Briefs | Soccer: France, Greece among 6 countries to qualify for World Cup

Soccer

France, Greece qualify for World Cup: France qualified for its fourth consecutive World Cup when officials missed an obvious hand ball by Thierry Henry that led to William Gallas' overtime goal in a 1-1 tie against Ireland on Wednesday night.

Greece, Slovenia, Portugal, Algeria and Uruguay also advanced to next year's tournament on the final day of qualifying, completing the field next year in South Africa .

The 32 nations will be drawn into eight groups on Dec. 4 in Cape Town, and the first World Cup on the African continent opens June 11.

U.S. loses to Denmark in final match of 2009: The United States wasted an early goal by Jeff Cunningham and lost a World Cup warmup 3-1 to Denmark in Aarhus, the final match of 2009 for the American men.

Johan Absalonsen, Soren Rieks and Martin Bernburg beat goalkeeper Brad Guzan during the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Danes took advantage of a porous U.S. defense.

D.C. United keeper has surgery: D.C. United goalkeeper Josh Wicks is recovering from surgery on his right knee, his second operation in less than three weeks. Wicks had shoulder surgery Oct. 29. His recovery time is four to six months.

Olympics

Ramzi stripped of 1,500-meter gold medal: Fifteen months after the Beijing Olympics, Bahraini middle-distance runner Rashid Ramzi was stripped of his 1,500-meter gold medal and four other athletes were disqualified because of doping at the Games.

The International Olympic Committee took action against the five athletes who tested positive in April in retroactive tests for CERA, an advanced version of the blood-boosting drug EPO.

The Moroccan-born Ramzi was the only gold medalist from Beijing caught using performance-enhancing drugs. He had given Bahrain its first Olympic track gold medal by winning the 1,500, one of the most prestigious events in the sport.

The athletes' samples were collected and tested at the Beijing Games in August 2008. They tested negative at the time, but the IOC reanalyzed the samples this year when a fully validated test for CERA became available.

Crosby runs with Olympic torch: Sidney Crosby lifted the Stanley Cup in June, and now he is carrying the Olympic torch in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Hundreds of people lined a downtown street to watch the captain of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins with the flame.

Golf

Haskins leads Champions Tour Q-school: Steve Haskins shot a bogey-free 6-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead over Curt Byrum, Jim Roy, Peter Senior, John Ross and Terry Burke after the second round of the Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. Haskins, the 51-year-old son of late Hall of Fame basketball coach Don Haskins, had an 11-under 131 total on TPC Scottsdale's Champions Course.

LPGA has 24-event schedule: The LPGA Tour has announced a 2010 schedule that has 24 tournaments — 13 of them in the United States — to give the tour its smallest schedule in 40 years.

The LPGA Championship, the oldest among the four majors, will be merged with an existing tournament outside Rochester, N.Y., with grocery chain Wegmans serving as a presenting sponsor.

Auto racing

Ganassi hires McMurray to drive No. 1: Jamie McMurray has been hired to drive the No. 1 Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

The hiring has long been in the works and gives one of the last remaining open seats for 2010 to McMurray. It also reunites McMurray with car owner Chip Ganassi, who gave the driver his first Cup ride in 2002.

Button teams up with Hamilton at McLaren: Formula One champion Jenson Button signed with McLaren to partner with Lewis Hamilton, giving the English team a potent lineup for next season featuring the most recent title holders.

NCAA

College athletes outperforming others in classroom: The NCAA's latest graduation numbers show nearly four out of five student-athletes earn their diplomas on time, an all-time high, and federal statistics show athletes are still more likely to graduate on time than other students.

Track and field

IAAF: Semenya still undergoing gender tests: Gender tests on South African world champion runner Caster Semenya have not been completed, the International Association of Athletics Federations said.

NHL

Capitals' Laing has broken jaw: The Washington Capitals expect left wing Quintin Laing to miss up to six weeks with a broken jaw, while left wing Alexander Semin is questionable with a right-wrist injury.

Cycling

Cycling aims for gender equality: Cycling's governing body will deliver proposals to the IOC for a track race program at the 2012 London Olympics that offers equal gold-medal opportunities for men and women. In Beijing there were seven events for men and three for women.

Tennis

Belgian players appeal bans: Belgian players Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse have asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn their one-year bans for missing drug tests.

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