Wambach’s Goals, Hamm’s Assists Lead U.S.
Abby Wambach scored two goals, powering the U.S. women’s team to a 5-1 rout of Brazil on Saturday at Birmingham, Ala., in a tuneup for the Athens Olympics.
Mia Hamm assisted on Wambach’s goals, both in the first half, and had one of her own late as the Americans showed no signs of rust after a month layoff.
Julie Foudy scored the first goal for the Americans off a feed from Hamm.
“My teammates set me up with some pretty incredible goals, and I finished my chances,” said Wambach, who had three goals in a win over Norway on March 20.
“I feel really confident in the fact that I’ve been playing well, and the fact that my teammates are really starting to play well with each other. That’s the bottom line.”
Wambach sat out the second half. She leads the team with 11 goals in 13 games this year and has scored 25 in 35 international games.
The Americans didn’t score again until the final minutes, getting two quick goals after Brazil made it 3-1 on an unassisted goal by Marta in the 55th minute.
The Americans improved to 11-1-1 in 2004 and continued to dominate the rivalry with Brazil. They are 16-1-2 against the Brazilians, but had won three 1-0 decisions and had a scoreless tie in the previous five meetings.
“We put it together today,” U.S. Coach April Heinrichs said.
Liverpool Wins
Danny Murphy scored on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute as visiting Liverpool surprised Manchester United, 1-0, to strengthen its hold on fourth place in the English Premier League and stop United from moving up to second.
The high-profile game in front of 67,000 at Old Trafford was surrounded by tighter security than normal after speculation that it might be the target for terrorist bombers. Six men and a woman were arrested in Manchester on Monday on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks.
If Liverpool stays in fourth, it would clinch a spot in next season’s European Champions League.
Arsenal will clinch the title for the second time in three seasons if it wins at Tottenham today and Chelsea fails to win at Newcastle.
Quick Passes
Brazilian forward Ronaldo will sit out Real Madrid’s Spanish league match today against FC Barcelona because of a left thigh strain, the club said.... FC Porto clinched its seventh Portuguese league championship in 10 years when second-place Sporting Lisbon lost at Leiria, 1-0.
West Bromwich Albion will move back up to the English Permier League next season after clinching second place in Division One. Sunderland’s failure to beat Wigan assured West Brom of the spot in the standings.... Eriko Arakawa and Mio Otani scored a goal in each half at Tokyo to lead Japan to a 3-0 victory over North Korea and secure a berth at the Athens Olympics. China clinched the other Asian zone berth with a 1-0 victory over South Korea.
-- Compiled by Jim Barrero
