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SoFi Stadium passes the grass and atmosphere test among players as World Cup looms

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SoFi Stadium passes the grass and atmosphere test among players as World Cup looms

Omar Duran had never been to SoFi Stadium until Monday. So consider his visit for the Copa América group-stage game between Brazil and Costa Rica something of a trial run for the 2026 World Cup, now less than two years away.

“It’s beautiful,” Duran said, gripping a beer in his left hand as he made his away along the stadium’s spacious concourse. “It’s amazing what they have done.”

The game, which ended in a scoreless draw, was something of a practice run for the stadium too. The first in a series of test runs, actually, since SoFi will play host to another Copa América game Wednesday, when Mexico faces Venezuela. Then in late July, English Premier League giants Arsenal and Manchester United will meet there in a friendly.

And for Otto Benedict, the stadium’s senior vice president for facility and campus operations, nothing will be too small to overlook given the task ahead. In 2026, SoFi will stage eight World Cup matches, including the U.S. team’s opener, the first men’s World Cup match to be played on American soil in 32 years. Only AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with nine games, will play host to more.

“The things that people probably don’t think about,” Benedict said when asked what he was focused Monday. “It’s a weekday. Our next game is a Wednesday. When we have World Cup games, we’re going to have weekday games.

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“How much traffic we see on the streets right now, we want to know that because that’s going to impact how we’re preparing. So every little detail is something that we’re looking at to understand how that works.”

The bigger things will be dictated by FIFA, global soccer’s ruling body and the organizer of the World Cup. FIFA prohibits artificial turf in major tournaments, for example, so SoFi’s Matrix Turf field was covered with a temporary carpet of desert-grown natural grass from West Coast Turf for this week’s two Copa América games. For the World Cup, the field will be raised a couple of feet and another type of grass installed.

“This is a warm-season grass,” Benedict said. “The FIFA research team thinks this will be a cool-season-grass building. So they’re doing a lot of independent testing. But for us, it’s just good to see how much how much moisture’s getting in the air. How is it reacting?

“It’s all good learning and points that we’re going to take and share that with people and say, ‘Hey, here’s what we got out of this event.’”

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SoFi’s floor is also too narrow to accommodate a regulation-size soccer field, which must be at least 74 yards wide along the goal line. That will be remedied for 2026 by eliminating field-level suites in the four corners and widening the playing surface, although that was not done for Copa América.

SoFi’s capacity of 70,240 is also small by FIFA standards but that can be boosted by as much as 10,000 with the addition of temporary stands in the upper deck above the north and south ends.

SoFi isn’t the only World Cup venue having a Copa dress rehearsal this summer. Eight of the 11 U.S. stadiums that will be used in 2026 are also staging Copa matches, and eight games into the tournament, some have been found wanting. Many stadiums will have to widen their pitches in the corners and add grass fields over the regular artificial turf.

That hasn’t gone well.

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Players from both teams complained about the carpet laid down in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium for last week’s tournament opener, with Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez calling it a “disaster” and Canada defender Kamal Miller saying the field felt “as if it was hollow.”

U.S. midfielder Weston McKennie complained about a lack of atmosphere ahead of his team’s opening win over Bolivia, which was played in front of more than 30,000 empty seats at AT&T Stadium outside Dallas. Of the tournament’s first eight games, only Argentina’s opener sold out.

Monday’s SoFi match came close, with attendance announced at 67,158. And while the ersatz field and narrow dimensions drew complaints, the reviews from those who took part were mostly good.

“There are things that are going to have to improve obviously. The dimensions, the speed of the ball, that type of thing,” Costa Rica coach Gustavo Alfaro said in Spanish. “But it seems to me that it is a good test, to know what we need.

“The atmosphere was very nice. The logistics are very good. Everything was very easy for the teams. They did it very well.”

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Teenage forward Andy Rojas agreed.

“The stadium is spectacular,” he said. “It’s a huge, beautiful stadium and it is good for hosting the World Cup. The grass felt like it slowed the ball a lot, but it can be fixed.”

Costa Rica's Brandon Aguilera, left, and Brazil's Lucas Paqueta battle for the ball.

Costa Rica’s Brandon Aguilera, left, and Brazil’s Lucas Paqueta battle for the ball during a scoreless draw at SoFi Stadium on Monday.

(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)

There were a few other glitches — a press elevator never showed up postgame — but nothing that negatively impacted the fan experience.

