Finish line: Beckham carded in 100th cap for England

The Rocky

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Janek Skarzynski / Afp/Getty Images

U.S. handles Poland Oguchi Onyewu, left, keeps pace with Poland's Pawel Brozek during the Americans' 3-0 victory in an exhibition match Wednesday night in Krakow, Poland. Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra each scored first-half goals, both set up by Landon Donovan, who made his 99th international appearance.

David Beckham got a yellow card in his 100th international game for England and was taken off in the 62nd minute of his team's 1-0 loss at France.

Despite speculation the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder would be on the bench, England coach Fabio Capello placed him in the starting lineup for Wednesday's exhibition match at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.

"I was happy to start the game, but it was more about getting on the pitch, getting that 100th cap," said Beckham, who didn't have a shot on goal, made little impression with his trademark long passes and spent much of his time covering for right back Wes Brown.

U.S. TO MEET BARBADOS Barbados beat Dominica 1-0 in World Cup qualifying and moved into a second-round matchup with the United States in June.

FIRM AFTER GORDON'S LOGOS A security software firm wants Robby Gordon to remove its logos from his uniforms and equipment as part of a contract dispute that began when the Dakar Rally was canceled because of terrorism threats.

Vanguard Integrity Professionals went public with the dispute because it wants Gordon to immediately cease using its logos in his NASCAR ventures and claims the driver was only authorized to promote Vanguard outside the United States.

BRAUN FIRED California fired basketball coach Ben Braun after another disappointing season in which the Golden Bears missed the NCAA Tournament.

Braun spent 12 years at California and made the tournament five times but only once in the last five seasons.

* Kevin O'Neill said he expects to return to Lute Olson's Arizona staff and succeed the Hall of Famer when he retires.

* Alabama forward Richard Hendrix has decided to enter the NBA draft but is leaving the door open to return for his senior season by not hiring an agent.

BOREN EXPLAINS DEPARTURE Offensive lineman Justin Boren says he has left the Michigan football team because the program's "family values have eroded." The 6-foot-3, 310-pounder would have been one of two returning starters on the offensive line next season and the Wolverines' most experienced lineman.

CHIA WINS BRITISH QUALIFIER Danny Chia of Malaysia shot his second straight 3-under-par 69 to win a British Open qualifying tournament in Singapore.

Chia, who finished with a 6-under 138 two-day total, booked his second British Open appearance, qualifying with Adam Blyth of Australia, Lam Chih Bing of Singapore and Angelo Que of the Philippines.

ECHEVERRY JOINS RED BULLS Colombian forward Oscar Echeverry signed with the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer.

CONTADOR ON SIDELINE Tour de France champion Alberto Contador won't be eligible to compete in cycling's showcase event until 2009. Tour organizer Patrice Clerc said he won't rescind the decision to ban Contador's Astana team from this year's race. But he said Astana can return in 2009 if it stays free of doping scandals this year.

CYCLING BANS TWO Former world champion Rob Hayles of Britain and Dutch rider Pim Ligthart were banned from the track cycling world championships in England after "anomalies" were found in their blood tests.

ALINGHI GOING TO COURT Alinghi of Switzerland is heading back to court to settle a dispute over the date of its America's Cup showdown with BMW Oracle Racing.

The Swiss-based Alinghi wants to race from May 1, 2009, while the Americans wouldn't budge from their October date.

Also Wednesday, Team New Zealand, which is suing Alinghi, said the Swiss should forfeit the America's Cup in order to get the competition back to normal.

CARNEVALE DIES Ben Carnevale, the longtime Navy basketball coach who later headed the U.S. Olympic Basketball Committee, has died. He was 92.

ARAGON DIES Art Aragon, boxing's original "Golden Boy," who never won a world title but whose brashness, good looks and celebrity lifestyle made him one of the sport's biggest drawing cards of the 1940s and 1950s, has died at age 80.