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  • Knicks, Taylor Swift, World Cup: Is Serena Williams at the US Open next in the Summer of New York?


    LONDON (AP) — Serena Williams could be up next in the Summer of New York.

    After the Knicks’ first NBA championship in more than 50 years, Taylor Swift’s wedding at Madison Square Garden and the World Cup final to be played just across the Hudson River, it looks like another circus is coming to town.

    To the Flushing Meadows section of Queens, to be precise.

    All indications point to the 44-year-old Williams playing the U.S. Open next month for the first time in four years.

    “Her intention is to keep playing; the U.S. Open as well,” Rennae Stubbs, one of Williams’ coaches, said at Wimbledon on Tuesday — a week after Serena lost in her first singles match since 2022.

    Williams injured her right knee midway through a three-set loss to Maya Joint at the All England Club and withdrew from a doubles match with older sister Venus on Saturday.

    Williams shared an Instagram update over the weekend that included images of four syringes filled with fluid drained from her knee.

    “As long as physically she can go — and I’m hoping in a few weeks that’s the case — to get her back on the court and hitting balls,” Stubbs said.

    Main draw singles play at the U.S. Open starts Aug. 30.

    “All I can say,” Serena said after her loss, “is stay tuned to a city near you.”

    ‘It will be huge’

    James Blake, the Yonkers, New York, native who reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals twice, knows just what Williams will bring to the tournament.

    “It will be huge and it’s deserved because she’s the greatest of all time on the women’s side – and an American,” Blake said of the 23-time Grand Slam champion. “She’s an idol for so many young girls.”

    Blake is now the Miami Open tournament director and a tennis commentator for ESPN.

    “She’s been through this for the last 20 years so she knows what a circus it will be and she’s willing to put herself through that,” Blake told The Associated Press. “That shows how much she loves the game and she loves the competition.”

    Added doubles great Bob Bryan: “Serena is a legend. Everyone wants to see her on the court again. It’s a great story.”

    Williams practiced at Bryan’s club in Florida earlier this year.

    “She wasn’t giving away too much information but she was getting 12 rackets strung. … So we knew she was serious,” Bryan said. “Hopefully she gets healthy and can make a run this summer. She’s going to win again for sure. She’s a champion.”

    Warmup tournaments

    Williams played only two doubles matches — but no singles — before Wimbledon. Expect her to play more singles before the U.S. Open.

    If she desires, Williams should have no problem obtaining wild card invitations from tournament organizers at U.S. Open warmups in Toronto and Cincinnati, Ohio.

    “I know that for her, trying to play certainly something before the U.S. Open will be something she would like to do,” Stubbs said. “But at the same time it’s going to depend on how physically she’s doing.”

    Knee issue

    In Williams’ social media post about her injury, she said “the good news is my knee shouldn’t swell or collect that much fluid again.”

    Still, it was more of a factor against Joint than many people thought, according to Stubbs.

    “She did whisper to me, ‘I would have won if I had a good knee,’” Stubbs said. “Leading up to the tournament, she was playing practice sets (and) beating players that are still in the tournament. I won’t mention which ones because I don’t want to embarrass them but she was playing well.”

    Despite being away for so long, Williams still hit serves beyond 120 mph and showed off her same old heavy groundstrokes, which landed within inches of the baseline.

    The only real issue was her movement.

    “Considering how bad the knee was it’s pretty miraculous really that she went as long as she did in the match,” Stubbs said. “She was rubbing her legs every change of end. … So I could see that there was something going on that was a little unusual for her.

    “But the fact that she got through, walked off the court and nobody even really knew was pretty miraculous. And it also shows how high her pain tolerance is.”

    Hard courts

    After the grass of Wimbledon, the hard courts of the U.S. Open — which she has won six times in singles — could be more favorable for Williams.

    “Everybody saw her standard was still pretty good and so once she gets on the hard courts she’s going to have better stability,” Stubbs said. “We all know how well she plays on hard courts so it’s just a matter of getting her body back in into the shape she wants.”

    Added retired player Caroline Wozniacki, one of Williams’ best friends: “I thought she moved well already on the grass. … She didn’t win the more important points in the match, but she did a good job. I would expect her to just keep doing better as this comeback progresses.”

