HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — United States midfielder James Sands has joined Bundesliga team St. Pauli on a six-month loan from New York City FC, the teams announced Wednesday.
The German club will have an option to extend the loan to keep the 24-year-old Sands through the 2025-26 season, the MLS team said.
It will be the defensive midfielder's second spell in Europe after the New York native spent just over a year with Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.
Sands joined Rangers on loan in January 2022 and made 41 appearances in all competitions for the Glasgow club.
He has played 13 times for the U.S. national team.
“Moving to one of the strongest European leagues is a big challenge for me and one I’m very much looking forward to,” Sands said in St. Pauli's announcement on the first day of the January transfer window.
St. Pauli earned promotion to the Bundesliga by winning the German second-division title last season. The team is in 14th place in the 18-team league.
“James Sands offers an exciting mix of athleticism and footballing ability," St. Pauli director of sport Andreas Bornemann said. “Another positive aspect is that he can be deployed both in central holding midfield and central defense.”
Before leaving for Germany, Sands extended his contract with New York City FC through Dec. 31, 2028, the MLS team said.
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FILE - New York City FC midfielder James Sands (6) takes control of the ball from Inter Miami midfielder David Ruiz (41) during the second half of an MLS soccer match, Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González, who the United States recognized as the winner of last year's presidential election, kicked off a tour of Latin America on Saturday, just days before President Nicolás Maduro is set to be sworn in for a third term in defiance of international pressure.
Hundreds of Venezuelan migrants, some waving their homeland's red, blue and yellow flag, filled the Plaza de Mayo outside Argentina's presidential palace in Buenos Aires. They were waiting for González to emerge from a meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei, a staunch supporter of the Venezuelan opposition.
González, a retired diplomat, fled into exile in Spain in September after a judge issued an arrest warrant following the July 28 presidential election, in which Maduro was declared the winner by the National Electoral Council, which is stacked with governing party loyalists.
In recent weeks, the opposition has been vowing that he would travel to Venezuela to be sworn in for the presidential term, which according to law must begin on Jan. 10. But he hasn't said how he plans to return or wrest power from Maduro, whose party controls all institutions and the military.
On Thursday, Maduro’s government raised the stakes even further, announcing a $100,000 reward for information on González’s whereabouts and plastering the wanted-like bulletin with the retired diplomat's photo on social media and the arrivals board at the country's main airport.
Upon arrival to the Argentine capital, where he twice served as Venezuela’s ambassador more than two decades ago, González posted on social media a short video message expressing solidarity with those imprisoned in Venezuela as part of a crackdown by Maduro.
He said that he would raise with Milei concerns about the well-being of five Maduro opponents who have been sheltering in the Argentine ambassador’s residence in Caracas for nearly 10 months — a diplomatic standoff that has embittered relations between Venezuela and Argentina.
The Biden administration and most European governments have rejected the election's official results, pointing out that authorities didn't provide detailed results as they have in past elections. Meanwhile, copies of tally sheets collected by the opposition from 85% of the nation’s electronic voting machines show that González prevailed by a more than two-to-one margin.
González, 75, was a previously unknown career diplomat when he was thrust into rallying the anti-Maduro coalition as a last-minute stand-in for opposition stalwart María Corina Machado, whom the government banned from running for office.
After speaking with Milei on Saturday, González is scheduled to cross the Rio de la Plata for a meeting with Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou.
A wanted sign of Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez is displayed on the list of departure flights at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, near Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
