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‘They punched us in the face.’ Sparks can’t keep pace with Aces in season-opening loss

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‘They punched us in the face.’ Sparks can’t keep pace with Aces in season-opening loss

Before the Sparks opening day loss to the Las Vegas Aces, coach Lynne Roberts said that this year “felt different.”

After one game, though, it feels a lot like the same.

During their season opener, the Sparks couldn’t get momentum against the defending champion Aces and fell 105-78 behind a remarkably efficient shooting day from the visitors at Crypto.com Arena.

After posting the worst defense in the WNBA last season (88.2 points per game), the Sparks made a flurry of offseason moves prioritizing stopping opponents. It’s why they brought in Nneka Ogwumike, Ariel Atkins and Erica Wheeler.

But the Aces shot 63% from the floor and the Sparks had few answers.

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“Today was on us,” Ogwumike said. “Defense is not something that gels. You either want to do it or you don’t.”

Reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson led the Aces with 19 points, Jackie Young had 20 points and nine assists and Chennedy Carter added 22 points in her first WNBA game since 2024.

The Aces, who were coming off a 33-point blowout opening day loss to Phoenix on Saturday, scored 33 of their points in the third quarter and that’s when the wheels fell off for the Sparks. Las Vegas shot 73.7% during the quarter.

Sparks coach Lynne Roberts reacts during a 105-78 loss to the Las Vegas Aces at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.

(Luiza Moraes / Getty Images)

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“I think that was probably one of my worst one-on-one defending nights,” Ogwumike said. “But defense is definitely not something that you guys should be sitting here watching and hoping we get it down by the end of the month. You should see it on Wednesday.”

Kelsey Plum scored 11 of her 27 points in the fourth quarter, but by then the Aces had opened a 20-plus point lead.

The Sparks narrowed the deficit to one by halftime following an Ogwumike (19 points, 10 rebounds) three-pointer and backhand layup late in the second. But mostly, the Sparks’ defense activated, forcing 10 Las Vegas turnovers, led by two steals apiece from Atkins and Wheeler to fuel the comeback.

That energy was gone by the third quarter after the Aces started doubling Ogwumike, and aside from Plum, the Sparks’ offense had no answers.

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“They punched us in the face,” Plum said. “We didn’t respond. And obviously, they’re a great team, right? When someone is shooting 63% it’s going to be hard to win that game. … I’m disappointed in our effort.”

Of the Sparks’ 19 turnovers, 10 came in the second half. The Aces scored 26 points off those giveaways, which made things even more difficult on the defense.

“Turnovers are, you’re just leading the other team to a fast break,” Roberts said. “And so we were giving them the turnovers, then there are two individual players who are expected to get a defensive stop after the turnover.”

They also need more from reserve center Cameron Brink (0 points, 0-for-0 shooting, three rebounds, three fouls in eight minutes) and Wheeler (two points, 1-for-11 in 20 minutes) going forward. Once Brink got in foul trouble, the Aces could continue blitzing Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby (12 points, five rebounds) without worry.

“We need Cam to produce,” Roberts said. “We need Cam to bring that defensive energy. We have so much confidence and belief in her. She’s got to get out on the floor with some confidence and do what she’s capable of doing, but we’re going to need her.”

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If the Sparks have turned a corner from last season, they will need to find consistency on the defensive end of the floor. It won’t get easier with Caitlin Clark and Indiana (0-1) coming to town on Wednesday.

But the reason the Sparks built the roster that they did was to stop opponents after falling short of the postseason with the league’s third-best scoring team in the league.

“The good thing about this league is that we play in a day or two,” Plum said. “So, we’ll fix things.”

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VAR denies Croatia’s game-tying goal as Cristiano Ronaldo leads Portugal to Round of 16

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VAR denies Croatia’s game-tying goal as Cristiano Ronaldo leads Portugal to Round of 16

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Croatia thought their FIFA World Cup hopes were still alive when they scored the game-tying goal just before the end of stoppage time in the second half.

But a VAR review said Mario Pasalic was offside, and it was Portugal moving on instead.

Gonçalo Ramos’ goal just minutes earlier — a beautiful header into the back of the net in the 94th minute — was the decider in this 2-1 victory for Portugal. And it was only the second time in Portuguese World Cup history the nation needed to come from behind to win, underscoring its resilience on the sport’s biggest stage.

