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Sports Briefs: Parkhurst, Cronin are on U.S. team
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Published: June 26, 2009
Sam Cronin and Michael Parkhurst, former Wake Forest soccer stars, were among 23 players named yesterday to the U.S. national-team roster for next month's Gold Cup tournament.
Also selected was Jay Heaps, a former national college player of the year at Duke.
Forward Brian Ching and defender Steve Cherundolo are back from injuries and headline the team. Forwards Freddy Adu and Charlie Davies, defender Heath Pearce and goalkeeper Luis Robles are the only holdovers on the roster who also are with the U.S. at the Confederations Cup in South Africa.
Cronin, a midfielder for Toronto FC of Major League Soccer, will be looking for his first appearance in international competition. Parkhurst, a defender for FC Nordsjaelland of Denmark, has five caps, and he and Ching are the only two players selected who also were on the winning Gold Cup team in 2007.
The Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean, will open July 3, and the U.S. will play its first match July 4, meeting Grenada at 9 p.m. EDT in Seattle in group play. The U.S. also will play Honduras in Washington, D.C. (July 8, 9 p.m. EDT) and Haiti in Foxborough, Mass. (July 11, 7 p.m. ET).
The complete U.S. roster for the 12-team tournament, which will end July 26 in East Rutherford, N.J.:
Goalkeepers: Jon Busch (Chicago Fire), Troy Perkins (IK Start, Norway), Luis Robles (Kaiserslautern, Germany)
Defenders: Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Jay Heaps (New England), Chad Marshall (Columbus), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaellands, Denmark), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock, Germany)
Midfielders: Davy Arnaud (Kansas City), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Colin Clark (Colorado), Sam Cronin (Toronto), Brad Evans (Seattle), Stuart Holden (Houston), Logan Pause (Chicago), Robbie Rogers (Columbus)
Forwards: Freddy Adu (AS Monaco), Brian Ching (Houston), Kenny Cooper (Dallas), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF, Sweden), Santino Quaranta (D.C.)
More soccer
■ Daniel Alves scored on a free kick in the 88th minute yesterday, sending Brazil to a 1-0 victory over host South Africa and into a surprising championship match against the United States at the Confederations Cup.
South Africa had unsettled Brazil with a frantic, hustling game of quick challenges and tight marking. But after a tripping call on Aaron Mokoena, Alves curled in a shot from the edge of the area to give Brazil a chance at a record third title.
Brazil beat the U.S. 3-0 in the first round of group play.
■ FIFA has asked Iran's soccer federation to respond to reports that players have been punished for supporting the political opposition, saying yesterday that it has written to the Iranian federation asking for information.
Several team members wore green wrist bands in an apparent show of support for defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi during the first half of a World Cup qualifier at South Korea in June 17.
Iran's ISNA news agency reported that two players have resigned from the team, but other newspapers said that government officials had permanently banned as many as four players.
Football
■ Commissioner Roger Goodell says he is starting to focus on evaluating Michael Vick's future in the NFL but that his decision will come "in due time" and not necessarily before the season begins. Goodell says he has not spoken to Vick and won't sit down with him until after Vick is released from home confinement and federal custody July 20.
■ Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's deal to keep the New Orleans Saints from moving through 2025 has won final legislative approval. Two pieces of the deal needed votes from the House and Senate: a plan for the state to lease office space from Saints owner Tom Benson and $85 million in surplus spending on Superdome improvements. Both pieces won backing Wednesday.
Opponents say it's inappropriate to give more money to the NFL team while the state is cutting health care and education programs. The terms of the lease between Benson and the state require approval from the Legislature's joint budget committee before becoming final.
■ The Detroit Lions have signed starting center Dominic Raiola to a four-year contract extension that will keep him with the team through the 2013 season. Raiola is entering his ninth season with the Lions and has started since 2002.
Basketball
■ Leslie Cook, a former winner of the Mary Garber Award as the Journal's high-school basketball player of the year, was hired yesterday as an assistant women's coach at Charleston Southern. Cook, who won the Garber Award in 2002 while playing at High Point Central, played basketball at UNC Charlotte and High Point.
■ Davidson will play Gonzaga at KeyArena on Dec. 12 in the seventh annual Battle in Seattle. The last time the teams played was in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, when Stephen Curry led Davidson to a win.
■ Cristy McKinney, the women's coach at Clemson, has hired Marla Brumfield as an assistant coach.
Brumfield replaces Saudia Roundtree, who left to take an assistant's position at North Texas.
Recruiting
■ Mat Batts, who had a standout senior season for Mount Tabor, has committed to play baseball at Western Carolina and is expected to sign within a week, Coach Mike Lovelace of Mount Tabor said yesterday.
Batts, a 5-11, 175-pound left-hander, was the player of the year and pitcher of the year in the Central Piedmont 4-A last season.
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