    Match toughness

    Williams was broken only once as she lost the opening set to Joint. Then she won the second in a tiebreaker and didn’t really fade away until midway through the third.

    “I’m sure just playing a few matches will get her more precise,” Blake said. “She missed one easy ball and then things unraveled a little bit. When she’s at her best that turns into one point instead of a game or two games or three games. She’ll get back to being match-tough.

    “If she plays three or four matches before the U.S. Open,” Blake added, “it will be — not an entirely different player — but quite an improvement by the U.S. Open.”

    ___

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


  • Pirates star rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin out 8-10 weeks with injury to his left ring finger


    PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates will have to try to stay in postseason contention without rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin.

    The club placed the 20-year-old rising star on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday due to an issue with the knuckle on the ring finger on his left hand. Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Griffin is expected to miss 8-10 weeks.

    Griffin, who made his major league debut in April before signing a lengthy extension, injured the finger in the early portion of a victory over Washington on Sunday. He remained in the lineup and finished with two hits before a postgame exam detailed the extent of the injury.

    Tomczyk said the injury was to the sagittal band, which stabilizes the ring finger. Griffin will keep the hand in a splint for about six weeks before resuming baseball activities.

    The injury is the second significant setback for Griffin during a promising rookie season. He missed most of June with a strained right forearm.

    “He’s really been a big part of our success,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “I think for him to learn through this, too, every single player goes through injuries. He’s just had a couple tough ones at the beginning. I know he’ll be stronger after going through it.”

    When healthy, Griffin has been a revelation for the Pirates, looking every bit the franchise cornerstone they hoped he’d be after selecting him in the first round of the 2024 draft. Griffin is hitting .276 with five homers, 25 RBIs and 20 stolen bases in 59 games.

    Jared Triolo will primarily fill in at shortstop for Pittsburgh, which entered Tuesday at 46-45 and in the middle of a large swath of National League teams in the postseason mix.

    Griffin joins an increasingly crowded injured list that includes center fielder Oneil Cruz and first baseman Spencer Horwitz.

    Pittsburgh called up infielder Jack Brannigan from Triple-A Indianapolis to take Griffin’s spot on the roster.

    ___

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


  • Judge rejects Justice Department attempt to get names of 2020 election workers in Fulton County


    ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice cannot have the names and personal contact information for every person who worked during the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

    The Justice Department in April served a grand jury subpoena seeking the names and personal contact information of county employees and volunteer poll workers. President Donald Trump has long claimed without evidence that widespread voter fraud in Georgia’s most populous county, a Democratic stronghold, cost him victory in the state in 2020.

    Fulton County asked a judge to quash the subpoena, arguing it was meant to “target, harass and punish the President’s perceived political opponents” and that it was “grossly over broad and untethered to any reasonable need.”

    “Given the low need for the subpoenaed information and the highly burdensome nature of the disclosure of the same, the Subpoena is unreasonable and must be quashed,” U.S. District Judge William Ray wrote in his ruling, calling the scope of the request “staggering.”

    Emails seeking comment were sent to both the Justice Department and Fulton County.

    While grand juries often work with federal prosecutors to investigate alleged crimes, “that does not give the DOJ the right to use the Grand Jury to do whatever the DOJ wants,” wrote Ray, who was nominated to the bench by Trump.

    Even if the records sought by the Justice Department could help find people who worked for the county during the 2020 election who support the theory that the election was unfair, the information couldn’t be used to charge anyone, Ray wrote.

    “That is because the statute of limitations for any possible crime arising from the 2020 Election has long expired,” he wrote.

    The subpoena came after the FBI in January served a search warrant at the Fulton County election hub and seized hundreds of boxes of ballots and other documents from the 2020 election. A federal judge in May denied the county’s request to force the federal government to return the ballots.

    The Justice Department argued in a court filing that the subpoena was the “next step in the normal investigative process” and that it seeks “records identifying persons with relevant knowledge.”

    Kamal Ghali, a lawyer for the county, argued that the subpoena “will chill participation by election workers” and that the statute of limitations for any of the alleged misconduct had already lapsed.

    Justice Department lawyer William McComb argued the statute of limitations issue is not relevant at the investigative stage. The point of the investigation is to figure out what charges can be brought, he said.

