Leading Off

Czeching In

Jan Koller (below left, in white) beat two U.S. defenders to a high pass and headed the ball by a diving Kasey Keller to put the Americans in a hole only five minutes into their World Cup opener on Monday in Gelsenkirchen , Germany . Tomas Rosicky (inset) added two more goals, giving the Czech Republic a 3-0 victory in a Group E match (page 48).

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Diop-portunity

While (from left) Shaquille O'Neal , Josh Howard and Udonis Haslem held their collective breath, DeSagana Diop of the Mavericks tapped in a rebound-but was called for goaltending-in Game 1 of the NBA Finals last Thursday in Dallas . It was the closest Diop came to scoring a basket in the first two games of the series, but it didn't matter because the Mavs manhandled Shaq and the Heat to win twice (page 60).

French Toast

Under a scorching sun Rafael Nadal wound up for a forehand during his 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 win over Roger Federer in the final of the French Open on Sunday in Paris (page 56). It was Nadal's second straight title at Roland Garros, a feat matched by Justine Henin-Hardenne (inset), who beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women's final.

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