US MOTOGP 2013 July 21, 2013

Stefan Bradl has pole for the 2013 US MotoGP Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. The 23-year-old LCR Honda rider posted 1:21.176 to grab his first ever pole position, after finishing third and second in the morning's free practice sessions.

Honda locked out the front row of the grid, with championship leader Marc Marquez and Alvaro Bautista putting Repsol Honda and Honda Gresnini second and third respectively. Marquez's second place time was only 0.017s behind Bradl.

Marquez led the way in the first practice session on Saturday, with 1:21.568 to lead Valentino Rossi on his Yamaha and Bradl, with Bautista and Britain's Cal Crutchlow rounding out the top five. The 20-year-old Spaniard is on an understandable high after romping to a second win of the season at the Sachsenring in Germany in the last race, in his MotoGP debut.

And he retained top spot through the second practice session of the day, clocking 1:21.680 to beat Bradl's 1:21.890. Crutchlow and Bautista finished third and fourth in that session, with Spain's Dani Pedrosa coming in fifth.

A word, though, about Pedrosa and defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo. The Repsol Honda and Yamaha riders were doubts for this race, with collarbone injuries at Germany. Following physiotherapy for Pedrosa and emergency surgery for Lorenzo, both riders were confirmed for the race pending medical evaluations, which happened trackside on Friday.

Pedrosa sat out the first and third practice sessions but produced blisteringly fast laps when critical and will start the race from seventh, with a best of 1:21.728.

Lorenzo, meanwhile, has kept a low profile through most of the weekend so far, with a best of 1:22.221 in practice and 1:21.453 in qualifying; he starts sixth, which should make the race very interesting indeed.

Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso finished eighth and Tech 3 Yamaha's Bradley smith was ninth with Nicky Hayden 10th on his Ducati.

The 3.602km Laguna Seca circuit consist of 11 turns. The circuit record lap belongs to Pedrosa, who posted 1:21.229 last year. The 2012 race was won Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner, with Lorenzo second and Pedrosa third. This year's pole position man, Bradly, finished seventh.

Marquez leads the championship with 138 points. Pedrosa is two points behind and Lorenzo a further 11. Crutchlow and Rossi round out the top five, with 107 and 101 points respectively.

USA vs El Salvador July 21, 2013

The United States looked all set for a quarterfinal matchup with Martinique until Cuba spoiled the party, defeating Belize by four goals to grab the last quarterfinal spot. That meant that the United States, instead of facing the weakest team in the quarterfinals, would have to face a reasonably formidable El Salvador side in the Gold Cup quarters.

El Salvador are hardly world beaters -- they dropped points to Guyana in the third round of World Cup qualifying and missed the Hex -- but they're certainly stronger than Cuba and Martinique. They've played well so far in this tournament, drawing fellow quarterfinalists Trinidad and Tobago and defeating Haiti. They nearly grabbed a draw from Honduras, which could have sent them through in first or second place, but conceded a winner to Jorge Claros in stoppage time.

The United States has called in four new players for the quarterfinals, per tournament rules, although they're the only team to call in more than one new reinforcement. Alan Gordon, Eddie Johnson and Matt Besler did not play for their MLS teams on Saturday and will be available right away, while Omar Gonzalez played on Saturday night and will join up with the team for the semifinals if they defeat El Salvador.

Who Jurgen Klinsmann starts is anyone's guess. He said that he would play his best team against Costa Rica, but opted to make some unexpected changes and give a rest to a few of his starters. Besler and Johnson have established themselves as regulars for the main U.S. squad and probably have a better shot at starting than Gordon does. Gordon has a knack for scoring or assisting late in matches when brought off the bench and he's probably been called into the team to fill that role.

Match date/time: Sunday, 4 p.m. ET

Venue: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md.

British Open 2013 July 21, 2013

The 2013 British Open Championship moved on to its third day with still lots of holes to be contested on the extremely difficult layout at Muirfield Golf.

Miguel Angel Jiminez, who served as the vice captain for the Europeans in last year Ryder Cup, took the clubhouse lead after shooting an even-par 71 in the second round.

Yet, the top spot on the leaderboard is far from being secured. Former world's No.1 Lee Westwood had a solid day on the field Friday as he shot a 3-under 68 to jump into a four-way tie with Henrik Stemson, Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods, who has put himself in prime position despite dealing with elbow problems throughout the first two rounds of competition.

Disappointments and frustrations are all over the playing field with two-time champion Rory McIlroy not making it to the next round after shooting a 79 in the first round and 75 in the second round. Other high-profile players that did not make it to the third day of play are Vijay Singh, Justin Rose, Nick Watney, and Jim Furyk.

Third Round

The third round will be as crucial as the last day of the tournament as competitors attempt to finish the day on a high note and keep themselves in great spot for Sunday's championship play. Of course, all eyes will be on Woods, who hasn't been doing great in round three and four of the last six majors tourney he participated. According to ESPN, Woods usually shot better in the first two rounds with combined score of 11-under. However, his performance faltered in the last two rounds, finishing 30 shots worse over that stretch.

T.V Coverage of the 2013 British Open will start at 4:00 a.m ET on ESPN.

Bournemouth vs Real Madrid July 21, 2013

Tras una semana de entrenamientos, el Real Madrid ha viajado con todos los jugadores que tiene a disposición para jugar el primer amistoso de la pretemporada.

Carlo Ancelotti dirigirá así su primer partido como entrenador del Real Madrid, teniendo las ausencias de los internacionales de la Copa Confederaciones (Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Álvaro Arbeloa y Marcelo). A esas bajas hay que sumar las del francés Raphael Varane y Xabi Alonso, ambos por lesión.

El Real Madrid, cincuenta días después del último partido oficial, regresa con ilusiones renovadas y con el objetivo de que el nuevo proyecto funcione, dejando atrás la mala pasada temporada vivida con José Mourinho.

Los aficionados blancos centrarán sus miradas en las nuevas incorporaciones. Illarramendi, Carvajal e Isco tendrán minutos.

Por su parte, el Bournemouth, equipo de la Segunda División inglesa y club con 114 años de vida, lleva jugados siete amistosos en lo que va de verano. A falta de dos semanas para que comience la temporada, el equipo inglés llega al partido mucho más rodado que el Real Madrid.

La defensa blanca deberá estar pendiente de Brett Pitman, jugador que será referencia en el ataque rival.

Ficha técnica.

Hora: 20:45 horas de España.

Estadio: Goldsands Stadium.

Posible alineación del Real Madrid: Diego López, Carvajal, Pepe, Nacho, Coentrao, Modric, Khedira, Ozil, Isco, Cristiano Ronaldo e Higuaín.

Chelsea vs Malaysia XI July 21, 2013

Chelsea's Asian preseason tour moves to Malaysia as the Blues take on a Malaysia XI side on Sunday.

The club had a bit of a hard time against Singha All-Stars, but its 1-0 win was much better than the 1-0 loss Manchester United suffered against the same team earlier this summer.

With Chelsea making some moves this summer and welcoming in players from loan, the preseason is a great chance for Jose Mourinho to get an idea of which players he'll be calling upon in the upcoming season. Everybody knows how important the likes of Juan Mata, Ashley Cole, Petr Cech, Eden Hazard and Ramires will be. There are a lot of players, though, whose roles in the club are still up in the air.

Although you can't read too much into preseason friendlies, it's much better for supporters to see the club show some cohesion on the pitch and the younger players start establishing themselves.

Here's the viewing info for Chelsea's upcoming friendly with Malaysia XI, followed by three players to watch.



When: Sunday, July 21, at 2:45 BST (9:45 a.m. ET)

Where: Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia

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