Coaching

The University of Chicago beat Williams College 2-0 in the Division III men's championship, making head coach Julianne Sitch the first woman to lead an NCAA men's soccer team to a national title.

Sitch led the UChicago Maroons to an undefeated 22-0-1 record in her first season at the helm. The team's lone blemish — a 0-0 draw to New York University back in October — was actually against the only other woman coaching in men's Div. III, NYU's Kim Wyant.

The women’s soccer head coach of the University of Texas Permian Basin, Carla Tejas, is on paid administrative leave while an investigation goes on after an anonymous group of players sent out an email full of accusations. Some of the allegations against the UTPB soccer coach include her asking players to pay her bail, kissing members of the men’s soccer team, encouraging her players to injure opponents and more.

Tejas, 28, ironically has featured on a podcast about building team culture.

S E A S O N 3!

AMSTERDAM — The Netherlands will be testing their goalkeepers in a special penalty shootout training session this week with an eye on the World Cup later this year, coach Louis van Gaal said on Monday.

He has called up four goalkeepers for this week's Nations League clashes against Poland and Belgium as the Dutch look to finish top of their group and advance to the finals next June.

But Van Gaal said a priority will be putting together the final touches for the World Cup in Qatar in November, where the Dutch play in Group A against the hosts, Ecuador and Senegal.

Juventus’ already dreadful September has somehow managed to get even worse. A miserable run of form saw the club winless with two draws and two losses and thousands of fans calling for “Allegri Out” on social media going into Sunday’s match against newly promoted AC Monza. What followed was a performance that would earn almost any top club’s manager the sack, as Monza handily beat Juventus 1-0 and thoroughly deserved to do so.

MUNICH - Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández laughed off the notion that playing at Bayern Munich is like visiting the "house of horrors" ahead of Tuesday's mouthwatering Champions League Group C clash.

They met in last season's group stage, with the Germans twice winning 3-0, although Barça are now a very different side and spearheaded by striker Robert Lewandowski, who moved to the Nou Camp from the Bavarians in the close season.

HONG KONG - Iran hopes history will repeat itself at this November's World Cup in Qatar, 24 years after overcoming a fractious build-up to score a memorable triumph over the United States — the country's decades-long geopolitical rival — in France.

As the teams prepare to clash again, and their governments wrangle over reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear pact, the Iranian side's preparations have been thrown into turmoil by a divided squad and maneuvering over its leadership.

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema was named UEFA Player of the Year and Carlo Ancelotti took the coaching honors after they led the club to a record-extending 14th Champions League title last season.

Benzema was in red-hot form, scoring 15 times in the competition and lifting the trophy for a fifth time in his career after the Spanish side beat Liverpool in the final.

Ancelotti became the first coach to win Europe's most prestigious club trophy four times. He first won the title with AC Milan in 2003 and 2007 before claiming it with Real in 2014.