Barcelona begin their La Liga title defence and bid for a third successive crown with a 5-0 victory at Elche.
Published On 23 Aug 202623 Aug 2026
Spanish champions Barcelona have cruised to a 5-0 win over Elche in their La Liga opener, with Raphinha and Fermin Lopez scoring twice each and Anthony Gordon setting up two goals on his debut.
After watching Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid defeat Espanyol 2-1 on Saturday with a late winner, Barca’s display on Sunday warned the Portuguese coach that the Catalans will not relinquish the title easily.
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Karim Adeyemi also found the net on his debut as Barca made light work of a vulnerable Elche side at Martinez Valero Stadium.
Hansi Flick started with several regular starters on the bench as they continue to get up to speed following the World Cup.
Teenage winger Lamine Yamal, a key part of the triumphant World Cup Spain squad, did start on the right but was far from his best, though it did not matter given Barca’s otherwise sparkling display.
Raphinha was cut down in the box by Victor Chust and stroked home the resulting penalty after 14 minutes to get Flick’s team on their way.
Eric Garcia was sharp at the back to ward off a threatening Elche attack, while Barca’s Gavi caught the eye in midfield – admittedly more for his pink haircut to celebrate Spain’s triumph than for his performance.
Rapid winger Adeyemi, playing on the left, started shakily but grew into the game and doubled Barca’s lead before the break after Raphinha unselfishly set him up.
In the second half, former Newcastle United winger Gordon, on as a substitute, teed up Raphinha for his second, and then supplied Lopez for Barca’s fourth in an electric and impressive cameo.
Youngster Xavi Espart played in Lopez, who endured a difficult summer after missing Spain’s World Cup triumph through injury, for his second to seal Barcelona’s comfortable triumph.
Flick’s high-line defence showed the occasional sign of its usual frailty, but goalkeeper Joan Garcia did well when called on to keep a clean sheet.
Raphinha told reporters after the game that “whether a game is easy or hard depends on us.
“If we start playing at the maximum level, we’re likely to win. It was a very tough game, but we did our job.”
Edwin Díaz said he understands the decision of the Dodgers to use him in lower-stake situations rather than immediately relying on him as a closer. The rationale is that strategy will help him rediscover his confidence.
“I know I haven’t done my job,” said Díaz, speaking to reporters at his locker before Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. “If I had done my job, I would be in the ninth inning.”
He praised Tanner Scott, who has thrived in that role.
“He’s doing a great job,” Díaz said. “I’m really happy for him.”
Díaz, the team’s biggest offseason acquisition, had elbow surgery early in the season and was out from April to late July. His return wasn’t triumphant, as he had three blown saves and two more shaky outings in non-save situations.
Díaz said he underwent an MRI scan on his neck and nothing unusual was revealed. He’s working with coaches on making a small adjustment to his delivery.
“They showed me a couple videos from last year — my arm slot’s always a little low,” he said. “We’re working now to get it higher and more consistent in that position.”
The goal, naturally, is to make good on the expectations the Dodgers had for him when they signed him to a three-year, $69-million deal.
“That’s why they signed me here,” he said. “To be the closer.”
There were early glimpses of just what Jaissle’s side could be – the intensity, the balls in behind, the grit, spirit and work rate.
Few embodied those qualities quite like new arrival Amar Dedic, who only completed his £30m move from Benfica on Tuesday, but what was just as striking was the performances of one or two of last summer’s signings following difficult first seasons on Tyneside.
It was Anthony Elanga who opened the scoring against Liverpool with a well-taken finish into the bottom corner while Yoane Wissa, who set up substitute Joe Willock’s second, is clearly relishing added responsibility under Jaissle.
It said it all that Wissa, a forward, won more duels (11) than any other Newcastle player on Sunday.
“The manager expects me to be a leader and lead the group,” the 29-year-old told Sky Sports.
“He wants me to be winning balls, making sure everyone is going forward, going for the kill, and sometimes just be calm.”
Jaissle saluted Wissa’s display, even if he could not help but add he also had the chance to “kill the game” to make it 3-1.
No other side dropped more points (27) from winning positions in 2025-26 and predecessor Howe was the first to admit last May that “anything can happen” after he was asked if such a habit could seep into this campaign.
Yet the reaction of those Newcastle supporters who stayed behind to applaud afterwards was telling on Sunday.
“We were there for each other if something went wrong,” Jaissle said of his players.
“We acted like a unit. In such a short amount of time, this is a top starting point and the frustration was there as well, but these are the challenges we have now.
“With the pre-season, with the transition phase, it’s normal. Today someone threw stones in the way and we need to take that out to be successful again.”
This remains a Liverpool side offering more questions than answers.
One significant question is the Cody Gakpo conundrum, which will roll into the final week of the transfer window.
If Liverpool do bring in two more attacking players then Gakpo may leave.
The club have been linked with Paris St-Germain’s Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye and have had two bids rejected for Brighton‘s Yankuba Minteh.
Yet Dutchman Gakpo was Liverpool‘s best player at Newcastle and took his goal brilliantly – while there was another positive in the performance of Spanish forward Victor Munoz on his Liverpool debut from the bench.
Munoz won the late penalty after replacing Ngumoha but Iraola’s decision to take off the English teenager off after just over an hour summed up how much he struggled down the right.
Ngumoha will turn 18 next week and has preferred to play down the left throughout his youth career but failed to have an impact on the other side.
With Iraola determined to have his wingers able to play on both sides, it remains to be seen if that experiment persists once Liverpool get more attackers in.
What is for certain is that Iraola needs more options. Once Munoz and Alexis Mac Allister came on in the 63rd minute, Iraola’s remaining bench options were: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Ronald Araujo, Wataru Endo, Kostas Tsimikas, Trey Nyoni, James McConnell and Lewis Koumas.
Defensively, both Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong had poor games at full-back and Liverpool were undone on the counter attack for both of the goals they conceded.
The lack of a defensive midfielder showed and it was revealing to see Iraola use Mac Allister just ahead of the back four after Joe Willock put Newcastle 2-1 up.
Liverpool have now conceded more goals via fast breaks in all competitions than any other Premier League team since the start of last season – nine.
All that and more will be food for thought for the new Liverpool boss but this was a relatively positive start to life under Iraola – who prefers to wait until the day after the match for a debrief.
“I’ve liked a lot of the things I’ve seen from the team,” he said. “There’s definitely things to improve like the goals but I’ve seen a lot of things I’ve liked from the team. I’ve liked the energy, especially the players coming from the bench. I think we finished the game quite strong physically.”
“We will never give up. I can guarantee you that,” Szoboszlai told Sky Sports. “We have to fight every time – all day long during the 90 minutes. Everybody who came off the bench also made an impact as well. We need the whole squad and we need to be ready.”
That desire was never a cause for concern on Tyneside. But this Liverpool squad must improve, both in terms of quality and quantity.
Former James Madison linebacker Trent Hendrick — who went undrafted in the 2026 NFL draft and participated in rookie minicamps with the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs but never signed with a team — committed to UCLA football Sunday, reuniting with coach Bob Chesney and defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler in Westwood.
The former JMU linebacker exhausted his eligibility after the conclusion of the 2025 season, but Hendrick, along with 15 other football players, was granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday by a Louisiana judge to play a fifth season of college football and enter the transfer portal.
Hendrick had 106 tackles, seven tackles for a loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles last season at James Madison under Chensey’s direction. His play earned him Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors.
James Madison’s Trent Hendrick tackles Washington State’s Maxwell Woods on Nov. 22 in Harrisonburg, Va.
(Brien Aho / Getty Images)
The restraining order follows a Colorado court ruling on July 31 that granted athletes who began their collegiate careers in the 2022-23 season a fifth year of eligibility for the upcoming season. Although the Colorado ruling stated players would not be allowed to enter the transfer portal, and a federal appeal court granted the NCAA a temporary stay on the Colorado court order Friday, pausing the nationwide injunction.
