moustakas said. "Definitely something I am going to remember for a long time."
Moustakas was just as shocked as the fan holding the winning ticket.
"I didn't know that I actually won somebody a car until afterwards," Moustakas said. "You came to ballgame and leave with a car is pretty cool."
The Brewers said season ticketholder Mark Gruber was the fortunate fan. He'll get the keys to his new SUV in a pregame presentation before the team's next date at Miller Park on June 20 against Cincinnati.
Liriano said he didn't execute the way he wanted and it cost him.
"I hit that one pretty good," Moustakas said of the 1-0 pitch that got away from Liriano. "I haven't had too much success against Liriano in my career. Faced him a ton. Just looking for a good pitch to put a ball in play. Fortunately, got one and put a good swing on it."
Liriano knew he made a mistake.
"I just missed my spot," he said after the Pirates lost their fifth straight to the Brewers. "I walked (Yasmani) Grandal, then Moustakas put a good swing on it."
Orlando Arcia hit a sacrifice fly off Geoff Hartlieb to finish the scoring in the eighth.
Jeremy Jeffress (1-0) pitched the eighth. Josh Hader struck out the side in the ninth for his 16th save and moved the Brewers a season-high 10 games over .500.
The sellout crowd cheered each time Yelich came to the plate, but had little to celebrate until the sixth. Yelich kept the ballpark rocking when he hit the first pitch from starter Steven Brault into the party porch in right.
"That guy is on a different planet," Moustakas said.
Brault went a career-best 6 1/3 innings and struck out five. He turned over a 2-1 lead with one out in the sixth to Richard Rodriguez, and pinch-hitter Ben Gamel greeted him with an RBI single that made it 2-all.
Brault planned to use a four-seamer and a sinker as his primary pitches against the Brewers.
"We're going to attack these guys and see what happens," he said. "That was the main goal."
Jung Ho Kang, reinstated on Saturday from the 10-day injured list after being out with a left side strain, hit a two-run homer in the first off Chase Anderson.
The 457-foot drive was Kang's fifth home run of the season.
Pirates rookie Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 17 games with an infield single in the first. He also singled in the eighth.
Anderson allowed two runs on four hits over six innings in his first start since a 16-0 drubbing by the Miami Marlins on Tuesday. In that game, he allowed four runs on seven hits, including three home runs, in four innings.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Pirates: GM Neal Huntington said RHP Trevor Williams (right side strain) and RHP Chris Stratton (right side discomfort) were ready for a rehab start probably at Triple-A Indianapolis.
Brewers: RHP Jhoulys Chacin (lower back strain) threw a bullpen session before the game. Manager Craig Counsell that it's possible that Chacin could make a start during the road trip. ... LHP Gio Gonzalez (left arm) played catch the last two days and starts throwing again Monday, but his return is farther off.
YELICH HITS THEM EARLY IN THE COUNT
Yelich has now hit eight home runs on the first pitch and 17 have come within the first two pitches of an at-bat. Both are tops in the majors. Dating to last season's All-Star break, 31 of his 49 homers (63 percent) have come on either the first or second pitch of an at-bat.
COUNSELL ON JURY DUTY
Brewers manager Craig Counsell was notified by Milwaukee County that he may be called for jury duty.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (4-6, 4.44 ERA) makes his 13th start this season and fourth career against the Atlanta Braves, facing RHP Kevin Gausman (2-5, 6.15 ERA) in the opener of a four-game road series.
Brewers: RHP Freddy Peralta (3-2, 5.11 ERA) makes his 12th appearance, eighth start of the season and first against the Astros in the opener of an eight-game, nine-day road trip to Houston, San Francisco and San Diego.
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Seattle Mariners designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion hit two home runs on Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels to give him 400 for his career.
He became the third active player to reach the 400-home run milestone, joining Albert Pujols (644) and Miguel Cabrera (468).
Encarnacion is the 56th player to hit 400 home runs in his career and first to accomplish the feat in a Mariners uniform.
His first home run Sunday, which came in the sixth inning, traveled 408 feed to left center. He homered again an inning later, 386 feet to left field.
He is the only player with at least 20 home runs in each of the past eight seasons.
ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
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'Drastic change' of attitude after injuries helped Nadal win 12th French Open
Published in
Tennis
Sunday, 09 June 2019 14:47
Rafael Nadal says winning his 12th French Open is extra special after a turbulent year where he considered taking an extended break because of injury problems.
