Germany captures third place in World Cup
PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa, July 10 (UPI) -- A header from Sami Khedira in the 82nd minute Saturday gave Germany a 3-2 victory over Uruguay in the third-place match of the World Cup.
Germany recorded its second straight third-place finish in soccer's showcase event, which will conclude Sunday with the championship match between Netherlands and Spain.
Khedira's winning goal was set up by Mesut Oezil's corner kick that eluded Uruguay's defense. A clearing attempt by Diego Forlan merely set up an easy header for Khedira, who put the ball past goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
Forlan gave Uruguay a 2-1 lead shortly after halftime, but Marcell Jansen tied it 5 minutes later.
Forlan almost forced an overtime period when his shot, the last one of the game, rattled off the crossbar.
Uruguay's fourth-place finish was its best since 1970.
Spain or Netherlands will win its first World Cup when the title match is played in Johannesburg. Only seven countries have captured a World Cup title in the previous 18 tournaments -- Italy, Brazil, France, Germany, Argentina, England and Uruguay.
Sunday's winner will also be the first European champion ever crowned in a World Cup played outside Europe.
Chavanel takes lead in Tour de France
LES ROUSSE, France, July 10 (UPI) -- Sylvain Chavanel broke free from the pack and won Saturday's stage of the Tour de France, grabbing the overall lead of the event in the process.
The Frenchman survived the first mountain stage of the three-week race, defeating Rafael Valls Ferri of Spain by 57 seconds. The seventh stage of cycling's premier event took the riders 165 kilometers from Tournus to Les Rousse, a route that included three significant climbs.
Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, who had been the overall leader for most of the first week of the Tour, finished more than 13 minutes behind Chavanel and fell far back into 58th place.
Cancellara now leads Cadel Evans of Australia by 1 minute, 25 seconds in the overall standings. Defending champion Alberto Contador is 2:26 behind in sixth place and Lance Armstrong is 14th, 3:16 behind.
Evans, Contador and Armstrong were part of a group of pre-race favorites who rode conservatively and finished Saturday's stage in a group -- 1:47 behind Chavanel.
The top of the standings is expected to undergo a major shakeup Sunday, during which the riders will make two brutal climbs at the end of the 189-kilometer stage. It will be a major test for Armstrong, whose performance on Sunday will likely show whether he can challenge for an eighth Tour de France title.
Stricker sets 54-hole scoring record
SILVIS, Ill., July 10 (UPI) -- Steve Stricker produced the lowest 54-hole score in the history of the PGA Tour Saturday and built a six-shot lead at the John Deere Classic.
Stricker, ranked fourth in the world and the defending champion at this event, shot a 9-under 62 at the TPC-Deere Run course for a three-day total of 25-under 188.
That broke the tour's 54-hole record of 189 set in 1996 by John Cook at the St. Jude Classic and equaled by Mark Calcavecchia in 2001 at the Phoenix Open and Tommy Armour III in 2003 at the Texas Open.
Stricker needs to shoot a 65 on Sunday to break the tour's 72-hole scoring mark established by Armour in 2003.
Jeff Maggert and Paul Goydos shared second place at 194 and it was another three shots back to Matt Jones and Shaun Micheel. Goydos opened the tournament with a 59, becoming the fourth player to break 60 in a tour tournament.
Stricker came to the par-4 18th needing only a par to break the 54-hole record, but he drove into the right rough and his path to the green was blocked by a tree. He laid up about 100 yards short of the green and his ball came to rest in a divot.
Despite the bad lie, Stricker hit a wedge to within 3 inches of the cup for a tap-in par that gave him the record.
France qualifies for Davis Cup semis
CLERMONT-FERRAND, France, July 10 (UPI) -- Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra won their doubles match Saturday to put France into the semifinals of the Davis Cup.
France joined the Czech Republic as the first two countries to earn semifinal berths in the premier team event in men's tennis.
Benneteau and Llodra defeated Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5) to give France a 3-0 advantage in the best-of-five series of quarterfinal matches.
Llodra and Gael Monfils had won their singles matches to open the competition on Friday. The French hosted the series in Clermont-Ferrand.
Spain, which was without world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, had not lost to the French in Davis Cup play since 1923. Spain leads the all-time series 5-2.
The Czech Republic won its way into the semifinals thanks to a doubles win by Lukas Dlouhy and Jan Hajek. They defeated Jorge Aguilar and Nicolas Massu of Chile 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, giving the Czechs a 3-0 lead in a series being played in Coquimbo, Chile.
Argentina and Croatia, meanwhile, both took a 2-1 lead in their quarterfinal matchups.
Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina defeated Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Kunitsyn in Moscow 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1.
Sunday's singles matches will send Leonardo Mayer against Nikolay Davydenko and David Nalbandian against Mikhail Youzhny. A win by either Mayer or Nalbandian would put the Argentines in the semifinals against France.
Croatia, hosting the quarterfinals in Split, took its 2-1 lead thanks to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win by Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic over Serbia's Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig.
The survivor of that series will play the Czech Republic in the semifinals.
