U.S. Women Come Back on Mexico
The United States fought back from two goals down to defeat Mexico, 3-2, at San Jose, Costa Rica, on Friday night in the championship game of the CONCACAF women’s Olympic qualifying tournament.
Both teams already had secured a place in the Athens Olympics.
Mexico got two goals in the first 15 minutes from forward Maribel Dominguez -- the first on a half-volley in the 13th minute and the second when she chipped the ball over advancing U.S. goalkeeper Siri Mullinix two minutes later.
Dominguez’s first goal, her tournament-high eighth of the competition, ended a shutout streak of 688 minutes for the U.S.
The Americans halved the deficit when Lindsay Tarpley scored in injury time at the end of the first half.
They tied it in the 81st minute on an Abby Wambach goal and won it in the 84th on a 17-yard shot by Julie Foudy that went in off the left post.
In an earlier match, Canada shut out Costa Rica, 3-0, to take third place in the tournament.
MetroStars Win Cup
Major League Soccer’s New York/New Jersey MetroStars defeated Viking Stavanger of Norway, 1-0, on a first-half headed goal by rookie defender Jeff Parke to win the La Manga Cup in Spain.
Honduran midfielder Amado Guevara was selected as the tournament’s most valuable player after leading Coach Bob Bradley’s team to a 3-1-0 record.
The defending MLS champion San Jose Earthquakes finished third in the tournament after beating Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine, 6-5 on penalty kicks, after a 1-1 tie. Ramiro Corrales scored for San Jose in regulation.
Old Trafford Change?
Manchester United said it is studying the feasibility of expanding seating capacity at its Old Trafford stadium from 67,500 to 75,000.
The defending English Premier League champion has sold out every match since it expanded from 55,000 in 2000.
The additional seats would be added in the northeast and northwest corners of the stadium and are expected to generate at least another $8 million in revenue a year.
Trio Jailed in Sex Case
Three international players -- Paul Dickov of Scotland, Keith Gillespie of Northern Ireland and Frank Sinclair of Jamaica -- were ordered held in custody by a Spanish judge pending investigation of charges that they had sexually assaulted three women at a resort hotel in La Manga, Spain.
In all, nine Leicester City players, including the above three, were arrested Wednesday and six were subsequently held on charges ranging from sexual assault to breaking and entering and failure to provide assistance.
Players charged with the lesser of the offenses have been released with or without bail, and Tim Davies, Leicester’s chief executive, said the English Premier League club was trying to free the others.
“We are working with our legal representatives to secure the release of the remaining three players,” he said. “We are very confident in the Spanish legal processes and we are also very confident in the innocence of our players.”
Quick Passes
Manchester United captain Roy Keane was banned for one European Champions League game after being red-carded for stamping on FC Porto goalkeeper Vitor Baia’s back during United’s 2-1 loss in Portugal last week.... Former Turkey national team coach Fatih Terim resigned as coach of Galatasaray after the Turkish club was knocked out of the UEFA Cup.... Former Thailand coach Peter Withe was named technical director of Indonesia’s national teams.... Cologne of the German Bundesliga announced that Wolfgang Overath, 60, a member of Germany’s 1974 World Cup-winning team, will become the club’s president.
-- Compiled by Grahame L. Jones
