Briefs | U.S. under-23 team loses in CONCACAF final

Soccer

Honduras wins matchup of teams headed to Olympics: Honduras beat the U.S. men 1-0 in overtime in Sunday's CONCACAF Under-23 Championship final before 12,663 at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn.

Georgie Wilson Welcome scored in the 103rd minute, late in the first of two 15-minute overtime periods.

Although the U.S. team finished second in the tournament, its players noted they reached their goal of advancing to this year's Beijing Olympics.

"No one likes to lose," U.S. forward Jozy Altidore said. "But at the end of the day, you have to look at the bigger picture. We have so many bigger things ahead of us."

The U.S team and Honduras earned Olympic berths by winning semifinal matches against Canada and Guatemala, respectively, on Thursday.

Ching is on U.S. roster: Forward Brian Ching, a former Gonzaga and Seattle Sounders standout who plays for the Major League Soccer champion Houston Dynamo, is among 18 players on the U.S. roster for Wednesday's exhibition match at Poland.

Ching, 29, hasn't played for the national team since a June 24 victory over Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final. Ching, bothered by a strained calf muscle in his left leg, missed Houston's 2-1 MLS Cup final win over New England in November. He has played 25 matches for the U.S. team.

Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, 35, a former Seattle Pacific and Sounders standout who plays for Reading in England, also is on the U.S. roster.

Manchester United blanks Liverpool: Defending champion Manchester United increased its lead in the English Premier League to five points, and Chelsea emerged as the main threat in this season's title chase.

Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-0 to improve to 73 points, and Chelsea took over second place with 68 points by rallying to beat Arsenal 2-1.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 34th goal of the season, and Wes Brown and Nani added the others for Man U. Liverpool played the second half with 10 men; Javier Mascherano was sent off for getting a second yellow card.

Meanwhile, Didier Drogba scored for Chelsea in the 73rd and 82nd minutes. Bacary Sagna had given Arsenal the lead in the 59th minute.

Tennis

Djokovic, Ivanovic triumph in Indian Wells: Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic, 20-year-old Serbs who have established themselves among the world's elite players, won Pacific Life Open titles in Indian Wells, Calif.

Djokovic, last year's runner-up, ended American Mardy Fish's string of upsets with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory. Ivanovic cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women's championship match.

Swimming

Bernard continues to rule the pool: Three days, three world records.

Alain Bernard of France set a world mark in the 50-meter freestyle, after twice lowering the 100-free record in the previous two days at the European championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

Bernard finished in 21.50 seconds to surpass the record of 21.56 set last month by Eamon Sullivan of Australia.

Meanwhile, Sophie Edington lowered a day-old world record in the women's 50 backstroke at the Australian championships and Olympic trials.

Edington finished in 27.67 seconds to surpass the mark of 27.95 set by Australian teammate Emily Seebohm in the semifinals in Sydney.

Skiing

Cook, Francis prevail: Battling gusting, swirling winds, Stacey Cook of Mammoth, Calif., and Kevin Francis of Bend, Ore., claimed super-giant-slalom titles at the U.S. Alpine Championships in Carrabassett Valley, Maine.

Cook won in 1 minute, 15 seconds and earned her second U.S. title. Leanne Smith of Conway, N.H., was second in 1:15.05. Lindsey Vonn, the World Cup overall champ, was fourth.

Francis, who earned his first U.S. title, won in 1:19.62. Bryon Friedman of Park City, Utah, was second in 1:19.73.

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