MANAUS, Brazil -- With Cristiano Ronaldo on the field, a one-goal lead is never safe.
Brian Sutter Blues Jersey . The world player of the year rarely sparkled on a hot and humid night in the jungle, but his
inch-perfect stoppage-time cross set up Varela for the equalizing goal Sunday in
Portugals 2-2 draw against the United States at the World Cup. The Real Madrid
winger, who has been playing despite a left knee injury, showed flashes of his
best, but his impact was minimal until the final seconds of the match. He curled
the ball in to a diving Varela, who headed past Tim Howard to give the
Portuguese team a slim hope of advancing to the second round and deny the
Americans instant advancement. "He made a great cross," said Howard, Ronaldos
former teammate from their days at Manchester United. "Footballs cruel
sometimes." The United States now has four points in Group G, the same as
Germany. Both Portugal and Ghana have one point. The Americans will face Germany
on Thursday in Recife, while Portugal takes on Ghana at the same time in
Brasilia. "Obviously were disappointed, but at the end of the day youve got to
look at the positives, we got a point," said United States captain Clint
Dempsey, who scored to give the Americans a 2-1 lead in the 81st. "Its going
down to the last game and hopefully we get the job done." Nani scored first for
Portugal, shooting past a sprawling Howard in the fifth minute. But the
Americans responded in the second half as Portugal seemed to wilt in the
stifling heat. Jermaine Jones made it 1-1 with a curling shot in the 64th after
a cross from Graham Zusi made its way through the Portugal defence. And Dempsey,
playing with a broken nose, then put the Americans ahead, using his stomach to
direct the ball into the net from a cross by Zusi. "Now we have to go out and
beat Germany, thats what we have to do," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. "We
have to play Germany, we have one less day to recover, we played in the Amazon,
they played on a place with less travel. We have to do it the tough way."
Dempseys goal was his fourth at a World Cup and second at this years tournament.
Jones scored his third goal for the United States national team and first in
almost two years. It was all Portugal for much of the first half, with Ronaldo
in the starting lineup but getting less involved as the match progressed. The
Americans, however, started to get more and more chances and even had a shot
from Michael Bradley cleared off the line by Ricardo Costa in the 55th. "There
didnt seem to be any problem with Cristiano Ronaldo," Portugal coach Paulo Bento
said. "What happened during the game has something to do with our other
players." The heat in the Amazon rainforest, however, seemed to slow the
Portuguese as the match wore on. In the 39th minute, referee Nestor Pitana of
Argentina called for a cooling break, the first such decision to be taken at
this World Cup. At the start of the match, FIFA listed the temperature at 30
degrees C (86 degrees F) with 66 per cent humidity. FIFA uses the "Wet Bulb
Globe Temperature" to determine when official cooling breaks should be added,
and says the WGBT must be above 32 degrees C (90 degrees F) for them to be
considered. The breaks are supposed to occur in the 30th and 75th minutes. There
was no break in the second half, but that didnt stop Ronaldo from creating the
final goal. "It was a thriller," Klinsmann said. "Everybody who had a chance to
be today in Manaus will talk about this game for a long time." ------ Lineups
United States: Tim Howard; Fabian Johnson, Geoff Cameron, Matt Besler, DaMarcus
Beasley; Kyle Beckerman, Jermaine Jones, Alejandro Bedoya (DeAndre Yedlin, 72),
Michael Bradley, Graham Zusi (Omar Gonzalez, 90); Clint Dempsey (Chris
Wondolowski, 87). Portugal: Beto; Andre Almeida (William Carvalho, 46), Ricardo
Costa, Bruno Alves, Joao Pereira; Miguel Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Raul Meireles
(Varela, 69th), Nani, Cristiano Ronaldo; Helder Postiga (Eder, 16th).
Jaden Schwartz Blues Jersey . The 41-year-old Northern Irishman has proved a perfect fit at Liverpool since taking over from
Kenny Dalglish in the summer of 2012 and steered the team to an unexpected title
challenge in the Premier League last season.