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“It went well,” a SoFi official declared afterward. “A lot of the little nuance things that will be required as part of this major event, we’re going to be looking at those things,” Benedict added. “Whether it’s Copa, our upcoming concerts, even the NFL season in ‘24, in ‘25. We will take those learnings and make sure we’re adjusting.”

Yet for David Cartagena of Irvine, who attended the game with his son dressed in matching Real Madrid jerseys, Monday’s test was one the stadium passed with flying colors.

“For soccer and the World Cup? Are you kidding me?” he said as he waited in a quick-moving concession line. “This place is going to be crazy.”

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Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History

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Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History

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The best Indianapolis 500 finish could be subjective, depending on which driver a fan was rooting for to win.

It certainly is in the eye of the beholder.

So take this list for what it’s worth. One view of the 10 best finishes in Indianapolis 500 history. Of course, it skews to more recent decades when the runs have come a little faster and the finishes have had a tendency to be a little closer.

We’ll add one each day to this list of fantastic finishes ahead of the 110th running of the Indy 500 on May 24 (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX).

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10. Ericsson outduels O’Ward (2022)

After a red flag, Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in a two-lap shootout. The shootout didn’t last two laps, though, as there was a crash on the final lap behind them. Ericsson had a comfortable lead when the red flag came out for a crash with four laps to go, a situation where in past Indianapolis 500 races, they likely would have ended the race under caution with Ericsson as the winner.

9. Foyt survives chaos (1967)

How does a driver who wins by two laps end up on this list? It’s because the win nearly didn’t happen on the last lap. A big crash with cars and debris littering the frontstretch just ahead of Foyt as he came to the checkered flag forced him to navigate through the wreckage for the win.

8. Sato can’t catch Franchitti (2012)

This was one of those finishes where the leader holds on for the win, but boy did the leader have to hold on. Takuma Sato tried to pass Dario Franchitti early on the final lap but to no avail and Franchitti sped off for the victory. This was one of those Indy 500s that made you hold your breath all the way to the checkered flag.

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UCLA softball pummels South Carolina to advance to NCAA super regional

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UCLA softball pummels South Carolina to advance to NCAA super regional

No. 8 UCLA stuck with right-hander Taylor Tinsley throughout the Los Angeles Regional and that faith in the senior paid off.

During the Bruins’ NCAA tournament opener at Easton Stadium, Tinsley gave up 10 runs before her teammates rallied for a walk-off win. She returned less than 24 hours to pitch against South Carolina, giving up two earned runs in a victory. Tinsley was back in the circle Sunday afternoon, yielding one run in UCLA’s 15-1 victory over the Gamecocks to advance to the super regionals.

“I am proud of Taylor’s resiliency, the ability to do whatever she can to help this team,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “She got stronger through the weekend. I am proud of that.”

Tinsley and her teammates will host Central Florida in a super regional that begins Friday.

“I feel good,” Tinsley said after pitching three key games in three days. “I could have gone more innings if needed.”

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South Carolina right-hander Jori Heard gave up only one hit through two innings, keeping UCLA’s potent bats relatively quiet. The Gamecocks had runners on first and second with two outs in the second, but Tinsley escaped the inning with a pop-up to left field.

The Bruins got on the board first with a two-run home run from left fielder Rylee Slimp in the third inning. The Bruins followed it up by loading the bases with no outs in the fifth for right fielder Megan Grant.

Grant cooked up a grand slam to make it 6-0. She has 40 home runs, extending her hold on the NCAA single-season home run record. Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells trails Grant with 37 homers.

“Its just incredible because I am blessed to be able to say the number 40,” Grant said.

South Carolina broke through on an RBI single from left fielder Quincee Lilio to cut UCLA’s lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning after being held to just one hit since the first inning. The Gamecocks couldn’t cash in the rest of the way.

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The Bruins resumed scoring in the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and Grant at bat again. Fans at Easton Stadium anticipated another grand slam, holding up their cellphones hoping to catch some magic. Grant served up a two-run RBI single to expand the lead 8-1.

Jordan Woolery added to the scoring with a two-run RBI double down the left-field line, and Kaniya Bragg hit a home run to left-center field. Soo-jin Berry put a bow on the win with one more home run.

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Pro wrestling star learns what ‘land of opportunity’ means in US as he details journey from Italy to America

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Pro wrestling star learns what ‘land of opportunity’ means in US as he details journey from Italy to America

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Cristiano Argento has been tearing up opponents in the ring for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as he worked his way up the ladder to get a few shots at some gold.

