Friday's Sports In Brief

WORLD CUP

LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Lionel Messi’s quest to win the World Cup moves into the semifinals after Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-3 in a penalty shootout.

Messi converted his penalty in the shootout and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez saved two attempts. Lautaro Martinez scored the clinching penalty.

When Lautaro Martinez’s penalty hit the net, Messi didn’t head to the striker — unlike the rest of the team — but sprinted to his goalkeeper and jumped into his arms.

The match finished 2-2 after extra time, with Messi scoring one goal and setting up another. The Netherlands equalized in the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time.

Argentina will play Croatia in the semifinals on Tuesday after the 2018 runner-up beat Brazil earlier Friday.

It is only the second time Argentina has reached the last four since 1990. In 2014, Messi was part of the team that lost to Germany in the final.

AL RAYYAN, Qatar (AP) — Croatia knocked Brazil out of the World Cup, beating the five-time champions 4-2 in a penalty shootout to reach the semifinals for the second straight time.

Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved a penalty attempt by Rodrygo and Marquinhos later hit the post.

The match had finished 1-1 after extra time, with both goals coming in the additional 30 minutes. Neymar scored late in the first half of extra time to give Brazil the lead, but Croatia equalized when Bruno Petkovic scored in the 117th.

Neymar’s goal moved him into a tie with Pelé as Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 77 goals.

Five of Croatia’s last six matches at World Cups have gone to extra time, including in its penalty shootout win over Japan in the round of 16 in Qatar. The team has been successful in eight of its last 10 knockout matches at the tournament.

Brazil was trying to return to the semifinals for the first time since 2014. The team hadn’t made it to the last four since hosting the tournament eight years ago, when the Selecao was embarrassed by Germany 7-1.

LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Grant Wahl, one of the most well-known soccer writers in the United States, died early Saturday while covering the World Cup match between Argentina and the Netherlands. He was 48.

U.S. media seated near him said Wahl fell back in his seat in a section of Lusail Iconic Stadium reserved for journalists during extra time of the game, and reporters adjacent to him called for assistance. Emergency services workers responded very quickly, the reporters said, and the reporters later were told that Wahl had died.

“He received immediate emergency medical treatment on site, which continued as he was transferred by ambulance to Hamad General Hospital,” the World Cup organizing committee said in a statement, which did not list a cause of death. “We are in touch with the US Embassy and relevant local authorities to ensure the process of repatriating the body is in accordance with the family’s wishes.”

Wahl, who tweeted on Wednesday that he had celebrated his birthday that day, was covering his eighth World Cup. He wrote Monday on his website that he had visited a medical clinic while in Qatar. Wahl wrote that he tested negative for COVID-19 and sought treatment for his symptoms.

BRITTNEY GRINER

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Brittney Griner returned to the United States and was reunited with her wife nearly 10 months after her detention in Russia made the basketball star the most high-profile American jailed abroad and set off a political firestorm.

Griner’s status as an openly gay Black woman, her prominence in women’s basketball and her imprisonment in a country where authorities have been hostile to the LGBTQ community heightened concerns for her and brought tremendous attention to the case. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after her arrest complicated matters further.

The deal that brought home Griner, 32, in exchange for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout achieved a top goal for President Joe Biden. But the U.S. failed to win freedom for another American, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed for nearly four years.

Asked if more such swaps could happen, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that “everything is possible,” noting that “compromises have been found” to clear the way for Thursday’s exchange.

Biden’s authorization to release Bout, the Russian felon once nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” underscored the heightened urgency that his administration faced to get Griner home, particularly after the recent resolution of her criminal case on drug charges and her subsequent transfer to a penal colony.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and Phoenix Mercury pro basketball star, was seen getting off a plane that landed Friday at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.

NBA

DALLAS (AP) — Brook Lopez hit a wide-open layup off an inbounds play with 7 seconds to go, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-105.

The Bucks held on despite Giannis Antetokounmpo fouling out with 2:55 remaining. The Greek Freak finished with 28 points to end an eight-game run with at least 30 points.

Luka Doncic had 33 points and 11 assists and put Dallas ahead on a layup with 29 seconds to go.

But the Mavericks couldn’t make their free throws late — they were a woeful 10 for 24 for the game — leaving the door open for the Bucks to win a fourth consecutive game while ending Dallas’ three-game winning streak.

Antetokounmpo’s sixth foul came when he tried to close out on a 3-pointer by Tim Hardaway Jr., who missed all three free throws to keep Milwaukee in front by one.

Dorian Finney-Smith missed two more free throws after Doncic had put Dallas in front 105-104. The Bucks inbounded from near their bench, and Lopez slipped behind a screen for the easy bucket on the throw-in from George Hill.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid had 38 points and 12 rebounds, De’Anthony Melton scored a career-high 33 points off the bench and the Philadelphia 76ers recovered after blowing a nine-point lead in the final 30 seconds of regulation to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 133-122 in overtime.

Anthony Davis had 31 points and 12 rebounds, while LeBron James scored 23 points for the Lakers. Russell Westbrook had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, joining Magic Johnson as the only Lakers with a triple-double off the bench.

The Lakers were down 12 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining in regulation but rallied on clutch buckets and costly fouls by the Sixers. James converted a three-point play with a minute left that pulled the Lakers to 115-110.

Austin Reaves buried a 3 with 12 seconds left that pulled the Lakers to 119-117 and got a tremendous rise out of the Lakers fans well represented in the crowd. Down 120-117, Reaves was fouled by Matisse Thybulle on a 3-point attempt. He made the first two free throws and missed the third. Davis then was fouled by Tobais Harris with 3.7 seconds left. Davis missed one of two that made it 120-all and sent the game into OT.

NHL

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Lawson Crouse scored his second goal with 13.5 seconds left in the third period and the Arizona Coyotes returned home to end a 19-game losing streak to the Boston Bruins with a 4-3 victory.

The Coyotes returned from a 14-game road trip to play at Mullett Arena for the first time since Nov. 3. They got off to a great start when Josh Brown scored 23 seconds into the game and led 3-2 on Nick Schmatz’s third-period goal.

The NHL-leading Bruins tied it on Nick Foligno’s power-play goal with 5 1/2 minutes left, but Coyotes closed it out in the closing seconds after an icing was called off.

Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman let the puck trickle across the line and Arizona rookie Matias Maccelli snatched it between two defenders, feeding Crouse for a one-timer.

Karel Vejmelka stopped 43 shots to help the Coyotes end a six-game losing streak.