Sports 2000

Honduras won at El Salvador, 1-0, to claim the third and final automatic qualifying spot for next year’s World Cup from CONCACAF. Costa Rica had a chance to clinch a berth but lost a two-goal halftime lead. Bryan Ruiz scored twice to put the Ticos in the lead. Michael Bradley, son of Coach Bob Bradley, put the U.S. on the board in the 72nd minute. Jonathan Bornstein scored 4.5 minutes into added time to draw the Americans level. Mexico tied at Trinidad and Tobago, 2-2.

Costa Rica will face Uruguay in a two-leg playoff next month. Costa Rica will host the first leg Nov. 14. The second leg is at Uruguay Nov. 18. Uruguay lost at home to Argentina, 1-0, tonight to finish fifth in CONMEBOL qualifying. Argentina grabbed the fourth and last automatic bid from the region.

UEFA round-robin qualifying ended Wednesday. Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland are the group winners and have earned spots in South Africa next year. Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia and Ukraine are the group runners-up that will advance to two-leg playoffs next month for the last four regional places. The draw will be held Monday.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Richard Petty will highlight NASCAR’s inaugural Hall of Fame class. Also slated for induction are legendary driver Junior Johnson and series pioneers Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr.

Fifth-ranked Boise State (6-0) edged host Tulsa (4-2), 28-21, tonight. Louisiana-Monroe (4-1) held Arkansas State (1-5), 16-10, at home Tuesday. Montreal (12-2) thrashed Calgary (8-6), 32-11, and Winnipeg (6-8) defeated Hamilton (6-8), 38-28, in Thanksgiving Day CFL games Monday.

Two events remain in the NHRA season. Tony Schumacher leads Larry Dixon in the Top Fuel class by 47 points. Teammates Robert Hight and Ashley Force Hood are separated by 13 points at the top of the Funny Car standings. Mike Edwards has a near-stranglehold on the Pro Stock crown, leading Greg Anderson by 128 points. Hector Arana leads Ed Krawiec by 28 points in the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings.

The UEFA Champions League began group play Tuesday. In Group A, Bordeaux drew at Juventus, 1-1, and Bayern Munich crushed host Maccabi Haifa, 3-0. In Group B, Wolfsburg beat visiting CSKA Moscow, 3-1, and Manchester United edged host Besiktas, 1-0. In Group C, Real Madrid rolled to a 5-2 win at Zurich and Milan squeaked past host Marseille, 2-1. In Group D, Porto fell at Chelsea, 1-0, and APOEL tied at Atletico Madrid, 0-0. Eight more matches will be played Wednesday featuring the other 16 squads.

Juan Martin del Potro shocked Roger Federer in Monday’s U.S. Open final, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2. At age 20, del Potro is the youngest-ever winner in New York. At 6-feet-6, he is the tallest-ever major winner. Six-foot-five Richard Krajicek once won Wimbledon.

In her first match since she was eliminated from singles play by a code violation and fined the maximum $10,000 for her tirade against a linesperson, Serena Williams teamed with her sister, Venus, to win the U.S. Open women’s doubles title. They trounced the number-one team in the world, Cara Black and Leizel Huber, 6-2, 6-2, to claim their 10th Grand Slam doubles championship.

New York continues to enjoy Major League Baseball’s best record. The Yankees are 93-53. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim lead the American League West at 86-58. Detroit is atop the Central at 77-67. Boston leads the wild-care race with a 85-58 mark.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in the National League, 87-59. St. Louis is atop the Central with an 85-61 mark. Philadelphia leads the East Division at 83-60. Colorado leads the wild-card race at 82-64.

Roger Federer defeated Robin Soderling, 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6, tonight to advance to the U.S. Open semifinals. Federer will battle Novak Djokovic, who beat Fernando Verdasco, 7-6 (2), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2. Thursday’s semifinals pit Juan Martin del Potro against Marin Cilic and Rafael Nadal against Fernando Gonzalez.

The women’s semifinals will be Friday. Serena Williams will meet Kim Clijsters after both posted straight-set wins Tuesday. Yanina Wickmayer and Caroline Wozniacki both advanced to a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time. Wickmayer dispatched Kateryna Bondarenko Wednesday, 7-5, 6-4. Wozniacki ended Melanie Oudin’s surprising run, 6-2, 6-2.

Bahrain played to a 2-2 draw at Saudi Arabia in an Asian Football Confederation playoff game Wednesday. Combined with last week’s scoreless tie in Bahrain, Bahrain wins the matchup on the away goals tiebreaker. Bahrain will play a two-leg, home-and-home series against New Zealand this fall and the winner will earn a World Cup berth.

The U.S. took the lead in CONCACAF qualifying by defeating Trinidad & Tobago, 1-0, in Port-of-Spain. Ricardo Gomez’s rocket shot from 28 yards just past the hour mark gave the Americans the lone goal of the match and eliminated Trinidad from World Cup contention. Cuauhtemoc Blanco’s penalty kick midway through the second half lifted Mexico to a 1-0 win over Honduras in Mexico City.

El Salvador stayed alive in the group by beating Costa Rica, 1-0, in San Salvador on Rudis Corrales’s second-half strike. The Ticos have fallen from first to fourth following two straight losses this week. The U.S. leads the group with 16 points. Mexico has 15 points. Honduras holds the last automatic qualifying spot with 13 points. Costa Rica sits at 12 while El Salvador has eight points. Trinidad & Tobago has five points.

Two matches remain, the first of which will be Oct. 10. Costa Rica will try to get back on track when it hosts Trinidad. El Salvador will attempt to keep its World Cup hopes alive by winning in Mexico. The U.S. will try to clinch a spot in South Africa by winning in Honduras.