Soccer Capsules: Rooney's brother signs with MLS
NEW YORK (AP) — Wayne Rooney’s younger brother John has signed with Major League Soccer and will be eligible for selection at next week’s draft.
The 20-year-old forward will be at the MLS combine of prospects from Jan. 7-11 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. MLS spokesman Will Kuhns said Tuesday that Rooney has already signed a contract with the league.
Rooney has played for Macclesfield Town in England’s League Two and had trials with Derby County of England’s League Championship in 2009 and MLS’s Seattle Sounders last August.
Wayne Rooney is a star forward with Manchester United.
Other non-college players at the combine are midfielder Paolo Cardozo (Uruguay), forward Victor Estupinan (Ecuador), midfielder Marlon Ganchozo (Ecuador) and midfielder Martin Rivas (Argentina).
Expansion Vancouver has the first pick in the draft on Jan. 13 in Baltimore. Portland, another expansion team, selects second followed by D.C. United, Chivas USA, Philadelphia and New England.
Chivas USA hires Fraser as new coach
CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Chivas USA has hired former MLS player Robin Fraser as its new coach. Fraser is taking over immediately and will begin preparing for the MLS SuperDraft on Jan. 13 and the regular season, which begins March 19 when Chivas USA hosts Kansas City.
The 44-year-old spent 10 years playing in MLS and the last four seasons as an assistant with Real Salt Lake. During his time in Salt Lake City, the team won the MLS Cup in 2009 and built its current 25-game winning streak.
During his MLS career, Fraser was a two-time defender of the year and a five-time All-Star. He played for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Colorado Rapids and Columbus Crew before retiring in 2005.
Fraser, who was born in Jamaica and became a United States citizen in 1986, made 27 appearances for the U.S. national team.
Mexico soccer
Arsenal considers sending Vela on loan to Bolton
LONDON (AP) — Mexico striker Carlos Vela is set to be sent out on loan by Arsenal until the end of the season, with Bolton emerging as the likely destination
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says that Bolton, which had Gunners midfielder Jack Wilshere on loan for part of last season, is one of "many clubs" interested in Vela.
The 21-year-old Vela has seen his first-team chances at Arsenal limited this season, with Marouane Chamakh, Nicklas Bendtner, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott all ahead of him in the Arsenal pecking order.
"Bolton is one of the clubs that has shown an interest — we have many clubs that have shown interest and I am not surprised," Wenger said Tuesday. "I want Carlos to play at the top, top level and the club who gives me the biggest guarantee to play will have the chance to sign him. I would expect it to happen in early January because he is keen to play."
Vela has scored three goals in 11 appearances for Arsenal this season.
"He has been patient and worked very hard," Wenger said. "He has matured a lot and changed a lot in a positive way and is a fantastic boy who deserves to play. He is a fantastic talent and I do not want to lose him and I want him now to get experience."
FIFA News
No decision to move 2022 World Cup to winter
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — FIFA president Sepp Blatter says the idea of moving the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the winter months to avoid the desert heat was not being actively considered — but could be discussed in future.
Qatar has promised that stadiums, training venues and other areas used in 2022 will be cooled, as summer temperatures exceed 104 degrees. Among those to have suggested a switch to January is Mohamed bin Hammam, a Qatari national and FIFA executive committee member.
Blatter, visiting Saudi Arabia, told reporters Tuesday that the idea of a switch had been suggested and could be discussed later.
Blatter also had talks with Prince Sultan bin Fahd, president of the Saudi Youth Welfare and Sport, about cooperation with Saudi Arabia.
Chung running again for FIFA vice presidency
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Korea Football Association says the body's former chief Chung Mong-joon will defend his FIFA vice presidency in a vote this week.
The KFA in Seoul announced Monday that Chung will stand against Prince Ali of Jordan at Doha, Qatar on Thursday for FIFA's vice-presidential seat for Asia.
Chung, who has held the seat since 1994, is a South Korean lawmaker and the controlling shareholder in Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilder. He ruled out running for the FIFA presidency this year.
The vote comes about a month after South Korea was beaten out by Qatar for the right to host the 2022 World Cup. The United States, Australia and Japan were also vying for the tournament.
League News
Barcelona visits Athletic Bilbao in Copa del Rey
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao will be looking for a spot in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey when they face each other Wednesday.
A defensive Bilbao held Barcelona to a 0-0 draw in the first leg at Camp Nou, but goals are expected for the return with Lionel Messi and David Villa, who have combined to score 28 league goals, up against Fernando Llorente.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola says "we are playing for everything in the worst possible scenario."
Also, Villarreal hosts Valencia in a regional derby on Thursday after a 0-0 draw at Mestalla Stadium in the first leg.