It is unclear whether the Louisiana ruling covering Hendrick’s transfer will be contested.
While Hendrick reportedly considered multiple schools, including local Virginia Tech — the alma mater of his agent Zach Hoban — and Tosh Lupoi-led California, the middle linebacker opted for comfort with scheme and familiarity with the coaching staff at UCLA.
Hendrick represents a significant addition to Hitschler’s defense and should immediately fortify the center of the Bruins’ front seven.
UCLA’s run defense ranked 18th worst in the nation last season, conceding 190.4 yards per game, while JMU’s unit ranked fifth best, allowing just 85.1 yards per contest. Integral to the Dukes’ run-stopping was Hendrick, who not only captained the defense, but spearheaded the run support.
Oklahoma transfer linebacker Sammy Omosigho has handled middle linebacker duties since the start of the spring, but with the addition of Hendrick, Omosigho could slide back to the weakside linebacker slot — a position he is familiar with in his three years in Norman, Okla.
There Omosigho can elevate the team’s run stopping and use his athleticism to cover the middle of the defense sideline-to-sideline.
The addition of Hendrick could make fifth-year linebacker Jalen Woods the odd-man out in the starting defense, pushing the St. John Bosco High product to the second team alongside JMU transfer Drew Spinogatti and senior returner Donavyn Pellot.
This is my 50th year covering high school sports in Southern California. Here are my most memorable moments since 1976.
Former Crespi quarterback Captain Randy Redell (left) and sportswriter Eric Sondheimer (right) prepare to board an F–16 fighter jet for their 82-minute flight at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C., in 1998.
(Freelance)
1: It’s 1998. I’m in Sumter, S.C., invited to fly in an F-16 with former Crespi quarterback Randy Redell, an Air Force graduate, captain and pilot. To get cleared, I have to pass a pre-flight instruction class how to use a parachute and an explanation what to do with the barf bag. Randy, apparently at the egging on by his father, Bill, the football coach at St. Francis, takes the F-16 straight up. The G force is like a roller-coaster ride on steroids. Later he tells me to take control of the plane with the stick as I wear my helmet and oxygen mask and hear his instructions on the radio. Yes, it’s like riding a magic carpet. How can anything top an F-16 ride?
I’m going to have some fun this summer looking back on some memorable moments over nearly 50 years of covering high school sports in Southern California. Here is my most unique experience _ flying in an F-16 flown by former Crespi QB Randy Redell. pic.twitter.com/KZLPZtSSgr
Bret Saberhagen pitched a no-hitter for Cleveland High School during a 13-0 win over Palisades for the City Section championship at Dodger Stadium in 1982.
(Courtesy of Linda Saberhagen)
2: It’s June 14,1982. The City Section championship baseball game is at Dodger Stadium, where Bret Saberhagen of Cleveland High pitches the first and only no-hitter in championship game history. He retired 21 of 22 batters in a 13-0 win over a Palisades team that included an infielder named Steve Kerr. Saberhagen would go on to win two Cy Young Awards.
Associated Press Sports Editors award in 1988 for Eric Sondheimer story on Kentucky basketball recruit.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
3.: The lead story on ESPN’s 11:30 p.m. SportsCenter on April 13, 1988, was a report from the Los Angeles Daily News detailing a package that accidentally opened at an air freight service containing 20 $50 bills addressed to a high school basketball star at Fairfax and sent from the University of Kentucky. It led to NCAA sanctions against Kentucky and lots of resignations. My work gave me a lesson on the impact dedicated local journalism can have with a single story.
In 2001, Marcedes Lewis tries to get past De La Salle defenders.
(David Kawashima)
4: The game of the century that changed high school football forever was Long Beach Poly vs. Concord De La Salle in 2001 before 17,321 fans at Veterans Stadium and a national TV audience. It was 11 days after the 9/11 terrorist attack. It was No. 1 De La Salle, coached by Bob Ladouceur, with a 116-game winning streak and running back Maurice Drew. No. 2 Poly had coach Raul Lara, tight end Marcedes Lewis and many other future college players. De La Salle won 29-15. From that game on, TV games featuring high school football multiplied and schools began to travel around the country for marquee matchups.
Dorsey coach Paul Knox celebrates miracle win in 2001 City championship game at Coliseum.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
5: Never has there been an ending quite like the 2001 City Section football final at the Coliseum. Taft leads Dorsey 14-13 with seven seconds left. A fourth-down punt from the 32-yard line will run out the clock. But Dorsey’s Jesus Jimenez blocks the punt and Henry Badge picks up the bouncing ball in the end zone with no time left for a 19-14 win. “The ending was the craziest I’ve ever had,” Dorsey Hall of Fame coach Paul Knox said.
.The Northridge Little League All-Star team from 1994 was honored with a ticker-tape parade down Disneyland’s Main Street.
(Kari Rene Hall/The Los Angeles Times)
6.: The Earthquake Kids from Northridge Little League made it to the championship game of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., after the destructive 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Some of these 11- and 12-year-olds had unbelievable personalities, like a player named Matt Cassel. I got to see what a Northeast thunderstorm was like and see the big hill that kids slide down.
Former Granada Hills quarterback John Elway from the 1979 yearbook.
(Los Angeles Times)
7: It’s a 1977 City Section football playoff game that has gone into overtime. John Elway is the quarterback for Granada Hills. Jay Schroeder is the quarterback for Palisades. Both would become Super Bowl quarterbacks. But on this day, they had to try to deliver victory in a California tiebreaker, with the ball placed on the 50-yard and the team that advanced the ball farthest after alternating plays wins. On the seventh of eight plays, Elway completed a 28-yard pass to Scott Marshall to clinch victory.
Crespi’s Russell White carries the ball during a game against St. John Bosco on Nov. 7, 1986.
(John McCoy / Los Angeles Times)
8: In 1986, a sophomore running back with stunning skills, Russell White, leads Crespi to the San Fernando Valley’s first and only Southern Section Division 1 football championship with a 49-14 win over St. John Bosco. He goes on to star at Cal and gets drafted by the Rams. He becomes the commissioner of the Oakland Section, then football coach at Flintridge Prep. Forty years later, his son, Zachary, was a star basketball player at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
Five years ago I shot this video of Roybal coach Danny O’Fallon collapsing after his team won City title. He would die of cancer. Beloved coach. pic.twitter.com/JO8eLhUo8j
9: I rarely go to City Section Division III championship basketball games — unless my alma mater, Sun Valley Poly, is involved. It was 2019, and right before the start, I learned that Roybal coach Danny O’Fallon was dying of cancer. As the buzzer sounded and Roybal won, 51-47, O’Fallon collasped onto the gym floor in tears. Players came back to form a huddle around him and comfort him. It’s the most emotional, gut-wrenching scene. I get tears each and every time I watch video of the moment. He’d die a year later in 2020 at the age of 49. Bill Plaschke wrote a heart-warming column.
Anaheim Canyon players celebrate after winning the 2015 Division 2AA championship with a 28-point comeback win over Lawndale.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
10: The 2015 Southern Section Division 2AA championship basketball game at Honda Center produced the greatest comeback I’ve witnessed, with Anaheim Canyon rallying from a 28-point deficit in the third quarter and 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Lawndale 103-98 in double overtime. Nick Anderson scored 37 points. Canyon coach Nate Harrison was exhausted and exhilarated afterward.
Harry Welch, the only football coach to win three state titles at three different schools _ Canyon Country Canyon, Santa Margarita and St. Margaret’s.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
11: When it comes to upsets, few were bigger than Canyon Country Canyon beating the nation’s No. 1-ranked football team, De La Salle, 27-13, in the inaugural CIF Division I state championship bowl game in Carson in 2006. Coach Harry Welch, on his way to a Hall of Fame career, orchestrated everything with a little help and belief from his players.
