SOCCER

U.S. surrenders late goals and loses to Colombia, 2-1

Teofilo “Teo” Gutierrez headed in a late goal as Colombia came from behind to beat the United States 2-1 in a friendly at London on Friday.

Wilting under late pressure is becoming all too familiar for the Americans, who have conceded second-half goals in three consecutive winless matches.

Jozy Altidore had put the U.S. in front from the penalty spot in the 10th minute at Fulham’s west London stadium, having scored just once for Sunderland this season.

Colombia was the superior side all night but only managed to equalize in the 61st when Carlos Bacca, who had been denied a penalty at the end of the first half, struck the equalizer.

Gutierrez then scored in the 87th minute for the win.

EUROPE: Cristiano Ronaldo became the European Championship’s all-time top scorer by giving Portugal a 1-0 victory over Armenia, while world champion Germany could only beat Gibraltar 4-0.

Portugal captain Ronaldo broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute to take his tally across Euro finals and qualifying to 23 goals. Denmark’s Jon Dahl Tomasson and Turkey’s Hakan Sukur had previously scored 22 goals.

Germany was looking for a bigger win against Gibraltar, a territory of just 30,000 people which is playing its first qualifying tournament and had already lost 7-0 to Ireland and Poland in Group D.

TENNIS

ATP FINALS: Novak Djokovic clinched another year-end No. 1 ranking and a semifinals berth in the ATP Finals with a comfortable win over Tomas Berdych.

Berdych was dispatched 6-2, 6-2 in a group match, giving Djokovic an unassailable points lead over second-ranked Roger Federer.

Djokovic, the Wimbledon champion, will finish the season No. 1 for the third time in four years. He’s the seventh man to accomplish the feat at least three times.

GOLF

LPGA: Christina Kim shot a 3-under 69 on to maintain a one-stroke lead in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational at Mexico City.

Kim birdied the par-3 16th to take the outright lead and parred the final two holes for a 10-under 134 total.

The 30-year-old American birdied three of the first four holes, dropped strokes on Nos. 7 and 9, and rebounded with a short birdie putt on the par-3 13th.

PGA: Michael Putnam birdied five of the first eight holes and finished with a 7-under 64 to take the lead in the OHL Classic at Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Putnam had a 12-under 130 total.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Ian Poulter picked up five shots through 14 holes of the second round to move into the lead of the Turkish Airlines Open before play was halted because of the weather at Belek, Turkey.

The Englishman holed a 40-foot putt for birdie on the 11th hole to take a three-shot lead over Brendon De Jonge in the third of the European Tour’s Final Four Series.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

UFC: When heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was forced out of his latest title defense with an injury, the UFC’s debut in Mexico lost much of its luster.

Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt intend to restore it when they fight for the interim belt at UFC 180 in Mexico City on Saturday night.

The intriguing matchup pits Werdum, the 37-year-old Brazilian veteran on a four-fight winning streak, and Hunt (10-8-1), the 40-year-old Australian brawler with a history of thrilling fights.

– From news service reports

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