In brief: U.S. beats odds, moves into semifinals
Soccer: On the verge of elimination and facing long odds, the United States came up with its best performance at a major international tournament in seven years and an improbable semifinal berth at the Confederations Cup.
Charlie Davies scored in the first half, and Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey added goals in the final half hour to lead the United States over Egypt 3-0 on Sunday in Rustenburg, South Africa.
The United States needed to win by three goals and have Italy lose by three, and that’s exactly what happened.
“Big surprise, but we knew we were capable of this and Brazil helped us out as well,” Landon Donovan said. “Now we have a difficult game ahead of us and a very big match.”
Combined with Brazil’s 3-0 defeat of world champion Italy, the United States finished second in Group B and will face European champion Spain on Wednesday, a day before Brazil (3-0) meets host South Africa.
While the U.S., Italy and Egypt all finished at 1-2, the Americans scored four goals and allowed six. Italy also had a minus-2 goal difference but scored only three goals and Egypt was minus-3.
The U.S. had opened with a 3-1 loss to Italy and a 3-0 loss to Brazil, moving to the brink of elimination for its fourth straight international tournament. Egypt, meanwhile, was coming off a 1-0 upset of the Azzurri.
And since advancing to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals, the U.S. team had been knocked out of the first round of the 2003 Confederations Cup, the 2006 World Cup and the 2007 Copa America.
Davies’ goal was the first for the Americans in the tournament – and only their second in five games – from the run of play.
Bradley, the son of U.S. coach Bob Bradley, scored on Father’s Day for the second straight year, connecting off a give-and-go with Donovan in the 63rd minute. It was his sixth goal in 33 appearances.
Dempsey scored the goal that put the U.S. over the top eight minutes later. Dempsey, who has 14 international goals, had not scored for the U.S. since Sept. 10 against Trinidad and Tobago.
Wael Gomaa had a chance to score in the 90th minute – and put Egypt in the semis – but his header went over the crossbar.
•Kinnear to coach All-Star game: The Houston Dynamo’s Dominic Kinnear was picked to coach the MLS against Premier League team Everton in the All-Star game in July.
The Dynamo earned a tie with Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, clinching the top points average in Major League Soccer through June 8 and getting the selection for Kinnear.
He’ll get to pick five players to add to the team picked by fans, coaches and GMs, media, and players for the July 29 game.
Thabeet cancels Grizzlies workout
Basketball: Hasheem Thabeet canceled a pre-draft workout with the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday citing a shoulder injury, but he also had plans to talk to other teams.
“Thabeet was a combination of he’s had some shoulder situations and he wanted to talk to some other teams,” Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said of the 7-foot-3 center out of Connecticut. “It’s also what goes on this time of the year with guys showing, not showing, that type of thing. The gamesmanship of the draft.”
Memphis officials have already met with Thabeet twice in preparation for Thursday’s NBA draft. Wallace said he expects to meet with Thabeet later this week, but probably not for a workout.
The draft’s top-rated big man, Thabeet averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks (second in the nation) for the Huskies last season, when he was co-Big East player of the year.
A number of projections have him going to the Grizzlies with the No. 2 pick; others have Memphis taking Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio. The Los Angeles Clippers are expected to take Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin at No. 1.
Phelps wins 100 free at Canada Cup
Miscellany: Michael Phelps won the 100-meter freestyle at the Canada Cup in Montreal to sweep both events he entered at the meet.
His time of 48.65 seconds improved on the 48.87 he swam one week earlier, when he finished second to defending world champion Brent Hayden of Canada in Santa Clara, Calif.
The 14-time Olympic gold medalist swam a personal-best time of 50.48 in winning the 100 butterfly Saturday.
The Montreal meet is Phelps’ final tuneup for the U.S. nationals in Indianapolis on July 7-11. That’s where the team will be selected for the world championships, which will be held in Rome from July 17 through Aug. 2.
•Swiss wins Tour of Switzerland: Fabian Cancellara has won the Tour of Switzerland in Bern after a convincing victory in the race’s final stage.
Cancellara beat Tony Martin of Germany in Sunday’s 24-mile time trial to become the first Swiss rider since Alex Zuelle in 2002 to win the race.
Martin finished 1 minute, 27 seconds behind in the race against the clock, with Thomas Dekker of the Netherlands placing third.
Cancellara finished 2 minutes, 2 seconds ahead of Martin in the overall standings.