The Sportsletter - The Tricycle Kick ⚽️

BY JEFF YODER

JULY 11, 2024 | SUBSCRIBE | WEB VIEW

Good Morning 👋

How are we holding up, soccer fans? Futbol brought the fire yesterday. We’ve got three wild storylines from a busy day on the pitch — England's next shot, the Copa America brawl, and Gregg Berhalter's release. The tricycle kick!

The wheels kept spinning with a Tour de France finish you have to see to believe. The WNBA Rookie of the Year race is heating up, and Novak Djokovic just walked (literally) into the Wimbledon semifinals.

Letter Rip!

SOCCER

The Tricycle Kick: 3 Storylines, 1 Chaotic Day of Futbol

Photo: Buda Mendes / Getty Images

Copa America: 🇨🇴 Colombia Stuns 🇺🇾 Uruguay (1-0) in Chippy Semifinal Match With 8 Cards & Brawl in the Stands

The crowd was largely in yellow Wednesday night in Charlotte, favoring the Colombian side who escaped Uruguay (1-0) in one of the most ruthless matches in recent memory. Dangerous tackles could be found everywhere — seven yellows and one red were the story in a hotly-contested game. Jefferson Lerma (39’) headed in the only goal of the goal off a corner kick from James Rodriguez. Uruguay kept striving but Colombia clamped down. By the final whistle, a scrum occurred at midfield and a brawl erupted between opposing family members (reportedly). Some of the players even climbed into the stands as the celebration spiraled into bedlam. Punches were thrown. No matter what details transpired, it’s Colombia — with the world’s largest international win streak in men’s soccer (28 games) — taking on Lionel Messi and Argentina on Sunday (8:00 pm ET, FOX).

Copa Semis: 🇨🇴 Colombia def. 🇺🇾 Uruguay (1-0)

UEFA EUROs: Ollie Watkins’ Stoppage-Time Strike Sends 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England Past 🇳🇱 Netherlands (2-1) & Into Euro Finals

Ollie, you cheeky sub! England has never won the UEFA Euros despite finishing runner-up back in 2020, but they’re back with another chance at redemption thanks to substitute striker Ollie Watkins. The Dutch struck first with Xavi Simons’ rifle just seven minutes into yesterday's Euro semifinal before Harry Kane buried a penalty kick for England just 11 minutes later (18’, PK). It was all square at 1-1 for the next 70-plus minutes until Watkins — who subbed in for Kane — corralled a ball in the right side of the box, turned, and struck a no-angle grounder into the net. England won (2-1), and The Three Lions advanced to the finale against Spain on Sunday (3:00 pm ET, FOX) for another shot at their first Euro crown.

Euro Semis: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England def. 🇳🇱 Netherlands (2-1)

🇺🇸 US SOCCER: U.S. Men’s National Team Fire Coach Gregg Berhalter After Shocking Copa America Exit

Last week’s USMNT blunder led to the firing of manager Gregg Berhalter yesterday. The USMNT relived their skipper of his duties after posting back-to-back losses in the group stage. He was 44-17-13 as the head coach of the U.S., but the ‘Golden Generation’ has higher expectations entering the next era. The 2026 World Cup — hosted in North America — puts added pressure on U.S. Soccer to find the right man. We’ll have more on the search as it develops.

Read: USMNT Coach Gregg Berhalter Fired After Copa America Disaster

International Soccer Finals (Sunday)

EURO: 🇪🇸 Spain vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England (3:00 pm ET, FOX)

COPA: 🇦🇷 Argentina vs. 🇨🇴 Colombia (8:00 pm ET, FOX)

The Athletic: Who Should USMNT Hire to Place Berhalter?

USA Today: Ollie Watkins’ Goal at the Death Sets Up Euro 2024 Final Between England & Spain

TOUR DE FRANCE

A Half-Wheel Photo Finish 📸

Photo: Dario Belingheri / Getty Images

Jonas Vingegaard Holds Off Race Leader Tadej Pogacar in Epic Stage 11 Sprint

Stage 11 marked the longest stage of this year’s Tour de France yesterday, but despite the length, it still came down to a half-wheel finish between the two biggest cyclists in the sport. Jonas Vingegaard (left), recovering from a collapsed lung and fractured rib earlier this season, caught up to race leader Tadej Pogacar (right) in the mountains and out-paced him up to Le Lloran for a stunning Stage 11 victory. Pogacar still holds the overall race lead, but the finish-line sprint was a treat for Tour fans.

Both riders have won two of the last four tours with the other finishing runner-up in three of the four. Stage 11 marked the start of the second "half" of the 21-stage race.

Watch: Vingegaard Wins Photo Finish Over Pogacar in Stage 11

Overall Standings

1. T. Pogacar (45H, 00M, 34S)

2. R. Evenpoel (45H, 01M, 06S)

3. J. Vingegaard (45H, 01M, 48S)

4. P. Roglic (45H, 2M, 49S)

5. J. Almeida (45H, 4M, 54S)

Stage 12: Aurillac > Villeneuve-Sur-Lot

EuroSport: Tour de France Stage 11 As It Happened: Vingegaard Closes Down Pogacar to Win by Half Wheel

WNBA

The WNBA Rookie Race

Photo: Icon Sportswire / Getty Images

Caitlin Clark (29 pts, 13 ast) & Angel Reese (14th-Straight Double-Double) Hitting Their Stride

Wednesday’s ‘Kids Day’ WNBA action stormed courts across the country, and there’s a storyline unfolding between two “kids” as we near the All-Star break. But these two rookies are quickly starting to look like veterans.

