Spain Rolls Toward World Cup Finals
Spain, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Uruguay took a big step toward qualifying for next year’s World Cup finals in Germany by winning playoff games Saturday.
Spain, which hasn’t lost any of its 17 games under Coach Luis Aragones, was the biggest winner, getting three goals from Luis Garcia in a 5-1 victory over Slovakia at Madrid.
“In soccer, you can never say you’ve reached the finals, but it’s true that we have taken a huge step,” Aragones said. “If we do things properly we could win on Wednesday too.”
Slovakia, which is trying to reach the Cup finals for the first time since the breakup of Czechoslovakia, finished the game with 10 players after Marian Had was ejected for protesting. Coach Dusan Galis also received a red card.
Vladimir Smicer scored in the Czech Republic’s 1-0 victory over Norway at Oslo, host Switzerland defeated 2002 semifinalist Turkey, 2-0, at Bern and host Uruguay beat Australia, 1-0, at Montevideo -- all in the first game of two-game playoff series.
At Port-of-Spain, host Trinidad and Tobago tied with Bahrain, 1-1. The teams are bidding for their first finals.
Testing players for the Cup finals, the United States tied host Scotland, 1-1, in a friendly at Glasgow behind a ninth-minute penalty kick by Josh Wolff.
Andy Webster, who plays for Major League Soccer’s Kansas City team, scored for Scotland on a 37th-minute header.
The U.S., which will participate in the finals for the fifth consecutive time, finished the year 14-3-3, a national team record for victories.
MOTOR RACING
Olsen Wins Grand National Event at All-Star Showdown
Pole-sitter Mike Olsen of North Haverhill, N.H. prevented a sweep by California drivers in Saturday’s $500,000 Toyota All-Star Showdown, NASCAR’s national-short track racing championship, at Irwindale Speedway. Olsen won the 150-lap Grand National race after Auggie Vidovich of Lakeside won the 125-lap Elite division race.
Both races were held on Irwindale’s half-mile track.
Olsen took the lead for good on the 140th lap, with David Gilliland of Chino Hills finishing second, 0.828 of a second behind.
-- Steven Herbert
GOLF
Woods Pulls to Within
One Shot of Howell
Tiger Woods missed two birdie putts and another to save par by inches, leaving him one stroke behind leader David Howell after three rounds of the HSBC Champions tournament at Shanghai.
Woods shot a five-under-par 67 to go 15 under and share second place with Nick O’Hern, who had a 67 for the third consecutive round.
Howell, who shared the lead with Nick Dougherty after the second round, missed a birdie putt on the last hole and settled for a 68 to move to 16 under.
Liselotte Neumann made a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 18 for a five-under 67 and a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Mitchell Company LPGA Tournament of Champions at Mobile, Ala.
Neumann broke out of a four-way tie and moved into the lead at 11-under 205.
Defending champion Heather Daly-Donofrio had a 68 and was tied with Rachel Hetherington (72) and Christina Kim (72) at 10-under 206. Hetherington and Kim had tied for the lead through two rounds.
Fred Couples and Adam Scott used six consecutive birdies in the best-ball format to shoot an 11-under 61 for a two-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Franklin Templeton Shootout at Naples, Fla. Couples and Scott are at 19 under. Kenny Perry and John Huston teamed for a 63 and moved to 17 under, a stroke ahead of first-round leaders Fred Funk and Jason Gore, who followed an opening 63 with a 65.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Gansey’s 22 Points Lead
No. 14 West Virginia
Mike Gansey had 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead No. 14-ranked West Virginia to an 88-69 victory over Louisiana Monroe in the first round of the Guardians Classic at Morgantown, W.Va.
Ranked in the men’s preseason poll for the first time in 43 years, the Mountaineers had a second-half lapse and Louisiana Monroe cut a 17-point deficit to five points.
Mel Thomas scored a career-high 23 points to lead No. 9 Connecticut to a season-opening 71-45 victory over Marist at Storrs, Conn., in the first round of the WNIT....Nicole Jules scored 18 points to lead No. 17 Vanderbilt to an 86-49 victory over Clemson in the third-place game of the WBCA/BTI Classic at Tempe, Ariz.... Kristen Kovesdy had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 20 Arizona State (2-0) past Missouri, 69-54, to win the WBCA/BTI Classic.... Candice Dupree had 21 points and 15 rebounds to lead No. 21 Temple past Oregon, 51-46, for the Women’s Sports Foundation Classic title in Eugene, Ore.
MISCELLANY
U.S. Sprinter Edwards
Has Suspension Lifted
U.S. sprinter Torri Edwards was reinstated by the International Assn. of Athletics Federations, track and field’s ruling body, before the completion of her two-year doping suspension.
Edwards received a two-year suspension in April 2004 after testing positive for the stimulant nikethamide, making her unable to compete in the Athens Olympics. But the World Anti-Doping Agency downgraded nikethamide earlier this year and said a one-year suspension would be the maximum punishment.
Americans Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick claimed the top two spots in a World Cup 1,500-meter long track speedskating event at Calgary, Canada. Davis, who holds the world record in the event, finished in 1 minute 43.52 seconds, and Hedrick was the runner-up in 1:44.24.
Asian skaters dominated the 500-meter races in the World Cup short track speedskating meet at Bormio, Italy, with Ahn Hyun-soo defeating Eric Bedard and Apolo Anton Ohno in the men’s event. Hyun-soo of South Korea won in 41.994 seconds, followed by Bedard of Canada in 42.210 and Ohno of the U.S. in 42.362. Ohno beat Francois-Louis Tremblay of Canada for the bronze medal. Wang Meng of China won the women’s final in 44.070.
