Men

UDINE — A stoppage-time goal by striker Noah Okafor secured AC Milan a 3-2 win at lowly Udinese in Serie A on Saturday after the game was briefly suspended in the first half due to racist chants towards Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Racist chants Milan game

Udinese-Milan was suspended after Mike Maignan was racially abused by Udinese fans.

The match has resumed after Milan originally exited the pitch. pic.twitter.com/1Kv9pvMBNh

AMSTERDAM — Jordan Henderson, who joined Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday, has apologized again to anyone he might have offended six months after the England midfielder was the target of scathing criticism for his move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq.

The 33-year-old met with media a day after he signed with the Dutch side having terminated his contract with Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq after six months.

Christian Pulisic was named the 2023 U.S. Male Player of the Year marking the fourth time in his career that he’s been honored with the award. Landon Donovan is the only other player who has won four times.

The 25-year-old forward had one of his best years with the national team and is experiencing some incredible form with his new club AC Milan.

Pulisic won in a landslide receiving 53% of the vote. The other candidates for the award were Yunus Musah, Ricardo Pepi, Folarin Balogun and Matt Turner.

United States men’s national team midfielder Luca de la Torre scored his first goal of the 2023-24 season in style on Wednesday with a disgusting backheel goal.

De la Torre opened the scoring of Celta Vigo’s 3-1 Copa del Rey victory vs. Valencia in the 13th minute off a corner kick.

Valencia goalkeeper Jaume Doménech failed to punch the ball out of his box and some quick pinball action inside the 18-yard-box resulted in the ball heading straight for the 25-year-old American.

De la Torre only had a second to react and he turned the chance into an amazing goal.

Former Italy and Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has taken on the role of player development coach at Los Angeles FC, the Major League Soccer (MLS) club said on Tuesday.

Chiellini LAFC coach role

Giorgio Chiellini start his new career as he will remain with LAFC as a Player Development Coach, club has confirmed. pic.twitter.com/0ohKJ5xW7d

AS Roma named their former player Daniele De Rossi as their new manager until the end of the season, hours after parting ways with manager José Mourinho on Tuesday.

Mourinho was sacked earlier in the day with Roma ninth in the league after Sunday's 3-1 loss to AC Milan, and have struggled to overcome the loss of key players due to injury, including striker Paulo Dybala.

They are 22 points behind league leaders Inter Milan.

Mourinho crying in car after Roma sacking

LONDON — Argentine Lionel Messi retained the FIFA men's player of the year trophy on Monday, beating Manchester City's treble-winning Norwegian striker Erling Haaland and France's Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé to the award.

Spain's 2023 World Cup winner Aitana Bonmati was voted the best women's player of the year.

Messi, who also secured the men's award in 2022 after guiding Argentina to World Cup victory, clinched the Ligue 1 title with PSG alongside Mbappe following that success, before moving to Major League Soccer team Inter Miami.

NEWCASTLE — Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne inspired a late comeback 3-2 victory for his side at Newcastle United on Saturday in his first Premier League action since the opening day of the season.

The Belgian midfielder has been missing since August because of a hamstring injury but came off the bench in the 69th minute with City trailing 2-1 to spark a remarkable turnaround.

Bernardo Silva had given City a 26th-minute lead with a sublime back-heeled finish from Kyle Walker's low cross but Pep Guardiola's side were soon rocked back on their heels.

United States men’s national team forward Christian Pulisic has put his dogdays of Chelsea behind him and is now one of the brightest stars in Serie A being named December’s Player of the Month.

Pulisic churned out quality performances for Milan throughout the month and tallied two goals and two assists. The 25-year-old provided a goal contribution in four of Milan’s five league games in December.

Pulisic named Serie Player of the Month