Virgil Van Dijk

North Carolina Courage defender Abby Erceg (6) controls the ball as Portland Thorns forward Morgan Weaver, left, defends during the second half of an NWSL Challenge Cup soccer match at Zions Bank Stadium Saturday, June 27, 2020, in Herriman, Utah. Coach Paul Riley calls defender Abby Erceg the bedrock of the North Carolina Courage. The New Zealand native is captain of the Courage, the two-time National Women's Soccer League defending champions. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

New Zealander Erceg holds down North Carolina's backline

Jul. 7, 2020 3:34 PM EDT

Coach Paul Riley calls defender Abby Erceg the bedrock of the North Carolina Courage. A New Zealand native, Erceg is captain of the two-time National Women's Soccer League defending champions. Re-signed in March, she holds down a defense that allowed a league-low 23 goals last season. “She reminds me of...

Liverpool supporters celebrate as they gather outside of Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Thursday, June 25, 2020 after Liverpool clinched the English Premier League title. Liverpool took the title after Manchester City failed to beat Chelsea on Wednesday evening. (AP photo/Jon Super)

Kop joy: Liverpool fans flood Anfield, 1st title in 30 years

Jun. 27, 2020 5:27 AM EDT

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — The sun had just set over Anfield — and on a 30-year wait to be champions of England again — when the fireworks started to explode into the twilight. A signal went out across Merseyside. The drought was finally over for Liverpool. At first there were just a dozen...

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2020, file photo, Boston Red Sox baseball team owner John Henry, left, listens as chairman Tom Werner speaks during a news conference at Fenway Park in Boston. Liverpool won its first league title since 1990, clinching Thursday, June, 25, 2020. Because of the pandemic, Henry and Werner, who headed the group that bought the team in 2010, watched on television from the U.S. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

Shouting distance: Henry, Werner cheer Liverpool title

Jun. 26, 2020 2:49 AM EDT

They had waited 10 years for this, just the last of three decades of frustration for Liverpool supporters that included tragedy and heartbreak yet rarely silenced the passionate scouse voices singing in the Kop. When the final whistle sounded at London's Stamford Bridge, John Henry was in Brookline,...

Everton fans are displayed on a large screen as the watch remotely the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, Sunday, June 21, 2020. (Peter Powell/Pool via AP)

Liverpool held by Everton on resumed mission to seal title

Jun. 21, 2020 8:09 PM EDT

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — There was no victory for Liverpool on the longest day of the year, which could mean an even longer wait to clinch the Premier League title. When you've been waiting 30 years — and then had the coronation delayed by three months because of a pandemic — patience can be...

Everton's Seamus Coleman, left, challenges Liverpool's Sadio Mane during the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, Sunday, June 21, 2020. (Peter Powell/Pool via AP)

Faltering restart for Liverpool title charge after shutdown

Jun. 21, 2020 6:26 PM EDT

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool’s title charge has been slowed by the pandemic, and its attacking ruthlessness blunted. After a wait of 103 days, Jürgen Klopp's team returned to action with a 0-0 draw at Everton on Sunday as it nears the end of a 30-year title drought. It means the world...

Fireworks go off in front of police, who with protesters in front of police headquarters in St. Louis on Monday, June 1, 2020. The small group of protesters was originally part of a much larger group demonstrating earlier in the afternoon against the death of George Floyd. (Colter Peterson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

The Latest: Police say 4 officers shot in St. Louis protests

Jun. 2, 2020 2:38 AM EDT

The Latest on the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck: ___ ST. LOUIS — Police say four officers were hit by gunfire after protests in St. Louis that started peacefully Monday became violent overnight, with...

In this May 9, 2020 photo, 28-year-old defender Mahrous Mahmoud holds up his Egyptian national football team jersey he trains with, inside his home, in Manfalut, a town 350 kilometers (230 miles) south of Cairo in the province of Assiut, Egypt. Mahmoud should be on the field at this time of year playing as a defender for Beni Suef, a club in Egypt's second division. But like millions in the Arab world's most populous country, he has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Pandemic turns Egyptian soccer player into a street vendor

May. 19, 2020 1:01 PM EDT

MANFALUT, Egypt (AP) — On a hot Saturday afternoon, Mahrous Mahmoud is busy as can be. The professional soccer player, however, is working up a sweat in a different way these days — as a street vendor. At this time of the year, Mahmoud would be on the field playing as a defender for Beni Suef, a...