Hamm’s Goal Beats Sweden to Put U.S. in Algarve Final

Mia Hamm scored in the 65th minute Thursday as the United States beat Sweden, 1-0, at Lisbon and advanced to the championship game of the Algarve Cup women’s soccer tournament.

The Americans, Women’s World Cup champions in 1991 and 1999, will play Norway in Saturday’s final at Loule. The Norwegians defeated the Americans twice in January.

Norway beat China on Thursday, 3-0, as Dagny Mellgren scored all three goals.

China beat the United States in last year’s final.

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After losing a sex discrimination suit last year, England’s soccer players’ association has invited at least three women to this year’s annual awards dinner in London. Rachel Anderson, a female soccer agent, won her case last year after being told to leave the dinner in 1997. She had been invited by a guest. She was refused admission to the 1998 event when she arrived with a guest. The soccer players’ association has invited British sports minister Kate Hoey, England’s women’s soccer Coach Hope Powell and Katherine Knight of the English Football Assn.

Miscellany

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson will fight in Milan on May 20, a spokeswoman for the Italian promoters confirmed. She could not immediately say whether he would fight Lou Savarese, the American mentioned in media reports as his probable opponent. . . . Joey Gamache intends to sue the New York State Athletic Commission for injuries suffered in his knockout by Arturo Gatti on Feb. 26. At the heart of the suit will be the charge that Gatti weighed more than the contract limit of 141 pounds at the official weigh-in the day before the fight and that is why he was able to unofficially weigh 160 pounds to 146 for Gamache the night of the fight. Gamache’s official weight was 141 1/4 pounds.

The Detroit Lions are pressuring Barry Sanders to immediately repay a prorated share of his 1997 signing bonus, widening the gap between the retired running back and his former team. David Ware, Sanders’ agent, said his client and the Lions are asking arbitrator Sam Kagel to clarify when Sanders must repay one-sixth of his $11-million signing bonus for each year he fails to play under terms of his six-year contract. . . . The Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers exchanged backup tight ends, the Eagles getting Jeff Thomason for Kaseem Sinceno. . . . Backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has reached agreement with the Packers on terms of a new multiyear contract.

Two days after buying 50% of Anees, one of the favorites for this year’s Kentucky Derby, David Shimmon announced the $6-million deal was off.

“It had nothing to do with the condition of the horse,” said Bob Hess Jr., Shimmon’s principal trainer. “The horse vetted out with flying colors, beyond my expectations. It had something to do with business terms, but not money. There was a difference of opinion about what the goals were for the horse. [Who trained the horse] might have been part of it.”

Anees’ owner, Prince Ahmed Salman of Saudi Arabia, will run the colt Sunday in the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, with trainer Alex Hassinger Jr. still in charge. The San Felipe will be Anees’ first start since Hassinger saddled him in November for a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, a victory that clinched the division championship.

American Neil Walker started the run on world records in the qualifiers as five world swimming marks were broken on the first day of the World Short Course Championships at Athens. Walker twice broke the 50-meter backstroke record. Other records were set by Lars Frolander of Sweden in the 100-meter butterfly, Sweden in the men’s 400-meter relay and Britain in the women’s 800-meter relay. Chad Carvin of Laguna Hills finished third in the 200 freestyle, half a second behind Hungary’s Bela Szabados, who won in 1:45.27. . . . Three USC swimmers, Kristin MacGregor, Michala Kwasny and Edison High graduate Kellie Brennan, earned All-America honors on the first day of the women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Indianapolis. The Trojans, with only six swimmers and one diver, were in seventh place.

Speedo unveiled a new neck-to-ankle swimsuit that has some officials worried it could hurt competition and lead to lawsuits. Speedo claims the suit cuts down on drag through the water. But Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates said in Sydney that swimmers could open themselves to legal challenges by wearing the suits during the Olympics. . . . Officials overseeing Olympic construction have ordered an urgent engineer’s report on the safety of a project to enlarge the grandstands at the swimming and diving venue. Construction workers walked off the site at the International Aquatic Center on March 6, saying it was unsafe.

Renault, the top Formula One engine maker of the 1990s, returned to F1 by purchasing the Benetton team for $120 million. . . . The Secret Service has questioned Tulane linebacker Noel Ellis, the team’s leading tackler last season, about passing two counterfeit $20 bills. Ellis was suspended indefinitely by the football team Monday.

Winter Sports

Hermann Maier and Renate Goetschl were super-G winners at Bormio, Italy, as Austrians celebrated their first sweep of Alpine skiing’s World Cup overall titles since 1969.

Maier had already made sure of the super-G, downhill and overall crowns but he was determined to celebrate the new year by becoming the first skier to accumulate 2,000 points in a single season.

His victory ran his tally for the season to exactly 2,000, with a giant slalom still to come.

The best previous men’s performance was by Switzerland’s Paul Accola, who scored 1,699 in 1991-92.

Matthieu Bozzetto won the men’s overall title and Isabelle Blanc won the women’s parallel slalom crown, giving France a sweep in the Snowboard World Cup Finals at Livigno, Italy. . . . Thomas Hoerl of Austria broke the world ski jumping record in a practice session at Planica, Slovenia with a jump of 245 feet. . . . Finland beat Norway for the World Cup Nordic combined title after finishing second in the season’s final event at St. Moritz, Switzerland.