Tied 1-1 at fulltime, Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses beat Brazil 4-2 in the shootout to improve their unbeaten streak to 30 games. Thursday's game, which drew 83,132 fans and sold out in early October, featured the European and South American champions and was a key part of preparations for the Women's World Cup in July and August.
* Twenty-two people have been arrested for throwing objects and setting off fireworks following Ajax Amsterdam's 2-1 Dutch cup semi-final win at Feyenoord on Wednesday, national broadcaster NOS reported on Thursday. Ajax's Davy Klaassen suffered a head injury when he was hit by an object thrown from the stands, causing a lengthy delay as players from both teams walked off the pitch.
* Frank Lampard has returned to Chelsea as caretaker manager until the end of the season following the sacking of Graham Potter, the Premier League club confirmed on Thursday. The club's record goalscorer previously spent 19 months as manager at Stamford Bridge before being dismissed in January 2021.
* Development fund allocated for Indonesia's football association is being frozen by FIFA after the country was stripped as hosts of this year's Under-20 World Cup, soccer's governing body said on Thursday. FIFA barred the Southeast Asian nation from staging the May 20-Jun 11 event after the country's football association (PSSI) in the predominantly Muslim country said it had cancelled the draw because the governor of Bali refused to host Israel's team.
* Tottenham Hotspur will not let up in their fight for a top-four finish, interim manager Cristian Stellini said before their Premier League home game against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday. Spurs are fifth in the league standings with 50 points, three behind Manchester United in fourth. They have played one game more than United and two more than sixth-placed Brighton, who are just four points behind the London club.
* Rory McIlroy's ninth attempt to complete the career Grand Slam of golf's four majors got off to a poor start as the misfiring Northern Irishman failed to take advantage of ideal scoring conditions at the Masters on Thursday. On a day when some big-name golfers cashed in on rather benign conditions at the year's first major, world number two McIlroy carded an even-par 72 that left him seven shots back of the leaders and in a share of 37th place.
* A rusty Tiger Woods will need to find a little polish after he opened the Masters with a two-over 74 on Thursday that left the five-times Green Jacket winner in danger of missing his first ever cut as a professional at Augusta National. It was a disappointing afternoon among the towering Georgia pines for Woods who a year ago stunned the galleries when he returned from a car crash that almost resulted in the loss of his right leg to fire a 71 that had the golf world buzzing.
* Toulouse reached the French Cup final when Fares Chaibi's late goal earned them a 2-1 victory at Annecy, ending the Ligue 2 side's odds-defying run in the competition on Thursday. Chaibi struck with five minutes left after Alexy Bosetti's penalty had cancelled out Zakaria Aboukhlal's opener for Toulouse, sending the Ligue 1 team into their maiden French Cup finals after five failed attempts in previous semi-finals. They will take on holders Nantes, who beat Olympique Lyonnais 1-0 on Wednesday to qualify for the Stade de France showdown on April 29.
* Juventus have been ordered to close part of their stadium for their next home Serie A match against Napoli by an Italian sports judge after Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku was racially abused during Tuesday's Coppa Italia semi-final. The Tribuna Sud section of Juve's Allianz Stadium will be closed for their game against Napoli on April 23 after racist chants were heard coming from that area during the 1-1 first leg draw against Inter.
