Far from the World Cup spotlight, the Champions League has restarted with Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto \u2018Pico\u2019 Lopes unable to play because of his memorable tournament run with Cape Verde.<\/p>\n
In 10 games played Tuesday in the Champions League first qualifying round, the first goal of the season was scored in Gibraltar by a player even older than Cristiano Ronaldo \u2014 41-year-old Nano, the left back for Lincoln Red Imps.<\/p>\n
Lopes returned to Dublin on Monday, three days after Cape Verde thrilled the World Cup by pushing defending champion Argentina and Lionel Messi to the limit in a 3-2 loss in the round of 32 at Miami Gardens.<\/p>\n
Shamrock, where the 34-year-old Lopes has played since 2016, lost 2-0 to Floriana in the first leg in Malta.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019ll miss the game in Malta, unfortunately,” Lopes had told reporters at Dublin airport, “but I\u2019m looking forward to getting back into training and getting back to doing what I love.”<\/p>\n
Rovers host the second leg next Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Champions League action played out Tuesday in a swath of soccer nations that never qualified for a World Cup \u2014 Gibraltar, San Marino, Faroe Islands \u2014 and one which did, Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/p>\n
Bosnian champion Borac Banja Luka drew its first leg at home, 1-1 against Levski Sofia, though without its only player who went to the World Cup, 18-year-old goalkeeper Mladen Jurkas.<\/p>\n
In Gibraltar, Lincoln opened the competition\u2019s scoring with a 16th-minute penalty by Nano in a 3-1 win over Inter Club d\u2019Escaldes of Andorra.<\/p>\n
Four more games are played Wednesday, including in Estonia, Moldova and Kazakhstan, where Kairat Almaty starts again in the first qualifying round.<\/p>\n
Kairat reached the lucrative main phase in the last edition and played Real Madrid, Arsenal and Inter Milan.<\/p>\n
Belarus champion, Vitebsk, hosts its “home” game in neutral Hungary with no fans in the stadium.<\/p>\n
UEFA prohibited Belarusian teams from hosting games since Russia’s full military invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russian teams remain suspended from all European competitions, including the Champions League.<\/p>\n
Games also started Tuesday in the first qualifying round of the third-tier Conference League, in Albania and Luxembourg.<\/p>\n
The second-tier Europa League starts Thursday with teams that often play in the Champions League main phase. Qarabaq, Dynamo Kyiv and Ferencvaros are all in action.<\/p>\n
Reporting by The Associated Press.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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