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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Samba soccer this wasn’t.

Facing pressure to win its first World Cup title since 2002, five-time champion Brazil was outplayed early and needed Vinícius Júnior’s 32nd-minute goal to gain a 1-1 draw against Morocco on Saturday in a pulsating, high-profile group match.

“We started on a really bad note,” Vinícius said through a translator. “For certain, we got to hold on to the ball. We have to move better.”

A semifinalist four years ago, Morocco had 12 shots in the first 30 minutes and went ahead on Ismael Saibari’s 21st-minute goal, a chip over goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

“The team was a bit anxious at the beginning. Nerves were all over the place,” Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti said through a translator. “A very imbalanced team.”

Brazil evened the score 11 minutes later. Vinícius exchanged passes with Bruno Guimarães on the left flank, took a few touches to cut around Neil El Aynaoui and rifled a right-footed shot past the outstretched arm of Yassine Bounou for his 10th international goal.

“We are satisfied with the draw,” Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said. “We are not euphoric.”

Fans in Brazil’s canary yellow dominated the crowd of 80,663 at MetLife Stadium — only about five sections near the south goal had fans in Morocco’s red.

Seleção supporters expected the flowing, entertaining play of Pelé’s era and were subdued before Vinícius evened the score with his spectacular angled effort.

Brazil extended its unbeaten streak in World Cup openers to 21, including 17 wins, since a 1934 loss to Spain. No. 6 Brazil and seventh-ranked Morocco are the only top 10 teams to meet in the first round of the expanded 48-nation World Cup tournament.

“We cannot lose heart,” Ancelotti said. “You don’t win a World Cup based on your first match.”

Brazil plays Haiti on Friday in Philadelphia, then closes Group C against Scotland in Miami Gardens, Florida. Morocco faces Scotland in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Friday, then meets Haiti in Atlanta.

Brazil star Neymar, recovering from a torn right calf, didn’t dress for the game.

One hour before the match, an Uber from Times Square to the stadium, site of next month’s final, was $126.95 — up from $83.95 for advance booking for the same time Sunday.

Ancelotti, the Italian who became Brazil’s first foreign World Cup coach, wore a three-piece suit with a necktie on a sunny afternoon with a 88-degree Fahrenheit (31-degree Celsius) temperature for the 6 p.m. start.

Morocco went ahead after Lucas Paquetá lost control of a short pass from Roger Ibañez and knocked it off Bilal El Khannouss. It bounced to Noussair Mazraoui, who sent the ball to Brahim Díaz in the center circle.

His through pass split Gabriel Magalhães and Marquinho, and Saibari ran onto the ball at the top of the arc. Alisson was slow to come off his line as Saibari scored his 10th international goal.

Morocco nearly went back ahead in the ninth of 10 minutes of stoppage time. Alisson spilled Aynaoui’s long-range shot, which was headed wide, then while on the grass leaned back toward the goal and used his right hand to block Ayoube Amaimouni’s follow-up effort.

“We still have to improve,” Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi said. “We have to keep the positive things. We’re going to learn from the mistakes, for sure.”

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

CLEVELAND (AP) — Tarik Skubal was tagged for a two-run homer by Cleveland’s Daniel Schneemann in the two-time reigning Cy Young winner’s return from elbow surgery and the Guardians downed the Detroit Tigers 3-1 on Saturday.

Skubal (3-3) threw 80 pitches in his first start since April 29. The left-hander had a loose body removed from his elbow during an innovative surgical procedure on May 6, allowing Skubal to come back earlier than expected.

The win came at a steep price for the Guardians as star third baseman José Ramírez suffered a broken bone in his left hand. Ramírez fractured his hamate bone on a swing in the fifth inning. He’ll be out for an indefinite period.

He gave up Schneemann’s shot in the third inning and four other hits before being pulled after 4 2/3 innings. Although he wasn’t as sharp as usual, Skubal’s presence alone was a huge lift for the Tigers, who have been decimated by injuries all season.