Yesterday's Rookie Takeover: The Fever lost to the Mystics. The Sky beat the Dream. And now, both Indiana and Chicago have nine wins on the year in a dead heat for playoff positioning. Their star rookies are in a dead heat, too. Caitlin Clark hit five 3s and notched a wicked stat line (29 pts, 13 ast, 5 reb, 5 stl, 3 blk). Angel Reese (11 pts, 13 rebs, 3 stl, 2 blk) added to her WNBA record double-double streak with her 14th straight. Clark is still a heavy favorite in the Rookie of the Year race, but Reese’s record-setting run is nothing to scoff at. The Clark-Reese rivalry keeps getting more interesting, and they each lead the league in assists (Clark) and rebounds (Reese). As it stands, it’s Clark vs. Reese for the WNBA ROY, and no one else is even close.

WNBA Rookie of the Year Race

Caitlin Clark: 16.1 PPG | 6.0 REB | 7.4 AST

Leads WNBA in Assists

Angel Reese: 14.1 PPG | 11.9 REB | 1.9 AST

Leads WNBA in Rebounding

WNBA Rookie of the Year Odds

Caitlin Clark (-700), Angel Reese (+380)

*All Other Rookies +2500 Odds Or More

FOX Sports: Angel Reese Challenging Caitlin Clark for WNBA Rookie of the Year

HIGHLIGHTS 🎥

⚾️ MLB

Phillies Hold Off Dodgers (4-3)

1st Team to 60 Wins, Schwarber Goes Yard

Mets Rally Past Nats (6-2)

Bullpen Shines, New York Back Above .500

Cubs Blank O’s (4-0)

Shota Imanaga Fires 6 Scoreless in Gem

Astros Maul Marlins (9-1)

Framber Valdez Ks 10 in 8th Straight Home Win

White Sox Split Doubleheader With Twins

CWS’ Michael Kopech Tosses Immaculate Inning

🎾 Wimbledon (Quarterfinals)

M: #2 N. Djokovic def. #9 A. de Minaur (Walkover)

M: #25 L. Musetti def. #13 T. Fritz (3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1)

W: #4 E. Rybakina def. #21 E. Svitolina (6-3, 6-2)

W: #31 B. Krejcikova def. #13 J. Ostapenko (6-4, 7-6)

🏀 WNBA

Sky def. Dream (78-69)

Angel Reese & Kamilla Cardoso Log Double-Doubles

Mystics def. Fever (89-84)

Caitlin Clark (29-13-5-5) Almost Rallies IND

Liberty def. Sun (71-68)

Breanna Stewart (18 pts, 14 rebs) Keeps NY in 1st

Mercury def. Wings (100-84)

Kahleah Copper Scores Day-High 32

Aces def. Storm (84-79)

A’ja Wilson (24 pts, 20 rebs) 1st Career 20-20 Game

🏀 Olympic Basketball

🇺🇸 Team USA def. 🇨🇦 Team Canada (86-72)

Anthony Edwards (13 pts) & Steph Curry (12 pts) Lead U.S. in Olympic Tune-Up Showcase Game

NEWS 📰

🏀 Former Raptors’ Player Johntay Porter Pleads Guilty in Gambling Scandal (ABC News)

⚾️ Teoscar Hernandez Joins Home Run Derby to Round Out Field of 8 (MLB)

🏀 Kawhi Leonard Withdraws From Olympics, Team USA Tabs Derrick White as Replacement (ESPN)

⚽️ Spain Captain Alvaro Morata Suffers Injury Scare After Security Guard Mishap During Euro Celebration (EuroSport)

🎮 Jayson Tatum, A’ja Wilson & Vince Carter Announced as NBA 2K25’s Cover Athletes (CBS Sports)

🌭 Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest Participant Accused of Cheating Allegations (Yahoo! Sports)

⛳️ Rory McIlroy Defends Caddie, Opens Up About Pinehurst Collapse (NBC Sports)

⚾️ Rays’ Wander Franco Officially Charged With Sexual Exploitation of a Minor in Dominican Republic (SI)

SCHEDULE 🗓️

Today's Must-Watch List

🎾 Wimbledon (Women's Semifinals)

W: #7 J. Paolini vs. D. Vekic (8:30 am ET)

W: #4 E. Rybakina vs. #31 B. Krejcikova (9:45 am ET)

*Wimbledon Coverage on ESPN

⚾️ MLB

Rockies at Reds (1:10 pm ET, ESPN+)

Dodgers at Phillies (6:05 pm ET, MLBTV)

Cubs at Orioles (6:35 pm ET, MLBTV)

Braves at D-Backs (9:40 pm ET, MLBTV)

🏀 WNBA

Sky at Liberty (7:00 pm ET, PRIME)

🚴 Tour de France

Stage 12: Aurillac > Villeneuve-Sur-Lot (NBC/Peacock)

POLL 📊

Question of the Day: Olympics Hype 🏅

We’re two weeks away from the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Which traditional Olympic sports category is your favorite? (click to vote)

Track & Field

Swimming & Diving

Gymnastics

Weightlifting

Common Team Sports Not Included: Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, Football, Hockey, Golf, Tennis, Lacrosse, Rugby & Cricket

THE TEAM

Writer & Editor: Jeff Yoder

Assistant Writer: Marissa Kasch

Social Media: Aaron Yorke

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