Jordan surprise Australia

SEOUL, South Korea (AP):

Jordan scored twice in the second half to upset continental champions Australia 2-0 yesterday and move to the top of Group B in the second round of Asian qualifying for the World Cup.

The result, in front of a passionate home crowd in Amman, gave Jordan (10) a one-point lead over the Socceroos, with four games remaining.

In other qualifiers, AC Milan's Keisuke Honda and Leicester City's Shinji Okazaki scored second-half goals as Japan beat Syria 3-0 to take top spot in Group E.

South Africa take series 2-0

KOLKATA, India (AP):

The third and final Twenty20 International between India and South Africa was abandoned yesterday without a ball being bowled after rain rendered the outfield unfit for play.

South Africa won the series 2-0 after scoring a seven-wicket win in the opening match in Dharamsala and a six-wicket victory at Cuttack in a match that was interrupted twice due to crowd trouble.

Jean-Paul Duminy was declared the man of the series for his unbeaten knocks of 68 and 30 in the two games.

The teams will now play a five-match one-day international series starting with a day game in Kanpur on Sunday.

The ODIs will be followed by four Tests during a tour that stretches to 72 days.

 

Klitschko on schedule for November return

BEVERLY HILLS, California (AP):

Wladimir Klitschko is on schedule in his recovery from an injured left calf, and the heavyweight champion says he will be ready to defend his title belts against Tyson Fury next month.

Klitschko will begin training in less than two weeks at his usual camp in the Austrian Alps, the champ said Wednesday while taking a brief break from rehabilitation in California.

The fight was delayed five weeks after Klitschko was injured in training last month. The bout was rescheduled for November 28 at Esprit Arena in Duesseldorf, Germany, where a capacity crowd of 55,000 is still expected despite the date change.

Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) had never hurt his calf before, but he knew rest and recovery would be preferable to fighting while injured, as Manny Pacquiao did against Floyd Mayweather Jr in May.

 

NY close to MLS East title

HARRISON, New Jersey (AP):

New York's Sacha Kljestan and Lloyd Sam scored to help the Red Bulls beat ten-man Montreal 2-1 on Wednesday, moving six points clear atop Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference and closer to clinching the conference title.

New York need just one more point from its remaining two games in the regular season to seal top spot in the East and an advantageous draw in the playoffs. The Red Bulls are three points ahead of the West's top teams for the overall league lead.

Montreal played a man down from the 15th minute when Ambroise Oyongo was sent off for using a hand to block Bradley Wright-Phillips' goal-bound shot. Kljestan put away the ensuing penalty.

Wright-Phillips slipped behind the defence on a breakaway, pulling goalkeeper Evan Bush out to the top of the box, but couldn't convert either of two shots. The second, however, ricocheted back to Sam, who chipped over a scrambling Bush to make it 2-0 before half-time.

Didier Drogba converted a penalty in the 67th for Montreal but the visitors could not find an equaliser.