ZURICH (AP) — Ahead of World Cup qualifying playoffs next week, Leeds forward Joël Piroe has been cleared by FIFA to play for Suriname.
Piroe and Melayro Bogarde, a defender with Austrian club LASK, are Netherlands youth internationals with family ties to Suriname, which plays Bolivia on March 26.
FIFA published its approval late Wednesday for both players to change national team eligibility to represent the nation that got independence from the Netherlands in 1975. Suriname shares a border with Brazil on the northern tip of South America though plays in the CONCACAF soccer region that includes the Caribbean and central America.
Suriname faces Bolivia next Thursday in Monterrey, Mexico, in an intercontinental playoffs bracket to qualify for the World Cup. The winner plays Iraq five days later with a World Cup place at stake.
None of the players called up by Henk ten Cate, the former Ajax coach, plays for a club in Suriname.
The playoffs bracket winner will be in a tough World Cup group in June with France, Norway and Senegal.
The Netherlands soccer federation also signed off on FIFA changing the eligibility of 18-year-old Benjamin Khaderi, a midfielder with PSV Eindhoven, to Morocco.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Leeds' Joel Piroe runs into position during the English Premier League soccer match between Leeds United and Chelsea, at Elland Road Stadium in Leeds, England, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland, File)
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Olivia Miles had her 12th career triple-double with 12 points and career highs of 16 rebounds and 14 assists as third-seeded TCU beat UC San Diego 86-40 in a first-round NCAA Tournament game on Friday, giving the Horned Frogs their 43rd consecutive win at home.
Miles has the assists on the first four baskets for the Frogs as they went ahead to stay, going up 11-2 in the first 2:02 of the game. They scored the final 19 points of the game to make the final score the largest margin.
“You saw within the first four minutes of the game the pep, the pop she played with. I mean she was in attack mode,” TCU coach Mark Campbell said. “When Olivia’s like that, our team feeds off it and we’re at a whole different level.”
Taylor Bigby added a career-high 27 points on 8-of-10 shooting with seven 3-pointers for TCU (30-5), which also got double-doubles from Clara Silva (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Marta Suarez (11 points, 10 rebounds).
Miles became only the third player to twice have triple-doubles in women's NCAA Tournament games, with her other coming while at Notre Dame in 2022. She came out of the game right after her 3-pointer with 4:50 left for a 74-40 lead. Her 14 assists set TCU's single-game record, matching her best set at Notre Dame.
She already had a double-double at halftime with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, to go along with four points when TCU led 48-25.
“It's a different sense of urgency that I came with and I promised myself that I’d help my team out in any way that I can,” Miles said. “I know that it starts with me, and attacking the glass early so I have the ball in my hands and I can control it was favorable for us.”
Erin Condron had 12 points to lead UC San Diego (24-9), which under coach Heidi VanDerveer has made the NCAA Tournament in both seasons since gaining full Division I postseason eligibility.
“I don’t know if the score indicated how hard that we played, but the basket got big for them, and obviously they’re an excellent team,” VanDerveer said. “They have a tremendous point guard. They have shooters that spread us out, bigs inside, very complete team.”
TCU is hosting NCAA games at home for the second season in a row, after not making the tournament since 2010 before that.
While there were some empty seats at Schollmaier Arena, it was a solid and loud crowd for a Friday game that started at 11 a.m. local time. The place will be certainly be packed Sunday.
The last women's NCAA Tournament triple-double was Caitlin Cark for Iowa against Louisville on March 26, 2023, when she had 41 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
Sabrina Ionescu with Oregon in 2018 and 2019, and Nicole Powell for Stanford in back-to-back games in 2002 are the other players with multiple triple-doubles in the NCAA Tournament. Miles’ first one came with Notre Dame in 2022, when she had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a first-round game against Massachusetts.
TCU will look to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row when it plays sixth-seeded Washington, which beat South Dakota State 72-54 in the other first-round game in Fort Worth on Friday.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
TCU guard Olivia Miles celebrates in the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against UC San Diego, Friday, March 20, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
