U.S. beats Mexico, closes in on Olympic bid

Natasha Kai scored twice and Abby Wambach had a goal in the U.S. women’s soccer team’s 3-1 victory over Mexico on Sunday at Ciudad Juarez that moved the team to within a victory of securing a spot in the Beijing Olympics.

The U.S., the Group A winner in the CONCACAF women’s Olympic qualifying tournament, will face Group B runner-up Costa Rica on Wednesday night in the semifinals, with the winner advancing to the Olympics.

Canada, a 1-0 winner over Costa Rica in Group B, will face Mexico in the other semifinal, with an Olympic spot also at stake.

The U.S. scored all three goals in the first half in front of a capacity crowd of 22,280.

Hope Solo started in goal.

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Cardiff reached the FA Cup final for the first time since winning it in 1927, beating Barnsley, 1-0, at Wembley on Joe Ledley’s ninth-minute goal in a game between clubs from the League Championship.

In the May 17 final, the Bluebirds will face Premier League Portsmouth, which edged West Bromwich Albion, 1-0, on Saturday.

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Brazil Coach Dunga was released from a hospital in Sao Paulo after Saturday’s arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, corrective osteotomy surgery on his left tibia and gallstone surgery.

TENNIS

Davydenko makes history with title

Nikolay Davydenko defeated Rafael Nadal, 6-4, 6-2, to become the first Russian to win the Sony Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne, Fla.

The title is Davydenko’s first this year while playing under the cloud of an ATP investigation into heavy wagering on a match he lost last August in Poland.

Davydenko improved to 12-3 in ATP finals, matching Thomas Muster (44-11) for the best winning percentage in the Open era.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

McDonald hired by Western Kentucky

Ken McDonald, a 38-year-old Texas assistant who had held the same job at Western Kentucky, was hired by the Hilltoppers to replace Darrin Horn, who left last week for South Carolina.

Western Kentucky finished 29-7 this season, reaching the NCAA regional semifinals for the first time since 1993 before falling to UCLA.

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Former California coach Ben Braun, who was fired last month, will be named coach at Rice, according to media reports in Houston.

SWIMMING

Coughlin just misses record in backstroke

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Natalie Coughlin nearly broke her world 100-meter backstroke record, winning the Stanford Grand Prix in Palo Alto in 59.44 seconds -- 0.23 of a second off the mark she set in February.

Olympian Klete Keller set a pool record with a 1:47.93 in the men’s 200-meter free.

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Michael Phelps was second in the 100-meter freestyle -- an individual event he seldom swims -- yet his time of 48.41 seconds at the Columbus Grand Prix in Ohio was the third-fastest by an American.

Cesar Cielo won in 48.34.

The only faster Americans are Jason Lezak (48.17) and Anthony Ervin (48.33).

MISCELLANY

U.S. gets its first loss in curling tournament

The Czech Republic beat the U.S., 7-6, to remain unbeaten in the World Men’s Curling Championship at Grand Forks, N.D. The U.S. is 1-1.

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Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Kebede and Kenya’s Martha Komu won the Paris Marathon in the rain and wind, with several runners wearing stickers on their jerseys to protest China’s crackdown in Tibet.

Kebede finished in a personal best of 2 hours 6 minutes 40 seconds. Komu won in 2:25.33.

PASSINGS

Shanley, radio voice of the Browns, 76

Gib Shanley, the radio voice of the Cleveland Browns from 1961-84, died at a Cleveland hospital. He was 76. A cause wasn’t immediately released.