    “My point is, as we sit here now, we are not sure what charges can be brought. That’s the whole point of the investigation,” he said.

    The judge noted that the Justice Department had expressed concern about possible criminal actions in the years that followed the election, including an alleged failure by the county to preserve electronic ballot images. But he pointed out that the subpoena seeks information related to what happened during the 2020 election and its immediate aftermath.

    “In these hyper-political times in which we currently live, there are sure to be some who disagree with this decision because they believe the allegations of fraud in the 2020 Election and believe that ‘light’ should be brought to those claims,” Ray wrote.

    He added that nothing prevents continued investigation into those allegations by people who believe those claims — such as Congress or even the Justice Department — but the power of the grand jury, “which exists to investigate potential crimes and to bring viable indictments” cannot be used for that purpose. Otherwise, anyone in power could use the grand jury process to subpoena personal information of citizens “with no legitimate law enforcement purpose,” he wrote.

    “Thus, everyone, whether you support the President or you do not, or whether you believe the 2020 Election was fair or believe that it was not, should be concerned about the DOJ’s ability to utilize the power of the Grand Jury to appropriate your private information without a legitimate purpose,” Ray wrote.


  • Big 12 commissioner declines to address Sorsby gambling saga and describes league as `16 strong’


    FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark wanted to talk Tuesday about the league’s upcoming season, not the Brendan Sorsby gambling saga at Texas Tech that led to a lot of legal wrangling and a since-dismissed court order that had sent shockwaves through college sports.

    Even though that was the first thing Yormark was asked about after his opening remarks at Big 12 football media days.

    “I appreciate the question. I appreciate other questions that are probably going to come forth today. Today is not the time to address that issue,” Yormark answered. “Today is about celebrating the upcoming football season and celebrating our 16 schools.”

    Yormark later spoke about the conference “moving ahead as 16 strong.”

    That would include Texas Tech, which the league and its other 15 members were discussing potentially punishing if Sorsby had indeed played this fall for the Red Raiders after the quarterback transferred from Cincinnati, another Big 12 school where he played the past two seasons.

    Sorsby won’t play even after being granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA last month that would have allowed him to remain eligible even after he acknowledged making thousands of impermissible bets worth at least $90,000 on college and pro sports. Those include some bets on his own team when he was a freshman at Indiana in 2022, which in past cases had led to players being banned from playing.

    Sorsby later dropped his lawsuit against the NCAA, making him ineligible again, after the NCAA appealed the injunction and the Big 12 filed a still-pending federal complaint in U.S. District Court in Dallas. The conference was trying to preserve its ability to use the league’s bylaws for possible sanctions against Texas Tech had Sorsby played this season.

    One reporter asked Yormark why Texas Tech fans should believe comments about the league moving ahead as one. The reporter mentioned that the Big 12 last year targeted the school’s tortilla-throwing tradition — passing the measure on a 15-1 vote — while Oklahoma State has an artificial noise exemption for students to bang paddles against the stadium pads along the sideline. He also mentioned Cincinnati, Sorsby’s former school.

    Yormark walked across the stage, then asked the reporter to stand up and repeat his question.

    “I said we’re going forward as 16 strong, and that’s my answer to your question,” Yormark then answered.

    Monster partner

    Yormark announced a multiyear agreement with Monster Energy to be the entitlement partner for conference-controlled Big 12 regular-season football games, as well as men’s and women’s basketball.

    Yormark said the partnership with the international energy drink brand is “built on the right brand and culture alignment. … (and) will take this conference to places it has not been before.”

    It will include a co-branded Monster Energy and Big 12 logo being featured on football and basketball jerseys, fields and courts, with additional integration across conference digital and social media channels. The company’s first partnership in college athletics began last fall when the brand became the conference’s official energy drink.

    ___

    Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football


  • A Cairo coffee house erupts, then goes silent as Egypt’s World Cup run meets Argentina


    CAIRO (AP) — The small coffee house in Cairo was turned Tuesday into a tiny stadium.

    Several hundred people, mostly men and boys as young as 7, gathered around wall-mounted screens ahead of the kickoff whistle.

    The scene played out across the soccer-mad nation as Egypt faced the defending World Cup champion in the round-of-16 fixture in Atlanta.

