ps to go by Clint Bowyer was a deliberate attempt to manipulate

TORONTO -- Former star striker Kara Lang played at the Under-20 Womens World Cup on two occasions before devoting her full attention to the Canadian womens senior team. She still remembers the massive roar of the home crowd when the Canadians walked out on the pitch before 47,784 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in 2002. Lang expects a similar reception for the Canadian team as the host nation at this years tournament, which begins Tuesday. "Nothing can compare to that -- the level of intensity, the crowd support that you get," Lang said in a recent interview. "I was 15 at the time, the rest of the team was 16, 17, 18-year-olds and to be playing in front of crowds of 50,000 people cheering for you, its unlike anything else. "Thats what this team is going to experience as well." Langs appearance at the inaugural tournament in Edmonton -- at that time it was a U-19 event -- came shortly after she made her debut with the senior team. There are several Canadian players who will be in a similar position for the 2014 tournament, which will be played Aug. 5-24 in Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal and Toronto. Midfielder Jessie Fleming has suited up for the senior team before and also played at the U-17 competition. "Its perfect because weve experienced a big tournament and we know what its like dealing with not a lot of recovery time and intense matches," she said. "I think that will help." Canada held a camp in mid-July in Mexico and will open the tournament Tuesday at BMO Field with a Group A game against Ghana. Canada will play Finland on Friday in Toronto before heading to Montreal for an Aug. 12 game against North Korea. Centre backs Kadeisha Buchanan and Rebecca Quinn, fullback Sura Yekka, midfielder Ashley Lawrence and forward Nichelle Prince are the other Canadian players with senior team experience. Defender Kinley McNicoll will serve as captain and Kailen Sheridan is the No. 1 goalie. Canada went 1-2-0 at the 2012 tournament and failed to advance out of the group stage. Andrew Olivieri is back as coach and senior team coach John Herdman is serving as high-performance director. The Canadian program has an eye on the big picture for all youth competitions and this one is no different. Olivieri wants his players to move closer to taking that next step to the senior team and hopefully achieve success along the way. "Six games at the international level is the most we can get out of this tournament," Olivieri said. "So thats going to take winning a quarter-final and thats going to remain our objective: is win a quarter-final, get into a semi and whether its a semi, a final, a third-place game, thats just what the system needs right now." Group B includes the U.S., Germany, China and Brazil. Group C is made up of England, Mexico, Nigeria and South Korea while Group D consists of Costa Rica, France, New Zealand and Paraguay. Germany and the defending champion Americans have combined to win five of the six previous U-20 tournaments while North Korea won in 2006. All three teams are expected to be strong again this year. The top two teams from each pool advance to the quarter-finals, which will be shared by the four host cities. Moncton and Montreal will host the semifinals and Montreal will stage the final and third-place match. The tournament comes a year before Canada hosts the 2015 Womens World Cup. "For a lot of these players, its kind of a warmup for them because a number of them will be playing in 2015 next summer with the full womens team," Lang said. "Next summer wont be such a shock to them if theyve gone through something like this. "It can be a bit of a shock when you walk out onto the field ... as the tournament grows, the support grows. By the time we walked out to crowds of 10 and 20,000 people (in 2002), we were floored and then it just grew as the tournament went on. In a number of ways its great preparation." Olivieri said his squad will be the youngest U-20 team Canada has ever fielded in the tournament. "Well be talented but we will be young," he said. "Its hard to tell how well stack up against other teams." Buchanan, one of the anchors of the Canadian defence, isnt lacking for confidence. "Our team is capable of dominating the opposition," she said. "Playing in their half and just getting (shots) on net." Fleming echoed those thoughts. "I think were capable of going all the way," she said. "I think its going to be tough. Its going to be tough for any team to win the tournament. We just have to take it game by game." Lang said there are always a few surprise results because it can be challenging to track the development of other national youth programs. She expects Olivieri and Herdman will have the players ready and prepared. "They have really implemented a system and a philosophy of mental toughness," she said. "It really is just based on individual players knowing