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Monday July 2, 2018

CRISTIANO RONALDO couldn’t carry the team by himself this time.

The fi ve-time player of the year, who scored four goals in his opening two matches at the World Cup, was eliminated from the tournament Saturday after Portugal lost to Uruguay 2-1 in the round of 16.

“We gave our best,” Ronaldo said. “The team played well. As the team captain I am proud of this group.”

Portugal won the 2016 Euro-pean Championship and came to Russia with high expecta-tions following the surprise title

in France two years ago, its fi rst in a major tournament. Ronaldo started off this year’s tournament with a hat trick against Spain and then added another goal against Morocco.

But on Saturday, it was Edin-son Cavani who scored twice to earn victory for the Uruguay-ans.

“No team can win with one player alone,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said. “He tried. The team didn’t win because Uruguay scored twice.”

Portugal hasn’t reached the World Cup quarterfi nals since 2006, when a young Ronaldo led

the team to the semifi nals. Back then, Portugal lost to France and eventually fi nished fourth after losing to Germany in the consolation game.

Ronaldo, now 33 and still playing some of the best soccer of his life, failed to provide the spark Portugal needed against Uruguay.

Ronaldo’s great start in Russia allowed him to surpass the com-bined total of three goals he had scored in his previous three World Cups. He also joined Pele, Miroslav Klose and Uwe Seeler as the only players to score in four World Cups. (SD-Agencies)

WHAT Lionel Messi has never done, 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe did twice.

The quick-footed French teen-ager scored two goals in a fi ve-minute span of the second half to help his team rally for a 4-3 vic-tory over Argentina. Saturday’s victory gave France a spot in the World Cup quarterfi nals.

Messi, who turned 31 during his fourth and possibly fi nal World Cup, set up a pair of goals but again failed to score in a knockout match at the biggest event in soccer.

Mbappe got his two in his fi rst attempt.

Mbappe was a constant threat to Argentina’s creaking defense with his speed and skill and was at the heart of France’s often-breathtaking display, particularly in the middle of the second half.

He became the second teen-ager to score multiple goals in a knockout match at the World Cup. Pele was the other, doing it twice at 17 at the 1958 tourna-ment in Sweden.

“It is fl attering to be the second one after Pele but let’s put things

RUSSIA’S soccer federation has been fi ned by FIFA because a fan displayed a neo-Nazi banner at a World Cup game.

FIFA’s disciplinary panel ordered the Russian soccer body to pay 10,000 Swiss francs (US$10,100) for a “discrimina-tory banner” at the team’s 3-0 loss to Uruguay in Samara.

FIFA and monitoring experts working at World Cup matches said the banner included the number 88, which is recognized as far-right code for “Heil Hitler” because H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.

In a separate case, FIFA fi ned Serbia’s federation for a second time at the World Cup for fans displaying a Chetnik banner celebrating a World War II nationalist group. Serbia must pay 20,000 Swiss francs for a disciplinary charge of show-ing a “political and offensive banner” during the team’s 2-0 loss to Brazil in Moscow on Wednesday.

FIFA invited monitors from the anti-discrimination group Fare to work at World Cup games for the fi rst time.

FIFA said it also warned the Russian and Serbian federations, and also Brazil’s federation for unspecifi ed incidents involving its fans at the same game.

Morocco’s soccer federation was fi ned 65,000 Swiss francs, and FIFA also warned winger Noureddine Amrabat for mis-conduct after a late Spain goal cost the team a group-stage victory. Amrabat directed an obscene comment about FIFA’s video review system at a televi-sion camera minutes after a stop-page-time goal by Spain forward Iago Aspas was allowed to stand in the 2-2 draw at Kaliningrad.

FIFA said one disciplinary charge related to six Morocco staffers who “forced their way into the pitch after the fi nal whistle.”

Assistant coach Patrice Beau-melle was also warned.

Another charge was for crowd disturbances by Moroccan fans who threw objects in the sta-dium. (SD-Agencies)

NBA teams will be working with a salary cap of US$101.86 mil-lion for the coming season, with a luxury tax level of US$123.73 million.

The U.S. basketball league released those fi gures Saturday night, hours before the annual moratorium starts and teams can begin negotiating with free agents.

The fi gures are virtually the same as what teams have been expecting for some time.

With the cap set, the exact amounts of the various excep-tions are also known.

The non-taxpayer midlevel exception is US$8.64 mil-lion, the taxpayer midlevel is US$5.33 million, and the mid-level for teams with salary-cap

space will be US$4.44 million.The new numbers mean that

the max salary LeBron James could sign to stay with the Cleve-land Cavaliers is US$206.79 million over fi ve years. If James signs with a new team, the max would be four years, US$153.3 million.

Among the most interesting numbers in the memo were the

projections for the 2019-20 cap, which is up to US$109 million, and then 2020-21, which is up to US$116 million.

The minimum team salary for the 2018-19 season is US$91.68 million.

The moratorium ends at 12:01 p.m. ET Friday, when free-agent signings can become offi cial.

(SD-Agencies)

Mbappe stars as France beats Argentina

in context. Pele is another cat-egory,” Mbappe said. “But it’s good to be among the players to score in knockout matches.”

With the score 2-2, Mbappe got his fi rst goal with a cool fi nish from a tight angle in the 64th minute, his low shot going under Argentina goalkeeper Franco Armani. Four minutes later, he slotted past Armani again after he was put through on goal by a deft pass from Oliver Giroud.

Mbappe also helped France to its fi rst goal. Following a sustained period of early pres-sure, he won a penalty after a 40-meter burst of speed that ended with him being brought down by Marcos Rojo. Antoine Griezmann then scored from the spot in the 13th minute,

sending Armani the wrong way.“Our team is much younger,

but we are there. We answered the call,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “It was not easy because we were leading and then there was an equal-izer. Then they led 2-1, but we kept fi ghting. There is an excel-lent mentality in this group and we did everything to go further. We couldn’t miss it and we did win it.”

Mbappe was born a few months after France won the 1998 World Cup at home, its only title at the tournament. Deschamps was the captain of that team and Zinedine Zidane scored two goals in the fi nal.

“People remember more the World Cup victory than the year I was born,” Mbappe said. “It is

normal because it was the time we were World Cup winners, so that is obviously what they remember.”

France will next face Uruguay in the quarterfi nals on Friday in Nizhny Novgorod. Blaise Matu-idi will miss the match after receiving a second yellow card of the tournament.

Argentina briefl y took the lead in the 48th minute at Kazan Arena, but France defender Benjamin Pavard equalized nine minutes later with a superb strike from outside the area.

Argentina got its goals from Angel Di Maria, Gabriel Mer-cado and late substitute Sergio Aguero. Messi set up the latter two, fi rst sending a shot on goal that Mercado defl ected into the net in the 48th. (SD-Agencies)

Russia fi ned for neo-Nazi fan banner

Ronaldo unable to continue great run

France’s Kylian Mbappe (C) scores their third goal against Argentina during their match in Kazan, Russia, on Saturday. SD-Agencies

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (C) in action with Uruguay’s Lucas Torreira and Jose Gimenez (R) during their match in Sochi, Russia, on Saturday. SD-Agencies

NBA sets US$101.9m salary cap for 2018-19 season

Argentina’s Lionel Messi looks dejected as he removes the captain’s armband after the match against France on Sat-urday. SD-Agencies