U.S. beats Mexico in World Cup sendoff

Tobin Heath was gifted a goal by a goalkeeper error early in the first half, Mallory Pugh and Christen Press scored late in the second and the U.S. beat Mexico 3-0 Sunday in a World Cup sendoff match that for much of the afternoon showed the Americans’ failings more than their facets.

Seeking its second straight World Cup title and fourth overall, the top-ranked U.S. has seven wins and two draws since a Jan. 19 defeat at France that ended a 28-game unbeaten streak. The Americans leave Monday for London, where they will be based at Tottenham’s training camp before heading to France. They open against Thailand on June 11, then play Chile and Sweden.

Mexico failed to qualify after consecutive group stage eliminations, is ranked 26th and fielded a relatively inexperienced team mixed with a few veterans.

Elsewhere: Retired forward Abby Wambach and former U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati have been chosen for the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame. The pair will be inducted Sept. 21 at the new hall building in Frisco, Texas. The 38-yearold Wambach scored a U.S. record 184 goals in 256 international appearances from 2001-15 and was FIFA’s Player of the Year in 2012. The 59-year-old Gulati was president of the USSF from 2006 until last year and was elected in the builder category. A member of the FIFA Council, he was a major figure in the return of the U.S. to the World Cup in 1990 following a 40-year absence, the local organizing committee that hosted the 1994 World Cup and the launch of Major League Soccer in 1996.

ETC.

Hockey: Marko Anttila helped lead Finland to its third world hockey title, scoring the tying and goahead goals in a 3-1 victory over Canada in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Anttila tied it at 1 on a power play early in the second period and the Finnish captain made it 2-1 early in the third.

College baseball: Philip Clarke’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth gave Vanderbilt an 11-10 comeback victory over Mississippi in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game. … Aaron Sabato and Ashton McGee each hit two-run homers during a four-run sixth inning, and North Carolina won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title by beating Georgia Tech 10-2.