Reyna starts 1st match for US since Berhalter flap, 7-1 rout

Gio Reyna started in his first match with the U.S. after his parents disparaged then-coach Gregg Berhalter for his lack of playing time at the World Cup, a 7-1 rout of 173rd-ranked Grenada in the CONCACAF Nationals League on Friday night at St. George's.

Ricardo Pepi and Weston McKennie had two goals each and Alejandro Zendejas scored his first international goal. Christian Pulisic and Brenden Aaronson also scored for the No. 13 Americans, who had never won by a 7-1 score.

Pepi ended a 10-match international scoreless streak when he put the U.S. ahead with a fourth-minute header off Pulisic's cross. Pulisic and Luca de La Torre had two assists each for the Americans, who for the first time since Major League Soccer launched in 1996 failed to field at least one MLS player.

Berhalter used Reyna sparingly at the World Cup and the 20-year-old nearly was sent home by Berhalter for lack of hustle in training. The player’s parents, former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna and former women’s player Danielle Egan Reyna, notified the U.S. Soccer Federation of a 1992 domestic violence incident involving Berhalter and the woman he later married — Danielle Egan’s former college roommate.

Euro 2024 host Germany looks to rebuild after World Cup

DÜSSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Another World Cup failure, another rebuild for Germany. This time there's even more at stake.

Germany will host next year's European Championship and is desperate to avoid another debacle at its home tournament ahead of playing Peru in a friendly on Saturday.

But the new era for the national team begins with disruption at Germany's biggest club after Bayern Munich abruptly fired coach Julian Nagelsmann on Friday and hired Thomas Tuchel in his place.

Germany coach Hansi Flick, who won the Champions League at Bayern in 2020, said earlier Friday he was “very surprised” to hear a change might be in the works at Bayern, and added he was discussing the situation with the three Bayern players in the team.

Canada expects a tougher Curacao side this time

John Herdman expects to face a different Curaçao side in CONCACAF Nations League play Saturday night than the one Canada dispatched with ease last June in Vancouver.

The Canadian men, currently ranked 53rd in the world, blanked No. 86 Curacao 4-0 at B.C. Place Stadium.

Former Whitecap Alphonso Davies, playing his first game in Vancouver since October 2018, scored twice that day. Steven Victoria and Lucas Cavallini also scored for the Canadians, who held a 22-5 edge in shots (9-0 in shots on target).

Herdman says Curaçao had added to its roster with players from the top league in the Netherlands as well as talent from the Turkish league.

Whitecaps cautious ahead of Minnesota matchup

VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Whitecaps aren't about to be lulled into a false sense of security as they head to the American Midwest this weekend.

The 'Caps (0-2-2) know seven of Minnesota United's usual starters will be away on international duty when the two sides take the field in Saint Paul on Saturday, but Vancouver coach Vanni Sartini said victory is far from assured.

"Last year, we played against (the Seattle Sounders), it was an international break, they were missing 10 players, we got smashed," he said Friday. "We played against them (again) when they are 100 per cent and we won. So it's not a guarantee."

Minnesota has not been friendly to the Whitecaps. Vancouver has gone 0-3-2 on the Loons' home turf, including a 2-0 loss that ended their season last year.

Mbappé delivers for France as captain; Lukaku nets hat trick

Kylian Mbappé delivered for France again, this time wearing the captain’s armband.

Leading a new era for Les Bleus, there was something very familiar about the way Mbappé slotted home two unforgiving finishes to headline a 4-0 win over the Netherlands in European Championship qualifying on Friday.

France showed no lasting effects from that painful penalty-shootout loss to Argentina in the World Cup final three months ago. Nor did Mbappé, the scorer of a hat trick in a losing cause that day.

One of his first touches against the Dutch was to slip a pass inside for Antoine Griezmann, his hair dyed pink, to finish first time for the opening goal inside two minutes at the Stade de France. The two stars embraced, showing there was no lingering feud after Griezmann — the more experienced of the pair — was overlooked for the captaincy in favor of Mbappé following Hugo Lloris’ retirement.

