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Sports Briefs

■ Athletics
Bob Mathias dies
Bob Mathias, a two-time Olympic champion in the decathlon and former US congressman, died on Saturday. He was 75. The US Olympic Committee said in a statement that Mathias died in his home. His brother said the cause was cancer. Mathias became the youngest Olympic gold medalist in athletics in 1948 in London, when he won the decathlon at 17. It was only his third decathlon, having qualified for the Olympics by winning two events in the US. At the 1952 Helsinki Games, he became the first athlete to repeat as Olympic champion in the decathlon. Though the Washington Redskins drafted him to play in the American football league, he never signed. Mathias also won the 1948 Sullivan Award as America's top amateur athlete. "He just had a lot of natural ability in everything he did," Eugene Mathias said.

■ Soccer
Cruzeiro signs Andre Luis
Cruzeiro has signed Brazilian defender Andre Luis on a three-year deal from Portugal's Benfica. Andre Luis will replace Edu Dracena, who last week left Cruzeiro for a four-year contract with Turkey's Fenerbahce, Cruzeiro said on its Web site. "I'm very thankful to be in a club like Cruzeiro," Andre Luis said. "It's a great responsibility to wear this jersey, you need a lot of dedication." The 27-year-old player, twice summoned for Brazil's national team, previously played for Santos, Fluminense and France's Olympique Marseille. He belonged to Benfica but played last season for Marseille on a loan.

■ Soccer
Angola favored to host ANC
Angola are regarded as slight favorites to win hosting rights for the 2010 African Nations Cup finals when the Confederation of African Football convene to make their decision in Cairo today. Angola, surprise qualifiers for this year's World Cup finals in Germany, are seeking to become the first Portuguese-speaking country to host Africa's biennial championship. The first-time finalists in Germany face stiff competition, however, from Libya, Nigeria and a joint bid from Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

■ Cycling
Ullrich tired of rumors
Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich said he is tired of reading inaccurate "rumors" about himself stemming from his alleged link to the Spanish doping scandal. "Hardly a day goes by without the media publishing some speculation about me," Ullrich wrote Saturday in a statement on his Web site. The 1997 Tour champion was banned from competing in this year's race and later fired by his T-Mobile team after a Spanish police investigation alleged that he was given EPO and other banned substances by Spanish sports doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. "As you know I've made a conscious decision not to comment on many inaccurate articles in detail. Otherwise, I'd spend the whole day rectifying facts," Ullrich said.

■ Swimming
Germany wins 3 golds
Germany won its third gold medal of the Open Water Swimming Championships on Saturday with Angela Maurer triumphing in the women's 25km race. Maurer swam through the Bay of Naples in six hours, 22 minutes, 46.9 seconds, beating Russia's Natalia Pankina by just under a second. Another Russian, Ksenia Popova, was third. Germany was looking forward to a chance to claim its fourth gold medal yesterday when two-time winner Thomas Lurz was due to compete in the men's 25km race.

■ Soccer
Nigeria overcomes Niger
Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Christian Obodo scored a goal each on Saturday to lead Nigeria over Niger in an African Cup of Nations qualifying match. Aiyegbeni scored the opening goal in the 27th minute, but the Super Eagles didn't do much else in the first half. Obodo added the second in the 60th minute. Nigeria midfielder Mikel John Obi and striker Nwankwo Kanu came on in the second half. Niger finished the match with 10 men after Osaze Odemwingie was red-carded for a hard foul. Uganda and Lesotho are also in the group.

■ Soccer
South Africa, Congo draw
South Africa drew 0-0 with visiting Republic of Congo on Saturday in a qualifying match for the 2008 African Cup of Nations. The hosts, playing under coach Pitso Mosimane until Carlos Alberto Parreira takes over, dominated their Group 11 opponent throughout and Congo only had two shots on goal -- in the 80th and 81st minutes. South Africa had occasional opportunities but never looked likely to do score against an organized defense. The best opportunity fell to Dillon Sheppard in the 53rd minute, but his long-range shot was saved. Parreira led Brazil to its fourth World Cup title in 1994. South Africa will host the 2010 tournament.

■ Soccer
US, Spanish `Reals' tie up
Real Salt Lake and Real Madrid reached a 10-year agreement that includes the joint training of young players and games between the US and Spanish clubs every other year. Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts announced the deal on Friday. He has been trying to get an agreement in place since naming his team for the European club two years ago. Madrid visited Salt Lake City last month and beat the US club 2-0 in a friendly. Madrid will return to Utah in 2008, when Salt Lake hopes to be in its new stadium in the city of Sandy. Real Madrid will also help build a soccer academy in Salt Lake City for up to 200 players. Salt Lake will send players each February to train at Real Madrid's facilities.

■ Golf
Langer, Woosnam don't talk
Europe's former Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer said on Saturday that present skipper Ian Woosnam had not sought his advice about the match against the US at the K Club in Ireland later this month. Asked if he was surprised, Langer told reporters at the BMW International Open: "Maybe, a little bit, Ian should have been asking my advice, but we haven't talked. If that's how Woosie wants to do it, that's fine," he added at the final event for Europeans to qualify for the team. "Tom Lehman [has] talked to me four, five, six times, asked me a few questions about this and that," Langer said of the US team's captain. "We're friends. But I'm friends with Woosie, too. Even when I did see him, we didn't talk Ryder Cup."

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