    It was a historic day for millions of Egyptians even after their national team’s adventure reached its end with Tuesday’s 2-3 loss to Argentina.

    “It’s a brutal scenario,” Ahmed Saadany, a teacher, reflected after the game. “The journey shouldn’t have ended that way.”

    With their own star Mohamed Salah, Egypt reached the round of 16 by beating Australia 4-2 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in the round of 32 on Friday.

    The Pharaohs advanced to the knockout stages — their first ever — after securing the second place in the Group G, behind Belgium.

    Preparations for the game started well ahead of the kickoff at 7 p.m. local time. Rows of plastic and wooden chairs faced wall-mounted TV screens as fans flocked into hundreds of thousands of coffee houses and fan-zones across Egypt.

    In squares and main thoroughfares, vendors were seen selling Egyptian flags, whistles and fan paraphernalia in preparation for the game.

    Throughout the day, Egyptian flags were seen fluttering over vehicles and balconies, with debates on television and in public spaces, like coffee houses and markets, centering for days around the national team’s performance and its anticipated game against Argentina.

    “Overall, the performance was excellent,” said Hassan Shehata, taking his seat in a packed coffee house in Cairo ahead of Tuesday’s game. “We’re developing. We play and compete.”

    It’s Egypt’s fourth World Cup during which the most populous Arab country with seven Africa Cup of Nations trophies proved hard to beat.

    The 2026 finals saw Egypt’s best-ever performance. The Pharaohs broke their curse of never having won a World Cup game with their 3-1 victory over New Zealand, advancing to the knockout stage for the first time.

    “It was a dream,” said Rami Saeed, a 23-year-old university student. “(Coach) Hossam Hassan and his team have beaten our expectations.”

    In a packed coffee house in Giza, many were seen wrapping themselves with or waving the Egyptian flag, chanting “Masr, Masr, Masr!” — the Arabic name for Egypt, while others beat drums.

    The coffee house was rocked when Egypt scored and when the Pharaohs’ goalkeeper saved Messi’s penalty kick. A dead silence covered the place when Argentina scored their goals.

    The fans were disappointed by Tuesday’s loss but pointed with pride at the team’s historic performance.

    “It’s injustice,” Haitham Raafat, a 13-year-old boy, burst into tears after the final whistle. “The referee wasn’t fair.”

    President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi lauded the team’s “unprecedented accomplishment in the history of Egyptian football.”

    “Thank you to the heroes of the national football team,” he wrote in a social media post. “We are proud of you, and your achievement.”

    Shaban Youssef, a 45-year-old mechanical engineer, said he is also proud of the team, saying: “They held our heads high, especially Hossam Hassan’s support of the Palestinian people.”

    Hassan, Egypt’s head coach, used the World Cup platform to show support for the Palestinian people in an impassioned monologue at a pregame news conference.

    Asked about his emotions when he draped a Palestinian flag around himself after Egypt’s victory over Australia in the last round, Hassan gave a more than four-minute answer amid applause by the assembled media.

    “If there is anyone in the world who does not feel for the Palestinian people, then they are not human — whether they are Arab, European, or American,” he said.

    Hassan’s comments were lauded by many Egyptians, who took to social media to express their support for both the coach and the Palestinians.

    “Whatever the result,” prominent novelist Ezzat el-Kamhawi wrote in a Facebook post ahead of Tuesday’s game. “Our team plays tonight, and the championship is already in their pocket, thanks to Hossam Hassan’s goal against Zionism.”

    During Egypt’s World Cup games, hundreds of war-weary Palestinians packed around TV screens in makeshift shelters across the war-torn Gaza Strip to cheer on the Pharaohs. They gathered between their shelters, chanting, clapping and waving Egyptian flags, with Egyptian patriotic songs playing in the background.

    “It’s a duty to support Egypt,” Soliman Salem, a Palestinian young man, said in a phone interview from his shelter in Gaza after Tuesday’s game. “We’re very sad, but proud of the Egyptians.”

    Abdel-Rahman Baroud, another Gaza resident, said they hoped that Egypt would qualify to the next round, but “luck wasn’t on their side in the second half.”

    “We all return home, disappointed,” he said.


  • Naomi Osaka laments sore feet and ‘getting old’ after Wimbledon quarterfinal loss


    LONDON (AP) — Sure, Naomi Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion who also impresses with her fashionable outfits.

