Soccer

A World Cup trophy wasn't enough bling for Ashlyn Harris ... the USWNT stud decided to get iced out to celebrate the championship too -- coppin' $40,000 worth of diamonds!!!

TMZ Sports has learned the goalkeeper hit up Greg Yuna at their NYC Diamond District store after winning the World Cup earlier this month to get some drip.

We're told Ashlyn came away with two pieces -- a gold diamond Cuban necklace and a matching bracelet -- and they're AWESOME!!!

The necklace has 200 grams of gold with 25ct diamonds. In the bracelet, we're told there's 100 grams of gold and 15ct diamonds.

All total, the bill was $40k ... but, don't worry, Ashlyn can afford it -- reports say she earned more than $100K for the World Cup run ... and got $23,000 more kicked in thanks to Secret's donation!!!

This little piggy ... is putting Lionel Messi in the middle of a huge controversy involving Dolce & Gabbana and the country of China!!!!

The soccer superstar was rocking a $500 Dolce & Gabbana t-shirt Friday as he touched down in Barcelona for some vacation time with his family ... but he might not know that his shirt has some Chinese people very upset.

Long story short ... Dolce got in major hot water in China in Nov. 2018 for an ad campaign featuring a Chinese model bungling an attempt to eat Italian food with chopsticks.

The campaign was almost immediately deemed offensive by the masses in China and Dolce pulled it from Chinese social media in 24 hours. People were pissed and Dolce & Gabbana issued a video apology.

There's more ... Stefano Gabbana appeared to trash China in social media posts -- using the poop emoji to describe the country. He later claimed his account was hacked. But, most people weren't buying the excuse.

Fast forward to Feb. 2019 ... when Dolce & Gabbana releases new shirts celebrating the "Year of the Pig" in Chinese culture.

After the previous controversy, there was renewed outrage from Chinese consumers over the pig shirts ... with some people feeling the designs were offensive. One site explained Chinese consumers felt the designs depicted Chinese people as "pigs with money." Multiple fashion outlets (see here and here) covered the situation.

Prosecutors have announced they will NOT file criminal charges against soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for an alleged sexual assault from 2009.

As we previously reported, Kathryn Mayorga claims Ronaldo raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room back in 2009.

She claims she met CR7 at Rain Nightclub in the Palms hotel in June 2009 and he invited her up to his penthouse suite to party and hot tub. There are photos of Mayorga and Ronaldo hanging out at the nightclub together that evening.

She had initially filed a police report describing the alleged crime -- but didn't identify Ronaldo by name.

Mayorga sued Ronaldo claiming she later accepted a $375,000 payment in exchange for her silence -- but recently announced she wants that agreement voided and went to cops to pursue a criminal case against Ronaldo.

In court documents, Mayorga described the alleged attack ... saying while changing her clothes in the penthouse suite, "Ronaldo entered the bathroom, exposed his erect penis and asked [her] to perform fellatio."

Mayorga claimed she refused and wanted to leave -- but Ronaldo "pulled [her] into a bedroom and onto a bed and attempted to engage in sexual intercourse."

Mayorga claims she tried to fight Ronaldo off -- but he turned her onto her side and sodomized her while she screamed "no, no, no."

Ronaldo had adamantly denied the allegations -- and said, "Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in."

Now, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office has made a decision to NOT prosecute -- claiming "the allegations of sexual assault against Cristiano Ronaldo cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

Prosecutors described the situation in detail ...

"On June 13, 2009, a female victim ('V') placed a call to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and reported that she had been the victim of sexual assault.  Members of law enforcement responded to her location to take a crime report.  Police transported V to the hospital so that a sexual assault examination could be conducted."

"A short time later, sexual assault detectives arrived at the hospital and made contact with V.  Although she knew who the person was who assaulted her, V refused to identify him or disclose where the crime occurred.  As a result, the police were unable to follow investigative protocols for sexual assault cases or to conduct any meaningful investigation.  Without knowing the identity of the perpetrator or the location of the crime, detectives were unable to search for and impound vital forensic evidence.  In addition, video evidence, showing interactions between the victim and perpetrator before and after the alleged crime, was lost.  The criminal investigation was closed."

"V and Cristiano Ronaldo, through their respective attorneys, eventually reached a civil settlement related to this matter in 2010.  For the next eight years, law enforcement heard nothing more from V regarding the crime or the perpetrator."

"On August 28, 2018, V contacted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, asking that her sexual assault investigation be reopened, naming Cristiano Ronaldo as the offender.  In spite of the passage of over nine years, Metro investigated her allegations."

