MILAN, Italy: Monza soccer player Pablo Mari faces around two months out of action after an operation on Friday on wounds sustained when he was stabbed along with five other people in a supermarket near Milan.
One person was killed in Thursday’s attack, a 47-year-old Bolivian national who worked at the supermarket in a shopping mall in the town of Assago, Italy’s Carabinieri police said. Another employee was injured along with four customers, including Mari.
Milan’s Niguarda hospital said on Friday its trauma team had carried out surgery to reconstruct two injured muscles in Mari’s back.
The surgery went well and the defender is expected to remain in the hospital for two or three days, it said, adding he will be able to start a rehabilitation process immediately after.
“This type of muscle injury usually requires two months of rest before one can resume physical activities,” it said.
A 46-year-old suspect was detained after the attack in a Carrefour supermarket but the motive was not clear, the Carabinieri said.
They said late on Thursday the suspect had mental health disorders and was under guard in a psychiatric ward.
According to Il Corriere della Sera newspaper, one of the first people to intervene to block the attacker was former Napoli, Inter Milan and Bologna soccer player Massimo Tarantino, who was also in the supermarket.
Monza have asked the Italian football league to postpone their Serie A match at home to Bologna scheduled for Monday as the team is “in a total state of shock,” Monza Chief Executive Adriano Galliani said.
Newly promoted Monza, owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, are currently 15th in the 20-team league.
Mari, a 29-year-old Spanish center back, is on loan at Monza from Premier League club Arsenal.
Monza soccer player Mari faces two months out after supermarket stabbing
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Monza soccer player Mari faces two months out after supermarket stabbing
- Milan's Niguarda hospital said on Friday its trauma team had carried out surgery to reconstruct two injured muscles in Mari's back
- One of the first people to intervene to block the attacker was former Napoli and Inter Milan player Massimo Tarantino
Three LIV Golf wild card spots up for grabs in Florida
- Total of 22 players advance to weekend action, with chance to join 2026 LIV Golf League season
LECANTO, FLORIDA: While South Korea’s Jeunghun Wang and others at the top of Friday’s leaderboard at LIV Golf Promotions advanced comfortably into the weekend at Black Diamond Ranch, former wild card player Anthony Kim faced an 8-foot birdie putt to decide his fate on the final hole.
Kim rolled in the putt, arguably his biggest clutch moment in the two years since returning to pro golf from a 12-year retirement, to shoot a 1-under 69 and make the cut on the number.
A total of 22 players among the field of 47 in the second round moved on to compete for the three open wild card positions for the 2026 LIV Golf League season. Scores will now reset for the final 36 holes.
Kim is one of seven players Friday to sneak in on the number and is the only remaining American of the 12 who started the week in the field. His final birdie at the par-4 18th capped off a rollercoaster finish that included a chip-in to save par at the 13th hole after his tee shot found the water, along with bounce-back birdies after each of the two bogeys he made in the final five holes.
“We can talk about rollercoasters on the round today, but my life has been a pretty big rollercoaster, so this is pretty smooth for me,” said the 40-year-old Kim, who was exempt into the second round after suffering relegation on LIV Golf last season.
Another former LIV Golf player, Australian Matt Jones, is hoping to earn a wild card spot after playing all 50 LIV Golf tournaments as a member of Ripper GC during the first four seasons. Jones started strong on Friday and was 4 under at the turn before hanging on to shoot 69 after making three bogeys in a five-hole stretch to start his back nine.
Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent also advanced by shooting 69. Vincent is the only player in the field to have previous Promotions success, earning one of the three spots in 2023 that placed him on Jon Rahm’s expansion Legion XIII team in 2024.
Wang, meanwhile, continued his early-week success in LIV Golf Promotions, shooting a 5-under 65 to lead the field on Friday. In 2024, Wang shot the best opening round in Promotions and tied for third best in the following round but could not keep up the pace on the 36-hole final-day finish. He is glad to see the format change to 18 holes over two days this weekend.
“It’s more comfortable for me to play 18, 18,” said Wang, who was exempt from Round 1 due to his International Series status. “I’m really excited to play the next two days. I’ll just give it my best.”
Canadian Richard T. Lee, whose 6-under 64 was the lowest score in Thursday’s first round, followed with a 66 on Friday as one of Wang’s three closest pursuers. His round was fueled by eagles on both of the par-5 holes, with his 5-wood second shot at the ninth hole settling to 5 feet, and his 5-iron from a waste bunker at the 16th finished within 3 feet.
Like Wang, Lee has made the weekend for the second consecutive Promotions tournament but has not converted that into a LIV Golf spot.
“I played 6 under yesterday and 4 under, and I think that’s plenty good enough for this course,” said Lee, who is seeking to become the first Canadian player on LIV Golf.
Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana — who played in LIV Golf’s inaugural 2022 season — and Sweden’s Bjorn Hellgren matched Lee’s 66, while nine players shot 67.
As for Kim, he managed to survive-and-advance on a tough day after a performance he called a “5” on a scale to 10. But like the other 21 competitors still alive at Black Diamond Ranch, he is hoping to find some magic during the last 36 holes to earn one of the coveted LIV Golf spots.
“This is what I signed up for,” Kim said. “I’m glad that I got to be in that position and have to make a birdie to get into the next two rounds. There’s a long way to go, but I feel really good about it going into this weekend.”