Nadal, 33, played just three events in 2019 prior to the clay-court season.
But it ended with a 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 win over Austrian fourth seed Dominic Thiem in Sunday's final at Roland Garros.
"I've had too many issues. So that makes these last few weeks very, very special," he said.
"One possibility was to stop for a while and recover my body.
"And the other was to drastically change my attitude and my mentality.
"I was able to change and fight for every small improvement that I was able to make."
World number two Nadal has been hampered by injury problems over the past two seasons, pulling out of 10 tournaments last year because of a combination of hip, knee, stomach and ankle problems.
After retiring from his US Open semi-final against Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in September with a knee problem, Nadal did not play for the rest of the year.
The Spaniard had ankle surgery in November, returning at the Australian Open in January when he lost in straight sets in the final to world number one Novak Djokovic.
He did not play again until March at Indian Wells, where he was forced to pull out before his semi-final against Roger Federer with another knee problem.
A five-week break leading up to the clay-court season followed, with Nadal reaching the semi-finals in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.
That meant he did not win a tour title in 2019 until the Italian Open - the final Masters 1,000 tournament before Roland Garros.
"After Indian Wells, as I said couple of times, mentally I was down," he said. "I lost a little bit of energy, because I had too many issues in a row.
"It is tough when you receive one and then another.
"Mentally I was not enjoying things. I was too worried about my health and, being honest, I was being too negative.
"After the first round in Barcelona, I was able to stay alone for a couple of hours in the room and think about what's going on, what I need to do. And since that first match in Barcelona, I think things have been improving every single day."
His coach Carlos Moya says his fellow Mallorcan has shown he is "mentally a genius" after battling through his injury troubles to triumph again at Roland Garros.
"It's been the toughest period for sure since I've been there. It was really hard. He really had to push himself to the limit to be back on the court, to practise, to be motivated," said Moya, who linked up with Nadal in 2017.
"He had an unbelievable attitude in those bad moments and that's what took him to victory today."
'You can't be frustrated if your neighbour has a bigger house'
Nadal's victory over Thiem on the Paris clay is his 18th major title, moving him within two of long-time rival Roger Federer's all-time men's singles record.
But Nadal has again said catching the Swiss is not on his mind.
"If I catch Roger or not, I am not very worried about it," he said.
"You can't be frustrated all the time because the neighbour has a bigger house than you, or a bigger TV, or a better garden.
"That's not the way that I see the life.
"If, by the end of my career, I am able to win a couple of more Grand Slams and be closer to Roger, it will be unbelievable.
"I am going to try my best to keep enjoying tennis, giving myself chances to compete at the highest level and we will see what happens."
I was closer than last year - Thiem
Thiem believes he is on the right path towards a Grand Slam title, despite again falling to Nadal in his second major final.
The 25-year-old Austrian lost in straight sets to the Spaniard in last year's Roland Garros showpiece.
He has been reaping the rewards of his partnership with new coach Nicolas Massu, who replaced his childhood coach Gunter Bresnik earlier this year.
Thiem won his first Masters 1,000 title in March - the tier of tournaments behind the Slams - by beating Roger Federer in the Indian Wells final, and then claimed the Barcelona Open title in April, having defeated Nadal in the semi-finals.
"Even though I didn't win this tournament, two finals in a row, it's nice," he said after his defeat on the Paris clay.
"I think that I have developed my game. I was also closer than last year in the final. So I'm on the right way.
"I failed today, but my goal and my dream is still to win this tournament or to win a Grand Slam tournament."
Thiem matched Nadal for large parts of an intense opening set, breaking for a 3-2 lead before the Spaniard fought back to win the final four games.
Thiem responded by winning the second set before Nadal took control.
"He played outstanding because especially in the first two sets I played very good tennis," the Austrian said.
"What he was performing I think is unbelievable.
"I played very good the first two sets, and then I had a little drop, which is against most of the players not that bad.
"But he took the chance and stepped right on me."
Thiem had 24 hours fewer than Nadal to prepare after his weather-delayed semi-final against Djokovic finished on Saturday afternoon.
He had also played on four consecutive days because his quarter-final against Russian 10th seed Karen Khachanov was pushed back to Thursday after rain led to play being cancelled on Wednesday.
"I didn't feel tired in the match," he said.
"But at the same time, a match like yesterday, beating Novak over two days with all the interruption, it leaves traces on the body and also on the mind. That's 100%."
