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RIO DE JANEIRO -- It got physical, very physical, and thats just fine with the U.S. womens water polo team.Maggie Steffens scored four times, and the United States clawed its way back to the Olympic final with a rugged 14-10 victory over Hungary on Wednesday.Winners of 21 in a row, including its five games in Rio de Janeiro by a combined score of 61-27, the U.S. has met every challenge as the favorite to become the first country to win consecutive gold medals since the tournament was added to the Olympics in 2000.Poked and prodded by Hungary, the U.S. pushed back with its relentless attack.We kind of say bring it on, Steffens said. We want to beat teams at their best game. Hungarys a very physical team, thats what makes them great.Next up is Italy, which advanced to Fridays final with a 12-9 victory over Russia. Italy also is a perfect 5-0 in Rio, winning by a combined score of 51-31.Its going to be a heck of a battle, U.S. coach Adam Krikorian said. Were going to have our hands full, no doubt.With the U.S. paying close attention to Barbara Bujka in the middle, captain Rita Keszthelyi scored four times as Hungary became the first country to reach double digits against the U.S. since Spain got 10 goals in a loss to the Americans on June 9.But Hungary was unable to slow down the athletic U.S. in the second half.The U.S. is the strongest and they have the most and biggest, strongest players in all the Olympic Games, Hungary coach Attila Biro said.After Bujka scored to get Hungary within one at the beginning of the second quarter, the United States responded with four of the next five goals. Maddie Musselman scored on two power plays and Kaleigh Gilchrist made it 8-4 with 3:06 left in the first half.Hungary made another charge in the third quarter, but Steffens had two goals and Kiley Neushul also scored in an impressive burst that helped put the game away.We knew it would be a physical, tough, strong game, U.S. center Kami Craig said. Just happy to go out there and kind of grind through some of that physicality and try to play as clean of water polo as we could.Italy won the gold medal in 2004, but slipped to sixth in Beijing and finished seventh in London four years ago. But its headed back to the final after Arianna Garibotti scored five goals and Giulia Gorlero made nine saves in the countrys second victory over Russia in Rio.The final is a dream, Italy coach Fabio Conti said. Every player, every athlete, every coach that arrive in Olympic Games want to arrive to this dream. Now we dont want to stop (this) dream.Roberta Bianconi and Chiari Tabani added two goals apiece for Italy, which, like the U.S., is trying to become the first two-time winner of the Olympic tournament.Its going to be a physical battle, Bianconi said through a translator, so we need to be very, very focused and do exactly what we have worked on our whole season.Evgeniya Ivanova and Ekaterina Lisunova each scored two goals for Russia, which was a surprise 12-10 winner over Spain in the quarterfinals.Ivanova and Olga Gorbunova scored the first two goals of the game, but Italy gradually took over. Garibottis long-range goal gave Italy a 5-4 lead with 1:37 left in the first half, and it never trailed again.After Russia pulled within two with 3:17 left, Garibotti scored a power-play goal to make it 10-7. Bianconi added a penalty shot with 1:41 remaining.Garibotti scored seven times in Italys first four games.Sometimes when the moment is dangerous she can do anything, Conti said.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Nike Just Do It Scarpe .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. Air Max Plus Scontate .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. http://www.outletairmaxitalia.it/scapre-air-max-90-outlet.html . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Air Max 720 Scontate . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. Air Max 97 Prezzi Bassi . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. The fleeting storm along Lake Erie couldnt have come at a better time for the Chicago Cubs.It was as if the gods finally cut this snake-bit franchise a long overdue break.One hundred and eight years overdue.Shell-shocked after blowing a three-run lead with four outs to go in Game 7 of the World Series, the Cubs looked more like deer staring into headlights as they headed to extra innings against the Cleveland Indians. A series of head-scratching moves by manager Joe Maddon, who seemed intent on making sure the drought lasted into its 109th year, cost Chicago a chance to wrap this thing up in regulation.Then it started raining.The tarp was hurriedly rolled out to cover the infield and the Cubs used the unexpected break to regain their composure with a hastily called team meeting. The delay lasted only 17 minutes, but that was long enough to steady their shaky nerves.Chicago went out in the 10th inning and turned a 6-6 tie into an 8-6 lead. Ben Zobrist delivered a run-scoring double down the left-field line, and third-string catcher Miguel Montero followed with an RBI single to give the Cubs some much-needed breathing room.Then, shortly before 1 a.m. on the East Coast, the Cubs stamped out the Curse of the Billy Goat and Steve Bartman and Black Cats and Fly Balls Lost In the Sun -- everything that conspired to keep them from celebrating a World Series title since their last one in 1908. With the gutsy Indians having scored one final run, cutting the deficit to 8-7 and putting the potential tying run on base, third baseman Kris Bryant swept across the infield, scooped up a soft ground ball and whipped a throw over to first baseman Anthony Rizzo to end it once and for all.Next year finally arrived.Now, they can hoist a championship banner over Wrigley Field, not just a W flag.It happened! It happened! Chicago, it happened! Rizzo kept saying over and over again, as if he wasnt quite sure about it himself. We did it! Were world champions! I tell ya, were world champions! I cant believe it!As one shouldve expected for a franchise that has endured so much misery, the Series-clinching win was downright gut-wrenching. Really, that was the way it had to be. The Cubs raced out to a 5-1 lead and were still up 6-3 with two outs in the eighth. But Maddon had already set in motion an excruciating finish for long-suffering Cubs fans by yanking starter Kyle Hendricks far too soon, and then calling upon overworked closer Aroldis Chapman in the eighth to close things out.Chapman, predictably, surrendered a run-scoring hit to make it 6-4, followed by a two-run hoomer to Rajai Davis that sent Clevelands fans -- who know a thing or two about suffering -- into a delirious dance.ddddddddddddith the Cavaliers drought-breaking NBA title already in the bank just a few months ago, it looked as though the Indians would improbably bring home their first World Series title since 1948 to add to the citys trophy case. In the ninth, when Maddon inexplicably called for a safety suicide bunt with two strikes, only to have Javier Baez foul it off for a strikeout with the potential go-ahead run at third base, it seemed inevitable that Chicago would find a way to blow it.Then the skies opened up.And the Cubs settled down.Jason Heyward, a big free-agent signee whos been a huge disappointment in an otherwise thrilling season, called his teammates together in the weight room.I just had to remind everybody who we are and what it took to get here, Heyward said.His words settled everyone down.It was the best thing for us, Bryant said.Rizzo concurred.We rallied together, he said. We knew we could do this. We pulled together and the boys believed.Team architect Theo Epstein, who oversaw a drought-breaking title for the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and now has done the same with the Cubs, happened to walk past the weight room during the delay.They were all gathered around saying, `This is only going to make it sweeter boys. Lets grind. Lets grind. Here we go, Epstein related. They went out and had an unbelievable inning.Cleveland manager Terry Francona downplayed the stoppage, saying he didnt think it decided the game.I dont think it really did, he said. Bryan Shaw was the guy we had out there. Of all the guys we have, he probably bounces back as good as anybody.But Shaw, who got the final two outs in the ninth, looked like a totally different pitcher when he went back to the mound in the 10th. He surrendered three hits and two intentional walks. The only out he got was a towering fly ball by Bryant that was caught just short of the wall in center field.For the Indians, the drought goes on.For the Cubs, theres no more talk about 1908.They are World Series champions.All it took was a stirring comeback from a 3-1 deficit, one of the greatest Game 7s in baseball history -- and a little help from above.---Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org or at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '