CHICAGO — Carlos Bocanegra scored on a diving header off Landon Donovan‘s corner kick in the 68th minute, and the United States rallied to beat Honduras 2-1 in a World Cup soccer qualifier Saturday.
Coming off a 3-1 loss at Costa Rica on Wednesday, the U.S. fell behind when Carlos Costly scored in the fifth minute after a terrible giveaway by Clint Dempsey.
Donovan, the best U.S. player throughout the match, tied the score with a penalty kick in the 43rd minute after a handball.
• Eliseo Quintanilla scored on a penalty kick in the 85th minute to lift host El Salvador to a critical 2-1 victory over Mexico in a World Cup qualifier.
The result gives El Salvador some hope of reaching next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa, while plunging Mexico into a deeper hole.
• The Netherlands, Japan, Australia and South Korea became the first nations to qualify for the World Cup, joining host South Africa in the 32-nation field.
Sparks swamp Shock
LOS ANGELES — Lisa Leslie and the Los Angeles Sparks were as good as advertised.
Tina Thompson had 18 points, and Betty Lennox added 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Sparks easily defeated the defending WNBA champion Detroit Shock 78-58 in the league’s season opener.
Leslie had an off game, scoring just six points, but Lennox, the 2004 Finals MVP, and Thompson were catalysts in two 11-plus-point runs.
• Rookie Marissa Coleman scored 16 points as the Washington Mystics defeated the Connecticut Sun 82-70.
• Lauren Jackson scored 23 points and Tanisha Wright added 21 to help the Seattle Storm beat the Sacramento Monarchs 71-61.
• Seimone Augustus scored 23 points and Candice Wiggins added 20 as the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Chicago Sky 102-85.
• Chamique Holdsclaw scored 23 points in her first game in two years to lead the Atlanta Dream to an 87-86 double-overtime victory over the Indiana Fever.
• Diana Taurasi scored 25 points and Cappie Pondexter added 23 as the Phoenix Mercury rallied to beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 90-79.
Chagaev will fight Klitschko
FRANKFURT — Ruslan Chagaev will replace David Haye as Wladimir Klitschko‘s opponent in a heavyweight title bout June 20.
Haye bowed out of the fight Wednesday, saying he had injured his back in training, and said he wanted to push the date back to July.
• George Foreman III, the son of the two-time world heavyweight champion, won his professional debut, stopping Clyde Weaver at 1:16 of the first round in Kinder, La.
Footnotes.
The NCAA met with Memphis officials to discuss major violations, and the school must wait at least six weeks for a ruling on whether its 38 men’s basketball wins from the 2007-08 season will count.
• Jim Owens, who played football at Oklahoma for Bud Wilkinson and coached Washington for 18 seasons, died at his home in Bigfork, Mont. He was 82.
The Associated Press