WHAT A CATCH!!!

Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki -- one of the best in the world -- put his hands on display at a famous Seattle fish market ... and the footage is trout of this world! 

Burki -- along with BVB teammate Marwin Hitz and former keeper Roman Weidenfeller -- volunteered to do some fish-catchin' Tuesday at the Pike Place Fish Market. 

Fish catchin' at Pike Place is one of the big draws to the market ... and it's HARD -- imagine trying to grip on a full-grown, scaly, slippery fish! 

But, when the salmon came flyin', Burki stepped up ... and caught the fish with ONE HAND! 

The crowd loved it, the staff loved it ... and the fish didn't know any better because it's dead. 

Who's hungry?!

It's that time of year again ... Cristiano Ronaldo is launching his new CR7 underwear line -- and shocker, he's thrusting his own man junk front and center of the new campaign!

The soccer superstar stripped down to his skivvies to showcase his new High Summer collection of his CR7 undies ... and yeah ... they make more than his eyes pop.

Ronaldo says the design was inspired by summer sunsets, saying, “Summer is my favourite (he spells it weird because he's European) season and I love the time of day when the sun goes down and the sky is vivid."

"I wanted to capture that feeling in my HS19 campaign, using intense colour (again with the weird Euro spelling) that’s bold, rich and compliments my new collection. I wanted the campaign to have a really relaxed feel. Summer is the time of year when I have some time to chill out, so I wanted to reflect that.”

Ronaldo takes his looks about as seriously as his game ... and the dude is on a quest to make the most stylish underwear out there.

"Essentially, I want to create underwear that looks so good that I want to wear it on the beach, rather than covering it up with my swimwear!”

In case you're wondering ... Ronaldo's underwear usually costs about $38 for a 3-pack.

Team USA soccer star Rose Lavelle says she's stoked about that $23k bonus check from Secret deodorant, but explains there's A LOT more work to be done! 

As we previously reported, Secret cut a $529k check to the USWNT Player's Association to help close the pay gap between the men's team. Each player will essentially walk away with $23k. 

So, when we saw Rose -- the 24-year-old phenom who scored that amazing 2nd goal in the World Cup final -- we asked how she felt about companies like Secret trying to help out. 

"I think it's great," Lavelle told us while walking around Washington D.C.

"I think it's a step in the right direction, but I think there's always work to be done."

We also asked Rose if there was ANY chance the team would be willing to end the feud with President Donald Trump ... but Lavelle seemed genuinely stumped.  

"I don't know," Lavelle said while chuckling at the question .... "I have no clue!"

While Rose acknowledged it would "be cool" for the team and POTUS to find a away to get along, she didn't seem too optimistic about it.

Here's the best "thanks for winning the World Cup" gift EVER ... Jennifer Lopez brought USWNT star Carli Lloyd onstage -- and proceeded to give her a SEXY lap dance!!!

It all went down Friday night at J Lo's It's My Party Tour stop in New York City ... when the "Medicine" singer called for security to get Lloyd to the stage.

When Carli got up under the lights ... things took a very sensual turn -- 'cause Jennifer, pushing hair out of Lloyd's face, said, "I've got a little present for you."

"Are you ready for this? I don't know if you're ready for this."

Unclear if Lloyd was ever ready ... but J Lo sure brought it anyway -- dancing ALL UP ON Carli to Jeremih's "Birthday Sex"!!!

There was twerking, touching, hair flips and vigorous dancing ... and, yeah, good times were had by all.

Lloyd seemed to enjoy the moment, and tweeted about it all afterward, "A first for everything" with a crying emoji.

Of course, the dance is just the latest epic moment for Lloyd this month ... she won the World Cup, partied at a parade in NYC last Wednesday and even hit up the ESPYs with her squad hours later.

Oh, and Procter & Gamble just announced it'd be pitching in to help Lloyd and the USWNT get a big pay raise!

Megan Rapinoe and the rest of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team are getting a bump from an unlikely source ... Procter & Gamble is vowing to fork over more than half a mil as a step toward equal pay.

The giant consumer goods corporation -- which supports U.S. Soccer through its Secret deodorant brand -- took an ad in The New York Times Sunday, calling on the U.S. Soccer Federation and others to pay the female players as much as the men.

Then, they upped the ante by promising to donate a cool $529,000 to the team to help close the wage gap after the USWNT won the World Cup this year. That's about $23k for each of the 23 players on the team ... not a bad bonus all things considered.

P&G's ad reportedly read, in part, "Let's take this moment of celebration to propel women's sports forward. We urge the US Soccer Federation to be a beacon of strength and end gender pay inequality once and for all."

