An Andriy Yarmolenko own goal broke Ukraine's hearts and sent Wales to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as Ukraine lost 1-0 in a playoff on Sunday.

Ukraine had several chances to level the scoring or even put themselves ahead at Cardiff City Stadium, but it was a deflected Gareth Bale free kick that resulted in them falling out of the competition and sending Wales into their first World Cup in 64 years.

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Dan James won a free kick for Wales 25 yards out, and Bale stepped up to take it on 34 minutes. He whipped in the ball, and it was headed in by Yarmolenko, Ukraine's captain.

"The result is the greatest in Welsh football history," Bale said after the match. "We're going to a World Cup!

"It means everything, what dreams are made of, we've been working towards it since I first came in here.

"Words can't describe how we feel at the moment."

Oleksandr Zinchenko had the ball in the net early in the first half from a free kick, but the referee called play back, as he deemed Zinchenko had taken the kick too quickly.

Ukraine were unfortunate not to earn a penalty on 40 minutes when Yarmolenko went down under a heavy challenge from Joe Allen, but VAR (video assistant referee) did not intervene after referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz waved play on.

Asked what he had said to Yarmolenko, downbeat Ukraine coach Oleksandr Petrakov said he had simply thanked him and all the players.

"I can only say thank you for everything he did for the team. I do not have any criticism to any of the players in the team. There is no need to touch any of the players," Petrakov said. "If you want to criticise, criticise me, the head coach. If the team wins, it is the players. If it loses, the only loser is the coach.

"I think we did everything we could but I want the people of Ukraine to remember our team, our efforts. I want to say sorry we didn't score but that is sport, that happens. I am lost for words, I don't know what to say."

Wayne Hennessey made a fine save late in the second half to ensure that Artem Dovbyk's header stayed out.

"I'm so proud of the guys, they thoroughly deserved it," Wales head coach Rob Page said after the game. "The one thing these boys were missing was a World Cup and now we've got there.

"These are the best supporters in world football, they helped us from the first minute.

"When you see what these guys do in training, I had full trust in them."

Wales will join England, Iran and the United States in Group B for the World Cup, which starts on Nov. 21 and runs until Dec. 18.

Rafael Nadal overwhelmed Casper Ruud in straight sets Sunday to win his 14th French Open championship and 22nd Grand Slam title. But he revealed after the match that he needed an injection to his ailing left foot just to be able to play.

Nadal told Eurosport after his 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 victory that he received an injection to numb his foot for Sunday's final.

"The preparation was not ideal," he said. "I had a stress fracture of the rib, then I have the foot [pain], which stays there all the time. I had my doctor here with me -- I don't know how to say in English what we did. We played with no feeling on the foot, we played with an injection in the nerve so the foot was asleep -- that's why I was able to play."

During the trophy ceremony, Nadal thanked his family and support team for helping him, because otherwise, he would have needed to "retire much before."

"I don't know what can happen in the future," Nadal told the crowd, "but I'm going to keep fighting to try to keep going."

Nadal revealed during his media availability after the match that he'd been undergoing frequent injections into a nerve throughout the past two weeks at Roland Garros, serving to numb the pain in his foot caused by Mueller-Weiss syndrome. It is not a long-term solution to the chronic foot problem, and he is expected to visit a specialist next week to undergo a fresh procedure -- a radiofrequency nerve ablation.

The success of that procedure will dictate whether he plays Wimbledon or not.

"I'm going to be in Wimbledon if my body is ready to be in Wimbledon," Nadal said. "That's it. Wimbledon is not a tournament that I want to miss. I think nobody want to miss Wimbledon. I love Wimbledon."

He said if the procedure doesn't work, he'll have to decide if he's ready to undergo a major surgery with no guarantee that it will be successful and might require a prolonged recovery time.

But he did confirm he would not go through the whole process of getting injections daily to get him through Wimbledon.

"Wimbledon is a priority, always [has] been a priority. If I am able to play with anti-inflammatories? Yes. To play with anaesthetic injections? No. I don't want to put myself in that position again. Can happen once, but no, is not a philosophy of life that I want to follow.

"So let's see. I am always a positive guy, and I always expect things going the right way. So let's be confident, and let's be positive. Then let's see what's going on."

Nadal's victory came two days after his 36th birthday and made him the oldest title winner in the history of the clay-court tournament. The oldest champion in tournament history had been Andres Gimeno, who was 34 when he won in 1972.

Ruud led 3-1 in the second set, a deficit that spurred Nadal to raise his level -- he took the last 11 games. Nadal's six games lost Sunday are tied for his second fewest in a major final. He has won six major finals in which he has conceded fewer than 10 games, breaking a tie with Richard Sears for the most by any man in tennis history.

Given his age, and of more concern, the chronic pain in his left foot that has been an off-and-on problem for years, Nadal has said repeatedly in recent days that he can never be sure whether each match at Court Philippe Chatrier might be his last.

He played crisply and cleanly, accumulating more than twice as many winners as Ruud, 37 to 16. Nadal also committed fewer unforced errors, making just 16 to Ruud's 26.

When it ended with a down-the-line backhand from Nadal, he chucked his racket to the red clay he loves so much and covered his face with the taped-up fingers on both of his hands.

