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Weah Scores for Juventus in Turin Derby Win and Leao Nets 2 in AC Milan Draw at Cagliari

09 November 2024, Italy, Turin: Juventus' Timothy Weah celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Juventus FC and Torino FC at the Allianz Stadium. Photo: Spada/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa
09 November 2024, Italy, Turin: Juventus' Timothy Weah celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Juventus FC and Torino FC at the Allianz Stadium. Photo: Spada/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa
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Weah Scores for Juventus in Turin Derby Win and Leao Nets 2 in AC Milan Draw at Cagliari

09 November 2024, Italy, Turin: Juventus' Timothy Weah celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Juventus FC and Torino FC at the Allianz Stadium. Photo: Spada/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa
09 November 2024, Italy, Turin: Juventus' Timothy Weah celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Juventus FC and Torino FC at the Allianz Stadium. Photo: Spada/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa

Timothy Weah’s first-half goal for Juventus in a 2-0 derby win over Torino on Saturday marked the United States international’s third goal in four Serie A matches.

Weah, who also scored recently against Inter Milan and Parma, was in the right spot to redirect in a rebound of a shot from Andrea Cambiaso.

Weah’s father, former Ballon d’Or winner George Weah, was watching from the stands. Timothy Weah had another potential goal waved off for a handball.

Kenan Yildiz sealed it for Juventus with a crouching header late in the second half.

Juventus moved up to third, level on points with second-placed Inter Milan, which hosts league leader Napoli on Sunday.

Leao scores 2 in AC Milan draw

Rafael Leao took advantage of his spot in AC Milan’s lineup after surprisingly being benched lately, scoring twice and helping to set up a third in a 3-3 draw at Cagliari.

Still, Milan struggled at relegation-threatened Cagliari just four days after a win at Real Madrid in the Champions League.

The pre-game attention was on 16-year-old Francesco Camarda getting the nod at center forward following an injury to Alvaro Morata, but it was Leao who made the biggest impact.

Nadir Zortea put Cagliari ahead in the second minute before Leao struck back with a brace before halftime.

First, Leao scored with a lob following an excellent setup from Tijjani Reijnders. Then the Portugal winger took a throughball from Youssouf Fofana and dribbled around the goalkeeper for his second.

Gabriele Zappa equalized for Cagliari shortly after the break and Milan went ahead again with a goal from Tammy Abraham, who had just come on for Camarda.

On a play that began with Leao inside Milan’s half, Abraham redirected in a rebound following a shot from Christian Pulisic.

Zappa then completed a brace, too, with a spectacular volley.

Milan remained seventh.

Elsewhere, Parma came back from a goal down for a 2-1 win at last-placed Venezia with goals from Emanuele Valeri and Ange-Yoan Bonny. Hans Nicolussi Caviglia put Venezia ahead five minutes into the matchup of promoted clubs.

Parma hadn't won since beating Milan in August.

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Lionel Messi's Inter Miami Reloads for a Run at a Second Straight MLS Title

Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi waves to supporters before a friendly soccer match between Inter Miami and Atlético Nacional at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium in Medellín, Colombia, 31 January 2026. EPA/Carlos Ortega
Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi waves to supporters before a friendly soccer match between Inter Miami and Atlético Nacional at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium in Medellín, Colombia, 31 January 2026. EPA/Carlos Ortega
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Lionel Messi's Inter Miami Reloads for a Run at a Second Straight MLS Title

Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi waves to supporters before a friendly soccer match between Inter Miami and Atlético Nacional at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium in Medellín, Colombia, 31 January 2026. EPA/Carlos Ortega
Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi waves to supporters before a friendly soccer match between Inter Miami and Atlético Nacional at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium in Medellín, Colombia, 31 January 2026. EPA/Carlos Ortega

Less than three months removed from its first MLS Cup championship, Lionel Messi's Inter Miami shows no signs of a letdown.

The Herons have assembled one of the strongest rosters in Major League Soccer history heading into a season that begins this weekend and bookends around the biggest event of them all, the World Cup hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The ageless Messi — he turns 39 in June — is coming off his second straight MVP award, the first player in MLS history to accomplish that feat. He just keeps adding to a legacy that already ensures he'll be remembered as one of the greatest ever to play the beautiful game, The Associated Press said.

“He’s a quiet guy, but on the pitch he transforms into an animal,” teammate Yannick Bright told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport. “After all he’s won, he never wants to lose, not even in training.”

Messi is hardly going it alone in Miami, which pulled off an impressive reload after bringing a title to South Florida.

MLS goalkeeper of the year Dayne St. Clair was lured away from Minnesota United, addressing the club's biggest area of concern. Germán Berterame arrived from Liga MX’s Monterrey to fill a designated player spot, giving the Herons another dynamic threat up front. Newcomers Micael, Sergio Reguilón and David Ayala should help the club cope with the departures of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

Miami begins its title defense Saturday night with a prime-time matchup against Los Angeles FC at the iconic Coliseum, which is expected to draw a crowd of more than 60,000.

Messi dealt with a muscle issue during the preseason, which put his availability for the opener in question. But he returned to full training this week and is expected to play.

Adding to the excitement in Miami, the Herons will hold the first game at their new Freedom Park stadium on April 4. The 25,000-seat facility completes a more than decade-long quest to build a soccer-specific stadium within the city.

Miami's possible challengers The Vancouver Whitecaps, who were bolstered by the summer signing of longtime German star Thomas Müller, reached the final of both the MLS Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup in 2025.

They came up short in both games, losing 3-1 to Messi's squad for the league title and 5-0 to Mexico's Cruz Azul for the continental championship. With Müller set for his first full season in MLS, the Whitecaps are eager to bring home a trophy.