Joey Cantillo (5-3) allowed one run in five innings and the Guardians won despite losing Ramírez and outfielders Chase DeLauter and Angel Martinez to injuries in the first two innings.

Ramírez broke his right hamate bone in 2019 and went on the injured list for the only time in his career. He missed just one month after being expected to miss 5-to-7 weeks.

Cleveland’s bullpen combined for four shutout innings with Cade Smith getting the last four outs for his MLB-leading 23rd save. The Tigers stranded runners at second and third to end the game.

DeLauter suffered a bruised right rib cage when he collided with the outfield wall in the first. Martinez fouled Skubal’s first pitch off his left foot. The team said X-rays were negative and Martinez has a bruise.

Schneemann, who replaced DeLauter, followed a double by Ramírez in the third by connecting on a 0-2 pitch for his fifth homer, a 417-foot drive that made it 3-1.

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Tigers RHP Casey Mize (2-3, 2.27ERA) returns from a stint on the injured list to start against Guardians RHP Gavin Williams (9-3, 3.32), 4-0 in his last five starts.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

CALEDON, Ontario (AP) — Jackson Suber got up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 18th hole Saturday for a 4-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Bud Cauley going into the final round of a wide-open RBC Canadian Open.

It was the first 54-hole lead for Suber, whose best PGA Tour finish came three weeks ago at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson when he tied for fourth, seven shots out of the lead.

Bud Cauley hit his tee shot to inches on the rowdy par-3 14th hole, the start of three straight birdies that carried him to a 66, leaving him in position for his first PGA Tour title.

Missing from the mix was 36-hole leader Ben James, who plunged out of contention with a 78, and Brooks Koepka, who had to deal with a mysterious feeling in his left arm that made it difficult for him to grip the club most of the day.

“I’m struggling to grip the club with my ring finger and pinkie finger, so can’t grip it,” Koepka said after salvaging a 72, leaving him seven shots behind. “My fingers would come loose, it was kind of numb. I don’t know what the deal was but hopefully we’ll figure it out.”

He had treatment on the course and said he had never experienced anything like that.

James, meanwhile, watched a dream pro debut turn sour when he had five straight bogeys on the front nine, didn’t make a birdie until the 15th hole and went from first to a tie for 59th.

Wyndham Clark, who won The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, shot a 63 as the leaders were just getting started. He wound up in a four-way tie for third with Tommy Fleetwood (67), Brice Garnett (67) and Jesper Svensson, who had the lead until a three-putt double bogey on the 17th dropped him to a 68.

Billy Horschel, who has been in a slump all year, shot 64 and was another shot back.

Suber has birdied the two par 5s each of the three rounds.

“I’ve just hit good drives there and I feel like I’ve been in a good spot and iron play seems to be my strength,” Suber said.

Now the big test awaits in various ways. The forecast is for rain and wind. The leaderboard features 17 players within four shots of a leader who has never won on the PGA Tour.

“The conditions are going to be really rough and no matter my start, if I start with an eagle or a bogey, it’s going to be a tough day and it’s not going to be won on the first probably nine to 15 holes,” Suber said. “So just staying patient.”

Suber is coming off a Monday in which he qualified for the U.S. Open for only the second time. Cauley narrowly missed out on his qualifier, but at No. 68 in the world, he now has a chance to move into the top 60 after the Canadian Open and earn a spot at Shinnecock Hills next week.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

MIDLAND, Mich. (AP) — Hyo Joo Kim and Hye-Jin Choi handled a swirling wind Saturday and made enough birdies to be among only six teams who broke par, posting a 1-under 69 in foursomes to build a one-shot lead in the Dow Championship.

Double major winner Nelly Korda and Olivia Cowan will need another big showing in Sunday fourballs if they want a chance to catch them. They made only one birdie, had bogey on both par 5s at Midland Country Club and shot 76 to fall six shots behind.

Korda and Cowan were tied for 13th. It will be only the second time this year on the LPGA that Korda is not in the final group.

Kim and Choi, the South Korean duo who are both among the top 20 in the women’s world ranking, were at 10-under 200.

