Brazil vs. Germany in World Cup final
YOKOHAMA, Japan, June 30 (UPI) -- The 16th World Cup, which has provided an unexpected showcase for some of the new challengers on the soccer landscape, will come to an end Sunday night with a meeting of two of the sport's traditional giants.
No nation has played in more World Cup games, won more World Cup games or reached the championship match of the World Cup more times than Brazil and Germany. But they have never met on their sport's most significant stage.
That will change Sunday night when Brazil tries for its fifth title and Germany goes after its fourth.
Not only will the closing game be a matchup of the two most dominant countries in World Cup history, it will bring together a team famous for its offense and one known for its defense. Brazil has scored 16 goals during the tournament and Germany has allowed just one, that coming in the closing seconds of a 1-1 group tie with Ireland.
Brazil likes a smooth flowing style of play to take advantage of the remarkable athletic skills of its internationally famous cast of characters. Germany likes things to be rough and tumble, having collected 17 yellow cards during the tournament -- more than anybody else.
Both countries are taking part in their seventh championship game. Italy is the only nation within challenging distance of that record, having played in the title match five times. It will be the third consecutive appearance for Brazil, equaling Germany's accomplishment from 1982-1990.
Venus, Seles win in three sets
LONDON, June 30 (UPI) -- Fourth seeds Tim Henman of Britain and Monica Seles of the United States overcame tough opponents Saturday to continue their respective quests for an elusive Wimbledon title.
No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion Venus Williams, meanwhile, survived an unlikely start to survive in three sets against Canada's Maureen Drake, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
Henman recorded five service breaks Saturday en route to a 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-1 triumph in the third round over Wayne Ferreira of South Africa.
Despite dropping a set for the first time in nine career matches against Ai Sugiyama of Japan, Seles reached the fourth round, rallying for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory.
A semifinalist here three times in the last four years, Henman is the host nation's best hope of ending the 66-year drought of having a men's singles winner at the All-England Club.
Seles, meanwhile, has won nine career Grand Slam titles but has never captured the Wimbledon crown. Her best result came in 1992, when she was the runner-up to Steffi Graf.
Having split the first two sets, Ferreira had a 4-1 advantage in the third-set tiebreak when chair umpire Jorge Dias of Portugal overruled a linesjudge's ruling, giving the point to Henman.
Television replays showed the ball clearly hit the line as chalk exploded into the air.
Ferreira disputed the call and the incident seemed to rattle the South African, giving the momentum to Henman.
Henman's fourth-round opponent will be Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland, who advanced with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 win over Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek.
By contrast, top seed Lleyton Hewitt rolled into the fourth round on Saturday. The 21-year-old Australian fired 16 aces and needed just 87 minutes to dispose of Julian Knowle of Austria, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3.
In the round of 16, Hewitt faces Mikhail Youzhny. The Russian knocked out No. 16 Nicolas Escude of France, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
In an event that has seen favorites fall at a surprising rate, No. 18 Sjeng Schalken of The Netherlands joined Hewitt and Henman as the only seeds left in the bottom half of the draw.
Mets crush Yankees
NEW YORK, June 30 (UPI) -- In front of 55,615 fans on a sunny afternoon in the Bronx, Roger Cedeno stole home and Mo Vaughn hit a mammoth homer Saturday as the New York Mets routed the New York Yankees, 11-2, to even the latest Subway Series at a win apiece.
Mike Piazza and Tom Wilson also homered and Al Leiter pitched seven innings for the Mets, who began the year with high aspirations but started the day 9 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.
The Yankees took the opener of the three-game set, 11-5, grab first place in the American League East. But the Mets looked like the best team in New York in this one, totaling 16 hits en route to their 16th win in their last 36 games.
Criticized for their lack of production despite a roster laden with stars, the Mets scored in each of the first six innings and eight of the nine, doing it in a variety of ways.
With the Mets owing a two-run lead in the fourth, Wilson hit a solo homer off Ted Lilly (3-6). Two batters later, Cedeno tripled, then scored on a straight steal of home, catching the Yankees sleeping.
It was the first steal of home by a Met since slow-footed catcher Todd Hundley did so on the back end of a double steal against the Yankees on June 16, 1997.
In San Francisco, Jeff Kent hit a two-run homer in the first inning and added an RBI single in the ninth as the San Francisco Giants handed the Oakland Athletics a rare interleague loss, 5-3.
