August 2005 in Sports - 17 August 2005

17 August 2005

• Basketball: The NCAA settles a lawsuit against organizers of the National Invitation Tournament by buying the tournament rights from their current holders, the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association, for $56.5 million (US). (Yahoo! Sports via AP)
• Cricket: 2005 English cricket season:
  • National League, Division One: Glamorgan (203 for 5) beat Northamptonshire (201) by 5 wickets. (BBC)
  • County Championship, Division One: Sussex (522) beat Middlesex (128 & 162) by an innings and 232 runs. (BBC)

• Basketball: WNBA: The Los Angeles Sparks fire Henry Bibby as coach, and replace him with Kobe Bryant's father, Joe Bryant.

• 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying: Fifteen games on four continents, including the last matchday of group play in Asia. (2006 World Cup Website)
  • Asia
    • Japan 2–1 (1–0) Iran. Both teams had already qualified for the World Cup.
    • South Korea 0–1 (0–1) Saudi Arabia. Both teams had already qualified for the World Cup.
    • Uzbekistan 3–2 (1–2) Kuwait. Down 0–2, Uzbekistan rallies to win the game and 3rd place, earning a spot in a playoff next month against Bahrain. Kuwait is eliminated.
    • Bahrain 2–3 (0–2) North Korea. Before this match, Bahrain had clinched 3rd place in their group, while North Korea had already been eliminated.
    • Bahrain and Uzbekistan will play a home-and-away series next month, with the winner advancing to a playoff against a CONCACAF team.
  • Europe
    • Kazakhstan 1–2 (1–0) Georgia
    • Latvia 1–1 (1–1) Russia
    • Faroe Islands 0–3 (0–1) Cyprus.
    • Macedonia 0–3 (0–2) Finland.
    • Liechtenstein 0–0 Slovakia.
    • Romania 2–0 (2–0) Andorra.
  • Africa: two games, both make-ups of earlier games that were postponed
    • Sudan 1–0 (0–0) Benin.
    • Tunisia 1–0 (1–0) Kenya. Kenya eliminated from contention.
  • CONCACAF
    • United States 1–0 (1–0) Trinidad and Tobago Brian McBride garners the game's only goal in just the second minute. A second goal later in the game, scored by Taylor Twellman, is disallowed after the U.S. was ruled offsides.
    • Guatemala 2–1 (0–1) Panama.
    • Mexico 2–0 (0–0) Costa Rica. Mexico striker Jared Borgetti takes sole possession of the country's all-time goal scoring record in international play.
    • Mexico and the USA now are both assured of finishing no worse than fourth place in the CONCACAF group, which would put that team in a playoff against the Bahrain-Uzbekistan winner for a World Cup place.

• Football: International friendlies
  • Denmark 4–1 (0–0) England. Denmark sends England crashing to their worst defeat in 25 years. England surrender three goals in seven minutes of the second half. (BBC)
  • France 3–0 (1–0) Côte d'Ivoire. In his return from international retirement, Zinedine Zidane scores a goal to help lead France to a confidence-boosting win ahead of September's World Cup qualifiers. (UEFA.com)
  • Netherlands 2–2 (1–0) Germany. Arjen Robben scores twice to stake the Oranje to a 2–0 lead at De Kuip, but Germany fights back behind goals from Michael Ballack and Gerald Asamoah. (UEFA.com)
  • Sweden 2–1 (2–1) Czech Republic. Henrik Larsson returns from a 10-month layoff from international play and scores Sweden's opening goal. (UEFA.com)
  • Croatia 1–1 (1–1) Brazil. (UEFA.com)
  • Spain 2–0 (2–0) Uruguay. (UEFA.com)
  • Portugal 2–0 (0–0) Egypt. (UEFA.com)
  • Republic of Ireland 1–2 (1–2) Italy. Ireland suffers their first home loss since Brian Kerr became manager in 2003. (BBC)
  • Austria 2–2 (0–2) Scotland. (BBC)
  • Wales 0–0 Slovenia. Despite a host of withdrawals, notably of the injured Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy, Wales hold on for a deserved draw in the first international in Swansea since 1988. (BBC)
  • Malta 1–1 (1–1) Northern Ireland. (BBC)
  • Norway 0–2 (0–0) Switzerland Norway suffered their first home defeat under the coaching of Åge Hareide. (UEFA.com)