The Latest: Injured Gimenez to sit out Uruguay-Russia match

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on Sunday at the World Cup (all times local):

5:28 p.m.

Uruguay defender Jose Maria Gimenez has been ruled out of the team’s final World Cup group stage match because of a right thigh injury.

Gimenez scored in Uruguay’s 1-0 victory over Egypt to start the tournament. La Celeste also defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 to secure a spot in the knockout round heading into Monday’s match against hosts Russia.

The 23-year-old center back has been key to the team’s two shutouts. Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez would not reveal Sunday who would replace the Atletico Madrid defender.

Russia has also qualified in Group A for the round of 16. Monday’s match will help determine who plays against Spain, Portugal or Serbia, the three teams playing the following day for the top two spots in Group B.

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5:15 p.m.

Pape Alioune Ndiaye has replaced Mame Diouf is the only change to the Senegal lineup for the World Cup Group H game against Japan.

Both teams opened with 2-1 wins in the group, with Senegal beating Poland and Japan upsetting Colombia to register the first victory by an Asian team over a South American country at the World Cup.

Japan has retained the same starting lineup that started against Colombia.

Lineups:

Japan: Eiji Kawashima; Gen Shoji, Yuto Nagatomo, Gaku Shibasaki, Genki Haraguchi, Shinji Kagawa, Takashi Inui, Yuya Osako, Makoto Hasebe, Hiroki Sakai, Maya Yoshida.

Senegal: Khadim Ndiaye; Kalidou Koulibaly, Idrissa Gane Gueye, Salif Sane, Pape Alioune Ndiaye, Sadio Mane, Youssouf Sabaly, Alfred Ndiaye, Ismaila Sarr, Mbaye Niang, Moussa Wague.

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5:04 p.m.

Switzerland’s soccer federation president does not expect FIFA to suspend Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri for their goal celebrations against Serbia.

Peter Gillieron says he expects a “quick decision” after FIFA announced a disciplinary case late Saturday for the players making hand gestures of a two-headed eagle that is an Albanian national symbol.

Xhaka and Shaqiri have ethnic Albanian heritage linked to Kosovo, a former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008. Serbia does not recognize that independence.

Gillieron says in an interview published by Swiss news website “20 Minutes” that “I don’t have any concerns” about FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspending the players for Switzerland’s game against Costa Rica on Wednesday.

FIFA rules prohibit political gestures by players or fans, and let the disciplinary panel act on “serious infringements which have escaped the match officials’ attention.”

Xhaka and Shaqiri, whose 90th-minute goal gave Switzerland a 2-1 win, would likely have been shown a yellow card at the time for their celebrations.

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4:53 p.m.

Harry Kane scored a hat trick to propel England to its most emphatic World Cup victory and into the knockout stage.

With John Stones heading in twice and Jesse Lingard curling in a shot, England beat Panama 6-1 and scored its most goals ever in a World Cup game.

Two of Kane’s goals came from the penalty spot and the third via his heel, sending the striker to the top of the scoring chart in Russia with five — one more than Cristiano Ronaldo.

The ruthless performance ensures England goes into the Group G finale against Belgium level on points and with the same goal difference after conceding a late goal to Panama.

The central American side, on its World Cup debut, joins Tunisia in making an early exit.

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4.36 p.m.

Panama has scored its first World Cup goal — after conceding six in the game against England.

Substitute Felipe Baloy scored Panama’s goal in the 78th minute in Nizhny Novgorod for a tiny bit of joy for the World Cup first-timers.

England captain Harry Kane scored a hat-trick, defender John Stones scored twice, and Jesse Lingard netted with a sublime curling shot off the crossbar to all but guarantee England’s progression to the last 16.

Belgium would also qualify for the knockout stages from Group G with an England victory.

England led 5-0 at halftime, with Kane’s two first-half goals coming from penalties. He was credited with a third in the 62nd minute, although it was a fortunate deflection off him that wrong-footed Panama goalkeeper Jaime Penedo.

