Americans win, advance to semis
Northern Ireland gets rare major win
SEATTLE — Clint Dempsey scored for the third straight match on a first-half header (22nd minute) and set up Gyasi Zardes for a tap-in goal midway through the second half (65th), boosting the United States into the Copa América semifinals with a 2-1 win over Ecuador on Thursday night.
Playing in the soccer-mad Pacific Northwest, the U.S. won a knockout game against a nation outside its region for only the second time and will play Argentina or Venezuela on Tuesday in Houston.
American midfielder Jermaine Jones and Ecuador winger Antonio Valencia were both ejected early in the second half. Jones will be suspended for the semifinal along with U.S. midfielder Alejandro Bedoya and Bobby Wood, who both got their second yellow cards of the tournament.
NORTHERN IRELAND: In Lyon, France, Northern Ireland won its first game at the European Championship on Thursday, a 2-0 victory over Ukraine that helped to eliminate its opponent.
Building on a strong finish to the first half, Northern Ireland center back Gareth McAuley put his team ahead with a header from an Oliver Norwood free kick in the 49th minute. Substitute Niall McGinn added the second deep in stoppage time when Ukraine was chasing an equalizer.
The victory is Northern Ireland’s first since beating host Spain in the 1982 World Cup. It also means the team has a good chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of Euro 2016.
“It has been a long time,” the 36-year-old McAuley said. “We talked about leaving a legacy from this tournament.”
Northern Ireland’s next Group C game is against world champion Germany on Tuesday at the Parc des Princes in Paris. RUSSIAN FANS: After a week of violence at the European Championship, France sentenced three Russian fans to prison and planned to deport 20 others next week for their role in the violence in Marseille that marred Russia’s match against England.
Among the three Russians given prison terms is Alexei Erunov, the director for fan relations at leading Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow. He was sentenced to two years.
GERMANY-POLAND: In Saint-Denis, France, Germany and Poland played out the first goal-less draw of the European Championship on Thursday in a dour match at the Stade de France.
A glaring miss was fittingly the key moment of a Group C match that led to Ukraine becoming the first team to be eliminated from Euro 2016.
Arkadiusz Milik, who scored Poland’s winner against Northern Ireland on Sunday, miscued a header as he fell to his knees in Germany’s goalmouth and the ball bounced just wide of Manuel Neuer’s right-hand post.
SWEDEN: There’s always some sort of circus around Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
This time it’s speculation around his club future, but Sweden’s coach says his team is immune to all the fanfare that surrounds Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic is widely expected to join Manchester United after the European Championship, while some other reports link him with a move to hometown club Malmo.
When asked if all the speculation was having a negative effect on the squad, Sweden coach Erik Hamren said “it’s nothing that bothers us.”
ENGLAND: In Lens, France, Jamie Vardy equalized with his third touch of the ball. Daniel Sturridge scored the winning goal in the first minute of injury time. England’s halftime substitutes came up big as England rallied to beat Wales 2-1 Thursday in an all-British match at the European Championship to go to the top of Group B.
PORTUGAL: Portugal’s 1-1 draw with Iceland was hailed worldwide as an uplifting success for the smallest nation ever to play at a European tournament or World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s grudging reaction won few friends.
“Iceland did not try nothing, they just defend, defend, defend and play the counterattack,” said Ronaldo, who left the field without shaking the hand of most Iceland players. “They had two chances and they scored one goal. It was a lucky night for them.”
TURKEY: Turkey will be happy with a single point when it faces defending champion Spain today in the European Championship.
The Turks have not beaten Spain in more than 60 years.
“We will try to get a point,” Turkey captain Arda Turan said. “The third place teams can qualify, so we still have a great chance. ”