Brazil beats Spain 3-0 to win Confederations Cup

Fred scored two goals and Neymar added another as host Brazil convincingly defeated world champion Spain 3-0 to win the Confederations Cup on Sunday as protesters clashed with riot police outside the Maracana Stadium. 

Fred put Brazil on the board less than two minutes into the match, Neymar added to the lead just before half-time and Fred netted his fifth goal in five matches early in the second half to give Brazil victory. The win for the host nation was surprisingly easy against the current world champion. 

Sergio Ramos missed a penalty kick for Spain in the 55th, sending his low shot wide. 

Spain defender Gerard Pique was sent off with a straight red card for fouling Neymar in the 68th. 

Brazil came in hoping a victory would help it regain its status as a global powerhouse after recent struggles. 

Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinals in the last two World Cups and hadn’t won a significant title since the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa. 

“The champion is back,” chanted the crowd of more than 73,000 people at the renovated Maracana. 

It also didn’t take long before the fans in a sea of yellow jerseys started teasing the Spaniards, chanting “Wanna play, wanna play!? Brazil will teach you.” 

The title gives Brazilian fans hope that the five-time world champions have a chance to win the World Cup title next year, although no Confederations Cup champion has ever won football’s showcase event the following year. 

“We beat the world champions today, but we know that the tournament that we will be playing next year will be a lot more difficult,” Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. “Now we have more confidence, that’s what we needed.” 

The Brazilian players huddled after the final whistle and started singing and jumping, then went toward the crowd near the sidelines and began celebrating. David Luiz kneeled down and raised both of his hands into the air. 

The result ended Spain’s 26-match unbeaten streak. It hadn’t lost since a 1-0 result England in a friendly in London in 2011. Its last loss in an official competition had happened 29 matches ago, in the 2010 World Cup opener against Switzerland. 

Spain badly wanted a victory against the five-time world champion, which was one of the few top teams it hadn’t faced since it began dominating international football. Spain won the 2010 World Cup along with the 2008 and 2012 European Championships. 

For Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque, the defeat was comprehensive. “There’s not much to say, they were superior on every way. They scored early. This is not an excuse but they had pressure on us all the time.”

It was “a deserved defeat,” Del Bosque said. 

It was the first time the traditional football nations had met since a scoreless friendly in 1999. The last competitive match between the teams had been Brazil’s 1-0 win in the first round of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. 

Brazil scored early on Sunday and kept pressuring, but it didn’t take long for Spain to start taking control of the match. The Europeans were not able to create many dangerous opportunities, though, while Brazil kept threatening the most while relying on counterattacks. 

Fred opened the scoring after a cross into the area by Hulk in the second minute. The ball bounced off Neymar near the far post and Fred, who had fallen while trying to reach for the cross, fired it in with his right foot while still on the ground. 

Brazil added to the lead with Neymar’s fourth goal in five matches after an exchange of passes with Oscar in the 44th. The newly signed Barcelona striker, touted as the future of Brazilian football, fired a powerful left—footed shot into the top of the net. 

Neymar was voted the player of the tournament. 

Neymar and Daniel Alves took the time after the match to congratulate their Barcelona teammates, who looked desolate across the field. 

Fred closed the scoring in the 47th from just inside the area, sending a low shot to the far corner. Hulk started the move with a pass to Neymar, but the striker let it go as Fred came running behind him. 

Spain had the penalty kick after Marcelo fouled Jesus Navas inside the area, but Sergio Ramos sent his kick wide. 

Spain’s greatest chance before the penalty came with Pedro Rodriguez in the 41st, when he entered the area clear from defenders in a breakaway. His low shot beat Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar, but David Luiz came rushing in and slid in front of the goal line just in time to keep the ball from going in. 

Brazil won the its first Confederations Cup title in Saudi Arabia in 1997, then again in Germany in 2005 and in South Africa in 2009. Spain was trying to win the tournament for the first time. 

Brazil struggled after Scolari returned to the national team earlier this year, winning only one of its first six matches with him in command, but it has won six in a row now. 

The warm—up tournament, which gives the home country a chance to test its preparations for the World Cup, is played among continental champions plus the World Cup winner and the hosts. 

There were protests outside the stadium during the match, with police using rubber bullets and tear gas to keep demonstrators from getting too close. A wave of anti-government protests has swept across Brazil in recent weeks, and many affected the Confederations Cup host cities as demonstrators complained of the costs of hosting the World Cup. 

On the field, it was a heated match from the start, with players from both teams pushing and shoving each other a few times. Even the substitutes got into a shouting match.

Sebastian Vettel won the Canadian Grand Prix 2013

Sebastian Vettel won the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, leading almost the entire way to extend his lead in the Formula One points race.

