FRISCO, Texas — With Dan Bailey expected to miss some with a groin injury, the Dallas Cowboys will sign veteran kicker Mike Nugent after he won a competition with Jason Myers and Sam Irwin-Hill on Tuesday.

Coach Jason Garrett would not put a timetable on Bailey’s return but said he would miss “at least a couple of weeks” with the injury that occurred while warming up on the sidelines during a drive. The Cowboys had safety Jeff Heath take over the kicking duties and he made two of three point-after attempts.

Nugent, 34, lost a training-camp competition with Aldrick Rosas to be the New York Giants kicker this summer. In his career with the Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets, he has made 236 of 292 career field goal attempts.

Behind the smile and the friendly embrace as Cristiano Ronaldo accepted the the Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award, Diego Maradona was admittedly disappointed he didn’t have the honour of delivering the trophy to his compatriot, Lionel Messi.

The Argentine legend was greeted by Ronaldo, with whom he was as cordial as ever when he handed over the award despite confessing it would’ve brought him more joy to hand the coveted trophy to the Barcelona star instead.

“To give the Best (award) to Ronaldo and not be able to give it to Messi hurt my soul,” Maradona said to TyC Sports, as translated by Adriana Garcia of ESPN FC.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

The Real Madrid star edged out Messi and Neymar to become the inaugural recipient of the award during Monday’s star-studded ceremony in London.

Before the show kicked off, Maradona was seen sharing a heartfelt moment with Messi.

He was later forced to respond to reports of their alleged deteriorating relationship, which were fueled by Maradona’s remarks over his disappointment when he wasn’t invited to Messi’s wedding last summer.

Maradona, however, insisted he continues to share a positive relationship with the 30-year-old.

“The meeting with Messi was fantastic,” he said. “I spoke to him, and the same love and affection was there as always.”

PITTSBURGH — The Martavis Bryant saga took another turn Monday when the talented but disgruntled receiver didn’t show up for Steelers meetings due to an illness.

Thomas Santanello, Bryant’s agent, said Bryant went to the doctor’s office Monday morning. He’s not in the Steelers facility, and his locker chair was folded during the media’s 45-minute window of open access Monday afternoon.

This is not the first time Bryant missed a work day with an illness. He did not participate in a Saturday walk-through before the Week 5 match-up with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he missed two practice days with an illness in Week 4, too.

Bryant refueled his trade request late Sunday night with comments on Instagram that a source close to Bryant affirmed the receiver “wants out, point blank.”

Bryant, who had one catch for three yards in a 29-14 win over Cincinnati Bengals, responded to a fan’s Instagram comment that rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster was better than him.

Megan Rapinoe says the nomination of 18-year-old Deyna Castellanos for The Best FIFA Player award demonstrates the lack of interest from FIFA in the women’s game.

The Venezuelan teenager is yet to represent her country at either senior or Under-20 levels, and was controversially selected ahead of Australian forward Sam Kerr and Euro 2017 top scorer Jodie Taylor on this year’s shortlist.

It appears unlikely Castellanos will collect the award at the expense of fellow nominees Lieke Martens and Carli Lloyd, but her naming alone irked Rapinoe, a veteran of the United States women’s national team.

“The award just doesn’t hold a lot of weight when you’ve got someone on the list I’ve never heard of,” Rapinoe, 32, told BBC Sport’s Mani Djazmi.

She added: “It signals to us and it signals to the rest of the world that FIFA doesn’t really care.”

FIFA claims the award nominees are selected with guidance from national team coaches and captains, media representatives, and fans, so Castellanos’ selection among the potential winners is entirely legitimate. However, football’s world governing body vowed to look into the complaints over her inclusion when considering potential changes to the 2018 edition of The Best FIFA Football Awards.

That response isn’t good enough for Rapinoe.

“If some random male player, who was not even a full professional, was nominated, I’m sure they would step in for that, so it’s disappointing that the same hasn’t been done for us,” she said.

Kerr, the overlooked all-time leading scorer in the United States’ National Women’s Soccer League, also voiced an opinion on her omission, saying: “Not surprised really, it’s FIFA.”