Los Angeles FC could the strongest club this side of South Florida, with Son Heung-Min also set for full campaign after his midseason arrival from Tottenham Hotspur provided a dynamic pairing with Denis Bouanga.

“I let Messi win this year,” Son joked during a December visit to Tottenham, "but next year ... we’ll be at the top.”

Also keep an eye on the Philadelphia Union, which claimed the Supporters' Shield for the league's best record during the regular season, and Minnesota United FC with its newest addition, Colombian icon James Rodríguez on a short-term deal.

World Cup break

The league's 30 clubs will have to navigate a seven-week shutdown while the expanded World Cup is held in North America.

MLS stadiums in Atlanta, New England, Seattle, Vancouver and Toronto will host World Cup matches, and many of the league's training facilities will be utilized by nations from around the globe.

The unique schedule has led to some strange quirks in the schedule, such as Atlanta United going more than three months between home games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

When MLS resumes play in mid-July, it will be interesting to see which teams do the best job of handling the long layoff.

Sports

Host City Milan Seeks Permanent Ice Arena Post-Games

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Women Single Skating - Victory Ceremony - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 19, 2026. Gold medallist Alysa Liu of United States celebrates after winning the Women Single Skating. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Women Single Skating - Victory Ceremony - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 19, 2026. Gold medallist Alysa Liu of United States celebrates after winning the Women Single Skating. (Reuters)
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Host City Milan Seeks Permanent Ice Arena Post-Games

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Women Single Skating - Victory Ceremony - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 19, 2026. Gold medallist Alysa Liu of United States celebrates after winning the Women Single Skating. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Women Single Skating - Victory Ceremony - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 19, 2026. Gold medallist Alysa Liu of United States celebrates after winning the Women Single Skating. (Reuters)

With the Winter Olympics drawing to an end and its ice rinks due to be removed, joint host city Milan has unveiled plans for a permanent ice arena both to seal the Games' legacy and house a professional local hockey team.

Facing a clamor from athletes and residents, local authorities announced the project this week for a new 5,000-seater, 30x60m rink inside an exhibition center area on Milan’s outskirts to be built within three years.

"This is what we had been asking for a long ‌time, and I ‌believe it would truly complete these Olympics, which have ‌been ⁠extraordinary,” Andrea Gios, ⁠president of the Italian Ice Sports Federation, told Reuters.

The northern Italian city successfully staged figure skating, speed skating, short track and hockey competitions across three venues.

All of them — including the newly built Santagiulia arena, which hosted hockey — will now be repurposed for live shows and other sports.

Authorities envisage a temporary new ice arena being set up in October before making it permanent and hopefully becoming home ⁠to a professional hockey team competing in the Ice Hockey ‌League alongside Austrian, Slovenian and Italian sides.

The ‌surprise announcement came after many Italian athletes and Milan residents lamented the prospect of ‌the city being left without a permanent arena for ice sports after ‌the Olympics.

INVESTMENT NEEDED

Gios said he spoke with some North American investors interested in investing in a professional Milan hockey team, which would cost about 5 million euros ($5.9 million) per year.

A new facility would also serve as a venue for major figure skating and ‌short-track events, as well as a hub for grassroots activities.

Despite delivering Italy’s biggest haul of Olympic golds — with ⁠Francesca Lollobrigida winning ⁠both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters and the men’s squad taking the team pursuit title — Italian speed skaters will have no domestic indoor training rink once the Games end.

Building a skating dome with a 400-meter ice track would be very expensive and offer less certain returns than a multi-purpose venue, Gios said, though some private investors who had shown interest in the past would be sounded out.

Until then, top Italian speed skaters will continue to carry out part of their training abroad, on indoor tracks such as the one in Inzell, Germany.

“I know it’s not easy to keep a facility like ours open, but of course it’s disappointing," Lollobrigida said of the Games venue. "If our results don’t speak for us, there’s nothing more we can do."

Sports

Neymar Says He May Retire by End of 2026

Santos' forward Neymar #10 looks on during the Campeonato Paulista football match between Santos and Botafogo de Ribeirao Preto at the Urbano Caldeira Stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on February 5, 2025. (AFP)
Santos' forward Neymar #10 looks on during the Campeonato Paulista football match between Santos and Botafogo de Ribeirao Preto at the Urbano Caldeira Stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on February 5, 2025. (AFP)
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Neymar Says He May Retire by End of 2026

Santos' forward Neymar #10 looks on during the Campeonato Paulista football match between Santos and Botafogo de Ribeirao Preto at the Urbano Caldeira Stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on February 5, 2025. (AFP)
Santos' forward Neymar #10 looks on during the Campeonato Paulista football match between Santos and Botafogo de Ribeirao Preto at the Urbano Caldeira Stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on February 5, 2025. (AFP)

Brazil striker Neymar, ‌who extended his contract with his childhood club Santos last month, said that he may retire by the end of the year.

The 34-year-old forward returned to his boyhood club Santos in January 2025 and played a key role in their survival in the Brazilian top flight, scoring five times in their last ‌five matches.

But Neymar, ‌who has struggled with ‌injuries ⁠in recent seasons, ⁠remains doubtful for participation at the World Cup this year.

"I don't know what will happen from now on, I don't know about next year," he told Brazilian online channel Caze on Friday.

"It ⁠may be that when December comes, ‌I'll want to ‌retire. I'm living year to year now."

"This ‌year is a very important year, not ‌only for Santos, but also for the Brazilian national team, as it's a World Cup year, and for me too," Neymar said.

Neymar, ‌who recently underwent successful knee surgery, has scored 79 goals ⁠for ⁠Brazil, the highest by any player, but he has not featured for the national side since October 2023.

Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear over the past year that he will only include players who are fully fit for the World Cup, scheduled to take place from June 11 to July 19 in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.