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Luka Modric of Croatia and teammates react after the 1-2 loss during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between Portugal and Croatia at Toronto Stadium on July 2, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario. (Patrick Smith – FIFA)

It was a controversial ending, though, and one where Croatia tried to argue the ball never hit the head of Igor Matanovic, which made Pasalic offside during VAR review.

It’s also worth noting that a new chip within the ball shows when it is touched, giving more concrete evidence to the referee’s final decision in such a crucial time of the match. This was the 10th goal overruled by VAR thus far in the World Cup.

GABRIEL MARTINELLI’S 96TH-MINUTE GOAL RESCUES BRAZIL FROM JAPAN UPSET IN WORLD CUP ROUND OF 32

So, with the goal annulled, Croatia’s time at the tournament has ended. As a result, Croatian legend Luka Modrić is finishing his fifth World Cup, which will likely be the 40-year-old midfielder’s final one.

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But another older legend on the pitch will move on, as Cristiano Ronaldo made some World Cup history during this match.

When No. 7 stepped foot on the pitch and the ball was kicked, he became the oldest player to participate in a knockout stage match at the World Cup at 41 years and 147 days old. He also became the oldest player to score in a knockout stage match when he saw a penalty situation while Portugal was down 1-0 in the match.

Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between Portugal and Croatia at Toronto Stadium on July 2, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario. (Patrick Smith – FIFA)

Ivan Perisic got the first goal of this game and put Portugal’s back against the wall. But after a foul was committed inside Croatia’s box in the 67th minute, it was time for Ronaldo to get his first career knockout goal, and he didn’t disappoint.

Ronaldo was ecstatic, sprinting toward the corner flag and performing his signature “SIU!” celebration, which the crowd bellowed with the score at 1-1. Ronaldo had also seemed to get that first knockout goal just minutes earlier but he was called offside.

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Modrić and Ronaldo, two former teammates on Real Madrid, also made history together, as they were the first two players 40 years or older to play in the same match together.

Luka Modric of Croatia congratulates Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal after the 2-1 win during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between Portugal and Croatia at Toronto Stadium on July 2, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario. (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

It was also an emotional moment after the match, as Ronaldo wore the jersey of late Portugal teammate Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident a year ago. A team photo was taken on the pitch, with Ronaldo holding up Jota’s jersey alongside his squad.

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Now that the job is done in the Round of 32 for Portugal, they face a big challenge against a key rival in the Round of 16.

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Spain, who dominated Austria with a 3-0 finish earlier on Thursday, awaits Portugal at Dallas Stadium on July 6 at 3 p.m. ET.

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Dodgers overcome Roki Sasaki’s poor performance to rout Padres

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Dodgers overcome Roki Sasaki’s poor performance to rout Padres

Roki Sasaki’s abysmal appearance faded away in the Dodgers’ 12-7 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night, but only after the National League West leaders rose from a catatonic first inning.

The Dodgers roared back from a 6-0 deficit as Andy Pages skirted a tying double down the left-field line, and Mookie Betts and Max Muncy each drove in runs to give them the lead for good in a four-run fourth inning. All of which sent the sold-out Dodger Stadium crowd into jubilant celebrations, some jumping, others breaking out World Cup chants.

“Thankfully, it played out the way I didn’t expect,” manager Dave Roberts said of the team’s ability to turn the game around, “or the way it started.”

By the time the game ended, Sasaki’s three-inning start seemed like a murky nightmare the Dodgers awoke from in a sweat. Except the Dodgers weren’t dreaming, and the team hadn’t done much to assuage the concerns with Sasaki.

The problem with Sasaki isn’t his stuff. On his best nights, when the velocity and command combine, Sasaki blows past batters with a triple-digit fastball and cutting off-speed pitches. The problem has been how to tick the radar without making the strike zone look like a Jackson Pollock painting — and recently, it has.

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Sasaki’s June swoon, impervious to the calendar change, continued into Thursday’s series opener against the Padres, in which the right-hander gave up three home runs among seven hits before Roberts called it quits going into the fourth inning.

“They were on everything,” Roberts said. “You could see it.”

One possible concern? Tipping pitches. While Roberts and catcher Dalton Rushing said the team would need to do more research into Sasaki’s start, both left the door open to this answer.

“That would be a big explanation as to how they felt like they were on every pitch,” Rushing said.