The Spanish star's first triumph in Paris came in 2005 at age 19. No man or woman ever has won the singles trophy at any major event more times than his 14 in Paris. And no man has won more Grand Slam titles than Nadal.

He is two ahead of rivals Roger Federer, who hasn't played in almost a year after a series of knee operations, and Novak Djokovic, who missed the Australian Open in January because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19.

For all that he has accomplished already, Nadal now has done something he never managed previously: He is halfway to a calendar-year Grand Slam thanks to titles at the Australian Open and French Open in the same season.

Nadal improved to 14-0 in finals at Roland Garros and 112-3 overall at his favorite tournament.

"You are a true inspiration for me, for everyone who follows tennis around the world," said Ruud, a 23-year-old from Norway participating in his first Grand Slam final, "so I hope -- we all hope -- that you will continue for some more time."

When the players met at the net for the prematch coin toss, the first chants of "Ra-fa! Ra-fa!" rang out in the 15,000-seat stadium. There would be more such choruses. Ruud heard his own support, especially when he briefly went up in the second set, with some in the stands marking points he won with drawn-out pronouncements of his last name, "Ruuuuuuud," that sounded as if they might be booing.

Ruud considers Nadal his idol. He recalls watching all of Nadal's past finals in Paris on TV. He has trained at Nadal's tennis academy in Mallorca.

They have played countless practice sets together there with nothing more at stake than bragging rights. Nadal usually won those, and Ruud joked the other day that's because he was trying to be a polite guest.

The two had never met in a real match until Sunday, when a championship, money, ranking points, prestige and a piece of history were on the line. And Nadal demonstrated, as he has so often, why he's known as the King of Clay -- and among the game's greatest ever.

"We all know what a champion you are, and today I got to feel how it is to play against you in a final. And it's not easy," Ruud said. "I'm not the first victim. I know that there have been many before."

Nadal can now place this latest Coupe des Mousquetaires alongside the trophies he gathered at Roland Garros from 2005 to '08, 2010 to '14 and 2017 to '20. He has also won the US Open four times and the Australian Open and Wimbledon twice apiece.

"For me, personally, it's very difficult to describe the feelings that I have," Nadal said. "It's something that I, for sure, never believed -- to be here at 36, being competitive again, playing in the most favorite court of my career, one more time in the final. It means a lot to me. Means everything."

ESPN's Tom Hamilton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Mike Fratello won everything from big games and to an Emmy award. He also won the respect of his peers.

Fratello was announced Sunday as this year's recipient of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the National Basketball Coaches Association. He becomes the 17th winner of the award, which originated in 2009.

Fratello has been involved in the NBA in some capacity -- assistant coach, head coach or broadcaster -- since the late 1970s. He spent parts of 17 seasons as a head coach in Atlanta, Cleveland and Memphis, winning 667 regular-season games and 20 playoff contests. He also won a New York Emmy for best on-camera sports analyst in 2015.

"Chuck Daly was a special man and a special coach -- and this is a special award," Fratello said. "It means so much to me because Chuck was a mentor, a close friend and a trusted confidant during my NBA coaching career and beyond. It is an honor to be recognized by my peers, whom I respect and admire."

Fratello will be formally presented with the award by NBCA president Rick Carlisle of the Indiana Pacers later Sunday before Game 2 of the NBA Finals in San Francisco.

Fratello was the NBA's coach of the year in the 1985-86 season with the Hawks, and he has been accomplished at the international level as well. He is a former coach of Ukraine's national team and most recently coached the United States men's team in qualifying games that clinched a berth for USA Basketball in the FIBA AmeriCup tournament scheduled for September.

"I wanted to be part of helping the United States move on and qualify for the next thing," Fratello said after those qualifying wins. "The fact we were able to do that was very rewarding to me. I love to see young guys get together, form a team, work together, play defense together, pass the ball together and then have success."

The NBCA came up with the Daly award to honor those who "set a standard for integrity, competitive excellence and tireless promotion of NBA basketball."

The past recipients are Larry Brown (2021), Del Harris (2020), Frank Layden (2019), Doug Moe (2018), Al Attles and Hubie Brown (2017), K.C. Jones and Jerry Sloan (2016), Dick Motta (2015), Bernie Bickerstaff (2014), Bill Fitch (2013), Pat Riley (2012), Lenny Wilkens (2011), Jack Ramsay and Tex Winter (2010), and Tommy Heinsohn (2009).

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. -- A Los Angeles Lakers jersey worn by Kobe Bryant in his rookie season, including two playoff games, has sold at auction for $2.73 million.

SCP Auctions said Sunday the buyer wished to remain anonymous, as did the seller, who had the jersey for 25 years. David Kohler of SCP Auctions had estimated the jersey from the 1996-97 season would fetch between $3 million and $5 million.

Another of Bryant's rookie jerseys went for $3.69 million last year. That autographed, yellow game-worn jersey fetched the highest price ever for a basketball jersey.

The winning bidder this time acquired the No. 8 jersey Bryant wore for the Lakers in regular-season wins at the old Forum on April 13, 1997, against Utah and April 17, 1997, against Sacramento. The jersey's authenticity was verified by independent authenticators, who photo-matched it, Kohler said.

Bryant was killed on Jan. 26, 2020, in a California helicopter crash that also took the lives of his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others.