    On Tuesday, she sounded like the rest of us. The plantar fasciitis was acting up. She’s working too much.

    “I’m just getting old,” Osaka said.

    The 28-year-old Osaka’s Wimbledon run and fashion show ended in a 7-6 (4), 6-4 loss to Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinals of the grass-court Grand Slam.

    Osaka, a former No. 1 player, had ousted top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round — with arguably some of her best tennis since returning from maternity leave — but couldn’t find her rhythm Tuesday against her Czech opponent.

    “It’s hard because I played so well in my last match, then today I just feel like I didn’t play well at all and I didn’t have any energy,” said Osaka, who despite the loss still had her best result at the All England Club by reaching the quarterfinals.

    “I could feel it coming because I’ve played way more matches than I usually do before a Slam,” she added. “I just wanted to try that to see the rhythm, you know? Obviously it worked out well. But I think I probably won’t do that again. But yeah, I would say it was like an accumulation of playing two weeks straight without a day off.”

    In a Wimbledon warmup tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, Osaka had retired from the final — against Muchova — because of a foot injury.

    The Japanese player — who took mental-health breaks starting in 2021 and was away from the tour while having a daughter — was asked Tuesday if she has an ankle issue. No, she responded before joking about “getting old.” She did say, however, that she has “plantar fasciitis on my feet. Well, that’s what we assume it is.”

    “It kind of started happening off-season last year,” Osaka added. “I feel like maybe it’s because I’m a lot more springy on my toes. I think it reactivated on grass court because I’m pushing off a lot more to go forward. I don’t think it will bother me on hard court. I’m thinking it was maybe just the surface change.”

    Osaka has won two of her four major titles (2018 and ’20) at the U.S. Open, and she made it back to the semifinals at Flushing Meadows last year, losing to Amanda Anisimova.

    “I feel like in my head I think there’s still an opportunity to win a Slam,” she said.

    ___

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


  • Adams County property owners encouraged to review tax assessments

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County officials are encouraging property owners to visit the tax assessor’s office this month to learn the newly assessed value of their homes, businesses and land. Property taxes due next year are determined by these annual assessments. 

    This comes after many Natchez-Adams County taxpayers expressed dismay in January when seeing large increases in their property value-based tax bills due this year.

    Meeting Monday with Adams County supervisors, Tax Assessor Larry Hughes urged taxpayers to visit his office, question how much their property assessment is and make their case for any needed corrections or clarifications. July 31 is the deadline for this public inspection of tax rolls.

    Any objections to assessed values will be considered by the county Board of Supervisors at an August hearing before the county tax roll is finalized. The actual amount of taxes each property owner is billed won’t be known until later this year after the board adopts the budget funding county government for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

    The annual tax bills property holders received in January caused sticker shock for many in Natchez-Adams County. Some amounts rose by 25 percent or more from the previous year. A state-mandated reassessment process resulted in property values rising due to inflation and other contributing factors. However, many Adams County taxpayers questioned whether their properties were overvalued. 
     

    The tax assessor is required to annually locate and assess all taxable property within the county. His office is responsible for setting fair, uniform and accurate values for each parcel of real estate and personal property, which includes machinery, office equipment, and other fixtures. The assessor annually presents the tax rolls to the Board of Supervisors for approval. 

    The property tax bills are the combined total owed to Natchez, Adams County, and the Natchez-Adams School District for running the local government operations.

  • Lionel Messi leads Argentina to 3-2 comeback victory over Egypt and spot in World Cup quarterfinals


    ATLANTA (AP) — It was another World Cup epic from an Argentina team that simply doesn’t know when it’s beaten.

    Trailing 2-0 against Egypt with 11 minutes of regulation time to play on Tuesday, the defending champions rallied for an improbable 3-2 victory and a spot in the quarterfinals.

    “We have a phenomenal group, a group that never gives up no matter the difficulties and adversity. We’re always together,” said Enzo Fernandez, who scored the winning goal in stoppage time.

    Argentina will play either Switzerland or Colombia in the next round on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.

    For much of Tuesday’s game, it looked like it would be a painful exit for the 39-year-old Lionel Messi in what might be the last of his six World Cups.

