Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — FOOTBALL

Saints’ Smith arrested

New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith was arrested Saturday in Louisiana after he was accused of grabbing his wife’s hair and pulling her down the street. Police in Lafayette, which is about 50 miles west of Baton Rouge, said Smith and his wife had gotten into an argument just after 2 a.m. while leaving a nightclub. Police Cpl. Paul Mouton said in a news release that officers on patrol saw the argument escalate, and then saw Smith grab the woman’s hair. Mouton said the woman’s injuries were minor. Smith has been charged with domestic abuse and simple battery. Smith was released on $1,000 bond Saturday, according to the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Department.

Shawne Merriman’s first season with the Buffalo Bills ended before it even began. Merriman was placed on injured reserve Saturday because of a nagging Achilles tendon injury, culminating a tumultuous year for the one-time feared pass rusher. The Bills claimed Merriman off waivers earlier this month.

New York Giants left tackle Shawn Andrews (Camden, Arkansas Razorbacks) has been released from the hospital following treatment for a chronic back condition. The team said the 335-pound lineman left the Hospital for Special Surgery on Saturday morning. He had been there for two days. The back condition had cost Andrews the entire practice week before last week’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, and he has been listed as doubtful for today’s game against Jacksonville.

TENNIS

Federer, Nadal reach final

Roger Federer joined Rafael Nadal in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals by beating Novak Djokovic 6-1, 6-4 in London. Federer picked his shots throughout the match, keeping Djokovic on the run and forcing the third-ranked Serb into errors during the longrallies. The 16-time Grand Slam champion will face the top-ranked Nadal in today’s final at the O2 Arena. Nadal beat Andy Murray 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (6) earlier in a backand-forth match.

HORSE RACING Two jockeys suspended 3 days

Jockeys Julien Leparoux and Kent Desormeaux have been suspended by stewards for three days for their actions during the Clark Handicap on Friday at Churchill Downs. Leparoux finished first aboard Successful Dan but the winner was dropped to third after officials ruled Successful Dan interfered with Redding Colliery at the top of the stretch. Desormeaux finished fourth aboard Demarcation but was dropped to last for running into Dubious Miss. The suspensions will run from Dec. 2-4 if they choose not to appeal.

Jersey Town, a 35-1 long shot, held off Haynesfield by a head Saturday in the $250,000 Cigar Mile Aqueduct. Cornelio Velasquez was aboard for trainer Barclay Tagg as the 4-year-old earned his first stakes victory. The time was 1:34.43 on the fast track. Jersey Town paid $71.50, $25.80 and $9.50. Haynesfield, the Jockey Club Gold Cup winner at Belmont Park, returned $6.60 and $4.70. Girolamo paid $3.10.

Victor’s Cry, an 11-1 long shot, rallied from next-to-last and used a powerful stretch run to win the $250,000 Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park. Ridden by Victor Espinoza for trainer Eoin Harty, the 5-year-old Victor’s Cry was ninth early in the field of 10, moved to fifth on the second turn and squeezed through a small hole in the stretch to beat Proudinsky by 1 3/4 lengths, covering 1 1/16 miles on the turf in 1:39.86. The winner paid $24.40, $12 and $6.20. Proudinsky returned $15.40 and $8.20, and Meteore paid $11.40 to show.

BOXING

Froch wins WBC title

Carl Froch of Britain unanimously outpointed Arthur Abraham of Germany in 12 rounds in Helsinki to take the vacant WBC super middleweight title. Two judges scored it 120-108 and the third had it 120-109. The 33-year-old Froch improved to 27-1. The Armenian-born Abraham dropped to 31-2.

Undefeated Andre Ward successfully defended his WBA super middleweight title, unanimously outpointing Cameroon’s Sakio Bika in front of a sparse crowd at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. Ward (23-0) won all 12 rounds on one judge’s scorecard and was ahead 118-110 on the other two.

GOLF

Poulter continues to lead

He might have shot a 69 to jump into joint second at the Dubai (United Arab Emirates) World Championship, but ex-soldier Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand is refusing to get excited. The 41-year-old Jaidee said “if I don’t succeed, I’ll come back next year” after finishing the third round of the season-ending tournament alongside England’s Ross Fisher and Italy’s Francesco Molinari.They are two shots behind leader Ian Poulter before today’s final round for the winner’s purse of $1.25 million. Such winnings would be the biggest earnings for Jaidee, who only turned pro at 30 after almost 10 years in the Royal Thai army as a Ranger, making regular parachute jumps and honing his golf skills on military golf courses.

SOCCER U.S. women take spot in World Cup

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - Three weeks later than anyone expected, the United States is on its way to the Women’s World Cup.

Stunned in regional qualifying earlier this month, the topranked Americans clinched the 16th and final spot in next year’s tournament Saturday by beatingItaly for the second time in a week. But, like many of their games of late, it was not the commanding performance that has become an American trademark.

Amy Rodriguez scored off a rebound in the 40th minute to give the United States a 1-0 victory, and the Americans won the home-and-home playoff against Europe’s fifthplace team on 2-0 aggregate.

“We have to stay together and put it together a little bit better,” U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage said. “Winning the gold medal, we’ll have to play very, very well because it’ll be very competitive.”

The World Cup will be played June 26 to July 17 in Germany. Thedraw is Monday in Frankfurt.

The Americans were in danger of missing the tournament they won in 1991 and 1999 after a stunning upset by Mexico in the semifinals of regional qualifying. It was just their second loss since the 2007 World Cup, and first since the opening game of the2008 Olympics, which the Americans went on to win.

Forced to beat Costa Rica in the regional third-place game and given a second chance with a playoff against the No. 11 Azzurre, the Americans showed they are still a force.

Not quite the overwhelming one they used to be, however.

“I think the country always thinks, ‘Oh, the U.S. always goes, they’re so good,’ ” Julie Foudy, part of the pioneering squad that won the 1991 and 1999 World Cups, said before the game. “When we stumble, they don’t realize the rest of the world is getting much better.”