Defender Scally seeks a 'showcase' game against Bayern Munich to bolster US credentials

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Defender Scally seeks a 'showcase' game against Bayern Munich to bolster US credentials

2025-01-09 22:29 Last Updated At：22:31

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — As the 2026 World Cup draws closer, Joe Scally knows U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino is keeping a close eye on him.

The right back wants to deliver a “showcase" of his abilities in what may be his toughest game of the season against Bayern Munich on Saturday.

“Every game, someone from the national team is watching,” Scally said on a recent call with reporters. “For the time being, I'm thinking about club. I’m not really thinking, going into a game, ‘Is the coach watching?’ or something like that, because I’m sure he’ll hear. But playing Bayern is always special.”

Scally is hoping he and Borussia Moenchengladbach can catch Bayern unawares in the first game for both teams this year after the Bundesliga winter break.

“They’re the best team, some could say in the world. In the league right now they’re at the top of the table,” he said. “You have so much motivation for these games and it’s almost like you have nothing to lose. So (you've) just got to go out there and try to showcase yourself.”

Bayern has a four-point lead over last season's champion Bayer Leverkusen but will have to be wary against Gladbach, which has a history of springing surprises on Bayern.

Gladbach has beaten Bayern nine times in the last decade, including in 2021 when Scally played in a 5-0 German Cup demolition of Bayern which ranked among the Munich team's worst ever losses. Bayern goes into the game with a question mark over attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala who is ill, and uncertainty over its goalkeeping options.

Scally's just 22 but the defender from Long Island has already racked up 115 games for Gladbach in all competitions since joining from New York City FC in 2021.

He's also played 19 games for the United States, including every minute of all four games since Pochettino took over in October. How long that streak continues will likely depend on the fitness and form of fellow right back Sergino Dest, who hasn't played since April because of a knee injury.

Scally said he takes “a lot of pride” in being consistent and gathering more top-division experience than many other players his age, and becoming more versatile by playing on the left flank or on the right of a central defensive three.

After then-coach Gregg Berhalter took him to the World Cup in 2022 but didn't play him, Scally said he didn't understand the decision and it affected him “immensely.”

A year and a half out from the World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, Scally had warm words for Pochettino.

“We’re still all understanding how we’re going to communicate, things like that, but everything is going in the right direction,” he said.

“You see the way we’ve been playing, everyone has so much confidence. The coach has talked to all of us individually and told us what he likes in each position and everything like that. Everything’s on the right path.”

Bayern could get a boost if Leverkusen drops points at Borussia Dortmund on Friday, while a win for Leverkusen would put Xabi Alonso's team a point off Bayern at the top. It would also put Dortmund at risk of dropping from sixth place to as low as 10th after this weekend.

Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka is doubtful after twisting his ankle but “there is still hope,” Alonso said on Thursday.

On Sunday, Leipzig sorely needs a win at home to Werder Bremen after ending 2024 with a 5-1 loss to Bayern in the Bundesliga and losses in all six of its Champions League games.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Firefighters battle devastating Los Angeles wildfires as winds calm somewhat

2025-01-09 22:27 Last Updated At：22:31

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters battled early Thursday to control major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.

Ferocious winds that drove the flames and led to chaotic evacuations have calmed somewhat and were not expected to be as powerful during the day. That could provide an opportunity for firefighters to make progress reining in blazes that have hopscotched across the sprawling region, including massive ones in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

The latest flames broke out Wednesday evening in the Hollywood Hills, striking closer to the heart of the city and the roots of its entertainment industry and putting densely populated neighborhoods on edge during exceptionally windy and dry conditions. But only about a mile away, the streets around the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the TCL Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds were bustling, and onlookers used their phones to record video of the blazing hills.

Within a few hours, firefighters had made major progress on the Sunset Fire in the hills. Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said they were able to keep the fire in check because “we hit it hard and fast and mother nature was a little nicer to us today than she was yesterday.”

A day earlier, hurricane-force winds blew embers through the air, igniting block after block in the coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades as well as in Altadena, a community near Pasadena that is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east. Aircraft had to be grounded for a time because of the winds, hampering firefighting efforts.