On Tuesday, Kent and Barry Bonds engaged in a well-publicized shoving match in the dugout that was caught on videotape. Manager Dusty Baker's answer to the dispute was to flip-flop the sluggers in the lineup.
In three games since moving into the No. 3 spot on Wednesday, Kent is eight for 15 with two homers and 12 RBI. He was three for five Saturday.
Other interleague results: Chicago White Sox 5, Chicago Cubs 4; Atlanta 2, Boston 1; Toronto 5, Montreal 4 in 10 innings; Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2; Arizona 4, Cleveland 2; Milwaukee 10, Minnesota 2; Detroit 2, Pittsburgh 1; Baltimore 11, Philadelphia 1; San Diego 8, Kansas City 4 in 10 innings; Houston 8, Texas 5; Seattle 8, Colorado 1.
In the National League, St. Louis defeated Cincinnati, 4-2, to move within 1 1/2 games of the Reds in the National League Central.
Pooley sets Senior Open record
OWINGS MILLS, Md., June 30 (UPI) -- Don Pooley shot the lowest 18-hole score in the history of the U.S. Senior Open Saturday, firing an 8-under 63 that put him three shots in front with one round to play.
Competing in his first full season on the Senior PGA Tour, Pooley broke the tournament record that had been most recently equaled in the opening round this week by R.W. Eaks.
The 50-year-old Pooley also went as low as anyone ever has at one of the USGA's three professional stroke-play tournaments while recording his best round in 16 years.
A two-time winner in 540 PGA Tour starts, Pooley added his name to a record book that includes Johnny Miller (1973), Jack Nicklaus (1980) and Tom Weiskopf (1980) -- each of whom shot a 63 in U.S. Open competition. Helen Alfredsson has the only 63 in U.S. Women's Open history, recording her score in 1994.
Pooley won the B.C. Open in 1980 and the Memorial in 1987, but nothing since. He recorded five top-10 finishes in seven Senior Tour starts last year before getting off to a rocky start in 2002.
The Arizona native has not finished better than ninth in 14 starts this year and was lucky to play in this event, needing a birdie on the final hole of qualifying just to make it to a playoff.
Walter Hall led by a stroke after the second round and opened with three birdies, but shot a 1-over 72 and fell into a tie for second with Hall of Famer Tom Watson at 207. Watson also started his day with three birdies and settled for a 69.
Ed Dougherty (68) was fourth at 208, a stroke better than Tom Kite (73) and two ahead of Allen Doyle (71) and Isao Aoki of Japan (72).
In Memphis, Glen Hnatiuk of Canada extended his lead at the St. Jude Classic, shooting his second straight 6-under-par 65 for a four-stroke cushion after three rounds.
Hnatiuk began the day with a three-shot advantage, but offset two bogeys with eight birdies over the TPC at Southwind and finished with a 54-hole total of 18-under 195.
Hornish wins IRL race
RICHMOND, Va., June 30 (UPI) -- Sam Hornish Jr. dove to the inside and passed Gil de Ferran with 1 1/2 laps remaining Saturday night to win the IRL Sun Trust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway.
Hornish's fantastic pass came at the end of a crash-filled race and gave the defending IRL champion his third win of the season.
Driving a Dallara-Chevrolet, Hornish defeated de Ferran by 1.8323 seconds. Felipe Giaffone was third, followed by Tomas Scheckter, Al Unser Jr. and Airton Dare.
Mathis records two assists
FOXBORO, Mass., June 30 (UPI) -- Clint Mathis, making his first start since starring for Team USA at the World Cup, registered two assists Saturday to lead the MetroStars to a 2-0 blanking of the New England Revolution.
Mathis was making his first start for the MetroStars (6-6-2, 20 points) since April 27. The assists were his first two of the campaign.
The match was the first between the Eastern Conference rivals since they made the biggest trade in MLS history on May 24. The six players exchanged in the deal started Saturday's game for their respective teams.
One of the high-profile players who joined the MetroStars from the Revolution left his mark in the fifth minute. Beating the Revolution offside trap, forward Mamadou Diallo ran onto a brilliant 40-yard pass from Mathis.
The Senegalese forward moved unopposed into the penalty area and slotted the ball under goalkeeper Adin Brown, netting his seventh goal of 2002 and team-leading sixth since the deal.
Other MLS results: D.C. United 1, Los Angeles 0 in overtime; Dallas 1, Columbus 0 in overtime.