Starting from the pole position, the Red Bull driver finished 14.4 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton was third after holding the lead for three of the 70 laps after Vettel made an early pit stop.

After practice and qualifying were slowed by rain, the sun came out for a warm and dry race on the Ile Notre Dame. That gave Vettel, who skidded in the rain on the final straightaway to give up the lead here two years ago, a clear path to the chequered flag.

Vettel picked up 25 points in the standings to extend his championship lead over Lotus’ Kimo Raikkonen.

Vettel’s biggest difficulty on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve came when he brushed the wall in the 11th lap. But he extended his lead before pitting in Lap 16 and switching from super-soft to the medium tires that he continued with for the rest of the race.

By the end, the Red Bull car had lapped every other in the field except for the top five finishers.

Alonso, who is third in the standings, passed Hamilton, who is fourth, at the start-finish line in the 62nd lap to take third place. Vettel’s teammate, Mark Webber, was fourth and Nico Rosberg was fifth.

“We’ve had good races before, but it didn’t come together to win,” Vettel said on the victory podium. “It made up for that today. Great feeling. Great car by the team, and we were really able to pull away from the rest of the field.”

The Clay King Rafael Nada won French Open for 8th time

Coasts to a straight-set victory over compatriot David Ferrer in the French Open summit clash

Rafael Nadal made history as he beat Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday to win a record eighth French Open title, in a final marred by anti-gay marriage protests in the stands and by an intruder with a flare on the court.

The world number four — who will drop to fifth in the ATP rankings despite his title — becomes the first man in tennis history to win eight singles titles at the same grand slam in the Open era which started in 1967.

He fell to his back on the wet clay after sending over a baseline winner of first match point after two and quarter hours.

A shirtless man wearing a Phantom of the Opera-style white mask, believed to be part of the anti-gay marriage group, jumped out of the courtside seats with a lit flare and managed to rush onto the Nadal side of the court before being body-slammed by security and hauled off through the players’ entrance.

The incident briefly rattled Nadal, who double-faulted for a break point and dropped the game to lead 6-3, 5-2. But it was then Ferrer’s turn to blink, with the challenger producing back-to-back double faults to hand over three set points to Nadal.

One was enough as Ferrer returned wide to go down two sets to love, and then double-faulted to give Nadal a deciding 5-3 lead in the third.

Nadal came to the court against the compatriot whom he has now beaten in 20 of 24 matches as the only player at Roland Garros with seven trophies alongside Chris Evert.

The match played in heavy conditions with the treat of rain was not conducive to sun-loving Nadal, but the Spaniard got on with the job.

The contest was the first all-Spanish final in Paris since Albert Costa beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2002.

Nadal leads the ATP with 43 victories this season, winning a pacesetting 38 on his favoured clay. The Spaniard has won 59 of his 60 career matches at Roland Garros, with his only loss coming in the 2009 fourth round to Robin Soderling.

He now owns a dozen Grand Slam titles, five less than all-time leader Roger Federer.

Serena Williams won a second French Open title on Saturday 11 years

Serena Williams won a second French Open title on Saturday 11 years after her first with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Maria Sharapova.

The world number one landed a concluding ace after one and three-quarter hours to win her 16th major crown.

Williams becomes the oldest women’s champion at Roland Garros after beating Sharapova.

“It was a very difficult match today, I was nervous well,” said Williams. “To win is incredible. I’ll be back next year for sure.” “After 11 years it’s incredible to win it again, I’m so excited.”

The final was the first for women between the first and second seeds since 2004 when number one Justine Henin beat Kim Clijsters.

“I’ve played great tournament but I ran into a really good champion today,” said Sharapova. “She’s been playing so well the last two years.

“This court has brought me lots of nice memories. It was nice to be back on this stage, even if I wished I could have won it again.” The match continued a trend of two-set women’s finals. The last time they went three was in 2001 when Jennifer Capriati beat Clijsters.

THE RESULTS

Women: Final: 1-Serena Williams bt 2- Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4.

Makarova, Vesnina win French Open women’s doubles

Fourth-seeded Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina of Russia won their first Grand Slam title by defeating defending champions Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy 7-5, 6-2 in the women’s doubles final of the French Open on Sunday.

It was the first major title for Vesnina and second for Makarova, who won the mixed doubles with Bruno Soares at the U.S. Open last year.

The Russian pair won four straight games in the second set to lead 4-1 and clinched the victory with a smash by Vesnina.

The top-seeded Errani and Vinci were bidding to win a third straight Grand Slam title and their fourth overall. They had beaten Makarova and Vesnina in their four previous meetings.