Low was named by Bild am Sonntag as a candidate to replace temporary coach Jupp Heynckes as Bayern boss in 2018, after Germany’s involvement in the World Cup. 10/1 For Freiburg and Munich draw The 57-year-old has guided his team to a perfect record in World Cup qualifying ahead of their final game of the campaign against Azerbaijan, but he is said to be considering leaving his role with Germany regardless of how they perform in Russia....

After they discovered their fate in the official draw, matching up with France, the Dominican Republic and Jordan, there has been little to stop optimism from growing within the camp like wild fire. Whilst France will provide formidable opposition, Germany will go to China confident of qualifying from the group. Their strong showing in qualification will only build on their confidence. A post shared by FIBA Basketball World Cup (@fibawc) on Mar 16, 2019 at 5:00am PDT...

Joachim Low’s side crashed out of World Cup 2018 with a 2-0 defeat to South Korea in Kazan, with Sweden and Mexico progressing from Group F. Toni Kroos’ sublime winner against Sweden had given Germany hope heading into Wednesday’s encounter, but Low’s men again failed to find any semblance of form against a disciplined South Korea side. But Khedira, who along with Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil and Manuel Neuer made his World Cup debut in 2010 and was part of the triumphant squad in 2014, insists it is the “leaders” within Germany’s squad that must take the blame for a first opening-round exit since 1938....

Manchester City star Sane has enjoyed a superb season under Pep Guardiola, winning the Carabao Cup in February and looking almost certain to become a Premier League champion. The 22-year-old, who joined City from Schalke in 2016 for a reported £37 million, is expected to play a key role for Germany when they defend the World Cup in Russia this year. Tah, a team-mate of Sane’s at youth level and with the senior international side, says Germany are lucky to have him....

LIVE: Follow Costa Rica vs. Germany updates from 2022 World Cup Costa Rica have their own designs on qualifying in the Group E finale, with a draw sufficient for the underdogs to reach the Round of 16 if Spain beat Japan in the simultaneous decider. Germany know that anything other than a win — when they would also require Japan not to emerge victorious over Spain — would send them out, and there is even an unlikely scenario that would see Germany out on tiebreakers in the event of a Japan-Spain draw, although that would require a series of unlikely result combinations....

General Eberhard Zorn said that “the threat has further increased,” adding that American and German intelligence indicates an increase of ISIS suicide bombers sneaking into the city. “That’s increasing and leads to heightened precautions,” Zorn added. Germany’s defense minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, warned that the Taliban’s August 31 deadline for foreign troops to fully withdraw should be taken “seriously.” “I think one needs to take very, very seriously the announcement that they won’t agree to a further delay,” she said, adding that the Taliban could be using the deadline as a bargaining chip in negotiations with foreign officials....

The Netherlands international has seen his reputation enhanced considerably since completing a move to St Mary’s from Celtic in the summer of 2015. His potential had been noted by several sides prior to that move, but the Saints were the ones to take the plunge. Liverpool’s title dreams turning to dust That faith has been rewarded, but Van Dijk’s performances have drawn admiring glances from afar. Liverpool are among those said to be closely monitoring the 25-year-old, with Jurgen Klopp yet to fully address defensive frailties at Anfield....

The 29-year-old was the most-coveted star in the current free-agency class along with Stephen Strasburg, who resigned with the Washington Nationals earlier this week, and had been on the radar of both Los Angeles franchises as well as the Yankees. His agent, Scott Boras, said on Tuesday that a pair of what he described as “mystery teams” were also chasing the right-hander’s services. As reported by ESPN’s Jeff Pasan late on Tuesday, however, the Yankees eventually got their man....

It wasn’t long ago that Max Scherzer was a hot-ticket free agent and signed for mega bucks, but Scherzer was two years older than Cole is now, and had worse career numbers than Cole does right now. While Cole doesn’t have a Cy Young to his name, one could be coming his way in the next few weeks. Should that happen, watch out, record books. With the rumors and reports that Cole wants to go back to his home coast — something tells me that’s nothing more than a negotiating tactic, though — there are three teams on this list who could meet Cole’s asking price, one that’s a bit of a surprise and five who would welcome the ace’s services....