Brisket, ribs and mac and cheese at Pecan Lodge in Dallas.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
12: I always wanted to see what Texas high school football was like after reading the book, “Friday Night Lights,” and experience Texas barbecue. It happened in 2021 when Mater Dei played Duncanville. I spent two days traveling around, seeing Allen High’s $62-million stadium, watching a game at AT&T Stadium and tasting BBQ. All the reports were true _ Texas is one of a kind.
You know what keeps me coming back year after year: Talking to high school athletes who show resilience and determination and don’t care what people think. It’s inspiring. They plug ahead and keep getting back up off the floor. Never doubt what a teenager can accomplish.
Harvard-Westlake’s twin towers Jarron (left) and Jason Collins in 1994.
(For the Times)
14: In the 1990s, the Collins twins, 7-foot Jason and 6-11 Jarron, arrived at Harvard-Westlake, and the rest is history. They’d win state championships, star at Stanford and play in the NBA. In 1999, while they were at Stanford, I wrote a story about their special bond. Former UCLA coach John Wooden said of their progress, “I think they’ve improved. I’m sorry [UCLA] didn’t get them. It’s nice to get twins who are talented and good students.” Jarron’s two daughters are playing for Harvard-Westlake and a son is in eighth grade. Jason died May 12, 2026, of brain cancer. He was 47.
Masaki Matsumoto coaching at Bernstein High in 2013.
(Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)
15: People were telling me in 2013 about an innovative, creative football coach named Masaki Matsumoto at Bernstein High in Hollywood. I found out the coach sent home letters to parents asking them to write a letter to their son and say something positive while expressing their love. Reading the letters myself and seeing players read out loud with tears in their eyes provided a powerful example what can happen when parents express their true feelings. It led to a story that became an ESPN documentary. Matsumoto now coaches at Lincoln High in Tacoma, Wash.
In 2014, Caleb Wilson of Gardena Serra tries to make a catch in a playoff game won by Corona Centennial 68-64.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
16: Trying to keep statistics when Corona Centennial is using its no-huddle offense is challenging, but doing it in a wild 2014 playoff game against another no-huddle offense run by Gardena Serra was mind-boggling. Centennial won 68-64 in a game that had 15 lead changes and 12 touchdown passes.
Birmingham’s Peyton Waters, center, tries to outjump Del Norte defenders for a Hail Mary pass in the final seconds of the Division 3-AA regional bowl game. It went off his hands and was caught by teammate Devyn Taylor with no time left for the win.
(Craig Weston)
17: It’s not every night you get to see a miracle play work. In a 2023 regional playoff game in San Diego, Birmingham trailed Del Norte 28-24. Birmingham had one final play from its 48-yard line. Quarterback Kingston Tisdell avoided the rush and threw the ball down the middle. It went off the hands of Peyton Waters and landed in the hands of Devyn Jackson for a game-winning touchdown.
18: The pandemic was about to shut down high school sports in 2020. The final high school basketball game turned out to be a memorable Open Division regional final between Sierra Canyon and Etiwanda at Cal State Northridge. Sierra Canyon rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to win 63-61 on a shot at the buzzer by future NBA player Ziaire Williams. The state championships were canceled.
Former Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School basketball teammates, from left, LeBron James, Dru Joyce III, and Willie McGee, appear in their high school gym on Friday, Aug. 21, 2009.
(Amy Sancetta / Associated Press)
19: On Jan. 4, 2003, Los Angeles got its first look at a teenage basketball player everyone said was destined for greatness. The hype was so big he sold out Pauley Pavilion. LeBron James scored 21 points to help St. Vincent-St. Mary’s defeat Mater Dei 64-58. I was not impressed with his three-point shooting, but his work ethic changed that. He’d be drafted No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s entering his 24th NBA season and is the all-time NBA scoring leader. But my biggest memory was the family sending someone to get him food from Burger King instead of Lawry’s at a media event that week.
Chino Hills guard LaMelo Ball pulls up for a shot over Mater Dei’s Michael Wang and Matthew Weyand (21).
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
20: In 2017, a sold-out crowd of more than 10,000 showed up at USC’s Galen Center to witness an astounding basketball doubleheader featuring a playoff semifinal matching Chino Hills against Mater Dei and Bishop Montgomery against Sierra Canyon. It was an electric atmosphere and the games lived up to expectations. Mater Dei, led by future NBA player Bol Bol, beat Chino Hills and LaMelo Ball in overtime. Bishop Montgomery upset No. 1-seeded Sierra Canyon and future NBA first-round draft pick Marvin Bagley Jr. Anyone who attended will say it was the best two games of high school playoff basketball they’ve seen.
Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Jered Weaver throws to the plate during the second inning of his no-hitter against the Twins in 2012.
(Uncredited/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
21: Major League Baseball beat writers need occasional breaks during the season, so on May 2, 2012, I was recruited to fill in for Mike DiGiovanna to report on the Angels-Twins game from Angel Stadium. I was excited to get to see former Simi Valley pitcher Jered Weaver on the mound. I’m also the good-luck writer. Whenever I cover a pro game, strange things happen. Sure enough, Weaver threw a no-hitter in my only Angel game of the year. Maybe Shohei Ohtani should invite me to his next start for the Dodgers.
: Right–hand pitcher Lucas Giolito (right) and left–hander Max Fried (left) of Harvard–Westlake in 2012.
(Los Angeles Times)
22: I’m sitting in the Harvard-Westlake dugout in January 2012 interviewing Max Fried and Lucas Giolito, two future first-round draft picks. Fried arrived after Montclair Prep canceled its sports program. They’d go on to be major league pitchers after each endured arm surgeries. Somehow, they got placed in the same classes, starting a friendship that will last a lifetime. Here’s video of that moment.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame baseball coach Tom Dill with his former pupil, Giancarlo Stanton.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
25: I never thought I’d run into a better all-around athlete than John Elway. Then Mike Stanton, now known as Giancarlo Stanton, showed up at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and by his senior year in 2007, he was All-CIF in football, basketball and baseball. As baseball coach Tom Dill said, “He’s a highlight reel every three or four games.” The only thing he couldn’t do was make free throws. He would lose a contest to Shaquille O’Neal.
Jon Garland pitching for Kennedy High.
(Los Angeles Times)
26: The reason I like baseball best among all the sports in Southern California is because it produces the most pro prospects every year, and it’s not even close. There’s so many top pitchers I’ve seen before they were household names. Paul Skenes. Gerrit Cole. Jack McDowell. Bret Saberhagen. Max Fried. It goes on and on. Here’s a story from 2024 looking at the best pitchers through the years.
Hall of Fame basketball player Gail Goodrich returned to Sun Valley Poly High for a ceremony to name the gym after him in 2025.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Anges Times)
Gail Goodrich scored 29 points in 1961 City final for Poly High. He scored 42 points for UCLA in 1965 NCAA final. He led the Lakers in scoring during the NBA championship year of 1971-72. Los Angeles sports legend. 82 years old and humble as ever. pic.twitter.com/zr8ddI3O9e
Nine months after brain surgery for a football injury, Nathan Santa Cruz of Venice ran the anchor leg in the 4×400 relay and helped the Gondoliers finish second at the City Section championships and earn spot in state championships.
(Craig Weston)
29: On the opening night of the 2022 high school football season, 15-year-old sophomore Nathan Santa Cruz of Venice suffered a head injury that resulted in emergency brain surgery to save his life. Thanks to the fast action of medical personnel at the game and at the hospital, he was back running track nine months later. It took months of being patient waiting for people to be willing to talk about the emotional scene to explain how his life was saved. He returned to play football in 2023 and 2024.
Long Beach Poly coach Sharrief Metoyer throws his hands up in an act of exasperation along the sidline.
(Los Angeles Times)
30: The frustration with CIF transfer rules reached an unprecedented moment in a 2013 state basketball playoff game between Long Beach Poly and Mater Dei. Poly coach Sharrief Metoyer chose to put into the game an ineligible player in protest. I watched in horror knowing the consequences. He’d never coach another game for Poly. It was sad that a young, promising coach had made a terrible mistake. He was suspended for a year and then resigned.
