Mexico Puts Some Heat on Brazil With Upset
Mexico’s 1-0 victory over Brazil on Sunday in the Confederations Cup at Hanover, Germany, tempered some of the early praise for the five-time World Cup winners.
The upset means tournament favorite Brazil still has to beat Japan on Wednesday to make the semifinals, hoping to avoid a repeat of its humbling first-round exit two years ago from this World Cup tuneup.
Japan would also reach the semifinals with a victory. Mexico already advanced after Jared Borgetti scored on a 59th-minute header.
The loss was untimely in Carlos Alberto Parreira’s 100th game coaching Brazil, and it made fans forget a 3-0 victory last week over European champion Greece.
“I said it would be very different from the Greece game,” Parreira said. “The Mexicans are very fit players, they close their defense down well and shut out their opponents.”
Brazilian stars Ronaldinho, Kaka and Adriano produced below-par performances and the team faded toward the end.
“We’ll have to make three or four changes [against Japan]. Some of my players are very tired,” Parreira said.
The Mexicans read Brazil’s game perfectly. They even survived a penalty mix-up.
In the 29th minute, Roque Junior was called for pulling down Borgetti in the area.
Borgetti netted the first penalty, but the play was called back by Italian referee Roberto Rosetti. He ruled a Mexican player strayed into the area. Borgetti’s next penalty kick went off the crossbar, but Rosetti also called that one back. He said Dida moved off the goal line before the shot.
The third kick was stopped by Dida diving to his right.
The Brazilians dominated the first half, taking 12 shots at goal with four for Mexico. But Brazil paid for not scoring.
Adriano, who netted a spectacular opening goal against Greece, was the worst culprit, scooping the ball over the crossbar from short range just before halftime. New star Robinho missed several chances.
“We could have finished the game off in the first half. We had plenty of chances,” Parreira said. “We just weren’t quick enough.”
Argentine Coach Ricardo Lavolpe, who has led Mexico for three years, is riding a 20-game unbeaten streak.
In Frankfurt, Germany, substitute Masashi Oguro’s goal in the 76th minute lifted Asian champion Japan to a 1-0 victory, eliminating Greece from semifinal contention.
Pro Football
Kansas City Chief cornerback Julian Battle will sit out the 2005 season because of a torn left Achilles’ tendon.
Battle, working with the starters because of Eric Warfield’s legal problems, was injured during a mini-camp practice Saturday.
The Chiefs expect the NFL to suspend Warfield for violating the league’s drug and alcohol policy. Warfield pleaded no contest in January to one count of driving under the influence in Johnson County, Kan.
If the NFL suspends Warfield, Chiefs Coach Dick Vermeil said, Dexter McCleon would start alongside Patrick Surtain.
College Baseball
Seth Dhaenens hit a go-ahead double in a three-run eighth-inning rally, and Arizona State beat Tennessee, 4-2, in an elimination game in the College World Series at Omaha.
In the other game, Florida won its seventh in a row and moved within a win of the championship round with a 7-4 victory over Nebraska that sent the hometown favorites into an elimination game.
Blanked for six innings Sunday by freshman left-hander James Adkins and trailing, 2-0, the Sun Devils (40-24) got one back in the seventh and took the lead in the eighth.
Tuffy Gosewisch and Zechry Zinicola had opposite-field singles, and Joey Hooft chopped a ball over first baseman Alex Suarez’s head for a double that tied the score, 2-2.
Dhaenens, who had entered the game as a replacement in the sixth inning and made an error in the seventh, doubled to left-center field to put the Sun Devils ahead. J.J. Sferra hit a sacrifice fly for a 4-2 lead.
That finished Adkins (10-5) after 125 pitches. The 6-foot-5 freshman gave up eight hits and four runs in 7 1/3 innings.
Pat Bresnehan (5-4) gave up two hits in 3 1/3 innings after replacing starter Erik Averill, who gave up eight hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Tennessee, which lost to Florida in the first round, finished 46-21.
J.P. Arencibia, who broke Todd Helton’s freshman record of 11 homers set for the Volunteers in 1993, hit his 14th.
Arizona State was without freshman pitcher Seth Garrison, who underwent an emergency appendectomy early Sunday.
Meanwhile, Adam Davis homered and Jeff Corsaletti tied a CWS record with three doubles for the Gators (47-20), who ended the Cornhuskers’s 10-game winning streak.
Florida will take its longest winning streak of the season into Wednesday’s game against the winner of Tuesday’s matchup between the Cornhuskers (57-14) and Arizona State.
Reliever Darren O’Day (8-3) earned the win, limiting Nebraska to two singles after coming in with two out in the fifth.
Tennis
Mario Ancic of Croatia defeated defending champion Michael Llodra, 7-5, 6-4, in the Ordina Open at Den Bosch, Netherlands, for his first ATP title.
Ancic reached the semifinals of Wimbledon last year after making the semifinals at Den Bosch.
Miscellany
Pierce Brooks, a 6-7 junior forward who started as a freshman on Woodland Hills Taft’s City Championship team, is transferring to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
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Los Angeles Fairfax won the Watts Summer Games boys’ basketball title, defeating Beverly Hills, 83-47, in the final.
Jerren Shipp scored 16 points for the Lions.
Long Beach Poly beat Lynwood, 41-34, for the girls’ championship.
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Francisco Leonelli dashed the U.S. rugby team’s upset hopes with a try on the last play of the game, lifting Argentina to a 34-30 victory at the Churchill Cup tournament at Edmonton, Canada.