Leeds’ Elland Road stadium evacuated, man arrested

LEEDS, England (AP) — The stadium of English Premier League club Leeds was evacuated because of a security threat that led to the arrest of a man on Friday.

Elland Road, its offices and the club shop were closed as police carried out checks after Leeds received a threat via social media.

West Yorkshire Police said a 42-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident. The force said earlier that officers attended Elland Road “following reports of a security threat to the premises."

The Premier League is on hold this week because of international matches.

NWSL’s Carson Pickett embraces being a role model

There was a time earlier in her soccer career when Carson Pickett didn't want to draw attention to her left arm or even talk about it. She just wanted to be like all the other players.

Pickett has since become more comfortable with what makes her both unique and a role model for others like her. The 29-year-old defender, who plays professionally for Racing Louisville in the National Women's Soccer League, was born without a left hand and forearm.

“As I’ve gotten older and more mature, I’ve realized that there is a platform that I have that other people don’t have. And I think for far too long I allowed myself just to kind of only focus on soccer, only focus on fans who want to talk about soccer and, you know, doing interviews that only discuss soccer and not my arm. And I think that that was something that I had to learn," she said.

Of course, there's much more to Pickett than her limb difference. She's a skilled defender who has earned call-ups to the U.S. team and appeared in a pair of matches last year. In doing so, she became the first player with a limb difference to play for the United States.

Toronto FC undermanned for game in San Jose

Depleted by injuries and players away on international duty, Toronto FC coach Bob Bradley has dipped into his reserve team to make up numbers Saturday in San Jose.

Bradley has summoned a pair of midfielders — 18-year-old Markus Cimermancic and 23-year-old Alonso Coello Camarero — on short-term loans from Toronto FC II. TFC will be missing eight players, including five starters, for the game against the Earthquakes.

Toronto (1-1-2) has five players on international duty, with fullback Richie Laryea, midfielders Jonathan Osorio and Mark-Anthony Kaye and forward Ayo Akinola with Canada and backup goalkeeper Tomas Romero with El Salvador.

Unlike other top leagues, MLS does not always pause during FIFA international windows.

Son scores 2 in Klinsmann’s debut as South Korea coach

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Jurgen Klinsmann’s first game as coach of South Korea ended in a 2-2 draw with Colombia on Friday, with Son Heung-min scoring two goals.

It was South Korea's first match since losing to Brazil in the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar, and Klinsmann's first game since coaching the United States in 2016.

Son gave the host team a 2-0 lead in the first half at Ulsan World Cup Stadium. James Rodriguez and Jorge Carasscal scored for Colombia early in the second half.

Son first curled in a shot from outside the area as goalkeeper Camilo Vargas was out of position. The Tottenham forward scored his 37th international goal just before halftime from a free kick.

