FREIBURG, Germany (AP) — Europa League finalist Freiburg is adding to its Japanese contingent by signing Japan forward Keisuke Gotō from Belgian club Anderlecht.
The Bundesliga club said on Thursday that the 21-year-old Gotō — who is in Japan’s World Cup squad — joined in a straight transfer. It did not give the length of his contract.
Gotō is the second Japanese player to join Freiburg since it lost the Europa League final to Aston Villa. Rihito Yamamoto came from Belgian side Sint-Truiden. Gotō is the third signing of the summer after Yamamoto and goalkeeper Mio Backhaus from Werder Bremen.
“In Keisuke, we’ve won an exciting player with interesting potential. His daring style of play will be a real asset to us,” sporting director Jochen Saier said. “He likes to make runs in behind, has a good sense of space, and also knows how to position himself in the penalty area. He’ll certainly need some time for integration and further development, and he’ll get it. We’re delighted.”
Gotō joined Anderlecht from Japanese club Júbilo Iwata in January 2024 and spent last season on loan at Sint-Truiden. He scored 10 times while setting up five more in 28 Belgian Pro League appearances.
“Freiburg was already very interested in me a couple of months ago,” Gotō said. “I had the feeling from the start that management really wanted me and that was one of the main reasons I decided for Freiburg. I also saw some games in the Europa League. It’s a big club for me and I’m looking forward to the coming season.”
Gotō has international duty to think of first. Japan faces the Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia in World Cup Group F.
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FILE -Bolivia's Diego Medina, left, and Japan's Keisuke Goto, right, fight for the ball during an international friendly soccer match between Japan and Bolivia in Tokyo, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a murder conviction for a man accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter and moving her corpse around for months before disposing of it.
Though her body has never been found, police believe Harmony Montgomery was killed in 2019, nearly two years before she was reported missing. Her father, Adam Montgomery was sentenced to a minimum of 56 years in prison in 2024 after being convicted of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, falsifying evidence, witness tampering and assault.
The Supreme Court, however, reversed the most serious charge, agreeing with Montgomery that the lesser assault charge should have been prosecuted separately. It sent the second-degree murder charge back to the lower court while letting the other convictions stand.
In their unanimous ruling, justices said combining the cases jeopardized Montgomery’s right to a fair trial because jurors may have used the stronger evidence about the assault to conclude based on weaker evidence that he killed her months later.
“There was a significant risk that the jury would draw the impermissible inference that because the defendant assaulted the victim before by striking her in the head, he must be the one who fatally assaulted her in December by again striking her in the head.”
The second-degree murder conviction accounts for 45 years of Montgomery’s 56-years-to-life sentence, which was imposed on top of an earlier 32 ½-year sentence he already was serving on unrelated gun charges.
The attorney general’s office said Thursday it will pursue a re-trial on the second-degree murder charge.
“We remain confident in the facts of this case, the evidence presented, and the exceptional work of our prosecutors, investigators, and law enforcement partners,” said spokesperson Michael Garrity. “We will continue our efforts to seek justice for Harmony Montgomery and all those who knew and loved her.”
Montgomery's attorneys did not respond to emails seeking comment.
FILE - Adam Montgomery listens during his sentencing hearing at Hillsborough Superior Court, May 9, 2024, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool, File)