The idea of fostering balance between life and work is a trendy one in executive halls these days, but the concept particularly resonates in Silicon Valley, where 60-hour work weeks are the norm and the divorce rate is among the highest in the country. As a result, tech companies are turning to so-called get-a-life consultants–mentors, psychologists, gurus, even yoga instructors. Their job is to help the overworked silicon-collar class maintain some semblance of a personal life while surviving in the pinball world of high tech, where most meals are eaten at work and e-mail is returned after the kids are tucked into bed....

Odor, our No. 48 prospect, got off to a slow start at Double-A this year, but he had recently put together a nine-game hitting streak, during which he hit .421/.450/.737 with five extra-base hits, three home runs and two steals. That has boosted his season totals to .279/.314/.450 with six homers and six swipes in 32 games. Though he's young, Odor has hit a robust .293/.336/.490 with 12 homers and 11 steals in 263 career at-bats at Double-A including last season....

Brock Lesnar interested in UFC return? Social media was abuzz earlier this week with talk that Brock Lesnar has re-entered the USADA drug testing pool, which would lead the way for him to return to the UFC. That is not the case. At least, not yet. MORE: How O.J. Simpson was nearly involved in wrestling UFC vice president of athlete and performance Jeff Novitzky confirmed to multiple outlets that Lesnar has not re-entered the testing program....

Super-sized WWE “SummerSlam” With “SummerSlam” quickly approaching, the annual summer spectacular continues to expand. The card, including a two-hour kickoff show, is now at 11 matches after John Cena vs. Baron Corbin and Big Show against Big Cass were added this past week. MORE: Ring of Honor star Kenny King on leaving “The Bachelorette” It’s probably not done growing with a “RAW” tag team title match pitting Sheamus & Cesaro versus former Shield teammates Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose expected to be announced on Monday A match pitting The Hardy Boyz taking against Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows could also happen....

In some ways, the appeals process is indeed a reboot of a case that resulted in the legal equivalent of the Blue Screen of Death for Microsoft. Instead of a judge with obvious contempt for the Softies, there are seven jurists who won’t be taking reporters into their chambers to hear fantasies of making Bill Gates write book reports about Napoleon. Instead of government hired-gun David Boies, whose adeptness at undressing witnesses makes Hugh Hefner look like a computer geek, there are two skilled but stolid career DOJ lawyers, Jeffrey Minear and David Frederick....

The coach accused referee Baldomero Toledo of using profanity toward one of his players and also questioned why organizers assigned a Mexican-American official to oversee a game involving the Mexican national team. Report: Hernandez scores from spot in win “Talking about the referee, I was really, really shocked that in a game like this they would allow a Mexican to be the center ref when we were playing (against) Mexico," Kwesi Appiah said in his post-match news conference....

The 35-year-old died in hospital in his native country on Tuesday evening. The Ghana Football Association confirmed the news with tweets on its official Twitter handle. However, details of his illness remain unknown. Yakubu made 16 appearances for the Black Stars, having represented Ghana at all age-groups from the U-17 upwards. He was a member of the Black Stars at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt but fell short of making the final cut for the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany after playing in the qualifiers....

The British socialite faces up to 65 years behind bars, after being convicted last week of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein, a convicted sex offender who killed himself awaiting trial in 2019. Her brother, Ian Maxwell, has said that she will not cut a deal with prosecutors in exchange for a lenient sentence and will instead maintain her innocence. “Prosecution confirmed no plea bargain offers were made or received” before the trial, he told The Sunday Times newspaper....

FOX SPORTS: Ex-big leaguer details his struggles after hitting batter in face And the news on his condition was encouraging, relatively speaking. The Marlins announced that Stanton, who suffered multiple facial fractures, facial lacerations and dental damage, wasn’t expected to need surgery. The Twitter hashtag #GetWellGiancarlo was filled with well-wishes all day Friday, and the Marlins collected some of the best ones here. 

Antetokounmpo was ruled out of Game 5 with the same injury designation, a game in which Milwaukee beat Atlanta 123-112 to take a 3-2 series lead. Regardless, Milwaukee will look to earn just its third NBA Finals berth, and first since 1974, without its best player. MORE: Bucks vs. Hawks injury updates: Will Giannis Antetokounmpo, Trae Young play in Game 6? The Bucks lost their star player in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday....