SAN FRANCISCO -- Mix Diskerud figures the whole honour of wearing No.
Jrue Holiday Jersey . 10 is only temporary. He fully expects to play alongside Landon Donovan again down the road with the U.S. national team. For one night at least, Diskerud did that jersey proud. Diskerud and Aron Johannsson, a pair of second-half substitutes raised in Scandinavia, scored to lift a heavy-legged United States over Azerbaijan 2-0 on Tuesday night in the first of three World Cup warmups for the Americans. "Its an honour. A lot of great players have been wearing that No. 10 for the U.S. previously," Diskerud said. "Ill enjoy it. When it comes to Landon, Im sure that were going to be playing together again someday, and of course he has more caps than me so Im just borrowing the uniform right now." The U.S. needed a boost from the bench after captain Clint Dempsey was scratched just before kickoff because of a sore left groin. But the 14th-ranked Americans had trouble breaking down No. 85 Azerbaijan. Diskerud, born in Oslo to a father from Norway and mother from Arizona who met in college, entered in the 71st and scored four minutes later off Brad Davis free kick. With the ball high in the box, Diskerud headed it down to Michael Bradley, whose shot was cleared off the goal line by Elvin Yunuszade. Diskerud then banged the ball in with a right-footed shot 6 yards for his third international goal. "It deflected, and then it was just an easy job for me to score," Diskerud said. "I got tackled exactly when I was going to shoot, and I was just laying down on the ground in agony." He was wearing the No. 10 freed up when Donovan was cut from the roster last Thursday. Johannsson, who was born in Mobile, Alabama, and moved to Iceland with his family when he was 3, entered in the 62nd and scored his second American goal in the 81st with an open header from the top of the 6-yard box off a corner kick by Davis, who replaced Graham Zusi at the start of the second half. "I think we can be very happy with this game," Johannsson said. "Weve been working ridiculously hard in training." Tim Howard, making his 98th international appearance, got his 53rd win to tie Kasey Kellers U.S. record. The Americans began their intense two-week training camp May 14 at nearby Stanford University, and there appeared to be tired legs. "It was exactly what we need at this point of our preparation after two fully loaded weeks," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. "It was a tricky game. You want to open it up with a goal, and it gets easier. You want to score a bit earlier. Next up is a match Sunday against Turkey at Harrison, New Jersey, followed by a game with Nigeria six days later in Jacksonville, Florida. Then the Americans head to Brazil for their seventh straight World Cup appearance and first-round matches against Ghana, Portugal and Germany. "Its good to finally get going. Now we can play hard, recover, travel and go again," Howard said. "I thought it was good. I thought tonight was what we probably expected." The Americans arrived in a red-white-and-blue bus sporting the teams slogan: "One Nation. One Team." The focus was on Klinsmann, who made the controversial decision to cut Donovan, the American career scoring leader. Dempsey, slated to start up top with Jozy Altidore in a 4-4-2, was an unexpected absence. "We dont want to risk here anything," said Klinsmann, who estimated Dempsey would heal in two-to-three days. "Its not serious at all." Chris Wondolowski, a local fan favourite of the San Jose Earthquakes inserted in place of Dempsey, was stopped twice early by goalkeeper Kamran Aghayev, the first with a knee on a diving header in the fifth minute. Wondolowskis header off a cross from Alejandro Bedoya in the 15th was parried over the bar. "You have to be ready at a moments notice," Wondolowski said. "Thats why I was a bit disappointed not to find the back of the net. I had a couple of great opportunities that I need to find the corner and hit the back of the net." Azerbaijan, coached by U.S. team adviser Berti Vogts, was outscored 5-0 in a pair of World Cup qualifiers by Portugal. With wind whipping the corner flags early and even the ball out of place during restarts, a new-look U.S. defence was hardly tested. Fabian Johnson started at right back, with Matt Besler and Geoff Cameron as the central defenders, picked over Omar Gonzalez, who replaced Cameron in the second half. DaMarcus Beasley, looking to become the first American to appear in four World Cups, was at left back. Besler and Cameron played together in the middle once previously, against Jamaica in a World Cup qualifier last October. For the first time since 1990, the Americans have no central defenders with previous World Cup experience. Johnson started three games at left back last year but just once on the right -- in the clinching World Cup qualifier against Mexico in September. Klinsmann used a midfield diamond for the second straight game, with Michael Bradley at the top, Jermaine Jones deep, Zusi on the right and Bedoya the left. This match became the true final football game at Candlestick, former home of the NFL San Francisco 49ers through last season and baseballs San Francisco Giants until after 1999. NOTES: A foul by Azerbaijan D Evlin Yunuszade on Davis early in the second half appeared to be inside the box but was called a free kick by Costa Rican referee Henry Bejarano. ... Timmy Chandler played left back in the second half for his first appearance with the U.S. since a World Cup qualifier at Honduras in February 2013. ... Donovan was named MLS Player of the Week for his two-goal performance with an assist for the LA Galaxy in Sundays 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Union. ... Injured American MF Stuart Holden attended the game ... A Nike ball was used rather than the Adidas World Cup model.