With Llorente unavailable for the first game with a leg injury, Bilbao coach Joaquin Caparros deployed six midfielders and focused on stifling the Barca attack. While that strategy succeeded in ending the Catalans' scoring run of 22 matches, it will not be an option this time with Bilbao in need of a goal to move on.
Llorente's strike partner Gaizka Toquero said his team must "go out to score a goal, but without losing its composure" and hoped that the game will not turn into a repeat of the 2009 final when Toquero scored the opener but Barcelona rallied to win 4-1 and lift its record 25th trophy.
"We have to go out with a lot of intensity, with a lot of pressure, and hope they don't have their day," the forward said.
Messi and Villa will most likely come into the starting 11 after coming off the bench in the first leg against the Basques. Barcelona's most inform player, however, is forward Pedro Rodriguez, who scored a brace against Levante on Sunday to make it eight goals in the last eight league fixtures.
Captain Carles Puyol will be available for Guardiola after missing a game with a leg injury, and Barcelona's winter signing Ibrahim Afellay is included in the squad for the first time.
Guardiola said his team will come out looking to score.
"I don't know what Athletic we will find, but I am sure they will press forward more than in Camp Nou," the Catalan manager said.
Also on Wednesday, Malaga will try to overcome Sevilla's 5-3 lead from the first leg at La Rosaleda stadium, and Deportivo La Coruna hosts second-division Cordoba with Miguel Angel Lotina's team holding a slim away-goal advantage after a 1-1 draw in Andalusia.
Third-place Villarreal and fourth-place Valencia have drawn twice this season in a pair of physical encounters and both enter in good form.
Villarreal has won 13 of its 14 home games this season in all competitions, with Valencia being the only team to steal a point after a 1-1 draw in league play in November. Since then, Juan Carlos Garrido's team has won five straight in La Liga.
"Valencia makes it tough for us by putting a lot of players behind the ball," Villarreal playmaker Santiago Cazorla said. "I am sure the game will be close and will be decided in the details."
Valencia is five points behind Villarreal in the Spanish standings and has won its last two league matches with goals in the dying moments.
"The game against Villarreal is fundamental," Valencia striker Roberto Soldado said. "It is a game that both teams want to win because in addition to being a knockout for the Copa it is also a derby."
In Thursday's late game, Real Madrid visits Levante with its progress all but confirmed after it thrashed the Valencia side 8-0 at Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Earlier, Espanyol hosts Atletico Madrid looking to overturn the visitors' 1-0 advantage.
Espanyol has lost three straight games, but has only been beaten once at El Prat-Cornella stadium this season.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino will probably not have striker Pablo Osvaldo available after he hurt his knee over the weekend.
Atletico enters off a scoreless draw in league and with doubts if Diego Forlan will play after missing the last match with an ankle injury.
Also, Getafe hosts second-division leader Betis with a 2-1 lead from the first leg, and Mallorca faces Almeria after losing the away leg 4-3.
-- Joseph Wilson
Man United goes three points clear by beating Stoke
LONDON (AP) — Javier Hernandez and Nani set each other up for goals as Manchester United beat Stoke 2-1 to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League on Tuesday.
A back-flick from Hernandez put United in front and, after Dean Whitehead headed Stoke level, the Mexico forward fed Nani for a well-placed winner.
"Stoke are such a determined bunch of lads — they don't make it easy for anyone, breaking them down," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "Thankfully Nani produced a fantastic goal ... and from then we were solid."
Unbeaten all season, United not only has a three-point lead but also a game in hand over Manchester City, which is at third-place Arsenal on Wednesday.
In Tuesday's other matches, Birmingham and Fulham climbed out of the relegation zone with victories. Birmingham won for the first time away this season came after Scott Dann's 89th minute goal secured a 2-1 victory at Blackpool, while Fulham beat West Bromwich 3-0.
In the title race, United has now collected 19 points from a possible 21 in its last seven matches.
The victory in United's 20th match of the league season was secured without striker Wayne Rooney, who injured his ankle at the weekend, and center back Rio Ferdinand, who was rested ahead of Sunday's FA Cup match against Liverpool.
Hernandez, whose double clinched a 2-1 victory at Stoke in October, was on target again against the team after 27 minutes at Old Trafford.
The offseason recruit nipped in front of former Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross at the near post and reacted quickly as Nani whipped in a low cross.
Letting the ball run behind him, he quickly flicked back his right leg and turned it into a goal that Asmir Begovic thought he had covered.
But Hernandez's eight goal of the season and his second in four days was canceled out five minutes into the second half when Stoke scored for the first time at United since 1980.
Whitehead nipped between Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra to head home Tuncay Sanli's cross unchallenged past Tomasz Kuszczak, who was filling in for Edwin van der Sar in the United goal.
United, though, was back in front in the 62nd when Hernandez found space on the edge of the penalty area to pick out Nani, who turned the ball away from Danny Collins and struck past Begovic.