End of 3, Sierra Canyon 35, San Marino 14. This game is pretty much done. Start warming up the bus to Sacramento for Sierra Canyon.
31: In 2015, I learned a valuable lesson: Don’t tweet that a game is over until it’s really over. With San Marino down 21 points in the fourth quarter to Sierra Canyon in a state football playoff game I tweeted, “Start warming up the bus to Sacramento for Sierra Canyon.” Well, San Marino rallied for a 36-35 victory. I don’t think Sierra Canyon coach Jon Ellinghouse will ever forgive me for the jinx.
Servite coach Troy Thomas, in 2009, is congratulated by assistant coach Ken Foersch, now the president of Crespi.
(Christine Cotter/Los Angeles Times)
32: I still think Edison had the best football team in 2009. Unfortunately, it rained and rained and Angel Stadium became a soggy field more suitable for ducks. The surfer team couldn’t handle it, with Servite beating the Chargers 16-6 in the Pac-5 championship game. It was Edison’s only loss of the season and the Chargers had beaten Servite in the regular season. I remember walking on the field afterward and ruining my shoes and seeing Servite players love every moment of playing in the rain.
With downtown Los Angeles in the background, Contreras football coach Manuel Guevara prepares for another obstacle this season — ICE raids that strike fear among his players and their parents.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
33: In the summer of 2025, immigration agents, dressed in tactical gear and riding on horses and in armored vehicles, made a show of force through MacArthur Park trying to strike fear into the immigrant community. And they did. More than 20 players skipped football practice at Contreras in downtown Los Angeles. I went there and saw the fear on the faces of players wondering if their parents would even show up to games in the fall. It resulted in an important story how teenagers were being affected by ICE.
34: The Wolf brothers, Jim and Randy, from El Camino Real, were destined to do what they loved best — umpire and pitch, respectively, in the major leagues. Their dreams came true. In 1997, as each was doing the hard preparation work to fulfill their goals, I wrote a story, “Brothers of Summer.” “It’s like trying to get on the Supreme Court,” Randy said of his brother’s umpire journey. “It’s just sticking it out and not giving up,” Jimmy said.
Quarterback Josh Rosen, in a 2013 photo, celebrating St. John Bosco going 16-0.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
35: St. John Bosco finished 16-0 in 2013 with a 20-14 win over De La Salle before a record crowd of 16,791 in Carson to win the Open Division state championship bowl game. The game had drama and excitement but what really stayed in my memory was quarterback Josh Rosen jumping into the stands and getting his photo taken with St. John Bosco fans and students.
In 1992, Eric Sondheimer presents Taft High grad Quincy Watts a gift from winning the 400 meters at the Olympic Games.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
36: It’s 1992, and Taft High graduate Quincy Watts won the 400 meters at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. He came home with two gold medals and his alma mater honored him. I got to present him a framed newspaper copy of his achievement. Twenty years later, I wrote a story with the headline: Quincy Watts is a role model for what is possible.
Former Taft standout Steve Smith had his No. 2 jersey number retired in 2023 and brought his three sons, Jordan (left), Theo and Carter.
(Craig Weston)
37: Steve Smith was a prodigy at Taft High in football and basketball. He made amazing receptions and dunked against anybody. He had his football jersey retired in 2023. He joined the City Section Hall of Fame in 2025. He became a standout receiver for USC and a Super Bowl champion with the New York Giants. He and his brother, Malcolm, a linebacker and another Super Bowl winner, were examples of all the good that can happen when raised by parents to be respectful and humble.
Serra High School receiver Robert Woods in 2008.
(Los Angeles Times)
38: In 2008, I met a promising receiver at Gardena Serra, Robert Woods, and learned what his motivation would be for years — make his older sister, Olivia, proud after she had died of cancer in the spring at the age 17. He’d become an All-American at USC and Super Bowl winner with the Rams.
39: Rodrick Pleasant of Gardena Serra was fast. He was so fast that in 2022, I was there at Moorpark High to see him run the fastest wind-legal 100 meters time in state history, 10.14 seconds, as he let out a primal scream.
Windward freshman Juju Watkins could be a trendsetter in women’s basketball. She’s averaging 21 points as a 14-year-old.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
40: First there was Cheryl Miller, then Lisa Leslie. They were the faces of high school girls’ basketball in Southern California. Along came JuJu Watkins, a 14-year-old freshman at Windward who her coach, Vanessa Nygaard, told me in 2020, “Her potential is unknown.” She became The Times’ player of the year as a freshman. Her skills were off the charts, as was her personality. Her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins, was a revered leader in Watts in the 1960s. In the era of NIL, she got an agent, signed a shoe deal, transferred to Sierra Canyon and became the No. 1 player in the country before signing with USC and becoming a national figure.
Jim Toring, then a Harvard-Westlake High School senior, is photographed in the campus pool in Studio City on May 25, 1993.
(Brian Vander Brug/For The Times)
41: It’s May 3, 1998, and I have tears at the celebration of life for Jim Toring, one of America’s greatest athletes in the sport of water polo. I met him when he was a freshman at Harvard-Westlake. His coach, Rich Corso, told me how great he’d become. He led UCLA to two NCAA titles and was destined to be a star for the U.S. Olympic water polo team in 2000. He was killed at the age of 23 in a bus accident in Paris. `
Former Campbell Hall and Northridge Little Leaguer Michael Frost.
(Los Angeles Times)
42: In 2000, Michael Frost was a senior at Campbell Hall and asked to look back at what happened to him as a 12-year-old. He struck out to end Northridge Little League’s 4-3 loss to Venezuela in the 1994 Little League World Series. I wrote: “He was only 12, too young to think his life was ruined but old enough to understand he had gone through a life-changing experience.” Six years later: “It was very hard to get over that. I learned how to deal with it and it became one of the best life experiences I’ve ever had, to come back from a failure and strive to be better.” The power of moving forward. He ended up pitching in college.
Carson coach Elijah Asante addressing players in the locker room in 2010 before 14-10 upset of Mater Dei.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
43: It was the first football game of the 2010 season, and Carson coach Elijah Asante invited me to be a passenger on the bus to and from Santa Ana Stadium for a game against Mater Dei. He wore a microphone in the locker room and allowed me to give readers a behind-the-scenes look. Incredibly, Carson defeated Mater Dei 14-10 and it was my favorite video ever shot.
Riding in a jeep on a muddy road in Kenya, sportswriter Eric Sondheimer and former North Hollywood basketball coach Steve Miller do a podcast in 2018.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
44: Before Zoom, before podcasts became big, I was taping a weekly show for YouTube with former North Hollywood basketball coach Steve Miller entitled, “Sondy and the Coach.” In 2018, one episode was taped in a jeep while driving on a muddy road in Kenya and shaking back and forth. It was safari time.
Brothers, Jrue and Justin Holiday of the Campbell Hall basketball team in 2005.
(Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times)
45: In 2014, Jrue Holiday of Campbell Hall acted like he was a most normal high school student even though everyone predicted NBA stardom was ahead. The lead of a column was: “Standing at the entrance to the gymnasium at North Hollywood Campbell Hall and wearing a Disneyland hat with the name ‘Grumpy’ emblazoned on its front, a smiling and playful Jrue Holiday hardly fit the profile of an All-American high school basketball player who, in a couple of years, could be playing with or against Kobe Bryant.” He was the manager for the girls’ tennis team and did the dishes at home.
