Penalty Shootout

What: Women's World Cup semifinals Who: USA vs. France, at Moenchengladbach, today at noon; Japan vs. Sweden, at Frankfurt, 2:45 TV: Both games on ESPN. How they got here: USA won penalty shootout over Brazil after 2-2 tie . . . France won shootout over England after 1-1 tie . . . Japan defeated Germany, 1-0, in extra time . . . Sweden eliminated Australia, 3-1. What's next: Losers play third-place game Saturday at Sinsheim . . . Winners meet for championship Sundayat Frankfurt.

What: Second-round World Cup game. When: Tomorrow, 2:30 p.m. Where: Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenberg, South Africa. TV: 6ABC, Univision. Radio: ESPN (950). For kicks: The U.S. won Group C with a win and two ties, with four goals scored, three allowed. Ghana was second in Group D with one win, loss and tie, with two goals scored and allowed . . . Landon Donovan leads the U.S. with two goals; Asamoah Gyan has scored both Ghanian goals, on penalty kicks . . . The teams have played only once before, a 2-1 win by Ghana in the 2006 Cup in Germany . . . From here on, games tied at the end of regulation move on to two 15-minute overtimes (played out; there's no sudden death)

SHOTS ON GOAL Upcoming game What: World Football Challenge Who: Real Madrid vs. Union When: Tomorrow, 9 o'clock Where: Lincoln Financial Field TV: ESPN Deportes On the web: ESPN3.com For kicks: SEPTA will run its Sports Express on the Broad Street Line until 12:30 a.m. . . . The quintessential litmus test arrives in the Spanish Cup champion, which is led by world-class striker Cristiano Ronaldo....

DETROIT - Darren Helm scored with 1 minute, 27 seconds left in the third period, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to an elimination-avoiding 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal series on Friday night. The Sharks will take their 3-1 series lead back home with a chance to advance on Sunday night to the NHL's final four. Detroit is trying to become the fourth NHL team to win a series after trailing 3-0. Veteran defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom scored twice in the first period to help the Red Wings take a three-goal lead that they let slip away.

UFA, Russia - Jake McCabe and John Gaudreau scored two goals each Thursday to lead the United States to the final of the world junior hockey championships with a 5-1 win over Canada. Gaudreau is from Penns Grove, N.J., and played at Gloucester Catholic High. He now plays for defending national champion Boston College. Gaudreau increased the Americans' lead to 3-0, beating Malcolm Subban with a low shot on a sharp counterattack. United States goalie John Gibson made 33 saves for the victory.

Italy advanced to the quarterfinals of the European Championship with a 2-0 win over shorthanded France yesterday in Zurich, Switzerland in a rematch of the 2006 World Cup final the Italians also won. Andrea Pirlo put Italy in front with a penalty kick in the 25th minute after Eric Abidal was red-carded for a foul on Luca Toni, and Daniele De Rossi made it 2-0 with a deflected free kick in the 62nd. Italy next faces Group D winner Spain on Sunday in Vienna, Austria, although it will be without key midfielders Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso after each got his second yellow card of the tournament.

KIEV, Ukraine - Alessandro Diamanti scored the decisive penalty kick Sunday to send Italy to the European Championship semifinals with a 4-2 win in the shootout following a 0-0 tie with England. Ashley Young hit the crossbar with England's third, and Ashley Cole's attempt was saved by Gianluigi Buffon. Italy will play Germany on Thursday in Warsaw. Defending champion Spain will play Portugal on Wednesday in Donetsk, Ukraine, in the other semi. Mario Balotelli, Andrea Pirlo - with an audacious slow chip shot down the middle of the goal - and Antonio Nocerino also scored for Italy.

He is the unknown goalie. Sergio Goycoechea (pronounced goy-go-shay-a) was one of the names listed at goalkeeper on Argentina's roster before the start of the World Cup soccer tyournament. The first goalie was Nery Pumpido, who was in the Argentine goal during the 1986 World Cup championship run that climaxed with a 3-2 win over West Germany in the title game. Sunday, those same two nations will meet again in the World Cup final (TNT, 1:55 p.m.), and Goycoechea, whom no one expected to actually see action in the tournament, will be in goal for Argentina.

Cammi Granato scored her second goal of the game in a penalty shootout yesterday and the United States beat Canada, 2-1, in the Four Nations Cup final in Kovde, Sweden. Granato, a member of the 1998 Olympic gold-medal team and the silver-medal team in 2002, tied it 1-1 at 12:13 of the second period with a power-play goal. After a scoreless third period and overtime session, it came down to a shootout. Hayley Wickenheiser, who plays men's pro hockey in Finland and is widely considered the world's top female player, was held pointless for the third straight game.

Saying he was involved in doping while riding with Lance Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team, former cyclist Matt White quit as team director of Australian pro cycling squad Orica-GreenEDGE on Saturday. White also resigned as Cycling Australia's professional men's road coordinator and team selector. He released a statement in which he acknowledged his actions: "I am sad to say that I was part of a team where doping formed part of the team's strategy, and I too was involved in that strategy.