As San Diego chugged through its lineup, Sasaki struggled to keep up. With his first pitch, he gave up a double to Fernando Tatis Jr., who scored on Manny Machado’s home run that left center fielder Pages staring at the ball’s path as it plopped down on the other side of the blue outfield fence.

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The inning was only a preview of the Padres’ power. Each of the nine San Diego batters got his chance against Sasaki in the second, and the team quickly dug the Dodgers into a six-run hole. He surrendered two home runs in the second inning. Jackson Merrill blasted a ball to left-center field leading off, and, two outs later, Jake Cronenworth drove in two runs with a shot to right-center.

Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo that he needed to work on his command, but he felt like his fastball was good.

Roki Sasaki has his head down after giving up a solo homer to Jackson Merrill in the second inning.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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“I don’t think my stuff was bad today,” Sasaki said. “Overall, it wasn’t great but a lot of things evolved.”

Part of Sasaki’s issue lies with his approach. Roberts said he wants the second-year pitcher to be aggressive, to play the cat-and-mouse game required to beat batters in the box. But when given the opportunity, Sasaki has shrunken in recent outings, struggling with his command and his ability to pitch deep into games.

“We had a great May, so let’s just get back to competing and making pitches,” Roberts said.

When reliever Will Klein walked out to the mound in the fourth to the aggressive, rambunctious clamor of the Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” and collected two scoreless, one-hit innings, the relief was immediate: The Dodgers took the lead.

The lineup already was revving, as Rushing homered in the second inning while Sasaki was still in the game, and both Kyle Tucker and Muncy drove in runs off starter Randy Vasquez in the third, cutting the deficit to two. The Dodgers broke through against the Padres’ bullpen to score six runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

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“The bullpen was fantastic tonight, and then the offense came up big,” Roberts said.

A late catch by Pages helped close out the game after he gloved a ball despite ramming into the padding of the center field wall. A combined effort by Paul Gervase and Tanner Scott shut down San Diego’s ninth-inning momentum after it pushed across a run.

“Turned back around, was able to find the ball and make a really good catch right there,” Tucker said of Pages. “That was a huge out.”

The Dodgers (57-31) beat their division rivals for the fifth time in seven games to open a 13-game lead over both San Diego and Arizona. The Padres, meanwhile, have lost six straight and given up 66 runs over the last six days, the most in such a span in franchise history.

But San Diego’s flaws don’t negate the Dodgers’ as they burned through six relievers in their win. So, while the Dodgers crawled out of the hole with a season-high 17 hits, the steep cost heightens the pressure on the rest of the rotation the rest of the series.

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2026 World Cup Round Of 16 Odds: Who’s Favored To Advance?

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2026 World Cup Round Of 16 Odds: Who’s Favored To Advance?

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In previous years, the Round of 16 was the first knockout stage match, but with an expanded field of 48 teams— it is now the second. 

Let’s check out the odds at FanDuel Sportsbook as of July 2 for which countries are favored to make the Round of 16 and emerge from it.

This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.

To Reach Round of 16

Argentina: -2000 (bet $10 to win $10.50 total)
Colombia: -550 (bet $10 to win $11.82 total)
Portugal: -340 (bet $10 to win $12.94 total)
Switzerland: -235 (bet $10 to win $14.26 total)
Egypt: -148 (bet $10 to win $16.76 total)
Australia: +122 (bet $10 to win $22.20 total)
Algeria: +186 (bet $10 to win $28.60 total)
Croatia: +260 (bet $10 to win $36 total)
Ghana: +380 (bet $10 to win $48 total)
Cape Verde: +1160 (bet $10 to win $126 total)

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Now let’s check out the odds at FanDuel Sportsbook as of July 2 for the matchups already in place.

SATURDAY, JULY 4

Canada vs. Morocco

To Advance: MAR -300, CAN +225
Moneyline: MAR -130, Draw +240, CAN +420

Paraguay vs. France

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To Advance: FRA -1800, PRY +1140
Moneyline: FRA -600, Draw +600, PRY +1800

SUNDAY, JULY 5

Brazil vs. Norway

To Advance: BRA -245, NOR +196
Moneyline: BRA -120, Draw +260, NOR +340

Mexico vs. England

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To Advance: ENG -134, MEX +110
Moneyline: ENG +145, Draw +210, MEX +200

MONDAY, JULY 6

USA vs. Belgium

To Advance: USA -110, BEL -110
Moneyline: USA +165, Draw +230, BEL +170

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