Olympics
Roundup: Iraqi soccer team stuns again

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Soccer

The resilient Iraqis are making the most of their return to the Olympics.

They defeated Costa Rica 2-0 last night in Athens in a men's game that was temporarily halted when jubilant fans ran onto the field. The Iraqis second straight victory put them in the quarterfinals, quite an achievement for a team that can't play games at home because of war.

Iraq was not expected to qualify for the Olympic tournament, much less open with victories against Portugal and Costa Rica. Its success in Athens has provided a rare bright spot for Iraqis.

"We're delighted by the victories because we know what it means to our people," Iraq coach Adnan Hamad said through an interpreter.

In the 67th minute, Hawar Mulla Mohammed slammed a bouncing ball into the net from 18 yards out to put Iraq ahead, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Mohammed jubilantly sprinted around the endline and up the sideline, where he was mobbed by teammates.

Within moments, a couple of Iraqi fans jumped out of the crowd to join the celebration. About two dozen others followed, running around the field. Police and security personnel took about three minutes to clear the field of fans and debris.

Shortly after the ensuing kickoff, Mohammed took the ball down the left side and crossed it to Mahdi Karim, who scored on a header — prompting several fans to storm the field again.

Softball

Lisa Fernandez allowed one hit and the Americans dominated Australia in Athens, blowing out the two-time bronze medalists 10-5 in a game called after five innings because the Aussies were too far behind.
 
After an eight-run fourth, Fernandez got three outs in the fifth to finish off Australia.

Weightlifting

Halil Mutlu of Turkey won his third consecutive gold medal while Udomporn Polsak's was her first and the first for a Thai female athlete.

Mutlu won at 123 pounds (56 kg) in Athens to join Turkish predecessor Naim Suleymanoglu and Greece's Pyrros Dimas and Khaki Kakiasvilis as three-time weightlifting gold medalists.

Basketball

Manu Ginobili's off-balance shot left his hand just a split-second before the final buzzer, dropping through the basket to give Argentina a thrilling 83-82 victory over Serbia-Montenegro in Athens. Ginobili, who plays for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, scored 27 points for Argentina.

Pau Gasol, who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Spain past Houston Rocket Yao Ming and China.

Tennis

Venus Williams overpowered Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-1, 6-2 in Athens, and Andy Roddick made his Olympic debut with a 6-3, 7-6 (6-4) victory over Flavio Saretta of Brazil.

Justine Henin-Hardenne beat Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4.

Cycling

Sara Carrigan sneaked past Judith Arndt in the final straightaway to win the gold medal in road race through downtown Athens. The Aussie finished in 3 hours, 24 minutes, 24 seconds.

Boxing

American welterweight Vanes Martirosyan battered Algeria's Benamar Meskine in a 45-20 victory in the preliminaries in Athens to earn a second-round match with Cuba's Lorenzo Aragon.

Water Polo

Tony Azevedo scored three goals, including the last-second clincher for the United States in Athens as the Americans beat Croatia 7-6.

The Americans called a time out with eight seconds left in regulation, then ran down the clock until Azevedo scored at the buzzer.

Beach Volleyball

Top-ranked American duo Misty May and Kerri Walsh, teammates for just the second time in two months, beat Japan's Chiaki Kusuhara and Ryoko Tokuno 21-9, 21-16 in pool play in Athens.

Fencing

Timea Nagy of Hungary successfully defended her Olympic epee title, beating France's Laura Flessel-Colovic 15-10 in Athens. American Kamara James lost her opening match to Tatiana Logounova of Russia 15-11.

Judo

Japan completed Day 2 of judo competition in Athens with a total of three gold medals.

Matato Uchishiba took Japan's third gold medal with a victory in the men's 145 pounds (66 kg). Yuki Yokosawa failed to make it a four-gold sweep with a loss to China's Xian Dongmei in the women's 114 pounds (52 kg).

Baseball

Gold-medal favorite Cuba beat Australia 4-1 in Athens. Adiel Palma pitched eight shutout innings to pick up the win, giving up just two hits.

Japan's 12-0 rout of Italy was halted after seven innings because of the mercy rule.

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