Reaction to Nadal's 12th title
Women's doubles champion and Thiem's girlfriend Kristina Mladenovic: "12th Roland Garros titles is absolutely unreal! Very proud to see Domi standing next to this legend of our sport! Your turn is coming soon..."
Fifteen-time golf major winner Tiger Woods: "The King of Clay does not like to share his wealth. Congrats Rafael Nadal on #12!"
Former world number one and two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt: "I see it but I don't believe it... someone can win 12 Roland Garros singles titles. Rafael Nadal what a performance!"
Eleven-time Grand Slam singles champion Rod Laver: "Simply magnificent Rafael Nadal. Winning a grand slam isn't easy. Winning 12 French titles is beyond belief. Congratulations King of Clay!"
Former world number one and 12-time Grand Slam singles champion Billie Jean King: "There will never be another Nadal. Congratulations to Rafael Nadal on an incredible 12th French Open win. A genius on clay, with a tremendous work ethic, he's a role model both on and off the court. Well done!"
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MONTREAL – Sebastian Vettel looked well on his way to his first Formula One victory during Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, but a penalty handed Lewis Hamilton his fifth victory of the season at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Vettel started from the pole in his Ferrari and was in control for much of the race, but a mistake in turn four caused Vettel to overcook the chicane. Hamilton, who was right in Vettel’s tire tracks, attempted to overtake Vettel at that moment but Vettel rejoined the track and blocked Hamilton’s advance.
Stewards promptly looked at the incident and after several laps they handed Vettel a five-second penalty that would be assessed after the race. In order for Vettel to win, he would be forced to get to the finish line five seconds ahead of Hamilton.
Hamilton was aware of Vettel’s penalty and stayed glued to the bumper of the Ferrari, refusing to let Vettel escape. At the checkered flag Vettel crossed the finish line less than a second ahead of Hamilton, meaning Hamilton would be declared the winner of the Canadian Grand Prix.
“Naturally this is not the way, absolutely not the way I wanted to win,” Hamilton said. “I was pushing to the end to try and get past. Obviously I forced him into an error, he went a bit wide but then obviously I had the run on that corner and we nearly collided. It was unfortunate, but that is motor racing.”
Vettel initially parked his car well away from the podium, but was later convinced by team officials convinced him to walk to the podium. Upon reaching where the top-three cars were typically parked, Vettel took the No. 1 sign that was placed in front of Hamilton’s car and replaced it with the No. 2 sign that would have been put in front of Vettel’s car had he parked it with the other podium finishers.
It was a clear sign of Vettel’s frustration as the Ferrari driver remains winless this year while the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have won each of the seven Grands Prix contested this year.
“The people shouldn’t boo at Lewis,” Vettel said. “Lewis was a bit faster, but we were able to keep him behind. Ask the people what they think.”
Ferrari has since informed officials they plan to appeal the penalty against Vettel.
Charles Leclerc finished third to give Ferrari two cars on the podium. Bottas finished fourth in the second Mercedes, followed by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in fifth. The Renault duo of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg were sixth and seventh, with Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat completing the top-10.
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BROOKLYN, Mich. – Continued showers throughout the day have forced NASCAR officials to postpone Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan Int’l Speedway.
The race, originally scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, will now take place Monday at 5 p.m. EST with television coverage on FS1.
NASCAR officials managed to get the track dry shortly before 3 p.m. and teams were on track preparing to begin the race, but another storm hit the track and prevented the race from getting started.
The field was brought back down pit road and NASCAR continued working to dry the track, but another storm shortly after 4 p.m. ended any hope of getting the race in Sunday afternoon.
Once the race begins on Monday afternoon, Joey Logano and Aric Almirola will lead the field to the green flag.
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MONTREAL – He had to work a bit harder for it on Sunday, but Roman De Angelis once again found his way to the top step of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama podium at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Coming off a pole position and win on Saturday, De Angelis started from the first spot in the No. 79 Mark Motors Racing Porsche, but surrendered the lead to Parker Thompson shortly after the drop of the green flag on lap one.
Thompson opened a gap between his No. 3 SCB Racing machine and De Angelis, but the latter kept Thompson within striking distance. With 20 minutes remaining, Thompson made a minor mistake heading into the hairpin, locked up the brakes and went wide into the turn, allowing De Angelis to sneak by. De Angelis drove pressure-free for the rest of the race.
