National Sports

LONDON (AP) — With a place in the round of 16 secured before taking to the field again, England has a chance to rediscover its attacking flair against the Czech Republic on Tuesday at the European Championship.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Three straight wins, seven goals and its top players with game time in their legs. For Belgium, the group stage at the European Championship could hardly have gone better.

COPENHAGEN — After scoring a goal to help Denmark advance at the European Championship, Joakim Maehle walked straight to a TV camera and formed a “10” with his fingers. That was for Christian Eriksen.

LAS VEGAS — Wayne Gretzky's trade to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988 gave hockey a massive boost of mainstream appeal in the United States. Now Gretzky is looking to grow Canada's other national sport south of the border.

With a tantalizingly deep pool of talent, Canada's men's basketball roster has been the subject of speculation for well over a year. Fans and the media wondered who's in and who's out. They jotted down their personal picks in eager anticipation.

RIMINI, Italy — The Canadian men's volleyball team swept the Netherlands 3-0 in Nations League action on Thursday. Set scores were 25-16, 25-16 and 25-19. Canada improved to 5-8 with the win and is 12th in the 16-team standings.

Eriq Zavaleta hit the trifecta in donning El Salvador colours for the first time during the recent international break.

WINNIPEG — Darrell Patterson is back with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Bombers hired Patterson as their defensive line coach.

REGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed wide receiver Terrell Jana, their second-round selection at the 2021 CFL draft. The Vancouver native was selected 17th overall by Saskatchewan after four years with the University of Virginia.

Canadian decathlete Pierce LePage estimates there were perhaps 100 or 150 fans at the recent Hypo-Meeting multi-events competition in Gotzis, Austria, where he finished runner-up to teammate Damian Warner.