This, of course, follows the women beating the Netherlands 2-0 in the championship game last week ... but with seemingly little to zero movement to get the ladies paid as equally as the men, who don't win nearly as often as the women do. Tons of folks -- including Rapinoe herself -- have been calling on U.S. Soccer and FIFA to balance things out, but their pleas appear to be falling on deaf ears thus far. 

And, just to give you a sense of the difference in pay -- reports say the women's team have contracts that guarantee them salaries of about $100k, with bonuses thrown in for wins. The men, meanwhile, reportedly have a pay-to-play structure, with much larger payouts for wins, and even guaranteed money for losses. 

According to The Washington Post -- which claims to have seen and analyzed these contracts -- a professional female soccer player would make just 89% of what her male counterpart would make if they both played and won 20 exhibition games. If they lost all of them, the pay would be equal at $100k. When it comes to FIFA ... their prize money to the winning teams for their tournaments has a discrepancy between men and women of about 10.5%. 

Soccer star Daniel Sturridge is returning to normalcy after he was reunited with his beloved dog, Lucci, following a burglary at his L.A. home ... taking his pet out for a fancy lunch date. 

But, there's a big problem behind the scenes ... because the man who claims he FOUND the dog after the incident is saying Sturridge never made good on paying reward money. 

As we previously reported, the former Liverpool striker said money was no object -- he'd pay ANY amount if someone could help him find his Pomeranian following the burglary at the L.A. home where he's been staying. 

A rapper named Killa Fame posted photos of the dog on social media after claiming his nephew spotted the dog while going to the store around 9 PM on Tuesday. 

Sturridge was eventually put in touch with Killa Fame -- and he drove up and got the dog back. 

The problem now ... Killa Fame claims he was expecting Sturridge to cut a $30k check for the safe return of the dog, but it never happened. 

"Honestly I’m just disappointed @DanielSturridge offer of [$30,000] is a life changing amount of money," Killa Fame tweeted ... "especially when your without a home to live in with your family."

Fame is also pissed some people are accusing him of stealing the dog -- and he made a video to clap back. 

U.S. soccer star Allie Long's L.A. hotel room was broken into ... and her wedding ring, cash and her honorary key to NYC were stolen ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us Long -- who was in L.A. for the ESPYs -- had her Ritz-Carlton hotel room burglarized Thursday afternoon.

We're told Allie's wedding ring -- worth about $15k -- along with the key to NYC awarded to her Wednesday for winning the World Cup were taken in the theft.

Sources tell us there were no signs of forced entry ... and police believe the door may have been left ajar.

Long -- a 31-year-old midfielder -- has played with the National Team since 2014.

LAPD is currently at the hotel investigating.

Here's a picture that could raise President Trump's blood pressure -- two of his biggest critics partying TOGETHER in Los Angeles!

Fresh off her World Cup celebration tour, Megan Rapinoe hit up the UNINTERRUPTED party at The Hollywood Athletic Club ... where she grabbed a bottle of champagne and kicked it with LeBron James!!

Of course, both Megan and LeBron have been targeted on Twitter by President Trump -- back in August, Trump went after James and called him dumb. Earlier this month, he told Rapinoe to stop publicly criticizing him and focus on winning. 

Well, she won ... and dug in her heels about not going to The White House. Instead, she talked about wanting to meet up with like-minded people who can help unite the country. 

Megan Rapinoe and Team USA celebrated their World Cup victory with some MASSIVE bottles of champagne ... downin' bubbly and partying it up at the parade in NYC!!

Of course, it's the 4th World Cup victory for Team USA -- but this seems to be the biggest celebration yet ... the ratings for the women's World Cup in the U.S. were the biggest ever!

The champs pulled out all the stops for their big party -- with Rapinoe and her teammates passing around the huge gold bottle of Ace of Spades in the early hours of Wednesday's event.

The team took the stage following the parade and received keys to the city ... and Rapinoe -- who has publicly shared her issues with President Donald Trump -- shared a message of love for the crowd in attendance.

Team USA defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in the World Cup final. Rapinoe won the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals in the tourney ... and the girls have been celebrating the huge accomplishment ever since -- including a pool party with a bunch of dancing and rapping on Tuesday!!

Music of choice?? Some old Migos and Lizzo!!

The win had President Barack Obama pumped up for Team USA -- showing off his awesome custom jersey and saying, "Proud to rep America’s best team! Congrats @USWNT and thanks for being such a strong inspiration for women and girls—and everybody—all across the country."