    Egypt led after goals in each half from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico and could have been ahead 3-0 if not for a video review that ruled out another score.

    Argentina looked down and out, its bid to be the first team to win back-to-back World Cup titles since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 all but dead.

    Cue a monumental comeback.

    “The heart of Argentinians is always something that pushes, that we keep going no matter what, that we give everything until the end. And honestly, with the score 2-0, we looked a bit beaten,” Argentina striker Julian Alvarez said. “There was little time left, but we always manage to get something more by fighting until the end.”

    Cristian Romero started the rally by scoring with a header in the 79th minute. Messi, who was in tears after the final whistle, scored his eighth goal of the tournament and record-extending 21st goal at the World Cup in the 83rd to level the score at 2-2 and Fernandez completed the comeback in injury time.

    “Four years have passed since Qatar, and we’ve come to enjoy another World Cup — and we want to win it again. That’s what we’re aiming for,” Fernandez said.

    Argentina is no stranger to heroic matches at the World Cup.

    There was the 3-2 win over West Germany in the 1986 final. Then the 3-3 draw and eventual shootout victory against France to reclaim the title four years ago.

    Cape Verde pushed Argentina to the brink in the last round before eventually winning 3-2 in extra time.

    Tuesday’s match was even more dramatic, with Messi having a first-half penalty saved and another effort hit the post.

    “I’m so emotional,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “What a group of players, brother.”

    Egypt took a surprising lead in the 15th minute when Ibrahim got ahead of Lisandro Martinez to meet Marwan Attia’s cross and head the ball into the bottom corner.

    Argentina was quickly given the chance to level the match when Haissem Hassan tripped Nicolas Tagliafico in the box moments later. Referee François Letexier pointed to the penalty spot and Messi stepped up with an expectant crowd waiting for him to score.

    Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir had other ideas, diving to his left to block the shot for Messi’s second penalty miss of the tournament after also failing from the spot against Austria in the group stage.

    Despite being the all-time leading scorer at World Cups, Messi has now missed four of eight penalty kicks at the tournament.

    After Messi hit the post later in the half, Shobeir pulled off another great save to stop Julian Alvarez from close range.

    Egypt thought it had doubled its lead in the second half when Mostafa Zico finished off a sweeping attack. But the wild celebrations were cut short when a foul earlier in the move was confirmed on video review and the goal was disallowed.

    That second goal for Egypt did come in the 67th from a similar break, and this time Zico’s effort counted. It just wasn’t enough.

    “We looked better compared to the reigning champions. We were better in everything, but the result,” Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said.

    Hassan said he would not watch any further games at this year’s World Cup, believing his team should have had a penalty before Argentina broke away for the winning goal.

    “I’m not convinced with this outcome. I’m not convinced with the way things unfolded during this match,” he said. “I do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording, selected wording, and saying hard luck and so on and so forth.

    “We have been treated unfairly today,” Hassan said. “We have suffered injustice.”

    ___

    James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

    ___

    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Same old story: US men’s soccer team has been stagnant for quarter century


    SEATTLE (AP) — For all the growth in American soccer over the past quarter-century, the U.S. men’s national team remains stagnant.

    Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie fared no better at the World Cup in 2022 and 2026 than Tim Howard, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore did in 2010 and 2014.

    “We want to be able to go and compete with some of the best in the world and we just still have that next step to come,” Pulisic said after Monday night’s error-filled 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16.

    For all the billions of dollars invested with the goal of boosting the national team into the world’s elite, the Americans remain soccer plebians.

    After reaching the semifinals of the first World Cup in 1930, the U.S. didn’t even qualify between 1950 and 1990. Since then, the Americans were eliminated in the round of 16 in 1994, 2010, 2014, 2022 and this year, failed to advance past their group in 1990, 1998 and 2006, and flopped in qualifying for 2018.

    “It’s not like you are in a rocket and you improve and you grow. … It’s not linear,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said.

    The U.S. won three games in a World Cup for the first time, beating Paraguay, Australia and Bosnia-Herzegovina while losing to Turkey and Belgium. The Americans benefited as host, a seeded team that didn’t face a top-10 nation before the Red Devils.

    By the next World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco (with three games in South America), Pulisic, McKennie and Adams will be 31.

    Which players increased value for the US national team?

