Argentina Stops Mexico, Sets Up Final With Brazil
Argentina beat Mexico, 6-5, on penalty kicks Sunday at Hanover, Germany, setting up a showdown for the Confederations Cup title with World Cup champion Brazil.
After 90 minutes of regulation without goals, Carlos Salcido scored during overtime in the 104th minute for Mexico and Luciano Figueroa tied it in the 110th for Argentina. Esteban Cambiasso scored the clinching penalty kick after Ricardo Osorio was the first to miss at 5-5.
“My team fought very hard, especially in the second half and extra time,” Argentina Coach Jose Pekerman said. “It was not one of the best matches, but we hope to recover.”
The title game between the South American powers will be Wednesday in Frankfurt. The Mexicans will play host Germany for third place the same day in Leipzig. Brazil won the other semifinal Saturday, defeating Germany, 3-2, in Nuremberg.
On June 8, Argentina downed Brazil, 3-1, to clinch a spot in next year’s World Cup. “It’s going to be great to face Brazil again,” Argentine defender Javier Zanetti said. “I just hope it turns out the same way.”
Before a crowd of 40,718 fans, Mexico struck first in overtime after Argentina’s Juan Riquelme gave the ball away with a lazy pass in an attacking position. Salcido broke down the left side to take a pass from Alberto Medina and went past two defenders. His shot hit the outstretched leg of Argentina’s Fabricio Coliccini, and the ball flew over goalkeeper German Lux.
Figueroa, who had a hat trick for Argentina in a victory over Australia, evened it when he gathered a blocked shot from Maximiliano Rodriguez and squeezed a left-footed drive between the legs of goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez.
A minute from the end of regulation, Argentina’s Javier Saviola became the first player to be sent off in the eight-team competition when he was red-carded for kicking Gonzalo Pineda. He was soon followed by Mexico captain Rafael Marquez for a second yellow card, and extra time was played with 10 players on each team.
*
Lori Chalupny and Christie Welsh scored first-half goals and the U.S. women beat Canada, 2-0, in an exhibition in Virginia Beach, Va., giving Greg Ryan a victory in his first game since being promoted to head coach.
The game, played in a steady rain, marked the team’s first on U.S. soil this year.
Ryan, who served as interim coach after April Heinrichs resigned in January, was given the job officially in April.
*
Chris Rolfe had a goal and an assist to lead the Chicago Fire (8-6-2) to a 3-1 MLS victory over visiting Real Salt Lake (3-9-3).
Basketball
Danny Ferry has left the front office of the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs to become general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, two league sources told AP.
Ferry’s hiring is expected to be announced today. He played 10 seasons in Cleveland and would replace the fired Jim Paxson. Ferry, 38, spent the last two years as San Antonio’s director of basketball operations.
*
Alabama Coach Mark Gottfried signed a new six-year contract worth $1 million a year, Athletic Director Mal Moore said. The deal, with a $200,000 base salary and $800,000 in talent fees, makes Gottfried the first Alabama basketball coach to reach the $1-million mark. Gottfried became Alabama coach in 1998, going 143-83.
*
Ohio State women’s Coach Jim Foster, who was Big Ten coach of the year last season, signed a seven-year contract extension. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Boxing
Mexico’s Martin Castillo defended his WBA super-flyweight title with a unanimous decision over Japan’s Hideyasu Ishihara in Nagoya, Japan.
Castillo dominated the 12-round bout to improve to 29-1-0 with 16 knockouts. The champion was making the third defense of the title he won in December 2004. Ishihara’s record fell to 16-4-1 with 11 knockouts.
*
Former NBA player Kendall Gill knocked Trevor Biley (0-2-1) down three times before the referee halted the cruiserweight fight at 1:58 of the opening round in Gill’s professional boxing debut Saturday in Chicago.
Gill, 37, plans to fight at least once more before trying to return for a 15th NBA season. He played with Milwaukee last season before being waived in January.
Miscellany
In swimming, 2004 Olympic champion Michael Phelps finished third in 50.15 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle in a Santa Clara, Calif., grand prix meet, behind fellow American Jason Lezak (49.54) and Canada’s Brent Hayden (49.94). Phelps won the 200 individual medley in 1:59.31, giving him three wins in four events.
*
Brazil’s Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes won beach volleyball’s world championship title in their first season playing together, defeating Switzerland’s Sascha Heyer and Paul Laciga, 22-20, 21-12, at Berlin. Julius Brink and Kjell Schneider took third place, giving Germany its first world championship medal.
*
Clay Marzo of Lahaina, Hawaii, and Carissa Moore of Honolulu were the open-division winners of the National Scholastic Surfing Assn. championships at Lower Trestles in San Clemente. Marzo, 15, had two perfect scores of 10 in winning his 35-minute final. Moore, 12, was nearly as impressive as she won the women’s division for the second consecutive year. Complete results will be posted today at NSSA.org.
*
Mike Palefau and Matt Wyatt scored tries to pace the U.S. to a 20-19 win over Canada in the consolation final of rugby’s Churchill Cup in Edmonton, Canada.
