Charlotte (US), July 11 (IANS) Midfielder James Rodriguez surpassed Argentine great Lionel Messi’s record of most assists for goals in a single edition of the Copa America.

The pass for Jefferson Lerma to score was his 6th assist in the tournament, making him the player with the most assists in a single edition since 2011, when the statistic began to be computed.

The previous mark belonged to Messi, who had registered 5 assists in the Copa América 2021.

With this sixth assist, Colombia’s number 10 achieved his fourth game out of five with at least one assist. He started with two in the victory against Paraguay. He added one more against Costa Rica and another two in the 5-0 against Panama, in the quarterfinals.

Colombia defeated Uruguay 1-0 to advance to the final, which will be held on Sunday in Miami. Awaiting them are Argentina, as Lionel Messi and Co. look to make it a second consecutive Copa America title.

–IANS

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Charlotte (US), July 11 (IANS) Colombia beat Uruguay 1-0 to extend their 28 game unbeaten streak and earning a place in Copa America final late on Wednesday night.

Colombia is headed to Miami Gardens to play Argentina in the Grand Final at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday while Uruguay will stay in Charlotte to play Canada at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday to determine third place.

The first 10 minutes saw two juggernauts cautiously testing each other, resulting in only one shot. Colombia appeared more likely to create the first big chance, but it was Uruguay’s Darwin Nunez who came close.

Nunez battled past multiple Colombian defenders in the penalty area and unleashed a powerful shot to the bottom left corner, narrowly missing. Despite several chances, the Uruguayan striker couldn’t score.

After losing center back Ronald Araujo to injury against Brazil, Uruguay suffered another blow as Rodrigo Bentancur went off injured in the 35th minute with Guillermo Varela replacing him.

In the 40th minute, Colombia finally broke through as James Rodriguez’s set-piece delivery leading to a headed goal. Rodriguez’s whipped corner found Jefferson Lerma, who powered it into Rochet’s near post.

This goal marked a milestone for Colombia’s captain, as he broke Lionel Messi’s record for the most assists in a single tournament edition with his sixth, giving Colombia the lead in the semifinal.

In the 45th minute, the match shifted as Daniel Munoz received a second yellow card, reducing Colombia to 10 men just before halftime.

By the 70th minute, the game became increasingly stretched. Uruguayan legend Luis Suarez, coming on as a substitute, had a great chance at the top of the box, but his shot grazed the side of the post.

In the 87th minute, Colombia’s Mateus Uribe missed a one-on-one chance after a Uruguayan defensive mistake. During seven minutes of stoppage time, Uribe had another one-on-one, but Rochet made a crucial save, deflecting the shot off the bar.

Uruguay held on for the final minutes, and a last-gasp effort was blocked by a Colombian defender.

–IANS

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Berlin, July 11 (IANS) Substitute Ollie Watkins sent England to their second successive Euro final with a 2-1 victory over the resilient Netherlands in the semifinal.

Ronald Koeman’s men got off to the perfect start when Xavi Simons danced through the England defense before unleashing a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to break the deadlock after just seven minutes.

The Netherlands’ advantage didn’t last long, as Harry Kane converted a foul-play penalty following a VAR review with a well-placed shot into the bottom right-hand corner in the 18th minute, reports Xinhua.

The Three Lions gained momentum and almost doubled their lead in the 23rd minute when Denzel Dumfries cleared Phil Foden’s shot off the line.

Dumfries remained in the thick of things after rattling the woodwork with a header from a promising position on the half-hour mark.

Gareth Southgate’s men controlled possession but couldn’t convert their chances before the half-time whistle.

After a slow start to the second half from both sides, the Dutch gradually gained the upper hand, but it was not until the 65th minute that Pickford was called into action to save Virgil van Dijk’s header.

England continued to threaten and thought they had regained the lead, but Bukayo Saka’s goal was ruled out for offside in the 79th minute.

The Three Lions stunned the Oranje in the 91st minute when Watkins finished off an attack with a curling shot into the right-hand corner.

The Netherlands piled on the pressure, but England’s defense held firm to set up a meeting with Spain in the final on July 14.

“I’m lost for words! I didn’t want to come off the pitch at the end because I wanted to soak it all in. I don’t think I have ever hit a ball that sweet. I never thought I would play at a Euro 2024 with England, but I’ve put in a lot of hard work to get to this point,” said Watkins

–IANS

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London, July 11 (IANS) Gus Atkinson had a near-perfect maiden Test outing, claiming 7-45 to record the second-best bowling figures in an innings by an England debutant in Test history, on the opening day of the first Test against the West Indies on Wednesday. By stumps on the first day, England rode on half-centuries by opener Zak Crawley (76) and Ollie Pope (57) to reach 189/3 in 40 overs to take a 68-run lead, putting them on course for taking a stranglehold on the match.

On Wednesday, when all eyes were on James Anderson in his farewell match, it was Atkinson who claimed wickets in a flurry – his 7-45 was second only to Dominic Cork’s 7-43 against West Indies at Lord’s in 1995 and better than John Lever’s 7-46 against India in 1976. Atkinson’s superb bowling helped England bundle out West Indies for 121 in the first innings.