Jack McDowell sent a signed plaque of his 1993 Cy Young Award to Eric Sondheimer, who covered him in 1984 at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
46: Jack McDowell was one of the best and most competitive high school athletes ever. In 1984, he helped pitch Sherman Oaks Notre Dame to a 27-1 record. He became an All-American at Stanford and Cy Young Award winner with the Chicago White Sox. His battle with umpires was legendary. “There were umpires in the Valley who trembled at the thought of being behind home plate with McDowell on the mound,” I wrote. “He might have been only a teenager, but he wasn’t afraid to bark out an expletive if he didn’t like a pitch call.” He sent me a framed and autographed plaque of his 1993 Cy Young Award. It showed me that a journalist can be fair and critical at the same time and earn an athlete’s respect.
This is still one of my favorite moments. Neil Diamond showing up to sing “Sweet Caroline” for the opening of Notre Dame High’s $3 million baseball field in 2014. https://t.co/f658Y0tsw9
47: Sherman Oaks Notre Dame opened its new $3-million baseball field in 2014, and the highlight besides unveiling the field was Neil Diamond showing up to sing, “Sweet Caroline,” with Larry King and Pete Rose watching.
Pablo Suarez, a former Chaminade athlete, owned 30 thoroughbreds in 2006.
(Myung J Chun / Los Angeles Times)
48: It was one of the strangest stories told in 1986. Chaminade student Pablo Suarez pulled off the charade of the year. His mother refused to sign a permission slip for him to play football. His father agreed to sign, and for nine months they kept the secret he was playing quarterback. One time his mother went to clean his closet. “We had a long hallway, and I sprinted down the hallway and opened the window,” he said. “I think I busted the screen to throw the [football] stuff out.” The secret was discovered when a courtesy phone call was made telling his mom about an injury. “My dad spent a couple days sleeping on the couch,” Suarez said.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, formerly of Harvard-Westlake, is now a star player for the Chicago Cubs.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
49: It’s the spring of 2020. The pandemic has shut down all high school sports. I’m sitting at home frustrated and bored. Then-sports editor Chris Stone suggests doing a video series using the new Zoom technology to interview seniors about how they are dealing with the pandemic. It was entitled, “Season Interrupted.” Suddenly, I’m fired up and interviewing athletes every day. The first was future major leaguer Pete Crow-Armstong. It helped save my sanity and re-charge my enthusiasm while keeping high school sports going at a time of uncertainty.
50: It’s late into the night at Dodger Stadium in the 1985 City Section final. Neither Kennedy nor Banning is budging. It’s the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied at 9-9. Up comes sophomore Kevin Farlow of Kennedy with two outs. He hits a game-winning home run down the left-field line. It’s bedlam for the fans who stayed. It’s stunning to see a high school kid hit a walk-off home run in a major league park.
Eric Sondheimer interviews Dominic Dent during his days at Corona Centennial.
(/Nick Koza)
It’s been a great run. Thank you to the many photographers, some of them freelancers who worked for no pay, just wanting to be part of the high school sports experience. And thank you to those who still read newspapers. They may one day go away unless community members, young and old, provide support. There’s many more stories to tell. And I’m not retiring anytime soon.
Eric Sondheimer plays golf in the 1990s with Simi Valley and UCLA star Don MacLean and legendary sportswriter Pete Kokon, who gave Eric his first job at $15 a story for the San Fernando Sun.
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the Faroe Islands back calls for Infantino’s resignation amid FIFA crisis.
Published On 23 Aug 202623 Aug 2026
Six Nordic football associations have delivered a united blow to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, declaring they have lost confidence in his leadership while demanding sweeping governance reforms at world football’s governing body.
The six Nordic FIFA members – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the Faroe Islands – met in Helsinki and issued a rare joint statement on Sunday, backing calls for Infantino’s resignation from three major regional confederations.
They also supported demands for an independent investigation into his proposal to sell a stake in events like the World Cup to private equity investors, a plan that was quickly abandoned in the face of a global backlash.
“The six Nordic football associations have lost confidence in FIFA’s president and are concerned about the organisation’s governance and decision-making at the highest level,” they said in a statement.
“The Nordic football associations stand united with UEFA and support the measures that the organisation and its national member associations have jointly proposed.
“We expect FIFA to provide binding guarantees that the organisation’s governance or competitions will never again be opened up to private ownership.”
FIFA did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
On Friday, Denmark’s football association pledged to find a credible alternative to Infantino in March’s presidential election.
Infantino is under pressure from three confederations to resign: UEFA, the AFC and CONCACAF.
The sport’s regional powerhouses in Europe, Asia, and North and Central America and the Caribbean have also discussed a potential vote of no confidence against the FIFA chief.
“We also support the demand made by AFC, CONCACAF and UEFA that a fully independent external investigation into the events surrounding the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal be established,” the Nordic associations added.
“We also call on FIFA to initiate a comprehensive and independent review of its governance framework to determine whether it ensures the independence, checks and balances, transparency and accountability that were intended when FIFA adopted its reform programme in 2016.”
Infantino, who is seeking a fourth term until 2031 in next year’s election, is in the Dominican Republic this weekend, where he has met with officials of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU).
CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani had asked Infantino to stay away from a youth football tournament in the country, saying his presence would overshadow the event.
“This meeting of the presidents of CFU takes place in the environment of [an] under-14 youth tournament in the region, which actually is one of those tournaments that can take place thanks to the FIFA Forward programme,” Infantino said.
“So even more so a reason to be proud to be here and happy as well because it’s important to engage, to have a dialogue, to express views and opinions.”
Long before he arrived at USC, a couple days shy of his 17th birthday, Ethan “Boobie” Feaster had always been in a hurry to grow up.
He was the baby of the Feaster family, seven years younger than his next youngest sibling. But nothing about his behavior, even as a kid, suggested as much. He was always quiet, calm, determined, seemingly from birth, according to his father, Lee. When Lee Feaster encouraged Boobie at age 8 to write down his goals, and “make ‘em plain,” Boobie took the advice literally. He went straight to his bathroom mirror and copied them down. They’re still written on the bathroom mirror, to this day.
When he was 9, Boobie asked his father to buy him a football poster. Lee came in later to find it attached to the ceiling, above his bed. He asked Boobie why.
“I need it to be the first thing I see when I wake up,” Lee recalled him saying, “and the last thing I see when I go to bed.”
This, needless to say, was not exactly normal behavior for a 9-year-old. But nothing about Boobie Feaster has ever been normal. Least of all the relentless drive that would one day have everyone at USC raving and others around the nation whispering about one of the most anticipated freshman in college football.
Neither is it normal exactly for USC’s offensive-minded coach, Lincoln Riley, to enter into a season so unproven at the receiver position.. With the status of No. 1 receiver Tanook Hines still unclear less than a week out from the season opener, USC will almost certainly have to rely on a group of talented freshman receivers to hit the ground running.
That includes Boobie, who at just 17 years and three months, will be the youngest among them by a wide margin. In fact, he may be the youngest ever to suit up at USC. Feaster is the school’s youngest player dating back to when USC started recording player birth dates.
But talk to those who know Boobie best, and they’ll tell you that age, in his case, is merely a number.
“He’s always been an old soul,” said Kerry Sweeney, the receivers coach at DeSoto High in Texas.
Sweeney met Boobie when he was in the seventh grade. He’d heard about the kid’s stellar football IQ, so he tried to stump him. He asked Feaster, then barely 12, to explain the difference between cover-2 and cover-3 defenses.
Boobie Feaster looks across the field during a youth football game. The USC receiver frequently played against older kids.
(Courtesy of Lee Feaster)
“He knew exactly what it was,” Sweeney said.
What Sweeney didn’t know was that when Lee Feaster, a football coach himself, was studying game film, Boobie was right there with him. He knew a lot more than coverage schemes.
Boobie had also been playing up one — or two even — age levels. In the seventh grade, he started working with a personal receivers coach, David Robinson of D-Rob Sports & Fitness Training. A year later, Robinson had Boobie, as an eighth grader, training with former NFL receivers, such as Dez Bryant, or college receivers on their way to the NFL.
“There was no polish or anything,” Robinson said. “But he was just a natural. Natural speed, natural length, naturally tall.”