With new coach, Spain aims to boost scoring against Norway

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — It's been more than a decade of disappointments for Spain following the team's golden era that netted the 2010 World Cup title and two European championships. Now, with a new coach in charge, the team that once took a possession-based attack to its maximum expression with its “tiki-taka” passing style will have yet another chance to breathe new life into a system that again looked outdated at last year’s World Cup. Luis de la Fuente has made it a priority to solve the team's scoring problems since he was promoted from Spain’s Under-21 team to replace Luis Enrique in December, and he will get his first test on Saturday in Malaga when Spain hosts Norway in their first qualifying match for the 2024 European championship. Three days later, Spain will play Scotland in Glasgow. De la Fuente has overhauled the squad that only managed one win in Qatar and went out in the round-of-16 against Morocco. That defeat felt like déjà vu for Spain fans, coming four years after it exited in the same round against Russia at the 2018 World Cup. In both upsets, Spain completed more than 1,000 passes without creating hardly any scoring chances, and then lost penalty shootouts. Veteran Celta Vigo striker Iago Aspas took Spain’s last penalty in the shootout with Russia, only to have it saved. He is now back with Spain for the first time since 2019. De la Fuente, who is relatively unknown in Spain after spending years coaching the nation’s youth teams, has put together a squad focused on the immediate goal of Euro 2024 in Germany rather than starting a total rebuild with younger players. Aspas is 35 years old, and the three other strikers on the squad are all at least 30, making it hard to imagine they will still be at the top of their game come the next World Cup. But De la Fuente wants to ensure that his team has goalscorers, and not just the passing and playmaking stylists that Luis Enrique preferred at nearly every position. Aspas, Espanyol striker Joselu Mato, and Real Betis forward Borja Iglesias have 12 goals each in the Spanish league this season, making them the highest-scoring Spaniards in the competition. Alvaro Morata, the only pure striker Luis Enrique took to Qatar, has also returned. He has netted 10 goals for Atletico Madrid. Aspas, who was overlooked by Luis Enrique because he didn't fit his playing style, said that De la Fuente is seeking to forge a group that can find different ways of attacking rivals who don’t mind sitting back and defending. “For me, with Luis Enrique we had a very, very set way of playing, and from my point of view, we didn’t have a plan ‘B’ or other variants,” Aspas said on Thursday. “Now our coach has called up the three top Spanish scorers. If we can’t produce goals, it won’t be his fault. With Joselu, Borja and myself, we have players who can do different things and are not so tied to one way of playing like before.” While Aspas and Iglesias are capable of creating goals for themselves and teammates, Joselu is an old-fashioned center forward who likes to battle for long balls and scores with one touch of his boot or head. He can now make his debut for Spain at the age of 32. Other players are getting a second chance. Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga hasn’t played for Spain since 2020. Real Madrid defender Nacho Fernández, 33, returns for the first time since 2018. De la Fuente has also opted for a defense that is more physical. Athletic Bilbao’s Iñigo Martínez, 31, is back, while Osasuna’s 29-year-old center back David García made Spain's squad for the first time. Despite the changes in personnel, this Spain team will still most likely want to keep the ball for as long as possible. De la Fuente has declared himself a “defender of Spain’s playing style.” Against Norway, Spain will not have to worry about Manchester City star Erling Haaland, who is out with a groin injury. Norway will still have Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard and striker Alexander Sorloth, who has scored 13 times overall for Spanish club Real Sociedad this season. Group A also includes Georgia and Cyprus. The top two finishers in the group will advance.

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Scotland extends coach Clarke’s contract to 2026 World Cup

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Steve Clarke extended his contract Friday with Scotland's national soccer team through the 2026 World Cup, which would make him the Tartan Army’s longest-serving coach in more than 20 years.

The Scottish Football Association announced the deal ahead of European Championship qualifying games against Cyprus and Spain.

Clarke led Scotland to Euro 2020 for its first major tournament since the 1998 World Cup.

After Scotland lost to Ukraine in the playoffs for last year's World Cup, the team won a Nations League group to advance to the top tier for the first time.

Bayern dumps coach Nagelsmann and hires Tuchel

MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich hired Thomas Tuchel as coach on Friday to replace Julian Nagelsmann after losing the lead of the Bundesliga and ahead of a potentially title-deciding game.

Bayern chief executive Oliver Kahn blamed “big fluctuations in performance” and said the squad wasn't showing its true potential under Nagelsmann.

Tuchel will take over training from Monday with a contract until the end of the 2024-25 season. His first game in charge will be a “Klassiker” against Borussia Dortmund on April 1 that could play a key role in the title race.

The decision to remove Nagelsmann came after the team lost at Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in the Bundesliga on Sunday, dropping to second place, a point behind Dortmund.

Canada women unchanged at No. 6 in FIFA rankings

Canada remains unchanged at No. 6 in the latest FIFA women's rankings that see Cabo Verde and Saudi Arabia included for the first time.

The top five is also the same with the U.S. on top, ahead of Germany, Sweden, England and France.

Some 112 international matches were played, including the playoff tournament for this summer's FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, since the last rankings were released in December.

The new rankings features 188 teams, which is 10 more than at the same time last year