their roles and focusing on that." Langs other U-20 appearance came in Thailand in 2004. She played in two World Cups -- in 2003 and 2007 -- as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her eyes still light up when she talks about that magical ride to the final in 2002. "Playing in an international tournament at home in front of Canadian fans -- you cant beat it," she said. CC Sabathia Jersey . The Major League Soccer teams were scheduled to play on Saturday night, but their game was rescheduled after Stu Tudor was hit during a pregame storm. The 54-year-old lieutenant in the Columbus Fire Department is in critical condition in the intensive care unit of the Ohio State Medical Center. Albert Abreu Yankees Jersey . So far, so good: Gonzalez has allowed one run through 12 innings this season. 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JOLIET, Ill. -- Penske Racing swept the front row in qualifying for the first race of the Chase, with Joey Logano winning the pole hours after NASCAR placed his team on probation for allegedly cutting a deal with another organization to help him make the championship field. Logano turned a lap at 189.414 mph around Chicagoland Speedway on Friday to bump teammate and defending NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski. Keselowski did not qualify for the Chase but Logano did make it in at Richmond, where he was aided by at least three other drivers last Saturday night. It all came out in two separate investigations into the closing laps and carried over into Chicago, where NASCAR summoned Penske Racing and Front Row Motorsports in for a Friday morning meeting to discuss an alleged deal made for David Gilliland to give Logano pivotal track position to make the Chase. The Penske team denied wrongdoing -- radio transmissions couldnt prove they had any involvement in Front Rows bargaining -- but NASCAR spent most of the day reviewing the incident. After booting Martin Truex Jr. from the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field earlier in the week for Ryan Newman because of Michael Waltrip Racings manipulations at Richmond, there was a chance Logano could be kicked out, too. Instead, NASCAR took the unprecedented step of adding Jeff Gordon as a 13th driver to the field and placed Penske and Front Row on probation through the end of the year. Logano, who beat Jimmie Johnsons 2005 track record of 188.146 mph, said he never thought hed be kicked out of the Chase despite the vitriol he was seeing on social media. "There wasnt any worry in my mind that we werent going to be in the Chase. I felt like we deserved to be here," Logano said. "I realize there are a lot of people on Twitter that are really mean. Ive read enough of it, and I thought, Wow, this Joey Logano guys a real jerk. Then I realized, You know, maybe Im not. "Hopefully this helps prove them all wrong, that we deserve to be here, becauuse this team has got what it takes and weve proven that all year long.dddddddddddd I guess we have to do that for 10 more races and prove them wrong a little bit more." The Chase begins Sunday at Chicagoland, where NASCAR will have a 13-driver championship field for the first time since the title-deciding format began in 2004. Juan Pablo Montoya, who qualified third, made light of the controversy. "The question I asked when coming in here is maybe qualifying third I could make the Chase, too," he said. Chase driver Kasey Kahne was fourth and followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Next was Gordon, who had an emotional week watching the fallout from Richmond unfold. He thought he missed the Chase on performance, then learned the spin with seven laps to go by Clint Bowyer was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the outcome for Truexs benefit. Things just got worse from there as Gordon learned of another plot by MWRs drivers to help Logano push Gordon out of the Chase, and then of the Penske and Front Row potential bargaining. He came to Chicago aware NASCAR was still reviewing the situation but not hopeful it would change his situation. He learned hed been added to the field watching NASCAR chairman Brian France make the announcement on television before qualifying. "It was hard to not hear rumblings about what may occur, what may not occur. We just tried not to get our hopes up," he said. "Ill admit, its been a rough week. It was a lot of ups and downs of emotions for this entire team. Im very thankful to be in, and I know its under the most unbelievable circumstances Ive ever been a part of in my racing career, and I wish that all of this hadnt happened. Now here we are as a 13th car and in, now we just try to take that opportunity and make the most of it." Chase drivers made up the next four spots as Greg Biffle was seventh and followed by Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and points leader Matt Kenseth. Bowyer was the lowest qualifying Chase driver at 24th. ' ' '