Germany, Brazil move to World Cup semis
ULSON, South Korea, June 21 (UPI) -- Germany reached the semifinals of the World Cup Friday by doing what it does best, playing dynamite defense and outmuscling the opposition in the air.
Brazil also earned a spot in the semifinals by doing what it does best, seizing on the mistakes of the opposition and instantly making them pay.
Those two soccer giants, therefore, stayed on course to meet in what would be a potentially classic World Cup final.
It will be up to the winners of the Spain-South Korea and Senegal-Turkey matches to spoil a Brazil-Germany showdown. The United States and England were unable to do so Friday.
Germany ended the Americans' best World Cup ever in the South Korean industrial town of Ulson Friday night, getting a goal in the 39th minute from Michael Ballack and then relying on the goalkeeping magic of Oliver Kahn to preserve the lead and a 1-0 victory.
Earlier in the day in Shizuaka, Japan, the English took the lead only to have two miscues turn into Brazilain goals for a 2-1 win by the four-time World Cup champion.
Three of the teams in action Friday fully expected to be playing at this stage fo the competition. The United States was the exception, but the Americans had demonstrated during the previous three weeks that they were capable of big things. And although they swarmed around the German goal all night, Kahn and his defensive mates were able to repel every charge.
Germany has allowed only one goal in the World Cup, that coming in the closing seconds of a 1-1 tie against Ireland in group play. Both of the German victories in the knockout phase of the tournament have been by the score of 1-0.
The German goal Friday night came on the kind of play the Americans had feared and had worked on in practice to stop. On short free kicks and corner kicks, German players are tremendous at leaping above their defenders to get their head on the ball. Miroslav Klose leads the World Cup with five goals scored and all five have come on headers.
So when Germany was awarded a free kick on the right side from abuot 10 yards outside the box, the pressure was on the United States defense. Christian Ziege took the free kick and sent the ball bending toward the front of the goal, where a mass of German players converged. Ballack was able to soar high above Anthony Sanneh and head the ball down to the feet of Friedel. Although the American goalkeeper got a leg on it, he was unable to stop it.
For the rest of the night, the United States challenged Kahn and the German defense without success. The United States had 11 shots on goal to six for the Germans and the Americans were also called for nine more fouls as they attempted to physically match their always-aggressive opponent.
Landon Donovan had two excellent scoring chances turned aside in the game's early stages, but the best American opportunity came five minutes deep in the second half.
Gregg Berhalter got a shot past Kahn near the left post, but the ball struck Torsten Frings in the hand as he protected the post. The ball bounced along the goal line before Kahn could grab it.
Brazil found itself in a 1-0 hole in first half stoppage time when Rivaldo was turned loose by England's Ashley Cole. Rivaldo took advantage of that defensive lapse by firing one just inside the left post.
Brazil took the lead five minutes after halftime when England goalkeeper David Seaman drifted off his line and saw a free kick taken from 32 yards out by Ronaldinho sail over his head and just under the crossbar.
South Korea, having survived a controversial 2-1 victory over Italy in the second round, will play Spain in Gwangju with the red-clad home fans hoping to carry their team through on an ever increasing wave of emotion.
And in Ozaka, Senegal and Turkey will decide which will become a very unlikely participant in the semifinals. Senegal, playing in its first World Cup, began the series of shocks this year with a victory over defending champion France on May 31.
The Spain-South Korea winner will play Germany on Tuesday in Seoul. It will be Germany's 10th World Cup semifinal. The Senegal-Turkey winner will meet Brazil in Saitama on Wednesday.
Hewitt out at Ordina Open
'S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands, June 21 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt battled chicken pox at the first grand slam of the year. Now, he will have to overcome a stomach virus for next week's Wimbledon.
Hewitt was unable to play his quarterfinal match with seventh-seeded Frenchman Arnaud Clement on Friday. The 21-year-old, who has three titles this year--including last week's Stella Artois Championships--faces Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman in the first round of Wimbledon.
Bjorkman defeated Hewitt in the first round at the Australian Open when the Australian was still feeling the effects of a bout with chicken pox. Bjorkman is tuning up for Wimbledon at the Samsung Open, where he will face Wayne Arthurs in the final Saturday.
Hewitt, last year's U.S. Open champion, won this event last year.
Clement, who lost to Andre Agassi in the the final of the 2001 Australian Open, is seeking his first title of the year and will take on Argentine third seed Guillermo Canas in the semifinals. Canas moved into the semifinals with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory over Frenchman Cedric Pioline on Friday.
No. 4 Tommy Robredo of Spain had little trouble in his first ever meeting with Swiss qualifier Yves Allegro, 6-4, 6-2 and will face sixth-seeded Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands. Schalken, who lost to Hewitt in the semifinals last week, posted a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over second-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland.
Fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva, who is seeking her first career title, routed Slovakian Tina Pisnik, 6-2, 6-0, in the semfifinals Friday. Pisnik had won the previous two meetings, but both were in 1999. Dementieva will face Eleni Daniilidou of Greece. Daniilidou, who also is seeking her first career title, defeated second-seeded Belgian Justine Henin, 4-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3.
