All-Pro Samuel signs with Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles got the defensive playmaker they needed, signing free-agent cornerback Asante Samuel to a six-year contract worth a reported $57 million Friday.

Samuel, an All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection last season, spent the last five years with the New England Patriots and had 16 interceptions the last two seasons.

Samuel tied for the league lead in interceptions with 10 last season. The Eagles had had only 11 interceptions.

In other moves on the first day of free agency, the New York Jets traded middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, the 2004 defensive rookie of the year, to New Orleans for an undisclosed draft choice, and agreed to terms on a four-year deal worth $32 million with former Pittsburgh guard Alan Faneca.

The Jets also acquired 349-pound defensive tackle Kris Jenkins from New Orleans and signed him to a five-year contract worth $35 million, including $20 million in guaranteed money.

Isaac Bruce reportedly agreed to a two-year deal, worth $6 million, with the San Francisco 49ers, one day after the St. Louis Rams released the prolific receiver.

The Jacksonville Jaguars signed wide receiver Jerry Porter to a six-year, $30-million contract and completed a trade for wide receiver Troy Williamson, a former first-round draft pick.

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WINTER SPORTS

Heel edges Miller in World Cup downhill

Werner Heel edged Bode Miller to win a downhill on the Olympic course at Kvitfjell, Norway, giving the Italian his first World Cup victory. Heel sped down the 1.9-mile course in 1 minute 45.73 seconds to edge Miller by 0.10 of a second. Miller increased his lead in the overall standings over Benjamin Raich of Austria, who finished 37th.

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TENNIS

Soderling upsets Roddick in Memphis

Eighth-seeded Robin Soderling upset top-seeded Andy Roddick, 7-6 (6), 6-3, in a quarterfinal of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships at Memphis, Tenn.

Roddick, ranked sixth in the world, went into the match with a 10-1 record this season.

In the women’s draw, fourth-seeded Lindsay Davenport defeated Marina Erakovic, 6-0, 6-3, to reach the final of the Cellular South Cup. She will play fifth-seeded Olga Govortsova, who beat third-seeded Shahar Peer, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova will play eighth-seeded Elena Dementieva today in the final of the Dubai Championships in the United Arab Emirates.

Kuznetsova defeated fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Dementieva beat Francesa Schiavone, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, in the other semifinal.

A fifth Italian player on the men’s tour has been suspended in the ATP’s long-running gambling investigation. Federico Luzzi has been banned for 200 days and fined $50,000. Luzzi’s case differs from the others in that of his 273 bets placed on 836 tennis matches, one was on himself, to win.

The ATP stated that it “found no evidence of any attempt” by him to “affect the outcome of any tennis match.”

-- Lisa Dillman

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GOLF

Ochoa increases lead in Singapore

Lorena Ochoa increased her lead to seven strokes in the HSBC Women’s Champions, shooting a seven-under-par 65 at Singapore. She is at 13-under 131.

Brian Davis shot a three-under 67 to finish the day at eight-under 132, one shot better than Matt Jones (67) and two shots ahead of Dudley Hart (66) after two rounds of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

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SOCCER

It’s official: Donovan is U.S. scoring leader

The asterisk next to Landon Donovan’s name in the record books finally was erased, and the Galaxy forward now is officially the all-time leading scorer for the U.S. national team with 35 goals, one more than former U.S. star Eric Wynalda.

FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, said it would recognize last year’s U.S.-Denmark game as an official international, meaning that the goal Donovan scored in the game would count.

The decision, which came after an appeal to FIFA by U.S. Soccer because Denmark said it did not consider the game an “A” international.

-- Grahame L. Jones