But the path to get to one of the most prestigious pro wrestling companies in the U.S. was long and a path that not many wrestlers have taken.

Argento was born and raised in Osimo, Italy – a town of about 35,000 people located on the east side of the country closer to the Adriatic Sea. He told Fox News Digital he started training in a ring at a boxing gym before he got started on the independent scene in Italy. He wrestled in Germany, Sweden, France and Denmark before he came to the realization that, to become a professional wrestler, he needed to make his way to the United States.

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Cristiano Argento performs in the National Wrestling Alliance (Instagram)

He first worked his way to Canada to get trained by pro wrestling legend Lance Storm. He moved to Canada, leaving most of his friends and family behind and without a firm grasp on the English language.

“At the time, my English was horrible. I didn’t speak any English at all,” he said. “But I was with my friend, Stefano, he came with me and he translated everything for me. I probably missed 50% of the knowledge that Lance Storm was giving to us because I was unable to understand. I was only given a recap and everything I was able to see. I’m sure if I was doing it now with a proper knowledge of English, it would have been a different scenario.

“Eventually, I moved back to Italy after the training and I said, OK, now, I want to go to the U.S. So, I studied English more properly, and eventually I got my first work visa that was in Texas. I was in Houston for a short period of time. I trained with Booker T at Reality of Wrestling. I got on his show, which was my debut in the U.S. That was awesome. I eventually got a new work visa in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I currently live since 2017. Since then, my wrestling career, thankfully, kept growing, growing, growing and growing until now wrestling for the NWA. One of the bigger promotions in the U.S.”

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Argento said that his family thought he was “nuts” for chasing his pro wrestling dream.

He said they were more concerned about his well-being given that he was half-way around the world without anyone he knew by his side in case something went sideways.

“My family, friends, everybody was like why do you want to move to the opposite side of the world not knowing the language, not knowing anybody, by yourself, to try to become a professional wrestler? And I was like, well, we have one life, I love, and that’s what I’m gonna do,” he told Fox News Digital. “Eventually, my family was really supportive. But when I first said, ‘Hey, mom and dad, I want to do that.’ They looked at me like, ‘Are you nuts? Are you drunk or something? What are you talking about?’ And I said, no that’s what I want to do. And they knew I loved this sport because in Italy I was traveling around Europe, spending time in Canada training, so they started to understand slowly that’s what I want to do with my life. They were proud of me.

Cristiano Argento works out in the gym. (Instagram)

“They’re still proud of me. I think more like the fact that you’re gonna try that, that it’s hard than more like you’re gonna leave us. The fact like, oh, my son is gonna go on the opposite side of the world for a six-hour time difference and we’re gonna see him maybe, when, like, I don’t know. Not often. I think it was more that. And for me too, it was really hard. It was heartbreaking not being able to see my family every day or every month. Like once a year if I’m lucky. I think that was the biggest part for them because of concern or that I was here by myself and if I have any issue or any problem, I didn’t have nobody. So they were scared. Like, you get sick, if you have a problem, anything, and they’re not being able to be here next to me. But they were really supportive since day one.”

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Argento is living out his dream in the U.S. He suggested that the moniker of the U.S. being the “land of opportunity” wasn’t far from what is preached in movies and literature – it was the real thing.

“I was inspired by people who came to the U.S. and made it big,” Argento told Fox News Digital. “The U.S. was always like the land of opportunity. That’s how they sell it to us and this is what it is. I feel like, in myself, that was true because anything I tried to do so far I was able to reach a lot more than if I wasn’t here. I’m not yet where I’d like to be but I see like there’s so many opportunities in this country. Not just in wrestling but like in any business to reach the goal. I’m really happy of the choices I did here.

National Wrestling Alliance star Cristiano Argento poses in Times Square in New York. (Instagram)

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“But my big inspirations were big-time actors who moved to the country, who didn’t know English, with no money, no support system. I had one dream, I have to go right there to make it happen and I’m gonna go and do it and I’m gonna make it happen. So those people were always the biggest inspiration even if it wasn’t in wrestling, just how they handled their passion, how they pursued their dream without being scared of anything, how far you are, how alone by yourself … You don’t know the language, you’re like, let’s go, let’s do it.”

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Outside of the NWA, Argento has performed for the International Wrestling Cartel, Enjoy Wrestling and Exodus Pro Wrestling this year.

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