    Folarin Balogun led the U.S. team with three goals, looking like a top striker, and gained worldwide notoriety when his red card suspension for awkwardly landing on an opponent’s ankle was lifted after a phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump. A former Arsenal youth player, the 25-year-old striker is entering the fourth season of a five-year contract with French club Monaco and could be set for a move to a bigger club.

    Malik Tillman became the first player since France’s Bernard Genghini in 1982 to have two free kick goals in a World Cup. The 24-year-old midfielder is entering the second season of a five-year contract with German club Bayer Leverkusen. He had a difficult 2025-26, getting dropped from the starting lineup between late March and the season’s final match.

    Does US coach Mauricio Pochettino stay in the job for another 4 years?

    Pochettino said he will speak with the U.S. Soccer Federation after a rest period to discuss whether it wants him to stay beyond the expiration of his contract this summer and whether he wants to commit to a four-year cycle.

    “We had positive conversations with Mauricio before the World Cup about the future. We agreed we would continue those conversations following a chance to rest and reflect post World Cup,” the U.S. Soccer Federation said in a statement Tuesday. “We have a great deal of respect and gratitude for Mauricio, his staff and everyone part of the program. We have shared excitement about our potential and also shared clarity about the amount of work at all levels still required to achieve our ambition.”

    The Argentine took over from Gregg Berhalter in late 2024 after first-round elimination at the Copa America. His first year included failures to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Nations League.

    “We were in a mess,” he said. “I’ve seen this team show that we can play football. We can play soccer. We can compete. That we need keep improving — a lot of young players with a lot potential and future.”

    Trouble spots on the field need work for the national team

    Goalkeeper has gone from the United States’ biggest strength from 1990 through 2014 to a huge weakness in the past decade and appears to be at its weakest since the 1980s.

    Long gone are the days when Tony Meola, Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel, Tim Howard and Brad Guzan inspired confidence.

    Zack Steffen and Matt Turner both failed to establish themselves with big European teams. Matt Freese, who supplanted Turner as the first-choice starter last year, gifted a goal in the loss to Belgium that will be replayed on blooper reels.

    Gabriel Slonina, Chris Brady, Patrick Schulte and Roman Celentano, who head the next generation, have the next cycle to establish themselves as possible No. 1s.

    Central defense also is a concern. Crystal Palace’s Chris Richards is the only American playing at a top club and his World Cup partner, Tim Ream, at 38 became the oldest U.S. player at any World Cup.

    Qualifying should be easier with 48-team World Cup tournaments

    With the expansion of the field to 48 nations, including six from North and Central America and the Caribbean, World Cup qualifying is not likely to be challenging for CONCACAF’s powers: Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

    All three were eliminated in the round of 16 after Curaçao, Haiti and Panama were eliminated with last-place finishes in their groups.

    Unless the U.S. shows vast improvement, it will not be seeded for the 2030 World Cup and likely will face a world power in the first round.

    ___

    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Succession fight is already underway as calls mount for Platner to drop out of Maine Senate race


    PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Democratic nominee Graham Platner hasn’t resigned from the Maine U.S. Senate race following an allegation of sexual assault. But the succession battle to take his place was already underway Tuesday.

    The allegation reported Monday prompted a chorus of calls for Platner to depart the high-stakes race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, which could decide party control of the Senate. Platner’s long-time backer, Sen. Bernie Sanders, “recommended that he step aside.” Then, Tuesday evening, The Washington Post reported that an ex-girlfriend of Platner’s had accused him of removing condoms during sex without her consent.

    Platner, who has denied all the allegations, has been mum on whether he’ll step aside. And the Maine Democratic Party, charged with creating a process to pick his replacement, hasn’t publicly announced their plans.

    That’s left the succession battle to play out in a murky power vacuum. Candidates are teasing their entry into the race as a fight shapes up between the progressive wing and the establishment camp of the Democratic Party.

    Platner became a populist hero among the party’s left flank, pulling far ahead of an establishment-backed candidate, Gov. Janet Mills, in the primary. Now, progressive groups fear that political ground could be lost.

    “To the Democratic establishment: This is not your opening,” said Joseph Geevarghese, who leads Our Revolution. The organization founded by Sanders backed and then withdrew its endorsement of Platner after the allegations. The group said Tuesday that it was “rallying behind” another progressive contender, Troy Jackson, who announced he’s “exploring” a candidacy.

