Croatia lost to Portugal because of hair. Plus: An NHL legend returns

The Pulse Newsletter | This is The Athletics daily sports newsletter.

Good morning! Be careful with your hair today.

Inside: World Cupdate: Portugal survives by a few follicles A sports cliche came to life yesterday in Toronto, site of Portugal and Croatias round-of-32 match in this World Cup.

Normally, it would be lazy to describe a close victory as winning by a hair.

Yesterday, it was actually true.

And, to zoom out, Portugals win over Croatia had nearly everything you want in a soccer game: - Second-half underdog goal to make an upset possible - A legend ties the game on a PK - A late go-ahead goal for the favorite - A game-tying goal even later, waved off due to an agonizing offside call Heres the screengrab of Igor Matanovics head grazing the ball in the lead-up to that late goal, which triggered offside, along with the reading of a snick-o-meter to determine the touch did in fact happen: Brutal.

Portugal 2, Croatia 1.

Cristiano Ronaldo plays another day.

Put it in the Ronaldo hater file if you must, but its wild that a player of his caliber and longevity scored his first knockout-round goal at 41 years old (and, yes, it was a penalty).

Kylian Mbappe, almost 14 years Ronaldos junior, has 10.

Advertisement Still, Ronaldo and Portugal, late, after Ronaldo had subbed off delivered, setting up a mammoth round-of-16 game against Spain.

If the U.S.

escapes with a win against Belgium, the Americans will get the winner of that matchup.

Yowza.

- Speaking of Spain: The European titans cruised past Austria in yesterdays opener, 3-0, cementing their status as a favorite in this World Cup alongside France.

More here.

- In the nights finale: Switzerland quietly looks really, really good in this Cup.

The Group B winners muscled past Algeria, 2-0.

The Swiss entered yesterday 14th in our ranking of World Cup teams.

They get the winner of Colombia-Ghana next to further prove legitimacy among the worlds elite.

Lets move on: Monitoring : Slo-mo is bad, actually Its Friday, which means we must assume our digital perch to monitor more sporting news.

On todays docket: The VAR.

The acronym long considered a harbinger of doom overseas is now spreading its claws over new U.S.

soccer fans, who dont understand how the Folarin Balogun red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina came to be.

Adam Crafton made a great point this week I cant shake: Why are we judging these plays in slow motion? The pubs.

My vote for best match in the round of 16 is England-Mexico, in Mexico City at the Azteca, for what will be a spectacle no matter what happens.

Any game featuring the Mexican national team in that stadium is electric.

Add in the fervor for English soccer the pubs in Britain can stay open until 5 a.m.

for this one and the discourse is at a fever pitch, days before kickoff.

England manager Thomas Tuchel also thinks karma is on his side here.

I cant wait.

A chalky Wimbledon? I loved this simple stat from our Wimbledon report yesterday: At this time last year, we had just 27 seeded players left in the tournament combined.

This year, we have 37.

Dont think its a bad thing either, as our report explained.

The Gauffs.

Yes, plural.

While tennis star Coco Gauff continues to shine at Wimbledon (she plays her third-round match today), I have now learned of the existence of another Gauff.

Codey Gauff, an 18-year-old switch hitter who is a legitimate MLB prospect.

What a family.

Tour de France history? Tadej Pogacar, a generational talent in a sport thats seen incredible dominance, has the chance to tie the Tour de France record with another win.

Well have a full preview tomorrow as the race begins.

The cyclists wont get lost with us.

Advertisement Fine, the wedding.

The Athletics most fervent Swifties will be live-blogging this weekends reported wedding between Taylor Swift and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden.

I was descriptive there because I just needed to tether this firmly to sports.

Anyway, hang out here if youd like more wedding content.

Onward: News to Know Ovi back Alexander Ovechkin will not retire this offseason, he confirmed yesterday, as he agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Capitals.

The soon-to-be 41-year-old pondered walking away after 21 years in the NHL, but I think everyone will be glad to witness a proper sendoff for one of the best players in the sports history.

His return isnt just sentimental, though.

Cavalli, Contreras suspended MLB issued seven-game suspensions to both Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli and Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras yesterday, two days after a fracas between the two led to benches clearing at Fenway Park.

After striking Contreras out, Cavalli yelled, Sit down, boy in the hitters direction, which was received poorly.

Catch up on the drama here.

More news: - Caitlin Clark was among three Fever players to earn WNBA All-Star nods.

See the full roster.

- The Spurs hired former Bulls and Thunder head coach Billy Donovan as their lead assistant.

Fascinating.

- Two days after acquiring Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors signed coach Darko Rajakovic to an extension.

Its deserved.

- The USMNTs win over Bosnia and Herzegovina drew huge viewership numbers.

See them here.

- Unlike in FIFA contests, players in UEFA games will not be sent off for covering their mouths.