World Sports News in Brief

Ronaldo leads formidable attack in Portugal’s Euro squad

Cristiano Ronaldo leads a formidable front line for defending European champions Portugal as coach Fernando Santos unveiled his Euro 2020 squad on Thursday.

Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo in action. (Reuters)
Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo in action. (Reuters)

Ronaldo, who added the Italian Cup to his collection this week and has scored over 100 goals for Juventus, is joined by Manchester City's Bernardo Silva and Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes.

* Russia will allow foreign ticket holders for Euro 2020 matches in St. Petersburg to enter the country without a visa to attend the tournament, the local organising committee said on Thursday.

* Manchester City's Ruben Dias was named England's Footballer of the Year on Thursday in the annual vote of the Football Writers' Association (FWA), making him the first defender to win the award since Steve Nicol in 1989. The 24-year-old Portugal centre back beat Totenham's Harry Kane and City team mate Kevin De Bruyne in the voting, with nine players from the Premier League winners receiving more than 50% of the total votes cast.

* Club Brugge were crowned Belgian champions for the third time in the last four years after drawing 3-3 away at Anderlecht on Thursday. The point moved Brugge to 44 at the end of a dominant season and a 17th title overall, still way off the record 34 league titles won by Anderlecht.

* Germany's World Cup-winning midfielder Sami Khedira said he will retire following his club Hertha Berlin's final match of the Bundesliga season against Hoffenheim on Saturday. Khedira, 34, began his career at VfB Stuttgart and helped them win the league title in the 2006-07 season before moving to Real Madrid, where he won the league and Champions League in a trophy-laden spell.

* Local hero Charles Leclerc went from last to first on home town streets to lead a stunning Ferrari one-two in a red-flagged second Monaco Grand Prix practice on Thursday. The 23-year-old Monegasque, born and bred in the Mediterranean principality, lapped the metal-fenced layout with a best time of one minute 11.684 seconds in the afternoon session.

* Debutants North Macedonia will be led at Euro 2020 by veteran attacker Goran Pandev, coach Igor Angelovski said in naming his 26-men squad on Thursday (May 20). The team will face Austria on June 13 in Bucharest in North Macedonia's first ever match in the competition, followed by games against Ukraine and The Netherlands.

* Chelsea and Leicester City have been charged by the Football Association (FA) following a stoppage-time clash between players and staff from both teams during their Premier League game on Tuesday, the governing body said on Thursday.

* Liverpool are set to create a new supporters board before the start of the 2021-22 season in an effort to give the fans a voice in decision-making processes, the Premier League club said on Thursday. The move comes as Liverpool look to make amends with fans after the club signed up for the breakaway European Super League without consulting supporters, leading to fierce criticism and the league's collapse as the six English clubs backed out.

* Italian Andrea Vendrame pulled clear late on to take a first-ever Grand Tour win on Stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia, a 212-kilometre ride from Siena to Bagno di Romagna, on Thursday (May 20), as Egan Bernal retained his general classification lead. Vendrame emerged from a breakaway group of four riders vying for the stage win after the final climb up Passo del Carnaio, and held off a late challenge from New Zealander Christopher Hamilton to take the victory.

* The BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California that was scheduled to be held in March will now take place in October, the ATP said on Thursday. The dual ATP-WTA hardcourt event was planned for March 8-21 but was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns, the second consecutive year the tournament was impacted.

* Italian football club Inter Milan have reached a deal to secure financing from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, Oaktree said on Thursday (May 20). Inter, crowned Serie A champions this month for the first time in 11 years, have been hit by fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the club's owners had been discussing a deal for months to shore up the finances.

Reuters