Anderson, whose daughter rang the traditional bell to signal the start of a Test match at Lord’s, claimed one wicket for 26 runs in 10.4 overs. Anderson, who will be retiring after the ongoing Test against the West Indies after playing 188 games, was honoured by the England team and was asked to lead the side out on the field following the national anthems after skipper Ben Stokes elected to bowl first.

Atkinson began in style, snaring the West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite off just his second ball in Test cricket, getting the batter to play onto his stumps. Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva, Alzarri Joseph, and Shamar Joseph all subsequently fell victim to the 26-year-old right-handed fast bowler Atkinson, who had a day to remember.

With Atkinson getting into the act, West Indies slumped from 88/3 to 121 all out in just about seven overs.

While Cork’s debut had helped England to a 72-run win in 1995, against the same opposition at the same venue, Atkinson’s figures have given Ben Stokes’ side a huge advantage going into the second innings – West Indies were bowled out for 121 in the first innings, with England responding strongly later on day one, with Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope hitting fifties.

In their first innings, hosts England lost an early wicket, losing opener Ben Duckett for three at a score of 29 runs. Jayden Seales got the early breakthrough when he pitched one full and wide and Duckett went for a drive but only edged it behind to keeper Joshua Da Silva.

But Crawley and Pope rescued England with a 94-run partnership that took them past West Indies’s first-inning score. They took England past fifty runs in 11.2 overs and then across 100 in the 24th over of the innings, going at a fair clip despite their progress being halted by bad light which stopped play with England 88/1.

Pope was the first to reach his fifty off 70 balls, hitting 10 boundaries. Crawley too completed his half-century, reaching the milestone off 74 balls, studded with nine fours. Jason Holder brought West Indies back into the game when he trapped Pope in front of the wicket, with the ball hitting the backfoot with a fine yorker.

Crawley was out soon after as England fell to 153/3 as a superb yorker by Seales sent the stumps cartwheeling as the ball, speared at leg stump, snuck under the bat.

Joe Root (15 not out) and Harry Brook (25 not out) were batting at the crease, having added 36 runs for the fourth wicket partnership.

Brief scores:

West Indies 121 all out in 41.4 overs (Mikyle Louis 27; Gus Atkinson 7-45) v England 189/3 in 40 overs (Zak Crawley 76, Ollie Pope 57, Harry Brook 25 not out; Jayden Seales 2-31). England lead by 68 runs.

–IANS

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London, July 10 (IANS) All eyes in Italy were on Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon but it is Lorenzo Musetti who has kept the country’s hopes alive by reaching the semifinals and setting up a clash with 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic, who progressed to the semifinal after Australian Alex de Minaur withdrew due to an injury.

Musetti delivered arguably the Grand Slam performance of his career so far on Wednesday to outlast Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 3-6. 6-1 in a quarterfinal clash at the grass-court major. In doing so, the 22-year-old became just the fourth Italian men’s singles semifinalist in event history.

Even after World No.1 Sinner fell to Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday, Musetti gave an immediate reminder of the strength-in-depth of Italian tennis with a classy and composed display in his maiden major quarterfinal. The 25th seed deployed his slice backhand to great effect to outfox an elite grass-court opponent and set a last-four meeting with Djokovic.

The two-time ATP Tour titlist Musetti composed himself superbly in the deciding set after Fritz had snatched the fourth via a break in the eighth game. The Italian raced to a double-break lead with some of his best tennis of the match before sealing a three-hour, 27-minute quarter-final triumph.

The foundation of Musetti’s triumph in his debut appearance on the All-England Club’s No. 1 Court was his serve. The No. 25 in the ATP Rankings won 76 per cent (63/83) of points behind his first delivery, and that stability allowed him to express himself freely in return games. Musetti converted six of the 13 break points he earned against one of the biggest servers on the ATP Tour.

The penultimate point of the match was a good example of the way Musetti found his magic touch in the final set. He produced a well-disguised drop shot which Fritz chased courageously. The American caught his leg in the court as he tried to slide and the crowd held its breath, but fortunately, he was soon up to face match point.

There was nothing the three-time Eastbourne champion Fritz could do to rescue the match situation, however. Musetti served out for a famous victory to join his countrymen Nicola Pietrangeli (1960), Matteo Berrettini (2021), and Sinner (2023) as a Wimbledon semifinalist.

Alex de Minaur pulled out from Wimbledon before his quarterfinal clash against Djokovic due to an injury.

The ninth-seeded Australian announced he was unable to compete against the seven-time champion Djokovic. At a press conference, De Minaur had spoken of jarring his hip in the closing stages of his fourth-round victory against Arthur Fils, and he was unable to recover in time to take on the second-seeded Djokovic on Centre Court on Wednesday.

“I’m devastated, but I had to pull out due to a hip injury, a little tear of the fiber cartilage that is at the end to the adductor,” De Minaur said. “I felt a loud crack during the last three points of my match against Fils and got a scan yesterday and it confirms that this was the injury. [There is] a high risk of making it worse if I was to step on court.”

–IANS

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