Soccer

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Soccer star Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez is facing a backlash from Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and others for remarks posted on his social media accounts about gender roles.

ZURICH (AP) — Aitana Bonmatí scored in extra time to send Spain to its first Women’s European Championship final with a 1-0 win over Germany on Wednesday, setting up a repeat of the 2023 World Cup title match.

Aitana Bonmatí began the Women's European Championship recovering from a hospital stay. On Wednesday, she steered Spain to another major final against England.

TORONTO — Kerrin Hands calls walking soccer "the biggest sport no one's heard of." Hands, who runs the Toronto Walking Soccer Club, was initially skeptical about the appeal of a no-running version of the world’s most popular game.

VANCOUVER — Canadian Premier League club Vancouver FC has fired its first-ever head coach, Afshin Ghotbi. The team announced the move Wednesday, saying Martin Nash will take over as interim head coach and head of Vancouver's academy.

Marcus Rashford has been given the chance to revive his career at Barcelona with a season-long loan move from Manchester United announced Wednesday.

Liverpool signed France forward Hugo Ekitiké from Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday to continue the Premier League champion's offseason spending spree.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona said Wednesday it will not play its scheduled preseason game in Japan because of “serious contractual breaches on behalf of the promoter.

MONTREAL — CF Montreal has started its rebuild quickly.

MADRID (AP) — Atletico Madrid has reached a deal to sign David Hancko after the defender reportedly was turned away by Al-Nassr when he arrived at the Saudi team's training camp.