U.S. women bring new approach to World Cup
The American women's soccer team hasn't looked the same since Pia Sundhage got her hands on it. After years of getting the ball to their forwards and letting them overwhelm defenses with their superior athleticism, Sundhage has injected a little European flair into the U.S. offense.
The American women's soccer team hasn't looked the same since Pia Sundhage got her hands on it.
After years of getting the ball to their forwards and letting them overwhelm defenses with their superior athleticism, Sundhage has injected a little European flair into the U.S. offense.
"I was always saying the States played a little too direct," said Sundhage, a Swede who is the first foreign coach the U.S. women have had.
When the two-time World Cup champions play Colombia today, fans will see a possession-based offense. Instead of relying on the forwards to begin the attack, Sundhage wants the offense to develop in the midfield.
In matches yesterday:
* Homare Sawa scored the women's World Cup's first hat trick to lead Japan over Mexico, 4-0. Also, England midfielder Jill Scott had a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win over New Zealand.
Golf
* James Morrison shot a 5-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the PGA European Tour's French Open.
* John Cook and John Huston shot 9-under 63s to match the course record and share the first-round lead in the Champions Tour's Montreal Championship in Blainville, Quebec.
Rowing
* Malvern Prep's quad team reached the quarterfinals in the Fawley Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta in England, but Philadelphia's University Barge Club lost in the quarterfinals of the Thames Cup; Sam Frucke-Cunningham and Mike Nucci from Philadelphia's Malta Boat Club lost in double sculls, and Harvard beat Penn Athletic Club in the Ladies' Plate.
Colleges
* Texas wide receiver Marquise Goodwin will redshirt the 2011 season to concentrate on track after qualifying for the World Championships in the long jump.
* Notre Dame will pay a $42,000 fine for six safety violations, make an undisclosed contribution to a memorial for Declan Sullivan, a student videographer who died at football practice last October, and start a campaign on the hazards of scissor lifts as part of a settlement with the state of Indiana. Sullivan died when the scissor lift he was on blew over in high winds.
* Miami center Reggie Johnson is expected to miss the start of the basketball season after surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. *