Italy Beats Ukraine in Key Euro 2024 Qualifier. Spain Wins Big and Romania Fans’ Chants Stop Game 

Italy's Davide Frattesi, left, scores against Ukraine during the Euro 2024 group C qualifying soccer match between Italy and Ukraine at San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept.12, 2023. (AP)
Italy's Davide Frattesi, left, scores against Ukraine during the Euro 2024 group C qualifying soccer match between Italy and Ukraine at San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept.12, 2023. (AP)
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Italy Beats Ukraine in Key Euro 2024 Qualifier. Spain Wins Big and Romania Fans’ Chants Stop Game 

Italy's Davide Frattesi, left, scores against Ukraine during the Euro 2024 group C qualifying soccer match between Italy and Ukraine at San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept.12, 2023. (AP)
Italy's Davide Frattesi, left, scores against Ukraine during the Euro 2024 group C qualifying soccer match between Italy and Ukraine at San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept.12, 2023. (AP)

European champion Italy took a big step Tuesday toward being able to defend its title. Spain and Belgium won easily on their path to Euro 2024. Sweden looks like it’s failing to qualify for the first time in 28 years.

Romania and Kosovo managed to finish a game that risked being abandoned. Political pro-Serbia chants by home fans in Bucharest forced a 45-minute delay in the first half and players were taken back to their locker rooms.

After Romania risked forfeiting the game as a 3-0 loss, late goals earned a 2-0 win though the national federation now faces punishment in a UEFA disciplinary case.

The highest-stakes game of the evening saw Italy secure a vital 2-1 win over Ukraine in what shapes as a tight race to finish second in the group led by England.

Two first-half goals by Inter Milan midfielder Davide Frattesi in his home stadium at San Siro gave new coach Luciano Spalletti a first win after a tension-filled draw at North Macedonia on Saturday.

Italy’s improved and more energetic performance survived Ukraine forward Andriy Yarmolenko cutting the lead before halftime.

Italy and Ukraine are tied on seven points — with North Macedonia, which beat Malta 2-0 but has the toughest schedule — trailing six behind England, who Spalletti’s team must face at Wembley Stadium next month.

A possible scenario is a decisive final-round game between Ukraine and Italy on Nov. 20: a place at Euro 2024 for one, and for the other uncertainty next March in the playoffs that stopped Italy going to the past two World Cups.

SETTLED SPAIN

On the field, the Spanish men’s team has found a calm serenity in stark contrast to the scandalous furor surrounding its now-former federation president Luis Rubiales.

A 6-0 rout of Cyprus on Tuesday followed a 7-1 win at Georgia on Friday. In between, Rubiales finally resigned while suspended by FIFA and now under criminal investigation by Spanish prosecutors for alleged sexual assault against player Jenni Hermoso at the Women’s World Cup final on Aug. 20.

Coach Luis de la Fuente seems to have survived in his job despite ties to Rubiales and his players did their bit in Granada to show all is well within the men’s team.

“I’m happy because there’s reason to be,” said De la Fuente, who had no concerns after Gavi started the scoring in the 18th. Substitute Ferran Torres scored twice in a late flurry of goals.

Spain now trails six points behind group leader Scotland. Spain lost 2-0 in Glasgow in March and hosts the Scots next on Oct. 12 before playing its game in hand at Norway three days later.

Norway stars Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard scored first-half goals Tuesday in a 2-1 win over Georgia to stay in outside contention for a top-two finish. The playoffs await Norway as a safety net.

SWEDEN SLUMPS

Sweden does not have a playoff option and not much hope of a top-two finish trailing badly behind Belgium and Austria in Group F.

As Belgium cruised past last-place Estonia 5-0, Sweden slumped to a 3-1 home loss against Austria that left coach Janne Andersson insisting he would not walk away from the job he has held for more than seven years.

Sweden has qualified for six straight Euros since missing the 1996 edition but now is seven points behind the two leaders with three rounds left. Next up: away to Belgium on Oct. 16.

