In brief: Host Germany wins as World Cup kicks off

Soccer: The World Cup started Sunday in Germany with two stadiums overflowing with goodwill, color and the cheer of nearly 100,000 fans. There were also four goals, including one stunner.

Germany, the two-time defending champion, survived opening-game jitters to beat Canada 2-1 in Berlin and showed that the hosts may be the team to beat.

France won the opener against Nigeria 1-0 in Sinsheim to leave the continental neighbors in charge of Group A. The United States begins play in the 16-team tournament Tuesday, facing North Korea in Group C in Dresden.

At Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, Canada’s Christine Sinclair, playing with a broken nose for most of the second half, highlighted the day with a stunning, perfectly curled free kick late in the game. That briefly gave Canada hope, but Germany survived on grit.

It was the first goal Germany had conceded in the World Cup since 2003.

There was hardly an empty seat at Rhein-Neckar-Arena in Sinsheim as Nigeria and France ushered in the tournament before 25,475 fans under an azure sky dotted with puffy clouds.

France striker Marie-Laure Delie scored the first goal of the tournament in a scrappy goalmouth scramble, controlling a low cross and stabbing the ball home.

Sinclair might have scored the best goal of the day, but France had the performer of the day in Louisa Necib, a smooth playmaker who makes difficult passing look dead easy, much like Zinedine Zidane did in Germany half a decade ago.

Germany’s start was much more workmanlike. Up 2-0 at halftime through goals by Garefrekes and Celia Okoyino Da Mbabi, the hosts squandered several easy chances to put the game away. Sinclair’s great strike ensured the match was fraught with tension until the end.

Birgit Prinz was unable to add the her World Cup tally of 14 career goals, but received thunderous applause when she was replaced in the 56th minute.

Wahl’s first goal lifts Sounders to victory

MLS: Tyson Wahl and Alvaro Fernandez scored six minutes apart late in the first half to rally the Seattle Sounders to a 2-1 victory over the visiting New England Revolution.

The Sounders (8-4-7) won their season-high third straight game and are unbeaten in their last six (4-0-2). The Revolution (3-8-6) are on a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2) since a 1-0 victory at home against Vancouver on May 14.

Wahl’s first career goal pulled the Sounders into a 1-1 tie late in the 34th minute. On a direct free kick to the right of the penalty area restraining arc, he launched the ball over a six-man New England wall, and it went just under the crossbar into the top left corner.

Fernandez gave Seattle a 2-1 lead midway through the 40th minute.

Top contenders still around for Wimbledon

Tennis: About 18 months removed from his last Grand Slam championship, Roger Federer figures it’s about time for another – his record-tying seventh at Wimbledon.

Despite nearly a year away from the game because of a series of health scares, Serena Williams warns that she “wouldn’t bet against” herself.

And even though he’s yet to drop a set through three matches — something he’d never managed to do at the All England Club — Rafael Nadal keeps talking up his opponent’s chances.

As the 125th edition of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament heads into Week 2, all of the principal players are still around, as are the story lines that drew interest at the start, from the Williams sisters’ comebacks to the dominance of the leading men.

After Sunday’s traditional day of rest at Wimbledon, action resumes today with all 16 men’s and women’s fourth-round matches. Two stand out in particular: Top-seeded Nadal faces No. 24 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, while No. 23 Venus Williams faces No. 32 Tsvetana Pironkova in a rematch of a 2010 quarterfinal won by the Bulgarian.

Also in the picture are top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, hoping for her first Grand Slam title, and 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova.

The top four men – Nadal, No. 2 Novak Djokovic, No. 3 Federer and No. 4 Andy Murray – filled out the semifinals at the French Open, and no one would be too surprised if they did that again at Wimbledon. They lost a total of three sets during Week 1.

Djokovic and Murray are two-time semifinalists at Wimbledon, but neither has been to the final. Murray hopes to give Britain its first male champion at the All England Club – well, at any Grand Slam site, actually – since 1936.

Djokovic, whose 43-match winning streak ended with a loss to Federer in the French Open semifinals, takes on No. 19 Michael Llodra, at 31 the oldest man left and finally in the fourth round on his 11th appearance at Wimbledon. Murray meets No. 17 Richard Gasquet, while the last American man in the field, No. 10 Mardy Fish, plays 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych.

Kings send Smyth to Oilers for Fraser, pick

NHL: The Los Angeles Kings have traded Ryan Smyth to the Edmonton Oilers for forward Colin Fraser and a seventh-round pick in the 2012 draft.

The 35-year-old Smyth had 23 goals and 24 assists in 82 games last season with Los Angeles. He started his NHL career with the Oilers in 1994 and spent more than a decade with the team before being dealt to the New York Islanders in a surprise deadline deal in February 2007.

His return to Edmonton had been rumored for days, but the deal hit several snags before the two sides came to an agreement.

Fraser had three goals and two assists in 67 games with the Oilers last season.