As well as the last 16, England is also on course for its biggest win at the World Cup. Previously, England had never won by more than three goals.

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4:25 p.m.

Liverpool and Egypt striker Mohamed Salah’s shoulder injury appears to have significantly improved ahead of the Pharaohs’ last World Cup game against Saudi Arabia.

Injured in last month’s Champions League final, Salah showed more energy and upper body mobility in practice than earlier in the tournament, but did not appear he was 100 percent fit in warmup drills in Volgograd, Russia.

Salah did not play in Egypt’s 1-0 loss to Uruguay June 15, but started against Russia five days later, scoring from the penalty in a 3-1 loss. Both eliminated, the Saudis and Egyptians play each other Monday.

— Associated Press writer Hamza Hendawi reported from Volgograd.

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4:22 p.m.

Harry Kane is the third Englishman to score three goals in a World Cup game, completing the hat trick with a lucky deflection to give his team a 6-0 lead over Panama in the 62nd minute.

Kane scored two penalties in the first half and has now overtaken Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku of Belgium as the leading scorer in Russia with five goals — if he gets to keep his third goal. The score is set to be a record for England at the World Cup.

Defender John Stones also scored twice to see England cruise toward a place in the last 16. An England win over Panama would see it qualify and also send Belgium through as well.

Jesse Lingard got England’s third goal with a sublime curling shot off the crossbar in the 36th. Stones got his second before Kane again fired in from the penalty spot in first-half injury time.

Panama is playing at its first World Cup ever and has now conceded nine goals in less than two games.

— AP Sports Writer Gerald Imray reported from Nizhny Novgorod.

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4:15 p.m.

A day after being put under investigation by FIFA for complaining about the refereeing of their 2-1 World Cup loss to Switzerland and misbehavior by fans, Serbia’s football association says it has filed an official complaint with football’s governing body alleging “biased officiating” by referee Feliz Brych.

In a statement posted on its website Sunday, the Football Association of Serbia says it has submitted to FIFA “seven videos that clearly showed tendency in officiating of the referee Brych to the detriment of our national team.”

Serbia officials have complained vociferously since Friday’s match in Kaliningrad that their team was not awarded a penalty for a second-half challenge by two Swiss defenders on Aleksandar Mitrovic and that Brych did not consult the Video Assistant Referee about the incident.

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4 p.m.

England coach Gareth Southgate cautioned that the cannily taken photo of training ground notes that ruffled feathers between the team and the media didn’t indicate what the lineup could be for Sunday’s World Cup game against Panama. He was right.

Raheem Sterling retained his place in the starting lineup after an underwhelming performance in England’s opening win against Tunisia even though the photo indicated he could be dropped.

Publication of the photo led to criticism of the British media among some former players and fans for potentially giving the opposition an edge.

Southgate told reporters he doesn’t expect “the media to be supporters of us in terms of the way they work,” adding “the guys have to find stories and produce content. We have to get results.”

England has already produced a record result with a 5-0 lead over Panama at the break that virtually guarantees it will advance.

— AP Global Soccer Writer Rob Harris reported from Nizhny Novgorod.

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3:50 p.m.

England is on course for a record victory in a World Cup game and leads Panama 5-0 at halftime in Nizhny Novgorod.

England had never scored five goals in a World Cup game before and has never won at the tournament by more than three.

Captain Harry Kane scored two penalties to tie Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku of Belgium as the top scorers in Russia with four goals each through two games.

Defender John Stones also scored twice to see England cruise toward a place in the last 16. An England win over the World Cup first-timer would see it qualify and also send Belgium through as well. They would play Thursday to determine who wins the group.

Stones opened the scoring with a header from a corner in the 8th minute. Kane made it 2-0 from the spot in the 22nd.