But it was his mind that continued to mystify coaches most. Even at a young age, he made sure to concern himself with the minor nuances of the playbook and the receiver position. By the time he debuted as a freshman at DeSoto, coaches already trusted him to run choice routes, which gives the receiver multiple different options based on the defensive alignment.
By the state playoffs that season, Sweeney said that Boobie was already the best receiver on a team that would produce three Division 1 wideouts.
“He was dominating,” Sweeney said, “as a freaking freshman. “
It seemed clear to everyone around him, at that point, that Boobie could handle skipping a season of high school football. So after his sophomore season, Boobie reclassified from the Class of 2027, in which he was recognized as a top-five prospect in the nation, to 2026.
His relationship with USC receivers coach Dennis Simmons was solidified by that point. They’d been introduced when Boobie was in the seventh or eighth grade — and just beginning to blow up on social media. Simmons said he was impressed by Boobie’s maturity.
“He recruited Boobie really hard,” Robinson said. “That relationship is what really kind of jump-started USC as a front-runner.”
USC never relinquished that spot. But Feaster had to wait until he enrolled at USC this summer while the other talented pass-catchers in his class got a head start.
That’s not to say he wasn’t trying to get ahead in other ways.
Boobie Feaster reaches out to catch a pass during his youth training before arriving at USC.
(Courtesy of Lee Feaster)
Lee Feaster said that before his son’s arrival at USC, Boobie was obsessing for months over USC’s playbook. He worked flashcards with Robinson and sometimes made his father line up in the street in front of their house just to commit certain plays and alignments to memory.
“Oh, he knew the playbook,” Lee Feaster said. “He knew it before he got there.”
He’s opening eyes at USC practice. During a preseason scrimmage at the Coliseum last week, Boobie burst through a sliver in USC’s defense and took a tunnel screen to the house, reminding in one play exactly why USC’s coaches thought he was ready to contribute at 17.
“He was game-ready,” wideout Terrell Anderson said, “as soon as he came in.”
How quickly he’ll actually influence a game at USC remains to be seen. The Trojans are expected to play several freshmen against San José State on Saturday, and anyone who knows Boobie will tell you it’s only a matter of time before he contributes. After all, after starting in the slot, Feaster took it upon himself to start learning the outside receiver spot.
When Boobie moved to L.A. in May, his father tagged along, just to make sure he got acclimated. His mother came shortly after that.
And they’re reminded sometimes that Feaster is still just a teenager. That he’s still got a lot of growing to do. His goals are still written on his bathroom mirror, to remind him of that every day.
But if the past is any indication, it shouldn’t be long.
“I believe, like three games in, everyone is going to be saying, ‘Who’s this freshman?” Sweeney said. “Who’s this Boobie Feaster?’”
Rae Burrell scored 20 points and the Sparks ended a six-game losing streak with a 77-68 win over the Connecticut Sun on Saturday night.
Nneka Ogwumike, who announced Wednesday she will retire at the end of the season, had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Sparks (13-24), her 131st career double-double. Erica Wheeler also had 11 points and Dearica Hamby had 10.
Saniya Rivers scored 14 points off the bench to lead the Sun (9-27), who were without Brittney Griner (knee) and Aaliyah Edwards (ankle). Leila Lacan added 13 points and Kennedy Burke 10.
The Sparks, which has given up an average of 93.6 points a game, held the league’s worst offense to 11 points below its average after surrendering 124 points to Atlanta on Thursday. The Sparks did that despite giving up 30 points on 25 turnovers.
A three-pointer from Wheeler at 6:12 of the fourth quarter produced a 77-55 lead but the Sun reeled off 13 straight for a single-digit deficit with less than two minutes to go but missed their last five shots.
The Sparks led 44-36 at halftime.
Connecticut hit four of 16 shots while the Sparks rebounded to make nine of 12 shots in the third quarter to boost their lead to 66-46.
Hamby was ejected early in the fourth quarter when she flung her right hand back while boxing out Raegan Beers, smacking her in the jaw. No foul was called as Beers went down, but as she went to the locker room the play was reviewed. Beers was given a loose ball foul while Hamby received a flagrant 2 foul for unnecessary and excessive contact.
Up next for the Sparks: Game three in a four-game home stand Monday against Atlanta.
In January, BBC Sport highlighted how Manchester City, as a separate entity, has turned selling players nurtured in their academy into big business.
Morgan Rogers, Douglas Luiz, Cole Palmer, Liam Delap and Oscar Bobb are among the players developed by City to have been sold on and are now playing, or have played, for rival Premier League sides.
City have recouped more than £250m from selling young players over the past five years alone.
“To find a balance between recruiting players for sporting success and ones that could become more of an asset in the future is difficult,” explained Marwood.
“One of the hardest bits about signing young players is that you don’t know an awful lot about them but some will come in, adapt, work hard, have ambition and aspiration and go on and have fantastic careers.
“Oleksandr Zinchenko is a prime example. Taty Castellanos is another. So is Jack Harrison.”
Invariably, CFG is not always on point with its talent identification of young talent. Some will make it, some will not. That’s the nature of the player recruitment beast.
The success of Rogers and Palmer, with Aston Villa and Chelsea, has shown that City have sometimes have sold too soon.
Former Aston Villa forward Rogers was sold by Manchester City to Middlesborough in February 2024 for an initial fee of £8m. Last month Chelsea paid £117m for him.
Palmer – sold by City for £40m in 2023 – would demand a similar fee if he were to leave Stamford Bridge.
But as Savinho takes the next step in his career, City are turning their attentions to the future.
There are high hopes for Ryan McAidoo, an 18-year-old at City who has already made his senior debut for the club.
Japan’s Shin Miidera, a 16-year-old attacker playing for partner club Yokohama F. Marinos, is another CFG are monitoring very closely.
Then there is 16-year-old American midfielder Cavan Sullivan, who currently plays for MLS club Philadelphia Union, but will join Manchester City when he turns 18.
Vitor Reiss – who spent last season on loan to Girona from City – is tipped to make the grade.
“In an ideal world you would love for them to stay with you from the beginning right through to the very end – but the reality is it’s probably not going to happen,” added Marwood.
“The challenge is can we produce the next one? OK- Savinho’s gone – but where is the next one? That’s the fascination of this business, you have to look three and four years ahead.
“It’s important we grow this hub of young talent and hopefully find them pathways and produce a conveyor belt of talent and use our network of clubs to aid there development.”
The measure of their success will be judged on the pitch and on the books.
FIFA boss turns up at event after CONCACAF chief Montagliani asked him to reconsider amid the global football body’s governance crisis.
Published On 23 Aug 202623 Aug 2026
Gianni Infantino has defied a request by one of his FIFA vice presidents to stay away from an Under-14 football event in the Caribbean and instead made a rare public appearance during the global furore over his failed plan to sell future World Cup profits to private investors.
The FIFA president posted photos on his Instagram account on Saturday, showing his meeting with political and football officials from the Dominican Republic on the sidelines of a Caribbean Football Union (CFU) youth tournament in the Punta Cana resort.
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On Friday, Infantino had been asked not to go by Victor Montagliani, the Canadian president of the Miami-based Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), to avoid being a distraction from the football games.
“I believe that considering the governance crisis surrounding FIFA as a result of your controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, the media will focus on this situation,” Montagliani wrote in an emailed letter seen by The Associated Press news agency, “which will unfortunately significantly take away from the technical nature of the CFU youth competition.”
“As such, I respectfully ask you in the name of football to reconsider your attendance as it will unfortunately undermine the technical nature of this important youth development activity,” Montagliani wrote.
FIFA declined to comment on Montagliani’s request, though it noted that it directly funds regional bodies like the CFU with up to $5m from each four-year World Cup cycle.
Montagliani has aligned with fellow FIFA vice presidents Aleksander Ceferin from European body UEFA and Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa in seeking to end Infantino’s increasingly executive presidency, now in its 11th year.
