VANCOUVER — Marc DeLuca and his wife had the perfect sixth birthday gift for their son, Jack — tickets to see Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF play the Whitecaps in Vancouver. News that the legendary Argentine soccer star didn't make the trip to B.C. has devastated not only the DeLucas, but thousands of fans who ponied up for pricey tickets to Saturday's game. “It was supposed to be a big surprise for (Jack) to see his soccer idol," said Marc DeLuca, who spent about $1,500 for five tickets in the
GENOA, Italy (AP) — Genoa beat Bologna 2-0 at home as both sides finished in Serie A on Friday. Rusan Malinovskyi opened the scoring for the hosts in the 13th minute and Vithinha doubled the lead in the 59th. Bologna is in fourth place and guaranteed a Champions League spot with the top five teams in Italy getting berths. With the loss it missed the chance to move into third and finish ahead of Juventus. Atalanta, the Europa League champion, can move into fourth place from fifth if it beats Tori
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Artem Dovbyk scored a hat trick as Girona crushed Granada 7-0 and put the perfect finish to the Catalan club’s spectacular season on Friday. Girona, which is owned in part by Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owners, started the Spanish league with the goal of just avoiding relegation. But the Ukraine striker and his teammates excelled under coach Míchel Sánchez and made Girona one of the revelations of European soccer. Girona finished the league in third place and classified f
The former England captain was sacked by Birmingham in January.