Briefs | Soccer: Galaxy's Landon Donovan, on loan, joins German team

Soccer

Donovan, who led MLS in goals, is with Bayern Munich: Landon Donovan, a forward for the Los Angeles Galaxy who led Major League Soccer with 20 goals last year, joined famed German team Bayern Munich on loan Monday.

Bayern Munich competes in the Bundesliga, Germany's top league. Donovan, 26, is scheduled to return to the Galaxy on March 8, two weeks before the team plays its MLS opener against D.C. United.

Donovan is a five-time U.S. player of the year.

"The lad's fired up and wants to prove himself, which I find amazing," Bayern Munich manager Jurgen Klinsmann said.

Donovan had a 10-day trial with Bayern Munich in November and that led to the loan. Bayern Munich's Web site said that in March "a decision will be made as to whether he returns to Los Angeles Galaxy or extends his stay in Germany."

Klinsmann said he expects to give Donovan playing time.

England superstar David Beckham, who also plays for the Galaxy, is on loan to AC Milan of Italy and is expected to play in an exhibition match against Hamburg of Germany today in the United Arab Emirates.

Hockey

Canada beats Sweden 5-1 in final: Canada won the IIHF world-junior championship for the fifth time in a row, beating Sweden 5-1 in the gold-medal game in Ottawa.

Cody Hodgson scored twice for Canada. Goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who plays for the Western Hockey League Spokane Chiefs, made 39 saves.

Defenseman Thomas Hickey of the WHL Seattle Thunderbirds also played for Canada.

Sundin might make Canucks' debut this week: The Vancouver Canucks cleared room for forward Mats Sundin to join the lineup this week, sending forward Jannik Hansen to Manitoba of the American Hockey League.

Sundin, who signed as a free agent Dec. 18 and joined the team Dec. 30, had his first full practice on Monday. He said he would travel with the Canucks to Wednesday's game at Edmonton, but there was no word if the longtime Toronto captain would play. Sundin, 37, has scored 555 NHL goals.

Tennis

Slovakia defeats U.S. in Hopman Cup: Dominik Hrbaty defeated James Blake 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1) to lead Slovakia to victory over the defending champion United States in Group A at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia.

Hrbaty gave Slovakia a winning 2-0 edge after teammate Dominika Cibulkova beat Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2, 6-2 in the opening women's singles match. Hrbaty and Cibulkova defeated Shaughnessy and Blake 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in mixed doubles to complete a sweep.

Roddick advances: Fourth-seeded Andy Roddick of the United States moved into the second round of the Qatar Open in Doha with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Ivan Navarro of Spain.

Motor sports

Al Attiyah wins Dakar Rally's third stage: Qatar's Nasser Al Attiyah won the third stage of the Dakar Rally, beating Spain's Carlos Sainz — a former world rally champion who is the overall leader.

Al Attiyah, who also won the rally's first stage, finished the 342-mile ride from Puerto Madryn to Ingeniero Jacobacci in Argentina in his BMW in 4 hours, 29 minutes, 27 seconds.

Sainz was 35 seconds behind, but the Volkswagen driver has a 3-minute, 40-second overall lead on Al Attiyah.

The rally is being held in South America for the first time, after being canceled in 2008 because of the threat of terrorist attacks along its traditional route through Africa.

Horse racing

Santa Anita breakdowns: Santa Anita officials have started an urgent inspection and evaluation of the synthetic Pro-Ride surface after five breakdowns of horses, including three fatalities, since the Dec. 26 start of the winter season at the Arcadia, Calif., track.

"We were absolutely surprised," track spokesman Mike Willman said.

Figure skating

Staviski gets 2 ½-year sentence: A court in Bulgaria sentenced world ice-dancing champion Maxim Staviski, 31, to 2 ½ years in prison for a fatal drunk-driving accident. He was ordered to pay $187,200 in compensation.

Staviski was found guilty of crashing his car into an oncoming vehicle in 2007. A 23-year-old man died and an 18-year-old woman was severely injured in the wreck. Police records showed Staviski's blood-alcohol level was more than double the legal limit.

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