“The wind was obviously very strong today so that was a big factor that was different than the first round,” Kim said. They also shot 69 in foursomes in the opening round.

Gina Kim and LPGA rookie Yana Wilson managed a birdie on the par-3 closing hole, which was playing downwind to a front pin over the water. That gave them a 70 and left them one shot back.

Alison Lee and Lilia Vu, former teammates at UCLA, had the lead until they made a triple bogey on the 16th hole when Vu hit the tee shot out-of-bounds. They had to settle for a 69 and were in third place at 8-under 202.

“It’s a pretty meaty hole. I’ve been kind of leaking my drives out right so just wanted to make sure I had a draw but it was a pulled draw instead,” Vu said.

Juli Inkster, who at 66 became the oldest player in LPGA history to make the cut in an official event, teamed with Angel Yin for a 70. They were tied for 20th.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Qatar might be able to finally move forward from its forgettable home World Cup four years ago, scoring a stoppage-time goal to earn a shocking 1-1 draw with Group B favorite Switzerland on Saturday.

And oh, what a miss by the mighty Swiss.

One TV headline back home at French language public broadcaster RTS blared: “QATARSTROPHE.”

Boualem Khoukhi scored the equalizing goal on a header in the fourth minute of injury time to give Qatar its first-ever point at the World Cup in front of 67,966 spectators at Levi’s Stadium.

“Every draw feels like a loss,” Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka said. “We’re looking at ourselves. This performance was not good enough today to win.”

Several of the Qatari players fell to the ground in celebration of the late goal as others ran to each other to embrace.

“I was very proud about today … our mentality, the discipline they showed today,” Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui said. “We needed to have our plan we needed to fulfill. We were a little bit lucky sometimes, but you need to believe and to want to have this belief and bit of luck in life and in football.”

Breel Embolo scored for Switzerland from the penalty spot in the first half just over a week after being cleared to enter the U.S. following a visa delay, but the Swiss failed to capitalize on multiple other scoring chances.

Switzerland midfielder Denis Zakaria was asked by RTS if the result was a devastating scenario.

“Clearly,” he said. “We didn’t play the kind of match we needed to. We had so many chances and we missed so many in front of goal. Today we paid dearly.”

In the 13th minute, Embolo was fouled by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada, who received a yellow card on the play. Abunada lay face down and appeared motionless for a couple of minutes before he began to move his legs and was able to stand up again.

When Embolo calmly sent his penalty into the upper left corner in the 17th minute, it sent the red-clad Swiss fans into a dancing frenzy in the stands.

The 29-year-old forward applied for an urgent visa at the United States embassy in Bern on June 3, one day after he was denied boarding the team’s flight to travel for his third World Cup because of a 2018 criminal conviction that was only finalized in April.

Switzerland dominated the possession game on an unseasonably warm June afternoon — with sprinklers running during a first-half break.

There were thousands of empty seats scattered throughout Levi’s Stadium, home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. Brazil and Colombia drew 70,971 two years ago in a group match at Copa America. The stadium in Santa Clara staged the Super Bowl only four months ago.

Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel made a save in the second minute after Edmilson Junior got through the defense for a one-on-one. Kobel corralled the ball again in the 90th on a close-range attempt by Ahmed Alaaeldin.

Switzerland is hoping to advance further than its round-of-16 showing four years ago before losing 6-1 to Portugal — when Goncalo Ramos delivered an improbable hat trick playing in place of benched star Cristiano Ronaldo. The loss prompted Switzerland midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri to apologize the the fans.

The Swiss used consistency and experience to go unbeaten through qualifying against Sweden, Kosovo and Slovenia. Coach Murat Yakin’s team produced four wins and two draws to secure its sixth straight World Cup appearance and hasn’t missed one since 2002, but the team has never gotten beyond the quarterfinals.

Qatar had to qualify through a playoff in November — beating the United Arab Emirates and Oman — after missing an opportunity from its group stage in Asian qualifying.