UFA, Russia - Jake McCabe and John Gaudreau scored two goals each Thursday to lead the United States to the final of the world junior hockey championships with a 5-1 win over Canada. Gaudreau is from Penns Grove, N.J., and played at Gloucester Catholic High. He now plays for defending national champion Boston College. Gaudreau increased the Americans' lead to 3-0, beating Malcolm Subban with a low shot on a sharp counterattack. United States goalie John Gibson made 33 saves for the victory.

Jacob Nesteruk turned away four penalty kicks and even converted one himself as eighth-seeded Central Bucks East edged visiting No. 9 Wissahickon, 1-0, after 13 rounds of penalty kicks Thursday in the second round of the District 1 Class AAA playoffs. Nick Kane, a senior forward, scored the clinching goal and the Patriots won the penalty shootout, 10-9. Abington 2, Central Bucks South 1 - Kyle Rocks scored two first-half goals, and visiting No. 19 Abington held on to topple third-seeded Central Bucks South.

Jacob Nesteruk turned away four penalty kicks and even converted one himself as eighth-seeded Central Bucks East edged visiting No. 9 Wissahickon, 1-0, after 13 rounds of penalty kicks Thursday in the second round of the District 1 Class AAA playoffs. Nick Kane, a senior forward, scored the clinching goal and the Patriots won the penalty shootout, 10-9. Abington 2, Central Bucks South 1 - Kyle Rocks scored two first-half goals, and visiting No. 19 Abington held on to topple third-seeded Central Bucks South.

Saying he was involved in doping while riding with Lance Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team, former cyclist Matt White quit as team director of Australian pro cycling squad Orica-GreenEDGE on Saturday. White also resigned as Cycling Australia's professional men's road coordinator and team selector. He released a statement in which he acknowledged his actions: "I am sad to say that I was part of a team where doping formed part of the team's strategy, and I too was involved in that strategy.

Far from its best, Spain still advanced to another major final, beating Portugal, 4-2, in a penalty shootout in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Wednesday after a scoreless draw at the European Championship. Cesc Fabregas, who came on as a substitute in the second half of regulation time, scored the deciding penalty after Bruno Alves hit the crossbar for Portugal moments earlier. Spain, seeking its third straight major trophy after claiming titles at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, will next face either Germany or Italy on Sunday in Kiev.

KIEV, Ukraine - Alessandro Diamanti scored the decisive penalty kick Sunday to send Italy to the European Championship semifinals with a 4-2 win in the shootout following a 0-0 tie with England. Ashley Young hit the crossbar with England's third, and Ashley Cole's attempt was saved by Gianluigi Buffon. Italy will play Germany on Thursday in Warsaw. Defending champion Spain will play Portugal on Wednesday in Donetsk, Ukraine, in the other semi. Mario Balotelli, Andrea Pirlo - with an audacious slow chip shot down the middle of the goal - and Antonio Nocerino also scored for Italy.

Didier Drogba scored the decisive penalty in a shootout as Chelsea became Europe's club champion for the first time, beating Bayern Munich in the German club's home stadium to win the Champions League final after a 1-1 draw on Saturday. The often-theatrical Drogba, 34, playing possibly his last game for the English Premier League club as his contract expires next month, was at the heart of the show. Drogba sent goalkeeper Manuel Neuer the wrong way to clinch the 4-3 shootout win at Allianz Arena after Bayern's Bastian Schweinsteiger missed the previous penalty.

SHOTS ON GOAL Upcoming game What: World Football Challenge Who: Real Madrid vs. Union When: Tomorrow, 9 o'clock Where: Lincoln Financial Field TV: ESPN Deportes On the web: ESPN3.com For kicks: SEPTA will run its Sports Express on the Broad Street Line until 12:30 a.m. . . . The quintessential litmus test arrives in the Spanish Cup champion, which is led by world-class striker Cristiano Ronaldo....

FRANKFURT, Germany - The bumpy, windy road got the Americans right where they wanted to go all along. Eight months after having to win a playoff just to get to Germany, the Americans face Japan in the Women's World Cup final on Sunday. A win would be the ultimate finish to their improbable journey, making the United States the first three-time champions and delighting a country of newfound fans. "I believe all the way we'll find a way," Carli Lloyd said Saturday after the team's last training session.

FRANKFURT, Germany - Japan became the first Asian nation to win the Women's World Cup on Sunday, beating the United States in a penalty shootout after both sides were level at 2-2 after extra time. The Japanese denied the U.S. team the chance to become the first country to lift the cup three times. The Americans missed their first three penalties, and Japan went on to win the shootout, 3-1, when Saki Kumagai slotted the final shot high past goalkeeper Hope Solo. In a thrilling final, 32-year-old Japan captain Homare Sawa flicked a corner through a jumble of players and past Solo with three minutes of extra time left to equalize and set up the shootout.