World Sports News in Brief

Blow for Bundesliga plans as Dynamo Dresden squad put in quarantine

Germany’s plans to restart competitive soccer on May 16 suffered an early setback after the entire team of second tier Dynamo Dresden were placed in a two-week quarantine following two positive coronavirus tests.

DFB Cup - Second Round - Hertha BSC v Dynamo Dresden - Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany - October 30, 2019 Dynamo Dresden players during the penalty shootout. (Photo: Reuters)
DFB Cup - Second Round - Hertha BSC v Dynamo Dresden - Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany - October 30, 2019 Dynamo Dresden players during the penalty shootout. (Photo: Reuters)

The Bundesliga 2 club announced on their website that tests taken on Friday had revealed two new positive cases and local health authorities had ordered the team into quarantine.

* Mahindra's Pascal Wehrlein took a lights-to-flag victory in the third round of Formula E's 'Race at Home Challenge' on Saturday to end BMW i Andretti driver Maximilian Guenther's run of success in the esports series. Starting from pole on a virtual Monaco layout, the German beat Mercedes' Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne - pole sitter in the previous two races - by 3.63 seconds with compatriot Guenther third.

* Six-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton says the prospect of a home British Grand Prix without spectators leaves him empty inside but he is still raring to get going after months of waiting. None of the drivers have raced since December, with the season stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are plans to start up behind closed doors in Austria and then Silverstone in July.

* Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti sustained a calf injury on his return to individual training, the Spanish La Liga club said in a statement on Saturday. The 26-year-old French centre back has struggled with knee and foot problems in the last few seasons and Barca said there was no time frame for his return to training.

* Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes playmaker Bruno Fernandes and record signing Paul Pogba can form a strong midfield partnership when the Premier League season resumes following the COVID-19 disruption. The 25-year-old Fernandes, who joined United from Sporting Lisbon in January, registered three goals and four assists in nine matches, adding creativity to the team with Pogba out of action due to a foot injury.

* Alex Morgan, who helped the United States women's soccer team to World Cup and Olympic titles, has become the newest mom in the national squad after giving birth to her first child. Morgan, who is married to former Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Servando Carrasco, announced on Twitter on Saturday that their daughter Charlie Elena Carrasco was born on Thursday.

* One Besiktas player and a staff member tested positive for the coronavirus three days after the announcement that the Turkish league will resume next month, the club said on Saturday. Besiktas said all their players and coaching staff had been tested for the virus, adding that the player and staff member who tested positive had begun treatment.

* This year's Tour of Spain will not go through Portugal as planned because of the COVID-19 crisis, organisers said on Saturday. The start of the race was postponed from Aug. 14 to Oct. 20 with the opening three stages in the Netherlands cancelled because of the COVID-19 situation.

Reuters