Today’s Sports Highlight in History:
In 1958, Brazil, led by Pele, beats Sweden 5-2 in Stockholm to become the first team to win the World Cup outside its continent. The 17-year-old, coming off a hat-trick in Brazil’s 5-2 semifinal victory over France, scores twice in the final. Pele’s first and memorable goal comes in the 55th minute to put Brazil ahead 3-1. Pele controls the ball in the penalty area with his thigh, flips it over the head of the defender and smashes it past a helpless Kalle Svensson. Pele seals the win with a headed goal in stoppage time.
On this date:
1906 — Alex Smith shoots a record 295 to beat brother Willie in the U.S. Open. Alex shoots a 295 at Onwentsia Club Ill.
1933 — Primo Carnera knocks out Jack Sharkey in the sixth round at the Long Island City Bowl to win the world heavyweight title.
1947 — Betty Jameson wins the U.S. Women’s Open by six strokes over amateurs Sally Sessions and Rolly Riley.
1952 — Louise Suggs beats Betty Jameson and Marlene Bauer by seven strokes to win the U.S. Women’s Open.
1956 — Charles Dumas becomes the first high jumper to clear 7 feet, jumping 7 feet, 5-8 inches in the U.S. Olympic trials at Los Angeles.
1957 — Jackie Pung loses the U.S. Women’s Open when she turns in an incorrect scorecard. Betsy Rawls is declared the winner.
1969 — Donna Caponi beats Peggy Wilson by one stroke to win the U.S. Women’s Open.
1984 — Montreal Expos infielder Pete Rose plays in record 3,309th MLB game, surpassing Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox.
1986 — Argentina withstands West Germany’s comeback to win the World Cup, 3-2 in Mexico City’s Aztec stadium. Argentina takes a 2-0 lead on Jorge Valdano’s goal 10 minutes into the second half. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Rudi Voller score goals seven minutes apart to tie the game in the 81st minute. Four minutes later Jorge Burruchaga scores the game-winner after getting a superb pass from Diego Maradona.
1990 — Dave Stewart of the Oakland A’s pitches the first of two no-hitters on this day, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0. Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers duplicates Stewart’s feat, throwing a 6-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s the first time in major league history that two no-hitters are pitched in the two leagues on the same day.
1991 — Britain’s Nick Brown scores a big upset at Wimbledon, beating 10th-seeded Goran Ivanisevic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in the second round. Brown, at 591 the lowest-ranked player in the men’s championship, posts the biggest upset, based on comparative rankings, since the ATP began compiling world rankings in 1973.
1994 — Martina Navratilova sets a Wimbledon record, playing her 266th career match. Navratilova passes Billie Jean King’s record of 265 when she and Manon Bollegraf beat Ingelisa Driehuis and Maja Muric 6-4, 6-2 in a doubles quarterfinal.
1994 — NBA Draft: Purdue small forward Glenn Robinson first pick by Milwaukee Bucks.
1995 — George Foreman loses IBF boxing title for refusing to re-fight Axel Schulz.
2001 — Russian swimmer Roman Sludnov becomes the first person to swim the 100-meter breaststroke in under a minute, breaking a world record for the second time in two days at the national championships in Moscow. Sludnov finishes in 00:59.97.
2004 — Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks becomes the fourth pitcher to record 4,000 strikeouts when he strikes out San Diego’s Jeff Cirillo in the eighth inning of the Padres’ 3-2 win.
2007 — After 16 years in Europe, the NFL shuts down its developmental league.
2008 — Two weeks away from her 20th birthday, Inbee Park becomes the youngest winner of the U.S. Women’s Open by closing with a 2-under 71. Her four-shot victory over Helen Alfredsson, who shot 75, is the largest in the Women’s Open since Karrie Webb won by eight shots at Pine Needles in 2001.
2008 — UEFA European Championship Final, Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria: Fernando Torres scores as Spain beats Germany, 1-0.
2009 — Indoor tennis at Wimbledon. The new retractable roof over Centre Court is closed after rain halts play during a fourth-round match with Amelie Mauresmo leading top-ranked Dinara Safina, 6-4, 1-4.
2012 — The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency files formal charges against Lance Armstrong, accusing the seven-time Tour de France winner of using performance-enhancing drugs throughout the best years of his career.
2014 — Bernard Langer beats Jeff Sluman with a birdie on the 2nd playoff hole to win the Senior Players Championship at Fox Chapel GC.