They accused Infantino two weeks ago of “deception” in secretly planning over the past year to spin off FIFA’s multibillion-dollar commercial activities to a subsidiary 20 percent owned by investors led by Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of United States President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Infantino withdrew the project on August 1 amid a global backlash by football leaders and fans, and hours after his own chief operating officer published stinging criticism of the proposal and his leadership style in a statement to the AP. The Zurich-based COO, Kevin Lamour, was fired last week.
Caribbean member federations are seen as potential supporters for Infantino to peel away from their CONCACAF leadership. South American body CONMEBOL has backed Infantino as its best path to hosting more games at the 2030 World Cup it wants expanded from 48 teams to 64.
The FIFA leader has not taken questions publicly since the $20bn FFE project was revealed on July 28 by British daily The Times, and on Friday in Punta Cana he evaded a reporter from British broadcaster Sky News.
Asked by Sky reporter James Matthews whether he had betrayed the sport and should resign, Infantino said, “Thank you so much”, and made quips about both men being bald.
Infantino is aiming to be re-elected for a fourth and final term in office through 2031 at the FIFA election congress next March in Rabat, Morocco. FIFA has set a November 18 deadline for would-be candidates to enter the race.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion will not be playing singles, but could team up with her older sister Venus for doubles.
Published On 23 Aug 202623 Aug 2026
Serena Williams will team up with Carlos Alcaraz to create a powerhouse mixed doubles pair on her return to the US Open.
The US Tennis Association announced on Saturday that Williams and Alcaraz had been given a wild card into the tournament. The mixed doubles main draw begins on Tuesday, with the winning team sharing $1 million.
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It will be Williams’s first time playing at the US Open since 2022. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion returned to tennis this summer.
“Let’s gooooo!” Alcaraz posted on X, with a fire emoji and tagging Williams.
Williams is not planning to play singles in New York. The USTA had been holding one women’s wild card, presumably in case Williams wanted it. However, the tournament announced on Saturday that it had been given to American Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion.
Williams played singles at Wimbledon but sustained a knee injury in her first-round loss. She played doubles with older sister Venus at the Cincinnati Open, and they could still opt to play together at the US Open.
Alcaraz announced this week he would return to defend his US Open singles title after being sidelined since April with a right wrist injury.
Serena Williams won a mixed doubles title at the US Open even before winning any of her six singles titles there. She teamed for the 1998 championship with Max Mirnyi, who now works with top-ranked woman Aryna Sabalenka.
The mixed doubles tournament is far different now, as the USTA revamped it last year to make it a two-day, 16-team event it hoped would draw top singles players.
Few are bigger than Williams and Alcaraz, the two-time US Open men’s champion who is ranked number two.
The USTA also announced a number of updates to the field after some players withdrew from the competition.
Americans Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz will team up, after their previous partners, Jack Draper and Elena Rybakina, pulled out with injuries. The teams of Emma Navarro and Tommy Paul, along with Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik, were given the remaining two wild cards into the main draw.
Diana Shnaider remains in the field and will be given a chance to find a new partner after Daniil Medvedev withdrew.
US Open mixed doubles teams: Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic, Pegula and Fritz, Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud, Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien, two-time defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, Alex Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime, Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Townsend and Alexander Zverev, Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils, Williams and Alcaraz, Muchova and Mensik, and Navarro and Paul.
The remaining two spots will be determined through an eight-team qualifying tournament on Monday.
The USTA gave wild cards to the teams of Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev, and Peyton Stearns and Christian Harrison, to be part of that field.
It is otherwise largely made up of the traditional doubles specialists who lost out on the chance to play in the US Open last year, with direct entry based on the players’ combined singles ranking.
Denis Bouanga scored late in the second half and LAFC escaped with a 1-1 draw after trailing the Portland Timbers for 75 minutes at BMO Stadium on Saturday night.
David Da Costa took a pass from Kristoffer Velde in the fourth minute and scored his third goal this season to give Portland a 1-0 lead that it carried into the 79th minute.
That’s when Bouanga used assists from Jude Terry and Aaron Long to knot the score with his 11th goal of the season.
Portland forward Vincent Janssen, who entered in the 69th minute, picked up yellow cards in the 89th and third minute of stoppage time to leave the Timbers down a man.
But, James Pantemis finished off a 10-save night for Portland (8-9-4) — including his final one on a shot by Bouanga in the final minute of stoppage time — to keep it tied.
Pantemis had five saves in the first half with four of them coming in the first 22 minutes.
Hugo Lloris turned away one shot for LAFC (10-7-5), which was coming off back-to-back 1-0 losses.
Portland is 4-1-2 in its last seven matches.
The Timbers beat LAFC on their last trip to BMO Stadium and lead the all-time series 7-6-8.
The women’s all-American final will be followedby a men’s title clash between Frances Tiafoe and Arthur Fils of France.
Published On 23 Aug 202623 Aug 2026
Jessica Pegula rallied in the third set to topple defending champion Iga Swiatek and book a title showdown with Coco Gauff at the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament.
World number three Pegula won a “crazy” match against Swiatek 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday in the US city.
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Gauff powered past giant-killer Sara Bejlek 6-4, 6-1, ending the unseeded Czech’s dream run that included a fourth-round victory over world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
Their all-American Sunday night final will be followed by a men’s title clash between American Frances Tiafoe and Arthur Fils of France.
Fils charged into his first Masters 1000 final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli in a match delayed for 45 minutes by rain and lightning.
Swiatek and Pegula then waited out another rain delay before their match, which was also briefly interrupted two games in.
“Crazy match today,” Pegula said after needing nearly three hours to subdue Swiatek, who was coming off her first title of 2026 in Toronto last week.
“A lot of back and forth, a lot of breaks,” she said. “Really windy, kind of odd conditions. I felt like we were playing well and then not playing well.
“It was really tough to kind of get a gauge on the match.”
The pair rode a rollercoaster of breaks and re-breaks before Pegula took a 5-4 lead in the final set, Swiatek saving three break points before double-faulting on a fourth.
Pegula quickly closed it out, firing a service winner on match point.
“I was just really happy with the way I was able to kind of handle just a lot that was going on today,” the 31-year-old American said. “I did a good job no matter what was happening.”
The first five games of what evolved into an epic went against the server as Pegula and Swiatek struggled to adjust to the conditions.
Swiatek blinked first as Pegula held at love for a 4-2 lead, but Swiatek won the next three games before Pegula broke again, finally taking the set when Swiatek smacked a volley into the net on set point.
They had exchanged two breaks in the second when Swiatek broke in the final game to square the match.
Tiafoe feeling ‘damn good’ on return to final
Tiafoe, runner-up to Jannik Sinner in Cincinnati in 2024, returned to the final with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over fellow American Brandon Nakashima.
Tiafoe saved three set points in the opening set, breaking Nakashima five times in all to earn the win in less than two hours.
“It feels d*** good,” Tiafoe said.
The American predicted a “h*** of a show” against Fils, whose 68-minute win over seventh-seeded Cobolli made him the youngest French Masters finalist since a 20-year-old Richard Gasquet in Toronto two decades ago.
Fils admitted he had been unsettled by the weather delay.
“You come on court more nervous because it’s a semi-final. The rain arrives, you wait and when you come back conditions are completely different,” he said.
“It was tough, but I’m happy with how I dealt with it.”
Tiafoe saved three set points in the opening set, breaking Nakashima five times in all to earn the win in less than two hours [Dylan Buell/Getty Images/AFP]
DEL MAR — Bill Mott was nearly 2,500 miles from Del Mar on Saturday night, but if you listened closely as the field raced down the backstretch in the $1 million Pacific Classic, you probably could hear the Hall of Fame trainer scream.
Thirty years ago, Mott brought Cigar to this same track for this same race, hoping his superstar horse would set the modern-day North American record for consecutive victories. But Cigar, at odds of 1-10, got caught up in a speed duel and wound up losing to a 39-1 long shot named Dare and Go.