Belgian celebrations started early against Estonia with veteran defender Jan Vertonghen scoring a fourth-minute header in his 150th game for the Red Devils.

Romelu Lukaku scored twice in three second-half minutes to run his tallies to 77 goals in 110 national-team games. Belgium next goes to Austria on Oct. 13.

TIGHT RACE

Switzerland, Romania and Israel are locked in a three-way battle for two qualifying places from Group I.

Romania captain Nicolae Stanciu went over to talk with fans who had chanted and displayed a banner with the “Kosovo is Serbia” slogan early in the game.

Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008 is formally recognized by about 100 countries and the majority of European Union members though not Romania.

Late goals by Stanciu and Valentin Mihăilă, in stoppage time, sealed the win that proved even more important after Israel also found a goal in added time from Gabi Kanichowsky to beat Belarus 1-0.

Switzerland eventually cruised past last-place Andorra 3-0 with second-half goals from Cedric Itten, Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri.

The Swiss lead Romania by two points with Israel a point further back and each had four games left. Israel hosts Switzerland on Oct. 12.



Al Rajhi Takes over Dakar Rally Lead after Miserable Stage for Lategan

 Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
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Al Rajhi Takes over Dakar Rally Lead after Miserable Stage for Lategan

 Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)

Local driver Yazeed Al Rajhi took advantage of a miserable stage by South Africa's Henk Lategan to grab the Dakar Rally lead in the Saudi Arabia desert on Tuesday.

Lategan led the Dakar for the past week, but errors and bad luck on the 357-kilometer ninth stage from Riyadh south-east to Haradh turned his overall lead of more than five minutes over Al Rajhi into a potentially decisive seven-minute deficit.

The rally has effectively two days and 400 kilometers remaining in the dunes of the Empty Quarter. The last day, Friday, is a ceremonial drive to the finish line in Shubaytah.

Al Rajhi, like Lategan, has never won the Dakar. This is the Saudi's 11th attempt with a best finish of third in 2022. He'd been lying second since last Wednesday. The title race appears to be between only them.

Third-placed Mattias Ekström of Sweden and five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar were about 25 minutes behind.

“It's a bit of disaster to be honest,” Lategan said. “About 13 kilometers in we got lost. We thought we missed the waypoint but we actually had it. When we got lost we got one puncture and then towards the end we got another one and the wheel is actually flat. So, it was a messy, messy, messy day for us but it's not the end of the world, we're still in it.”

Lategan and navigator Brett Cummings were 11th on the stage and Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk third.

“We did a great job like we planned to,” Al Rajhi said. “We pushed well. We enjoyed it, that's the most important. I hope everything goes well the next two or three days to win the Dakar ... I will fight to win. It won't be easy.”

Al-Attiyah won the stage ahead of Belgium’s Guillaume de Mévius in under three hours to rise to one minute off third place overall.

His 49th car stage win, and first in the Dakar for Romanian manufacturer Dacia, lifted him to only one behind the record jointly held by Finland's Ari Vatanen and France's Stephane Peterhansel.

Sanders cushions motorbike lead Australian rider Daniel Sanders bolstered his motorbike lead to nearly 15 minutes when closest challenger, Spain's Tosha Schareina, crashed early.

The back wheel of Schareina's Honda hit a rock and sent him flying only 20 kilometers in. He resumed racing but the nearly four minutes he finished behind Sanders dropped him in the general standings.

Schareina's teammate Adrien van Beveren of France remained third, more than 20 minutes behind, while Sanders' KTM teammate Luciano Benavides of Argentina strengthened his position in fourth place by winning his second successive stage.

Benavides, thanks to collecting time bonuses of nearly five minutes by opening the way, beat Van Beveren by nearly two minutes, and repeated his win into Haradh two years ago. Sanders was third after leading until about 70 kilometers from the end.

“I only got lost a couple of times ... and lost a little bit of time,” Sanders said. “I could have pushed and made some more (time) but it's not too bad.”