On the northwest coast, Alexander Hleb pounced on a mistake by Stephen Crainey to put Birmingham ahead in the 24th minute.
D.J. Campbell leveled for Blackpool in the 68th by volleying in his fourth goal in four games.
But Birmingham found the target again late on when Dann met Roger Johnson's header across goal and took a touch before dispatching a half-volley past goalkeeper Richard Kingson.
In west London, Fulham eased the pressure on manager Mark Hughes by easily beating West Brom to secure its first home win in six attempts.
Simon Davies put Fulham ahead in first-half stoppage time when his 30-yard (meter) strike went through the raised hands of goalkeeper Scott Carson.
And Davies provided both of the second-half corners that allowed Dempsey and Brede Hangeland to head in goals and condemn West Brom to their fifth straight loss.
-- Rob Harris
Panathinaikos beats Xanthi 2-0 in Greek league
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek champion Panathinaikos scored in the first and last minutes to beat Xanthi 2-0 away and keep the pressure on title rival Olympiakos on Tuesday.
French striker Djibril Cisse lobbed goalkeeper Sotiris Lymberopoulos seconds after kickoff, for his 14th goal of the season. Xanthi was pegged back for the rest of the match and fell further behind when Lazaros Christodoulopoulos chipped the ball home in stoppage time.
Panathinaikos now has 34 points from 16 games, two behind leader Olympiakos, which hosts Iraklis on Wednesday.
Also Tuesday, Atromitos defeated Larissa 3-0, while Aris beat Kavala 1-0.
Elsewhere
English struggler Blackburn bids for Ronaldinho
BLACKBURN, England (AP) — English Premier League struggler Blackburn hopes to sign Ronaldinho from AC Milan and has approached David Beckham in an attempt to sign the former England captain on loan.
The chairperson of the Indian company that bought Blackburn in November said Tuesday that its Brazilian office is negotiating with representatives of Ronaldinho, a two-time world player of the year and 2002 World Cup winner.
Venky's chairperson Anuradha J. Desai said that Blackburn offered the Brazil forward a 2½-year contract worth €24.6 million ($32.8 million).
"We have made a bid for Ronaldinho and I believe there are a couple of other clubs trying for Ronaldinho," Desai told BBC radio. "One is a French club and another is a local Brazilian club. We are still negotiating.
"I understand from our source in Brazil that he is keen to play in the EPL and I think that goes in our favor."
The 30-year-old Ronaldinho has been strongly linked with a return to his native Brazil after playing for Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Milan during a decade in Europe.
But Desai said Venky's had offered Ronaldinho €7.6 million for the remainder of this season, with another €8.5 million for each of the following two seasons.
Desai added that Blackburn approached Beckham in the hope of signing him on loan from Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy.
With Tottenham also interested in signing Beckham, the player's management has said he is waiting for the Galaxy to decide whether he can leave on loan for a third straight northern hemisphere winter.
"We were trying to establish some invite to Mr. Beckham here," Desai said. "I think he has some other commitments but we are open whenever he is ready to come down."
Blackburn is 12th in the standings, three points above the relegation zone.
German player says he accepted money to fix games
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A former German second-division player told a magazine he received money to fix matches but he denied ever influencing a result.
Striker Rene Schnitzler told Stern magazine he received €100,000 ($134,000) from a major betting figure from the Netherlands to fix five matches in 2008 when he was playing for St. Pauli. The Bundesliga club was then in the second division.
The German football League (DFL) said it was looking into the allegations but that it had no evidence of any match fixing and had not received any warning about unusual betting patterns from the watchdog agency.
Schnitzler did not play in three of the five away St. Pauli matches, the DFL said. Schnitzler now plays for a lower-tier club.
According to Stern, Schnitzler acknowledged being addicted to betting.
"Since I was 18, there has hardly been a day when I did not bet," Schnitzler was quoted as saying by Stern.
The Dutchman who allegedly gave money to Schnitzler was identified by Stern as Paul Rooij.
Stern said Rooij had connections to many people allegedly involved in a broad match-fixing scandal under investigation in Germany. The magazine said the Dutchman placed bets in Asia for European bettors on allegedly fixed matches.
Ancelotti says he's lucky not to have been fired
LONDON (AP) — Carlo Ancelotti says he is lucky to still be Chelsea manager following the team's poor run.
The Premier League champions have taken just 10 points from their last 10 matches and slipped from top to fifth in two months.
"I am a lucky man," Ancelotti was quoted as telling British media Tuesday. "I understand that a lot of coaches are sacked with results like these."
Ancelotti won the league and FA Cup in May at the end of his first season. But after Chelsea conceded a late equalizer to Aston Villa on Sunday, the team goes to Wolverhampton on Wednesday nine points behind leader Manchester United.