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Anthony Davis Jersey . With one penalty, Fourcade finished in 24 minutes, 58.2 seconds, just nine-tenths of a second ahead of Timofey Lapshin, who shot clean in the cold.CLEVELAND -- Andrew Wiggins will sign his rookie contract with the Cavaliers. Its still not clear if hell play for them. A person familiar with the negotiations says the Cavs will sign the No. 1 overall pick to his deal, an agreement that would prevent any potential trade involving the small forward from being completed for 30 days. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Cavaliers have been discussing a potential deal that would send All-Star forward Kevin Love to the Cavaliers for Wigging, Anthony Bennett and other pieces. The person familiar with the talks says Wiggins will sign with Cleveland as early as Wednesday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the team is not commenting on its plans. The Cavs and Timberwolves have had ongoing discussions about a trade for Love since before Cleveland selected Wiggins first in May. The Timberwolves have always insisted that Wiggins be involved in any package, a stipulation the Cavaliers initially resisted. To help in their pursuit of Love, the Cavs traded guard Carrick Felix to Utah on Tuesday for three players with non-guaranteed contracts. Cleveland acquired guard John Lucas III and forwards Malcolm Thomas and Erik Murphy from the Jazz in exchange for Felix, a second-round draft pick and cash considerations. The trade will allow the Cavs to clear $3.3 million in salary cap space, room to potentially sign Love or other players. Wiggins inclusion in any deal has been a sticking point for the Cavs. Last week, two people familiar with the discussions said the team was not willing to include Wiggins in a deal. But as talks continued this week, the Cavaliers have softened their stance on including Wiggins, who played well during the teams summer league in Las Vegas, to try and get superstar LeBron James another veteran All-Star teammate. The Cavs have considered acquiring Love and teaming him with James, who recently annnounced he was returning to Cleveland and signed a two-year, $42.
Jahlil Okafor Pelicans Jersey. 1 million deal with the team. With Love, James and All-Star point guard, Cleveland would have a "Big 3" comparable to what Miami had in James and All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The Timberwolves have also had discussions with the Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors, among other teams, in recent weeks as they entertain offers for Love, who can opt out of his contract next summer and has told Minnesota he wants to play for a contender. Signing Wiggins to a contract wouldnt necessarily prevent a trade from eventually happening. Under league rules, Wiggins cannot be officially traded for 30 days after he signs. But the Timberwolves and Cavaliers could come to some sort of agreement before that end date and then execute the trade after the window closes. Signing Wiggins could make a trade easier to complete. League rules require teams that are at or over the salary cap to exchange packages of similar dollar values when they make trades. Before Wiggins signs a deal, he has a contract of $0, so his inclusion does not help the Cavaliers get closer to the $15.7 million value they would receive with Loves contract. But when he does sign, Wiggins will have a value of around $5.5 million, which would get the Cavaliers a big step closer to the 80 per cent of Loves contract that they need to reach to make any deal conform to league rules. Having to wait that long to finalize a deal does complicate the negotiating process, with both teams leery of the other backing out during that monthlong moratorium. If the Timberwolves and Cavaliers do come to an agreement, the trade could evolve into a three-team deal. The Wolves have been searching for another team to bring another established, veteran player to the package while potentially moving guard J.J. Barea or other contracts to create room for the incoming players. ' ' '