The Gulf State country became the first host nation to lose all of its group matches four years ago. Qatar lost to Senegal, Ecuador and the Netherlands in the 2022 tournament, scoring its lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Senegal.

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AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

CHICAGO (AP) — Looks like Shohei Ohtani is doing much better.

Ohtani hit a leadoff homer for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday in his return to the starting lineup after being sidelined by inflammation in his left knee. He also walked three times and scored twice in a 7-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

“I felt good waking up in the morning, I feel good now, so I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to stay healthy and should be good to go tomorrow as well,” Ohtani said through a translator.

The two-way star connected on a 1-0 fastball from White Sox right-hander Sean Burke for his 14th homer. The 409-foot drive to right in the first inning had an exit velocity of 109.6 mph.

It was Ohtani’s fifth leadoff homer of the season and No. 29 for his career.

“Obviously he’s the best player in the world, so anytime you can get the best player in a world back in your lineup, he’s definitely going to help and he showed it immediately,” teammate Mookie Betts said.

The 31-year-old Ohtani was back at designated hitter after he rested during Friday’s 8-2 loss in the series opener at Chicago. The knee inflammation popped up Thursday night at Pittsburgh, prompting Ohtani to leave an 8-6 win over the Pirates in the seventh.

“We took him out of the game the other night just for precautionary,” manager Dave Roberts said before Saturday’s win. “Yesterday, treated it up, today he feels great. All the confidence that he can go out there and hit, feel good, not regress at all.”

Ohtani, who had surgery on his left knee in September 2019, wasn’t sure exactly what caused the inflammation.

“It’s actually hard to pinpoint at what moment this happened,” he said. “All I can really know for sure is that I think my mechanics wasn’t quite great in terms of my pitching side. So I believe that had something to do with this.”

Ohtani is scheduled to take the mound again on Wednesday against Tampa Bay. The 6-foot-4 right-hander tested his knee for his throwing motion by playing catch in the outfield before Saturday’s victory.

“It wasn’t 100 percent today, but I, you know, with the next three, four days, I feel pretty confident with enough recovery that I should be able to make the next start,” he said.

Ohtani is batting .305 with 41 RBIs and 50 runs scored in 68 games for the NL West leaders. On the mound, the reigning NL MVP is 6-2 with a 1.06 ERA in 11 starts.

Roberts also said Justin Wrobleski is expected to make his next scheduled start Tuesday against the Rays. The left-hander left in the fifth inning on Thursday night because of a left hamstring contusion.

“Yesterday I talked to him and he is a little sore, which is understandable, but he’ll be ready to go on Tuesday,” Roberts said.

Roberts, 54, is going to miss Sunday’s series finale against the White Sox. Bench coach Danny Lehmann will run the team while Roberts attends his daughter’s college graduation.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Cleveland Cavaliers player James Harden was arrested on Saturday in Houston on a misdemeanor charge of unlawful carrying of a weapon in a motor vehicle, according to the Harris County District Clerk’s Office.

Harden was arrested at 3:41 a.m. and booked just before 5 a.m., then posted $100 bond and was released from police custody, according to charging documents, which said he had a handgun in plain view that was not in a holster.

His arraignment is scheduled for June 22, according to the clerk’s office website. Harden is listed as a Houston resident in court documents.

“The Cleveland Cavaliers are aware of the arrest of James Harden this morning and are in the process of gathering additional information,” the team said in a statement. “We are in contact with James and his representation and will continue to monitor developments as they become available. At this time, we will have no further comment.”

A message sent to Harden’s representatives from The Associated Press seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Harden, 36, just finished his 17th NBA season and has the right to exercise a $42.3 million option to return to the Cavaliers next season. He indicated when Cleveland’s playoff run ended with a loss to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals that he would like to remain with the club, which would suggest he’s willing to forgo the option in favor of a longer contract with the Cavaliers.

Harden is an 11-time All-Star and an eight-time All-NBA selection who earned MVP honors in the 2017-18 season while playing for the Houston Rockets.

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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA