KINGSTON, Jamaica – The United States took a significant step toward the World Cup on Friday, beating Jamaica 2-1 as a dull contest took an extraordinary double twist in the dying moments.

United States bench players congratulate teammate Brad Evans. (AP )Brad Evans struck the winner in injury time, just seconds after Jamaica looked to have grabbed a dramatic equalizer thanks to Jermaine Beckford's header off a free kick.

Until the drama at the death, Jozy Altidore's headed goal from close range after 30 minutes seemed like it would be the difference as the U.S. moved nearer to a seventh straight appearance in soccer's greatest showcase.

With the top three in the CONCACAF regional pool guaranteed to secure passage to Brazil next summer, this result will serve to allay the nerves that beset the beginning of USA's campaign. The Americans will go into home matches against Panama on Tuesday and Honduras on June 18 with a decent level of confidence.

The U.S. sits in second place in the Hexagonal standings with seven points behind Costa Rica and ahead of

A mural inside the Bob Marley Museum shows the reggae legend playing soccer. (Yahoo! Sports)KINGSTON, Jamaica – More than three decades have passed since Bob Marley uttered the final lyrics of his shortened life, yet tracking down reggae music's eternal icon takes no effort at all on the beautiful sun-drenched island where his story began.

For Marley's music and philosophy is a part of Jamaica's very fabric, and for all the palm trees and white sand and irresistible rum cocktails, the tourist economy in this part of the Caribbean is just as reliant on visitors seeking musical enlightenment and a sample of Rastafarian tranquility.

The United States men's soccer team is chasing something very different here, having arrived ahead of Friday's World Cup qualifier against the home nation with the simple goal of three points and a step towards Brazil next summer on its agenda.

Yet as surely as Paris spells romance, Jamaica means Marley and even on a journey of purely sporting interest there is no avoiding (why would you want to?) links to a musical maestro who spread an ideology of

Oscar Pistorius appears in the magistrates court in Pretoria, South Africa. (AP)Oscar Pistorius' latest date with destiny came and went in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Pretoria, South Africa, but as complex and convoluted as his murder case has become, the Blade Runner's freedom could hinge on something as simple as a few fragments of wood.

Pistorius appeared in Courtroom C at Pretoria Magistrates Court for just 17 minutes, finding himself on public display for the first time since the dramatic bail hearing that followed a Valentine's Day morning when he fatally shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

The next step of the judicial process was swiftly postponed until August 19, a date on which Pistorius is likely to hear details of the precise charges leveled against him before another probable postponement until near the end of the year.

A possible cause for the delay is due to complications regarding forensic evidence relating to the bathroom door that Pistorius allegedly fired through, then broke down to find Steenkamp slumped over.

Pistorius claims he

In around 29 months' time, Floyd Mayweather Jr. will likely quickstep his way into boxing retirement, with the things he cares about the most firmly intact.

Andre Ward is widely considered the second-best boxer in the world, behind only Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Getty Images)Mayweather keeps score on his own success with a two-fisted combination of his bank balance and the '0' at the end of his 44-0 career record. By the time his six-fight, $200 million Showtime contract expires, probably sometime towards the end of 2015, both should remain in healthy order.

Yet if boxing's pound-for-pound king wants to give his legacy a long-lasting boost and provide the fight game and its loyal fans with a desperately needed injection of excitement, there is only one legitimate option – and it's not Canelo Alvarez.

That would be to fight Andre Ward, widely acclaimed as the second-best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet, a bigger man than Mayweather and an outstanding technician with a record (26-0) just as blemish-free as that held by "Money."

"If I fought Floyd it would be a great fight, pretty much the best thing

With eight months to go until the 2014 Winter Olympics, this is usually the time when Games chiefs start cranking up their public relations campaign and begin to get us all excited about the five-ringed circus all over again. But the suits at the International Olympic Committee have some fires to douse right now, at the end of a week that brought nothing but bad news for a series of host and candidate host cities.

Boris Nemtsov presents a report claiming widespread corruption behind the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. (AP)The IOC was forced to answer fresh allegations of widespread corruption surrounding Sochi, the site for next year's winter extravaganza, after a Russian parliamentarian demanded a full political investigation into missing funds.

Opposition leaders Boris Nemtzov and Leonid Martynyuk released a report claiming that more than $30 billion of monies allocated to Sochi projects has gone missing. The Games will be the most expensive ever at a total cost of around $50 billion, which Nemtzov insists is more than the previous 21 Winter Olympics combined and vastly higher than the

CARSON, Calif. – It was the first time it happened and hopefully the last time it will matter.

Late into Sunday night, Robbie Rogers stood on the sideline at the Home Depot Center, took a deep breath, gave the slightest of smiles and stepped into United States sporting and social history by becoming the first openly gay male athlete to play in an American pro sports league.

That's a lengthy description for a seminal moment that perhaps shouldn't matter anymore, but it still does because decades of intolerance are not undone overnight and because acts of human courage like those of Rogers and Jason Collins deserve recognition.

It mattered to the crowd of 24,811 in this suburb just south of Los Angeles, mattered just enough to give Rogers a rousing welcome and a standing ovation, yet not too much to totally overshadow a resounding 4-0 trouncing of the Seattle Sounders.

Which, of course, is exactly what Rogers wanted.

"I just want to be treated like anyone else," he said. "And the guys made it

Arjen Robben celebrates his game-winning goal for Bayern Munich. (Getty Images)With a single, dramatic, title-winning flick of his left foot,  Arjen Robben finally rid himself of all the hurtful tags.

Nearly-man. Big-game choker. Perennial runner-up.

Robben's cool head prevailed in the dying moments of a Champions League final of outstanding quality on Saturday, giving Bayern Munich the title with a 2-1 triumph over German rival Borussia Dortmund.

This time around, finally, the Dutch winger was the man of the moment, taking control of this game in a way he couldn't in any of the three huge disappointments in his career.

[Related: Arjen Robben in tears after emotional victory]

Two of them came in the 2010 and 2012 Champions League finals, when he was anonymous for Bayern against Inter Milan and then missed a crucial penalty kick against Chelsea last year. The other was on the greatest stages of all, when he failed to shine for the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup final.

Saturday night at London's Wembley Stadium, Robben's expression said it all as he wheeled away,

If the form guide holds true, then Bayern Munich will be crowned as European champion Saturday, a title that would inevitably see the giant German club unanimously recognized as the current best in the world.

Yet while victory over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium would cap a spectacular season, nothing it achieves in the Champions League final can overshadow Bayern’s greatest and most important triumph, one that took place more than seven decades ago.

Bayern Munich players celebrate after defeating Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal. (Getty Images)That triumph was survival itself, attained against all odds and in the face of the most terrifying of opponents – Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party.

During the years leading up to the second World War, Bayern had developed a strong tradition of having senior administrators, sponsors, fans and coaches … who were Jewish. That status put the club and its leaders directly in the crosshairs of the Nazis, who were determined to stamp out any sign of Jewish success or positivity.

As the tentacles of Hitler’s racist and anti-Semitic doctrine spread and