The Italian wants to be judged at the end of the season by owner Roman Abramovich.
"When you go to a restaurant, you have to pay the bill when finish your meal," he said. "It's the same here. We have to pay the bill at the end of the season. At the end the club can judge me.
"The best food would be the Champions League. I've tasted it sometimes and it's good ... when the Champions League comes back, we need to have a squad without injuries."
Ancelotti has won the Champions League twice as a coach with AC Milan, and twice as a player with the same club in the European Cup format.
WADA appeals reduction of soccer doping ban
SAO PAULO (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency says it is appealing the reduction of a doping ban for Brazilian striker Jobson.
The 22-year-old Jobson was initially banned for two years by Brazil's top sports tribunal after he tested positive for cocaine in two tests after Brazilian league matches in late 2009. However, the tribunal last year reduced the suspension to six months after the player appealed.
WADA told The Associated Press in an e-mail on Tuesday that it "decided to exercise its independent right of appeal" to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It said the case is pending before CAS.
Jobson, who publicly acknowledged a drug addiction, was playing for Botafogo when he failed the tests. He has been signed by Atletico Mineiro for the 2011 season.
Man City agrees to fee for Bosnia striker Dzeko
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini hopes to sign Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko after the Premier League club agreed to a transfer fee with Wolfsburg.
"We have agreed a fee," Mancini said Tuesday. "He is a good player and all the teams in Europe want him. But we have an important game at Arsenal coming up and I will speak about him after that."
City is second on goal difference to Premier League leader Manchester United ahead of Wednesday's match against third-place Arsenal.
City wants the 24-year-old Dzeko, who has scored 66 goals in 111 games for Wolfsburg, to boost an attack that has been reliant upon Argentina striker Carlos Tevez.
Strikers Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz have been linked with moves elsewhere after failing to impress at City.
Toure, Adebayor in Man City training ground tussle
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City's preparations for its Premier League match at title rival Arsenal have been overshadowed by a training ground fight between Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor.
The website of the Daily Mirror newspaper published pictures showing the teammates involved in the altercation on Tuesday. The photos show the pair being pulled apart by several teammates. The team said it had no comment.
The clash comes with City second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, which is also on 41 points but has a better goal difference. Arsenal — the former team of Toure and Adebayor — is third in the standings, two points behind City.
Former Feyenoord winger Moulijn dies at 73
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Coen Moulijn, a gifted left wing for the Dutch club Feyenoord that won the 1970 European Cup, has died. He was 73. The team said he died early Tuesday following a stroke.
Moulijn was an excellent dribbler who appeared 487 times for Feyenoord in a career spanning 17 seasons. He made 38 appearances for the Netherlands and turned down several offers from overseas clubs to stay at his beloved Dutch team.
Robin van Persie is a former Feyenoord striker who now plays for Arsenal. He called Moulijn an "absolute legend" on Twitter and compared him to Barcelona star Lionel Messi.
Fans placed flowers and club scarves at the foot of a life-size statue of Moulijn that stands outside the team's stadium.
Wenger only wants a central defender in January
LONDON (AP) — Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he is only considering a new central defender during the January transfer window.
Wenger says he may buy a player if Belgium international Thomas Vermaelen continues to struggle with an Achilles' injury that has kept him out of the team since August.
Wenger says that he is "just waiting to know more about him, and then at the end of January we will have to make a decision."
Arsenal is third in the Premier League ahead of Wednesday's match against second-place Manchester City.
Corinthians releases former Arsenal midfielder Edu
SAO PAULO (AP) — Corinthians says it is releasing former Arsenal and Valencia midfielder Edu. Club president Andres Sanchez says Edu will leave before the end of his contract, which was due to expire in late 2011.
The 32-year-old Edu was signed in July 2009 but played only a few matches for Corinthians despite having one of the club's highest salaries at around $90,000 a month. Sanchez said both sides agreed that Edu's stint with Corinthians "didn't work out" as expected.
Corinthians also is releasing Paraguay goalkeeper Aldo Bobadilla, who was signed after being a reserve in the Paraguayan squad at the 2010 World Cup. The other player let go is former Boca Juniors playmaker Iarley, a reserve to striker Ronaldo.
Birmingham's Bowyer banned three matches for stamping
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Birmingham midfielder Lee Bowyer has been banned for three matches for stamping on Bacary Sagna in Saturday's Premier League loss to Arsenal.
Referee Peter Walton missed the offense in the second half of Arsenal's 3-0 win at St. Andrews but told the Football Association that he would have sent off the player if he had spotted it. The FA found Bowyer guilty of violent conduct.
He declined to appeal against the ban and will miss Tuesday's Premier League match at Blackpool, Saturday's FA Cup meeting with Millwall and next week's League Cup semifinal match against West Ham.
