RUSTENBURG, South Africa — Outplayed by Italy and Brazil, the U.S. men’s soccer team once again was on the verge of first-round elimination from a big international tournament.
To reach the semifinals of the Confederations Cup, the Americans needed to beat Egypt on Sunday by at least three goals and have the Italians lose to Brazil by at least three.
Astronomical odds, right? Well, that’s exactly what happened.
Charlie Davies scored in the 21st minute, Michael Bradley added a goal in the 63rd and Clint Dempsey broke a nine-month international scoreless streak in the 71st, giving the United States an improbable 3-0 victory Sunday.
And in a game played simultaneously, Brazil defeated Italy 3-0.
The U.S. has a semifinal matchup Wednesday with Spain, the world’s top-ranked team.
Franchitti triumphs in Iowa
NEWTON, Iowa — Dario Franchitti took the lead with 50 laps to go and cruised to victory in the Iowa Corn Indy 250, earning his second win in two trips to Iowa Speedway.
Franchitti beat Indy Racing League season leader Ryan Briscoe by just more than five seconds to move into second place in the season standings. Pole-sitter Helio Castroneves placed seventh.
• Sebastian Vettel cruised to victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, England, finishing with a 15.1-second advantage over Red Bull Racing teammate Mark Webber in the Formula One event.
Cancellara rallies for Tour title
BERN, Switzerland — Fabian Cancellara won the Tour de Suisse cycling race after a convincing victory in the race’s final stage.
Cancellara beat Tony Martin of Germany in the 24-mile time trial and finished 2 minutes, 2 seconds ahead of Martin in the overall standings. Defending champion Roman Kreuziger of the Czech Republic was third overall.
• Lance Armstrong won the Nevada City Classic, a one-day race in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Footnotes.
Michael Phelps won the 100-meter freestyle at the Canada Cup swimming meet in Montreal with a time of 48.65 seconds. • Former University of Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet canceled a predraft workout with the Grizzlies, citing a shoulder injury.
• Jason Enloe won the Nationwide Tour’s Fort Smith Classic in Fort Smith, Ark., with a putt for par on the first hole of a playoff with Chris Tidland.
• Lauren Jackson scored 25 points as the visiting Seattle Storm ended the Phoenix Mercury’s three-game WNBA winning streak with a 93-84 victory.
• Vanessa Hayden had 12 points and eight rebounds to lead the host Los Angeles Sparks to a 67-47 victory over the Sacramento Monarchs.
• Shameka Christon scored 17 points as the New York Liberty beat the host Atlanta Dream 93-81.
• Asjha Jones had 19 points to help the Connecticut Sun beat the visiting San Antonio Silver Stars 71-58.
• Katie Douglas had 23 points as the host Indiana Fever beat the Detroit Shock 82-70.