    In the allegation published Monday by Politico, a woman whom Platner previously dated said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop. It is the latest in a string of controversies the first-time candidate had weathered, but the seriousness of the assault claim was too far for many of his supporters in the Democratic Party.

    Replacing Platner may further divide Democrats

    The pressure for Platner to withdraw from the Senate race has only increased given the short deadlines Maine law allows for replacing general election candidates.

    There is no mechanism for Democrats to remove Platner from the ballot, meaning he must first opt to drop out of the general election before a replacement can be selected. The deadline to withdraw is 5 p.m. July 13.

    Just who should replace Platner if he drops out appeared to be further splintering Democrats. Some argued the next Democrat should echo Platner’s progressive messaging, pointing to his success at rallying voters across the state. Others cautioned that having ties to Platner will only doom an already uphill campaign against Collins. And some are pushing for an open process to choose another nominee.

    “No one’s enjoying this experience, and it seems like the consensus step forward should be having a fair and open process that everybody feels is legitimate,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a political action committee that backed Platner but now calls for him to suspend his campaign.

    “But it’s a little unclear exactly what’s happening behind the scenes,” Green said.

    Joe Baldacci, a Democratic state senator, said he’s concerned about what the latest allegations will do to voter excitement. He said a new replacement “is going to start very much behind the eight ball.”

    Mills, who sought the Democratic nomination but dropped out before the June 9 primary, could be considered as a nominee. Mills was supported by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer but abandoned her campaign, saying she couldn’t raise the money needed to compete.

    Another possible replacement is Jackson, Maine’s former state Senate President, who unsuccessfully ran to be the Democratic gubernatorial nominee earlier this year with the backing of Platner and Sanders. Jackson filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday to launch a Senate exploratory committee.

    Our Revolution, the organization Sanders founded, said Tuesday it is backing Jackson in an early push to get a progressive out front.

    “Remember: Progressives overwhelmingly won the primary. A progressive MUST be on the ballot,” the organization said in a fundraising email, which described Jackson as a logger and union leader who helmed Sanders’ past presidential efforts in Maine.

    Another possible contender, Nirav Shah, the former director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday he was “evaluating” whether to join the race should Platner depart. Shah came in second in this year’s Maine Democratic gubernatorial primary, where he was considered more moderate compared with Jackson.

    Jordan Wood, a former U.S. Senate candidate who then switched to unsuccessfully run for Maine’s 2nd District, posted Tuesday that he was “continuing conversations” with voters about joining the race.

    Other names include Shenna Bellows, the current Maine Secretary of State; Dan Kleban, founder of Maine Beer Co.; Maine U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, who is not running for reelection; as well as Hannah Pingree, currently Maine’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

    A Platner voter is ‘heartbroken’

    Joanie Monteith, a passionate supporter from the southern Maine town of York who organized a trivia night about Platner in March, said through tears Tuesday that she was devastated by the news. She was waiting for another public statement from Platner before making a decision about whether she could keep supporting him.

    “I’m numb, and I’m waiting for what Graham has to say,” she said. “I’m trying not to be a part of this public trial. And I’m heartbroken. And I’m heartbroken for him and his wife.”

    She added that she believes the allegations are serious.

    “I’m not going to blame a victim. Because if this is true I feel very bad for the woman,” she said.

    Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, told Politico that Platner entered her home in 2021 while drunk and assaulted her. Racicot said she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner, but she cut off contact with him after that night and told him the incident wasn’t consensual. She said in a CNN interview on Monday evening that she opted not to fight back for fear of Platner, a former Marine, becoming more violent.

    Another Maine voter, Lee Holman, said she wants Platner to stay in the race.

    “I feel like the people of Maine have spoken,” the Democrat said. “If they wanted Janet Mills, they could have voted for her.”

    She said the allegation against Platner may be legitimate, but she questions the timing. Democrats, she added, can be too quick to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” by calling on politicians facing allegations to resign.

    “Every time we think we have a chance to snatch our democracy back, something gets in the way,” she said.

    ___

    Kruesi reported from Providence, R.I. and Bedayn from Austin, Texas.