Great news for UK soccer star Daniel Sturridge -- who was REUNITED with his beloved Pomeranian after the dog was jacked from his L.A. home Monday in an apparent burglary. 

The 29-year-old, who's been staying in a home in West Hollywood, had gone to social media to beg for his dog's safe return -- saying he'd pay ANY ransom money to get his pet back ... "It don't matter the cost."

But, Wednesday morning, Sturridge got a call from someone who claimed they had found little Lucci ... and wanted to return him. 

The LAPD tells TMZ Sports ... Sturridge is now in possession of the dog and he told cops he doesn't believe the person who returned the pet is the one who stole him in the first place. 

Unclear if Sturridge paid the ransom money or how the person who returned the dog got possession of Lucci in the first place. 

Cops say no arrests have been made in the case. Unclear if cops have identified any suspects. 

Sturridge had posted footage after the burglary showing a smashed door in his home -- the apparent entry point where the bad guys broke in. 

The soccer star also claims the burglars took other personal items from the house. Unclear if those other items have also been located. 

Sturridge recently played for Liverpool and has reportedly made more than $40 million in his pro soccer career. 

Megan Rapinoe finally responded to President Trump on Wednesay -- telling POTUS she feels Trump is dragging America back to a time of bigotry and hate. 

The Team USA soccer superstar appeared on CNN with Anderson Cooper and delivered a message directed at Trump:

"I would say that your message is excluding people," Rapinoe said ... "You're excluding me, you're excluding people that look like me, you're excluding people of color, you're excluding Americans that maybe support you."

Both Rapinoe and Anderson Cooper are openly gay -- and pointed out how terribly gay people in America were treated in the past. 

Rapinoe touched on that in her message to Trump ... 

"I think that we need to have a reckoning with the message that you have and what you're saying about 'Making America Great Again.' I think that you're harking back to an era that was not great for everyone -- it might have been great for a few people, and maybe America is great for a few people right now, but it's not great for enough Americans in this world."

She continued ... "You have an incredible responsibility as the chief of this country to take care of every single person, and you need to do better for everyone."

Of course, Trump had criticized Rapinoe on Twitter after she said she wouldn't be going to the "f*cking White House" if Team USA won the World Cup. 

Cooper asked if she still felt that way -- and if other teammates stood behind her. 

"I would not go, and every teammate that I've talked to explicitly about it would not go," Rapinoe said.

"I don't think anyone on the team has any interest in lending the platform that we've worked so hard to build, and the things that we fight for, and the way that we live our life -- I don't think that we want that to be co-opted or corrupted by this administration."

However, Rapinoe says the team is interested in meeting with U.S. leaders in D.C. and WOULD accept invitations from other politicians. 

Ex-Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is begging the scumbags who STOLE HIS DOG during a burglary in L.A. to return his beloved pet ... saying he'll pay ANYTHING to get him back. 

The 29-year-old English soccer star says his adorable Pomeranian named Lucci was taken from his West Hollywood home on Monday night, along with other personal items. 

He posted video of the smashed door where the thieves likely broke in. 

"I want to know who took my sh*t. I want to know what's went on. I want to know why they've took my dog. I want to know why they've took bags from upstairs. I want to know what the f*ck's going on. I'm dead serious."

Sturridge says money is no object -- he's reportedly made more than $40 MILLION in his career -- and he's willing to crack open his wallet to get his 4-legged friend back. 

"Whoever knows who broke into my crib, I'll pay you anything. I'm dead serious," Sturridge says.

We reached out to the LAPD and they told us they're actively investigating the break-in -- but have no leads at this time. 

Hopefully someone in the area has surveillance video. Story developing ... 

Soccer icon Michelle Akers says it's absurd to compare the U.S. Women's National Team to the men for 3 reasons: the women make less, have less marketing money ... and still win wayyy more!

The two-time World Cup champ joined us on "TMZ Live" and says the U.S. Women should be paid at least as much as the men, if not MORE, because they've been dominating the sport on a global scale for decades, while the men's team is in a different universe ... just struggling to get into the World Cup tournament most years.  

As you know ... the U.S. Women beat the Netherlands 2-0 Sunday to bring home their fourth World Cup title, sparking a huge debate about equal pay. The women will reportedly bank $260k per player for their big win, while the men would have raked in $1.1 million each if they'd won the whole thing.

Check out the clip ... Michelle not only rails against the huge pay gap, but adds the U.S. Soccer Federation should pour more cash into promoting the women. It's just a smarter investment than the men's team. 

No offense guys, but it's hard to argue with her today.