
Soccer-Flamengo progress despite being held to 1-1 draw by LA FC
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) -Misfiring Flamengo were held to a 1-1 draw by Los Angeles FC in their final group match at the Club World Cup on Tuesday but the Brazilian side still go into the knockout stage with some momentum.
Denis Bouanga put the MLS club ahead in the 84th minute but substitute Wallace Yan responded two minutes later to ensure Flamengo would progress unbeaten to their last-16 tie against Bayern Munich in Miami on Sunday.
With top spot in Group D already assured, Flamengo coach Filipe Luis made seven changes to his starting side but there was no change to the energetic style that already earned the Rio de Janeiro club wins over Chelsea and Esperance.
With a little more accuracy in front of goal, they would have comfortably beaten an LA FC side who were already condemned to a group stage exit after losing their first two games without scoring a goal.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Tennis-Five contenders for the Wimbledon women's title
FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Berlin Tennis Open - Steffi Graf Stadium, Berlin, Germany - June 21, 2025 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka reacts during her semi final match against Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo (Reuters) -The following are five contenders for the Wimbledon women's title with the Championships set to begin on Monday. ARYNA SABALENKA (BELARUS) * World ranking: 1 Sabalenka enjoyed a dominant 2024, capturing two Grand Slam titles but the Wimbledon crown continued to elude the 27-year-old as she was forced to pull out of the grasscourt major at the last minute due to a shoulder injury. The three-times Grand Slam champion, who boasts a total of 20 tour-level titles, is yet to claim a trophy on grass despite having the power game - a booming serve and blistering forehand - perfectly suited to the sport's fastest surface. Sabalenka's runs to the semi-finals in her previous two Wimbledon campaigns in 2021 and 2023 highlight her consistency on the big stage but she arrives at the All England Club having suffered heartbreak in the Australian and French Open finals. Although she would have preferred to break her grasscourt duck, Sabalenka will be content with reaching the Berlin semi-finals in her only tune-up event before her latest quest for glory on the manicured lawns of London. COCO GAUFF (UNITED STATES) * World ranking: 2 Gauff proved she was no one-hit wonder when she won her second Grand Slam title by outlasting Sabalenka to capture the French Open title earlier this month. However, the 2023 U.S. Open champion's displays on grass have been inconsistent. Gauff's stellar run to the Wimbledon fourth-round as a prodigious teenager in 2019 sharpened the focus on her career but she is yet to cross that hurdle at the year's third major, falling short at the same stage in 2021 and 2024. The 21-year-old American has not reached a WTA final on grass and the youngest player in the world's top 10 was given a reminder of the difficulties ahead after Wang Xinyu brought her crashing down to earth in her first match in Berlin. But adversity extracts the best out of Gauff and she proved it at Roland Garros by shrugging off heartbreaking final defeats in Madrid and Rome to emerge triumphant, giving herself the momentum needed to make a big Wimbledon statement. IGA SWIATEK (POLAND) * World ranking: 8 Dubbed the 'Queen of Clay' after winning four French Open titles, Swiatek is no stranger to occasional struggles on grass like her rivals Sabalenka and Gauff despite having the ability to wrestle opponents into submission. Swiatek has never played a WTA final on grass and her best display at Wimbledon came in 2023 when she reached the quarter-finals - jarring notes that the 24-year-old will be eager to quickly erase from her otherwise glittering resume. The former world number one has slipped in the rankings without a tournament win this year after clinching five titles in 2024 and she has had to manage the distraction of a doping case for which she served a short ban last year. Her quest for a fifth Roland Garros crown ended in a semi-final defeat by Sabalenka and she will be motivated to defy her own expectations to win a sixth Grand Slam title and establish herself as an all-court ace after winning the 2022 U.S. Open. ELENA RYBAKINA (KAZAKHSTAN) * World ranking: 11 Before winning Wimbledon in 2022, Rybakina had not lifted a WTA trophy on grass and although the 26-year-old is yet to reach another final on the surface since, she has the weapons to do maximum damage on her day. She always manages to step up her level at Wimbledon, where she reached the quarter-finals in 2023 and fell to a narrow loss in last year's semi-finals to an inspired Barbora Krejcikova who went on to be crowned champion. The Russian-born Kazakh, who is the first player from the Asian nation to win a Grand Slam title, may not like the glare that comes with major glory but her powerful hitting puts her firmly in the spotlight at the grasscourt major. Having fallen out of the top 10, Rybakina will feel less pressure and look to go about her business quietly in a bid to replicate her breakthrough run in 2022. BARBORA KREJCIKOVA (CZECH REPUBLIC) * World ranking: 17 No woman has successfully defended the Wimbledon singles title since Serena Williams in 2016, with the event producing seven different champions in the previous seven editions, and Krejcikova will sense the unique opportunity facing her. The odds may be stacked against the Czech player as she bids to gain momentum following a spell of injuries but the 29-year-old never backs down from a challenge, as she showed by winning the title at Wimbledon as the 31st seed. With plenty of attention likely to be on compatriot and 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova following her shock Berlin triumph despite going into the tournament ranked 164th, two-times major champion Krejcikova will be content flying under the radar. Motivation will not be in short supply for Krejcikova, with Wimbledon carrying special significance as the site of her late mentor Jana Novotna's 1998 triumph. (Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)


The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Soccer-Queens Park Rangers appoint former Rennes boss Stephan as head coach
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Stade Rennes v AS Monaco - Roazhon Park, Rennes, France - October 5, 2024 Stade Rennes coach Julien Stephan REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo (Reuters) -Queens Park Rangers have appointed Frenchman Julien Stephan as head coach to replace Marti Cifuentes, the English second-tier club said on Wednesday. Cifuentes was placed on gardening leave in April and officially left the club on Monday following a season in which they finished 15th in the Championship, just seven points clear of the relegation zone. Stephan, 44, steered Stade Rennais to the Coupe de France in 2019 as well as their first Champions League qualification in 2020 during his first spell at the Ligue 1 club. He then spent 18 months at Strasbourg between 2021-23 before returning to Rennes, with his second stint there ending in November last year after they won only three of their first 10 league games of the season. "QPR is a historic club with strong values and passionate fans, so I feel honoured," Stephan said in a statement. "I wanted to come here because I know there's a lot of passion around the club and around the team, and I feel very lucky to discover that." (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)


New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Boss Lage urges belief in Benfica as they stun Bayern to top Club World Cup group
Benfica manager Bruno Lage urged fans to have more faith in his team after they pulled off a surprise 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich on Tuesday to secure top spot in Group C at the Club World Cup. Andreas Schjelderup's 13th-minute goal sealed the win to put Benfica top of the group with seven points, one ahead of the Bundesliga champions. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT After a 2–2 draw in their opener against Boca Juniors and a shaky first half in a 6–0 win over Auckland City, Benfica earned their first win in 14 official matches against Bayern Munich. With their first-place finish at the revamped FIFA tournament, the Portuguese league runners-up are set to face either Chelsea or Esperance de Tunis in the round of 16. Lage: "We went into this game with a lot of confidence. The first half was very good, we created the best chances to score. We wanted to be aggressive and we finished first in the group and the feeling is good. "We finished first and it means a lot for us. People need to believe more in the work we are doing. They were speaking about Boca needing to win by a lot of goals (to advance) and they forgot about this game. No one believed we were going to win against Bayern. "We have a very good group, we are evaluated every three days by the result, but when we win we are not the best and when we do not win we are not the worst. "Now we have to stay humble, recover, rest as much as possible, understand who our opponents will be and go into the game with the same ambitions."