Striker Christine Sinclair scored twice as Canada eliminated Ghana from the women's World Cup with a 4-0 victory yesterday.
Canada and Ghana both needed to win the Group C game after losing their first matches against Norway and Australia respectively.
Sinclair, 24, the captain, scored the first goal of the game with a superb header in the 16th minute as both sides battled for the upper hand.
PHOTO: AP
Ghana were unlucky not to go in at the break level at 1-1 when a Ghanaian attack ended with the ball crashing off Canada's cross bar after 45 minutes.
Captain Adjoa Bayor fired in a cross from the right and it was unclear whether Ghana's teenage striker Anitya Amankwa got a foot to it or whether it was a defender who sent the ball onto the bar.
Canada, who lost 2-1 to Norway in their opening game after running out of steam in the second half, were determined not to meet the same fate against Ghana, the lowest ranked team in the tournament.
After the break they tightened control of the game and midfielder Sophie Schmidt widened their lead after 55 minutes when she headed past keeper Memunata Sulemana from a miscued clearance.
Sinclair blasted home her second in the 62nd minute after Kara Lang rounded the defense and left her with an easy volley.
Poor goalkeeping by Sulemana gifted Martina Franko with Canada's fourth when she failed to collect a corner and Franko headed in the loose ball from close range.
The win gives Canada, who reached the last four of the 2003 World Cup, their first points and keeps them in contention for the next round.
Yesterday's other World Cup results: Australia 1, Norway 1 and Brazil 4, China 0.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Shahzad Khan was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
OBJECTIVE REACHED: ’Now for us, it’s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up,’ the Atlanta Hawks’ C.J. McCollum said after the game The Atlanta Hawks on Friday secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own. C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that would see the seventh-through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13
RSS