Alexander Steen Jersey . -- John Fox will coach the Denver Broncos from the sideline and not the booth upon his return
Sunday five weeks after heart surgery.SAN DIEGO -- Bronson Arroyo figures the
Arizona Diamondbacks rotten start has got to turn around at some point. "I mean,
I dont think well play 9-22 every 31 games," Arroyo said after he and two
relievers combined to hold the punchless San Diego Padres to three hits in a 2-0
victory Friday night in a matchup of the bottom two teams in the NL West.
Aaron Hill provided Arroyo with all the backing he needed with a two-run single
off Andrew Cashner in the third inning. "We put ourselves in a huge hole,
especially in this division with two teams that are pretty potent, so its going
to be a long season no matter how you cut it because were going to fighting
uphill the whole way," Arroyo said. "Who knows where its going to end up." The
Diamondbacks finally hit double digits in wins, but still have the worst record
in the majors -- 10-22. They came in with the worst ERA, 5.20. The Padres came
with a .217 batting average, worst in the NL and second-worst in the majors. It
was the first shutout for the Diamondbacks. The Padres were shut out for the
fifth time, tying them with Atlanta for the big league lead. But the 37-year-old
Arroyo, in his 15th big league season, was sharp. Arroyo (2-2) allowed three
singles in seven innings, struck out six and walked one. He is 4-0 with a 1.54
ERA in his last five starts against San Diego. He didnt allow a hit until
Yonder Alonso singled to right with one out in the fifth. Until then, the only
baserunner was leadoff batter Everth Cabrera, who reached in the first when
Arroyo couldnt handle a chopper for an error. Arroyo then proceeded to get 13
straight outs, including when Seth Smith grounded into an inning-ending double
play in the first. "They ran a lot of lefties at me as usual and I got the
chance to take advantage of their aggressiveness in the outer half," Arroyo
said. "They hit a lot of ground balls to second base. I had a little more zip
tonight. I felt a little bit better. It makes a difference for me when I can get
the ball up there 88, 89. Once in a while, makee them respect some of my other
stuff a bit more.
Tony Twist Jersey. " Padres starter Andrew Cashner had a bad third inning. He loaded the bases on a single and two
walks, and then allowed Hills two-run single to left with two outs. "It was nice
to have a smooth one from front to back," Arroyo said. "Get a couple of runs off
a tough pitcher and be able to hold the lead was definitely the way you want to
start a road trip." Arizonas Kirk Gibson, who won his 300th game as manager,
said Arroyo "has been trending toward throwing the ball better and better, and
it was the best stuff hes had all year tonight. We saw it from all arm slots;
keeping the ball down when he wanted the ball down. I think he hit 90 mph one
time." Padres manager Bud Black said Arroyo "has been doing it for a long time.
He got back to the form that made him tough." San Diegos Alexi Amarista reached
third with two outs in the fifth before being stranded when rookie Jace Peterson
grounded out. The Padres had runners on the corners with two outs in the seventh
before Peterson again grounded out. Addison Reed pitched the ninth for his
seventh save in eight chances. Cashner (2-4) allowed two runs and four hits in
six innings, struck out one and walked three. "I didnt think I did a very good
job of a lot of stuff," Cashner said. "But I felt like I kept the team in the
game, gave us a chance to win. The spot with the bases loaded, I cant hang a
slider." NOTES: Arizonas Ender Inciarte, recalled from Triple-A on Wednesday,
singled to left in the ninth for his first big league hit. He made his first
start, in CF. ... Padres LF Carlos Quentin, who started the season on the
disabled list with a bone bruise in his left knee, is scheduled to begin a rehab
assignment Saturday for Class AA Lake Elsinore at Inland Empire. RHP
Casey Kelly, who missed all of last season while rehabbing from reconstructive
elbow surgery, will start that game as he also begins a rehab assignment. It
will be his first competition since 2012.
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