Nearly 2,000 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed in those blazes — called the Palisades and Eaton fires — and the number is expected to increase. The five deaths recorded so far were from the Eaton Fire.

Some 130,000 people have been put under evacuation orders, as fires have consumed a total of about 42 square miles (108 square kilometers) — nearly the size of the entire city of San Francisco. The Palisades Fire is already the most destructive in Los Angeles history.

As flames moved through his neighborhood, Jose Velasquez sprayed down his family’s Altadena home with water as embers rained down on the roof. He managed to save their home, which also houses their family business selling churros, a Mexican pastry. Others weren’t so lucky. Many of his neighbors were at work when they lost their homes.

“So we had to call a few people and then we had people messaging, asking if their house was still standing,” he said. “We had to tell them that it’s not.”

In Pasadena, Fire Chief Chad Augustin said the city's water system was stretched and was further hampered by power outages, but even without those issues, firefighters would not have been able to stop the fire due to the intense winds fanning the flames.

“Those erratic wind gusts were throwing embers for multiple miles ahead of the fire,” he said.

The dramatic level of destruction was apparent in a comparison of satellite images before and after the fire.

A swath of about 250 homes in an Altadena neighborhood that had been dotted with the green canopies of leafy trees and aquamarine swimming pools was reduced to rubble. Only a few homes were left standing and some were still in flames in images from Maxar Technologies. Along a stretch of about 70 wall-to-wall homes overhanging the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, fewer than 10 appeared to be intact.

In Pacific Palisades, a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity homes, block after block of California Mission Style homes and bungalows were reduced to charred remains. Ornate iron railing wrapped around the smoldering frame of one house Swimming pools were blackened with soot, and sports cars slumped on melted tires.

Flames flared through the night, illuminating the ragged ridge of the Santa Monica Mountains above Pacific Palisades. Homes continued to burn, but unlike the previous night, when a fierce wind blew embers sideways, breezes were light and sparks were mostly drifting upward.

The main fires grew rapidly in distinctly different areas that had two things in common: densely packed streets of homes in places that are choked with vegetation and primed to burn in dry conditions.

Flames moved so quickly that many barely had time to escape. Police sought shelter inside their patrol cars, and residents at a senior living center were pushed in wheelchairs and hospital beds down a street to safety.

In the race to get away in Pacific Palisades, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and set out on foot.

More than 300 patients and residents of nursing homes and other care facilities were evacuated after the blazes this week, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.

The flames marched toward highly populated and affluent neighborhoods, including Calabasas and Santa Monica, home to California’s rich and famous.

Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton were among the stars who lost homes. Billy Crystal and his wife, Janice, lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.

“We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away," the Crystals wrote in the statement.

In Palisades Village, the public library, two major grocery stores, a pair of banks and several boutiques were destroyed.

“It’s just really weird coming back to somewhere that doesn’t really exist anymore,” said Dylan Vincent, who returned to the neighborhood to retrieve some items and saw that his elementary school had burned down and that whole blocks had been flattened.

California’s wildfire season is beginning earlier and ending later due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall tied to climate change, according to recent data. Rains that usually end fire season are often delayed, meaning fires can burn through the winter months, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association.

Dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, which has not seen more than 0.1 inches (2.5 millimeters) of rain since early May.

The winds increased to 80 mph (129 kph) Wednesday, according to reports received by the National Weather Service. Fire conditions could last through Friday — but wind speeds were expected to be lower on Thursday.

President Joe Biden signed a federal emergency declaration after arriving at a Santa Monica fire station for a briefing with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who dispatched National Guard troops to help.

Several Hollywood studios suspended production, and Universal Studios closed its theme park between Pasadena and Pacific Palisades.

As of early Thursday, around 250,000 people were without power in southern California, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us.

Several Southern California landmarks were heavily damaged, including the Reel Inn in Malibu, a seafood restaurant. Owner Teddy Leonard and her husband hope to rebuild.

“When you look at the grand scheme of things, as long as your family is well and everyone’s alive, you’re still winning, right?” she said.

Golden reported from Seattle and Watson from San Diego. Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber and Eugene Garcia in Los Angeles; Ethan Swope in Pasadena, California; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Janie Har in San Francisco; Brian Melley in London; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; and Tammy Webber in Detroit contributed to this report.