Sports briefs: U.S. women’s soccer teams ties Sweden, former coach

First Published Mar 11 2013 05:26 pm • Last Updated Mar 11 2013 11:53 pm

soccer • Facing former coach Pia Sundhage for the first time, the United States came from behind to tie Sweden 1-1 Monday in Lagos, Portugal, on Alex Morgan’s 56th-minute goal and advance to the Algarve Cup final for the 10th time in 11 years. The Americans, who extended their unbeaten streak to 28 games, will play Germany in Wednesday’s title game, seeking their ninth championship in 18 trips to the tournament.

Lisa Dahlkvist put Sweden ahead in the fourth minute of the match. Dahlkvist’s 40-yard shot came after goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris came off her line for a clearance and still was trying to get back to her net.

Morgan tied the score with a header off Megan Rapinoe’s corner kick.

• The fallout from the Mohamed bin Hammam corruption scandal in soccer led FIFA to suspend another leading Asian member of its executive committee Monday. Vernon Manilal Fernando of Sri Lanka, a close ally of the disgraced former FIFA presidential candidate, has been banned from any soccer activities for up to 90 days. The suspension relates to an investigation into the alleged misuse of Asian Football Confederation accounts and conflicts of interest in commercial contracts while bin Hammam was president.

West Virginia’s Austin honored

college football • West Virginia’s Tavon Austin has been named winner of the Johnny Rodgers Award as the top return specialist in college football in 2012. Austin was second nationally in all-purpose yardage and averaged 12.7 yards on punt returns and 25.4 yards on kick returns. He returned one punt and one kick for touchdowns. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound Austin is projected to be a first-round NFL draft pick as a receiver.

From wire reports

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