Now it seemed like it might be happening again.
Knightsbridge went off at odds of 11-10 instead of Cigar’s 1-10 and he wasn’t racing for history, but the race took on an eerie similarity as the favorite dueled head-and-head with Full Serrano for much of the 1¼ miles. And they were going fast — not quite as fast as Cigar but close enough (1 minute, 10.02 seconds to 1:09.29) for some anguish.
“I thought maybe they were going a little too fast down the backside,” Mott told Del Mar publicity by phone from Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
He had no way of knowing, but so did his jockey.
“I was a little worried we were going a little too fast,” Junior Alvarado said.
As it turned out, neither man had reason to worry. Knightsbridge had a short lead as the two horses passed the mile marker, and when they straightened out in the stretch, the race was over. He continued on, Full Serrano weakened, and the others were too far back.
The final time was 2:02.28, with Original Sin 6¼ lengths behind in second and Full Serrano third. Om N Joy, the first filly to try the Pacific Classic in a decade, finished fourth, followed by Hit Show, Malarchuk, Forged Steel, British Isles, Navajo Warrior, Subsanador and Finger, a Japanese 3-year-old.
With the victory, worth $4.20 to his backers and $600,000 to owners Godolphin, Knightsbridge earned an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland. But whether he runs in that race or the Dirt Mile will be a decision for Mott and Godolphin, who also have Sovereignty, last year’s horse of the year and the top-ranked horse in the Breeders’ Cup’s initial poll for Classic contenders.
“They’re two different horses,” said Alvarado, who rides both. “It’s nearly impossible to [compare]. This horse carries a lot of speed. The other horse has a hell of a turn of foot coming for home … from the half-mile all the way to the wire, very strong at a mile and a quarter. I don’t recall having such a strong finisher like Sovereignty. So it’s going to be interesting. We got time just to decide what we’re going to do next.”
The idea that Knightsbridge would even be under consideration for the 1¼-mile Classic would have been unthinkable until last month; his first 10 career races were all around one turn at either seven furlongs or a mile. But Mott decided to try him at 1⅛ miles in the Monmouth Cup on July 18 at Monmouth Park, and the 5-year-old son of Nyquist won by 10¼ lengths in a time that earned him the fastest Beyer Speed Figure of the year (122).
With the West Coast handicap division weakened, Mott figured it was a good time to try the Pacific Classic again. He had won the race in 2008 with Go Between and enjoyed other successes here, including last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff with Scylla, but he also had to scratch Sovereignty from last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic when the horse got sick.
Now he has another positive memory — his second win in Del Mar’s signature race, which has been won by only two other trainers not based in California, Todd Pletcher (Fierceness last year) and Dale Romans (Dullahan in 2012).
“It was quite impressive,” Mott said. “They went quick, but gosh he had something to finish with.”
The victory completed a Grade 1 sweep Saturday for Alvarado, who one race earlier captured the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks aboard Tam Tam ($7.40) for trainer Philip Bauer.
How did he plan to celebrate?
“We’re going to celebrate it going back to New York tonight on the red-eye flight,” he said, smiling.
In the other Breeders’ Cup Challenge race here Saturday, the 5-year-old gelding Sorrento Sky ($16), ridden by Umberto Rispoli for trainer Phil D’Amato, earned a spot in the Turf Sprint by capturing the $200,000 Green Flash Handicap by a length over No Nay Hudson. D’Amato and Rispoli also won the $300,000 Del Mar Mile with King of Gosford ($12.40).
The crowd of 15,187 was a 13% increase from last year. The mutuel handle of $29.14 million was the second highest in Del Mar history outside of the Breeders’ Cup, surpassed only by $36.02 million in 2021 when there was a Pick 6 carryover and mandatory payout.
Alek Thomas is used to playing center field at Dodger Stadium.
Over parts of five seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the 26-year-old grew accustomed to being booed in L.A., all while watching baseball’s latest dynasty take shape.
“It’s funny, because they always hated me whenever I came out there in center field,” Thomas said before Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. “I was, like, ‘Come on, guys, I’m Mexican too. You don’t have to yell at me; like, we’re on the same side here.’
“But, obviously … it doesn’t matter where you’re from. ‘If you’re not a Dodgers guy, you’re not my guy.’”
Thomas, whom Arizona designated for assignment 28 games into the season before trading him to the Dodgers in May, is, well, a Dodgers guy now.
He was called up from triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday after center fielder Andy Pages sustained a hand fracture after being hit by a pitch Friday.
“Great buy-in [and] great teammate,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Thomas before the game. “Really good defender. Had a good chat with him earlier. … he’s happy to be back in the big leagues.”
One could imagine how nice it felt for Thomas to hit an RBI single in the fourth inning, in his first game with the Dodgers and the team’s 12th sellout of the season.
“It’s been a little while,” said Thomas, who has spent 55 games in Oklahoma City this year. “So, I’m super glad to be back, and happy to help the team in any way, shape or form.”
Thomas looked solid in his primary role as a defender.
Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal delivers against the Pirates at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
He also showed some hustle, turning a should-be groundout into a two-bagger in the eighth after an error by Pirates first baseman Rafael Flores Jr.
“Andy’s a great player, and speedy recovery for him,” Thomas said. “But I’m gonna try and play my brand of baseball; that’s why the Dodgers got me. So, yeah, I’m just gonna go out there and be myself.”
Tarik Skubal and the Dodgers were themselves, too, after a rough start.
The left-hander gave up three runs and three hits in the first. But Skubal recovered to earn his first win with the Dodgers (79-51), giving up five hits and striking out 11 over seven innings to earn a standing ovation upon his exit.
Teoscar Hernández, who entered with two RBIs over his past 16 games, put the Dodgers on the board with a run-scoring single in the fourth. Six pitches later, Thomas earned his RBI, shrinking the Pirates’ lead to 3-2.
Starter Jared Jones, a Whittier native, lasted four innings for the Pirates (63-68). He gave up two runs on three hits with five strikeouts. Pirates reliever Yohan Ramirez struggled in his place.
Kyle Tucker ended his 0-for-26 drought at home with a go-ahead, two-run single off Ramirez in the fifth.
Relievers Evan Phillips, Jack Dreyer and Tanner Scott combined for two shutout innings. Dreyer struck out Oneil Cruz looking to end the top of the eighth with a runner on third, fighting off the Pirates’ final gasp.
The Dodgers have now taken the three-game series against Pittsburgh and are victors of five straight games for the first time since late May.
MONTREAL — Daniel Ríos scored his first goal in MLS and Prince Owusu also scored a goal for CF Montreal in a 2-2 tie with the Galaxy on Saturday night.
Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, shown a red card in the 68th minute, was replaced by Novak Micovic and the Galaxy played a man down the rest of the way. The Galaxy have drawn red cards in three consecutive games.
Owusu scored his career-high tying 13th goal this season to make it 2-2 in the 79th minute. The 29-year-old forward, who also scored 13 goals for Montreal last season, has a goal in four consecutive games and scored seven goals in the past seven.
Montreal (6-10-5) has a season-long four-game unbeaten streak.
Rubén Ramos Jr. and Maya Yoshida each scored a goal for the Galaxy (6-9-7), who beat San José 1-0 on Wednesday to snap a six-game winless streak.
Ríos made his debut for Montreal and opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Matty Longstaff played a low ball into the area from the right side that was parried by Marcinkowski at the front post before Ríos tapped in the rebound from point-blank range.
Ramos scored his first career MLS goal in the 20th. On the counter-attack, Kyōgo Furuhashi played a first-touch shot off a cross from Robert Taylor that was stopped by goalkeeper Thomas Gillier, but Ramos slammed home the putback to make it 1-1.
Yoshida back-heeled a shot from the center of the area into the net to give the Galaxy a 2-1 lead in the 48th minute.