Bruins sign general manager O'Connell
BOSTON, June 21 (UPI) -- The Boston Bruins on Friday signed vice president and general manager Mike O'Connell to a five-year contract.
The Bruins topped the Eastern Conference with 101 points last season, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in six games.
O'Connell, 46, was named to the general manager's position in November 2000 after serving as the Bruins' assistant GM for six years. He also has been the team's vice president for the last four years.
After Saturday's draft, O'Connell will probably prepare to find replacements for two key unrestricted free agents: right wing Bill Guerin and goaltender Byron Dafoe.
Guerin had a career-high 41 goals last season, but is believed to be asking for a multi-year deal worth more than $8 million annually. Dafoe has a 132-104-40 record and 2.30 goals-against average in five years with the Bruins, but the team has not expressed interest in re-signing the 31-year-old goaltender.
The Bruins are 75-48-13-16 for a winning percentage of .589 in O'Connell's tenure as general manager. Last season, he hired Robbie Ftorek to replace Mike Keenan as coach and the Bruins finished 43-24-6-9 and were second overall in the NHL with 101 points.
Rangers fire pitching coach
PITTSBURGH, June 21 (UPI) -- The Texas Rangers, ranked next to last in the major leagues in earned run average, fired pitching coach Oscar Acosta on Thursday night.
Rangers manager Jerry Narron cited "differences in philosophy and problems in communication that I believe are detrimental to what we are trying to accomplish with the Texas Rangers" for his decision to dismiss Acosta.
Acosta was told of his firing when the team arrived here on Thursday night after beating the Chicago Cubs earlier in the day.
Bullpen coach Jamie Quirk will serve as acting pitching coach until a replacement is named.
The Rangers have a 5.12 ERA, ranking ahead of only the Kansas City Royals (5.28), who fired their pitching coach Al Nipper earlier in the week.
Acosta, 45, had been pitching coach for the Chicago Cubs the past two seasons. Despite having the fourth-lowest ERA in the National League last season, he was fired by the Cubs and hired by the Rangers in November.
Canadians sign their captain
MONTREAL, June 21 (UPI) -- Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu, who made a remarkable recovery from stomach cancer and tied for the team lead in playoff scoring this past season, signed a one-year contract on Friday.
As a restricted free agent, Koivu accepted the Canadiens' qualifying offer of $3.3 million, the same amount he earned last season.
Thursday, Koivu was named the winner of the Bill Masterton Trophy, awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Koivu was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer last September after undergoing a series of comprehensive tests at Montreal General Hospital. He underwent multi-drug chemotherapy and tests in February revealed no traces of the disease.
Although doctors believed he would not play until the 2002-03 season, Koivu returned on April 9 and played in the last three games of the regular season. Amazingly, he also participated in all 12 of Montreal's playoff games and tallied four goals and six assists as the Canadiens upset top-seeded Boston in the first round before falling to Carolina in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Koivu has spent his entire seven-year NHL career with the Canadiens, totaling 85 goals and 187 assists for 272 points in 347 games. He tied for the team lead in scoring in 2000-01 with 47 points in 54 games, missing 28 contests with a torn left MCL.
Chargers sign OT Sammy Williams
SAN DIEGO, June 20 (UPI) -- The San Diego Chargers late Thursday added some more depth to their offensive line by signing free agent tackle Sammy Williams to a one-year contract.
Williams, 27, spent his first four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens after being selected in the sixth round of the 1999 draft. The 6-5, 310-pounder started seven of 15 games last season at right tackle.
He originally entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick by Baltimore out of the University of Oklahoma in 1998. He spent his rookie season on the Ravens' injured reserve list with a knee injury suffered in the final preseason game.
Myskina, Rubina in final
EASTBOURNE, England, June 21 (UPI) -- A pair of unseeded players are in the final of the Britannic Asset Management Championships as Russian Anastasia Myskina and American Chanda Rubina each posted straight-sets wins Friday.
Myskina routed third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova, 6-2, 6-1, to advance to the final of a grasscourt tournament for the second straight week. She suffered a 6-2, 6-3 loss to Jelena Dokic in the final at Birmingham. The 20-year-old Myskina's only career title came at Palermo in 1999.
Rubin had just a little bit more difficulty in eliminating Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-1. The 26-year-old Rubin is seeking her fourth career title and is coming back from knee surgery. At the French Open, she lost to Venus Williams in the fourth round. Her last title came at Quebec in 2000.
Broncos sign veteran LT Brockermeyer
ENGLEWOOD, Calif., June 21 (UPI) -- Two-and-a-half months after being released by the Chicago Bears for salary cap purposes, veteran left tackle Blake Brockermeyer has signed with the Denver Broncos.
Brockermeyer, 29, becomes the favorite to beat out free agent signee Ephraim Salaam for the Broncos' starting left tackle position in training camp.
The 6-4, 300-pound Brockermeyer signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Bears in 1999 and started 45 of 47 games the last three seasons. But he underwent shoulder and knee surgery in the offseason and would have counted for $3 million on the 2002 salary cap, virtually forcing the Bears to release him.
A first-round pick in 1995, Brockermeyer started 55 games in four seasons with the Carolina Panthers before joining the Bears.
