Pelé sends support to Neymar Baker cooks in his debut with Rams Long jumper faces Olympic ban

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INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 08: Baker Mayfield #17 of the Los Angeles Rams looks on prior to the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium on December 08, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG, CM - OUTS * NM, PH, VA if sourced by CT, LA or MoD **

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Brazil’s Neymar celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal during the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Croatia and Brazil, at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Friday, Dec. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

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Brazilian soccer great Pelé congratulated Neymar for matching his national team scoring record Friday, and commiserated with him for his World Cup exit. Pelé, who has been hospitalized while being treated for a respiratory infection, posted his message on Instagram after Brazil lost to Croatia in the quarterfinals. “I saw you grow, I cheered for you every day and I can finally congratulate you for reaching my number of goals with Brazil. We both know that this is more than a figure,” the 82-year-old Pelé wrote. “Our biggest duty as athletes is to inspire. Inspire our teammates of today, the next generations and, above all, everyone who loves our sport. “Unfortunately this is not the happiest day for us,” Pelé added. “My record was set almost 50 years ago, and nobody had managed to get near it until now. You got there, kid. That shows how great your achievement is.” Neymar scored Brazil’s only goal, giving him 77 for the national team. Neymar, 30, didn’t take a penalty in the shootout. He walked off the field in tears and left it open whether he will continue playing for the national team.

Baker Mayfield was waived by the Panthers on Monday and claimed by the Rams on Tuesday. After a cross-country flight, he got one short practice with his new team on Wednesday. And on Thursday night, Mayfield led the Rams to two late fourth-quarter touchdowns and a stunning 17-16 win over the Raiders, capped by a 23-yard TD pass to Van Jefferson with 10 seconds left. Mayfield could only wonder what Friday will bring in this wild week of his life, but the former No. 1 overall pick knows it probably won’t be more fun than one of the most amazing moments of his bumpy NFL journey. “I don’t know if you could write it any better than that,” Mayfield said. “Obviously, we’d like to be a little bit more stress-free, but it’s a pretty damn good story, I’ll be honest with you.” Just two days after the Rams claimed him, Mayfield went 22 of 35 for 230 yards — and eventually snapped the defending Super Bowl champions’ six-game losing streak. “What a quick study,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “He just got here five minutes ago and figured out a way to be able to do some special things tonight.”

A long jumper and two officials from Albania could face bans after they were accused of submitting false information that helped the athlete get a spot at the Tokyo Olympics last year. The Athletics Integrity Unit said Friday it had charged long jumper Izmir Smajlaj, Albanian track federation president Gjegj Ruli and the federation’s general secretary Nikolin Dionisi with disciplinary offenses over a competition held in Albania in May 2021, two months before the Tokyo Olympics. They are all provisionally suspended until the case is resolved. Smajlaj was named as the competition winner with a national-record jump of 8.16 meters. “It is alleged that false information was submitted to World Athletics and the AIU in support of this competition result,” the AIU said. Smajlaj’s result wasn’t good enough to qualify for the Olympics outright, but he got a place under the “universality” rule that allows countries to send one male or female athlete to the Olympic track events. Those athletes still have to apply with evidence of their “technical level” and experience of international events. Smajlaj jumped 7.86 meters at the Olympics as he failed to qualify for the final. —Associated Press