“The start was a bit interesting,” said De Angelis, who earned points this weekend in both the GT3 Cup Challenge Canada and GT3 Cup Challenge USA championships. “I obviously didn’t get the jump I got yesterday due to some other outside factors, but I was able to chase down Parker, pressure him for four or five laps and eventually just kind of led him into a mistake.
“We took the lead and did what we did yesterday and I pulled a big gap. It’s pretty cool to win double duty with both teams with the American and Canadian championship and it’s a huge points advance for us. I’m looking forward to keeping the points gap going.”
Behind De Angelis, it was a dramatic finish for the remaining two overall podium finishers – Max Root and Riley Dickinson, both GT3 Cup Challenge USA drivers.
Root in the No. 7 Wright Motorsports Porsche claimed his second podium of the weekend after finishing third Saturday and second Sunday. Yet, Root never saw the checkered flag as he was involved in a late-race incident with the No. 74 TPC Racing Porsche of Tom Kerr. Root and Kerr made contact in turn 11 that sent Root into the grass and Kerr into the inside wall. The incident brought out a race-ending red flag, but Root maintained his second-place position.
For Dickinson, the checkered flag initially awarded him a fourth-place finish behind Root and Thompson. However, Thompson’s move past Dickinson for third place resulted in a 29-second penalty equivalent to an in-race drive through and promoted Dickinson to the podium.
Thompson was relegated to a 10th-place finish overall. Like De Angelis, Thompson also earned points this weekend towards both the GT3 Cup Challenge Canada and USA championships.
Root’s Wright Motorsports teammate Fred Poordad collected another podium finish for the team in Race 2 driving the No. 20 Porsche. Poordad scored the Platinum Masters victory over GT3 Cup Challenge Canada and USA competitor Alan Metni in the No. 99 Kelly-Moss/AM Motorsports Porsche, who bounced back from a retirement in Saturday’s race.
In the Gold Class, it was a battle between the No. 27 NGT Motorsports Porsche of Sebastian Carazo and the No. 91 FMS Motorsports Porsche of Angel Benitez Jr. While Carazo started from the pole, the two swapped positions throughout the race, with Carazo ultimately coming out on top.
Rounding out the GT3 Cup Challenge Canada podium were Patrick Dussault in the No. 77 Lauzon Autosport Porsche and rookie Ethan Simioni in the No. 40 Porsche for Policaro Motorsports.
The runner-up result matches Dussault’s best of his GT3 Cup Challenge Canada career, which he first recorded at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park last month. It also comes on the heels of a frustrating Saturday at Montreal for the Quebecker, who was spun early but salvaged a ninth-place finish.
For Simioni, a rookie in GT3 Cup Challenge Canada, the third-place finish is his best to date. Teammate Jeff Kingsley in the No. 16 Porsche – who also earned points towards the GT3 Cup Challenge USA championship with JDX Racing – finished just behind Simioni in fourth.
In the Platinum Masters class, Marco Cirone was seeking a weekend sweep of his own in the No. 88 Mark Motors Racing Porsche. However, a spin due to contact from another competitor demoted his Porsche down the leaderboard.
Taking the Platinum Masters win in his first weekend this year with GT3 Cup Challenge Canada was Michael Levitas in the No. 37 TPC Racing Porsche. Levitas was the highest finishing Masters driver in the field on Sunday.
Sam Fellows earned both the GT3 Cup Challenge Canada Gold Class victory and Yokohama Tire Hard Charger Award in the No. 35 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche.
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The U.S. had won six of the past nine Arnold Palmer Cups entering this week at The Alotian Club in Roland, Ark. However, the International team, expanded last year to include more than just Europeans (and women), turned the tide Sunday.
Entering the day with a five-point lead, the Internationals earned six points in the first eight singles matches before notching a 33.5-26.5 victory over the Americans for their first win in the annual matches since 2016.
Texas’ Agathe Laisne got the Internationals on the board Sunday with a 3-and-1 victory over USC’s Jennifer Chang. Later, Duke's Ana Belac, in the anchor match, rolled to a 6-and-5 win over UCLA's Mariel Galdiano to earn the clinching point.
Vanderbilt’s Patrick Martin had the highlight for the U.S. in singles, winning his match against Aled Greville, 6 and 5.
The U.S. still leads the overall series, 12-10-1.
Arizona State's was selected by both teams to receive an exemption into the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational while Auburn's Julie McCarthy was presented an invite to the Evian Championship this July.
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