Jesse Lingard got the third with a sublime curling shot off the crossbar in the 36th. Stones got his second before Kane again fired in from the penalty spot in first-half injury time.

Panama is playing at its first World Cup ever and has now conceded eight goals in a game-and-a-half.

— Associated Press writer Gerald Imray reported from Nizhny Novgorod.

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3:22 p.m.

England is 2-0 up after just 22 minutes against Panama, with Harry Kane adding a penalty to John Stones’ early goal.

Kane smashed his spot-kick into the top left corner after Jesse Lingard was fouled by Panama’s Fidel Escobar.

The early lead puts England on course for a place in the last 16. England can qualify with a win over Panama and also send Belgium through from Group G.

Stones put England ahead early when he headed home Kieran Trippier’s corner in the eighth minute. The England defender was completely unmarked near the penalty spot and buried his header in the bottom left corner of Jaime Penedo’s goal.

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3:08 p.m.

England has taken an early lead against Panama at the World Cup with a header by defender John Stones.

Stones was unmarked when he met Kieran Trippier’s corner in the eighth minute and buried his header in the bottom left corner.

England can qualify for the last 16 with a win over the World Cup first-timers in Nizhny Novgorod.

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2:05 p.m.

France forward Antoine Griezmann is confident his World Cup form will pick up following a slow start.

Although he earned and scored a penalty as France opened its campaign with a 2-1 win against Australia, he had a quiet game otherwise and was substituted by coach Didier Deschamps with 20 minutes remaining.

Griezmann was taken off with 10 minutes left in the 1-0 win against Peru, following another frustratingly below-par performance.

But Griezmann, the European Championship’s top scorer two years ago, is confident he can repeat his Euro 2016 exploits.

He tells French soccer show Telefoot, “I will get better and better. It was the same at the Euros. It was only after the (second round) that I started to play very well.”

Midfielder Paul Pogba praised Griezmann for his “enormous” work-rate when tracking back to defend against Peru.

Pogba says, “He’s fighting for the team.”

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1:15 p.m.

Denmark midfielder William Kvist, who was sent home after sustaining two broken ribs and a punctured lung after a hard collision in a match against Peru last week, is set to return to the World Cup.

Denmark coach Age Hareide tells Danish broadcaster TV2 that Kvist is on his way back to Russia but probably can’t play against France in Group C match in Moscow on Tuesday.

Hareide says Kvist went through examinations in Denmark which showed there was no substantial injury to the lung.

“It’s now only the fractures on the ribs that give him problems,” Hareide told TV2. “So we have to see if he’s fit to train after the match against France.”

Denmark beat Peru 1-0 in its opening game and played out a 1-1 draw against Australia on June 21.

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11:25 a.m.

Croatia defender Dejan Lovren says teammate Luka Modric would be a contender for the world’s best player of the year award if he played for one of the supposed powers of international football.

Modric has been one of the standout players at the World Cup, scoring in both matches — including a long-range shot against Argentina — to help Croatian qualify for the knockout stage with a game to spare.

Lovren says “Modric would probably be getting more attention than he is right now if he was a German or Spanish player — he would maybe even be a Ballon D’Or winner.”

The Liverpool defender adds: “Because we are a smaller country, he does get less attention than he deserves.”

Croatia plays Iceland in their final Group D on Tuesday.

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11:20 a.m.

Peru’s soccer federation says striker Jefferson Farfan has been hospitalized with head trauma after a hard collision with a teammate during practice at the World Cup.

The federation says initial results “were favorable for the player” but Farfan was going to remain in the hospital so doctors could monitor him.

Farfan went down after colliding with one of the team’s goalkeepers in a practice session on Saturday.

The federation says he was transferred to the hospital after all medical protocols were followed on the field.

Peru has been eliminated from World Cup contention after losses to Denmark and France and has a group game remaining against Australia in Sochi.

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More AP World Cup coverage: www.apnews.com/tag/WorldCup

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