Soccer Capsules: Crew opens up against Toluca without contract
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Crew head into Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal without a labor contract, the first Major League Soccer team to play a competitive game since the five-year deal expired last month.
Negotiations are set to resume Tuesday in Washington, D.C., with George H. Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, at the bargaining table.
"I'm not really optimistic at this stage," Crew midfielder Brian Carroll said Monday. "Things are not going well. Guys are unified and ready to do what we need to do if we're not going to be treated better than we have been. Guys are fed up and it's about time players are treated better. That just means rights. We're not really talking about money here. We'll see what happens, but I'm prepared to do what I have to do."
While management has said it won't lock out players, the MLS Players Union hasn't issued a similar no-strike pledge. Players want greater free agency within the single-entity league, which negotiates contracts on behalf of all teams, and want a higher percentage of guaranteed contracts.
"The league is trying to make it into a monetary thing, so it's pretty comical when they bring that up," defender Danny O'Rourke said. "I've had numerous people that have read about the basic rights that we want as players and they say, 'You guys didn't really have that already?' It's kind of a joke. We're hoping the league realizes they are treating us bad and they step up."
The league's first labor contract was set to expire Jan. 31, then was extended twice but ran out Feb. 25 when players balked at a third extension.
"They're always going to make us look like the villains. Any athlete who argues for more money to play a game is always going to look bad," said goalkeeper William Hesmer, the Crew's player representative. "Weave said over and over again that this is not about money. This is about basic rights and them being more transparent in the way they do business."
A league spokesman declined comment Monday.
While MLS president Mark Abbott said last month that owners proposed giving an additional $60 million to players during a five-year deal, union head Bob Foose said the league's proposal would slow salary growth from 5.9 percent to 4.8 percent annually and from a total of 33 percent over five years to 26 percent. He said the league includes salaries from future expansion teams as part of additional spending.
The first MLS game is March 25, when the expansion Philadelphia Union is set to open at Seattle. But the Crew have an early start because they were the only MLS team to advance to the final eight of the Champions League. The New York Red Bulls were eliminated in the preliminary round last August, and D.C. United and Houston failed to advance past the group stage in October.
Mexico dominates the quarterfinals, with Pumas UNAM at Honduras' Marathon and Pachuca at Guatemala's Comunicaciones on Wednesday, and Cruz Azul and Panama's Arabe Unido on Thursday in the final first leg match. The second legs of the home-and-home, total-goals series are next week,
Crew president and general manager Mark McCullers said the threat of a strike could be the reason behind a decline in ticket sales.
"Our numbers are a little behind last year and may be attributed to that, but overall it hasn't been a huge factor," he said.
After playing at Toluca on March 17, the Crew host Toronto FC on March 27 in their league opener.
"They're human beings. This thing is probably affecting them a little bit, but hopefully they're going to get that agreement with the league and we're going to focus on playing soccer," Crew coach Robert Warzycha said of his players.
Lilly picked for U.S. team training camp
CHICAGO — Kristine Lilly, who has not played for the United States since December 2008, is among 24 women selected for a training camp ahead of exhibition games against Mexico on March 28 at San Diego and March 31 at Sandy, Utah.
The 38-year-old midfielder has 129 goals in a world record 342 international appearances, but has not played for the national team since an appearance as a substitute against China in December 2008, five months after giving birth. If she appears in another international match, she would have played for the United States in four decades.
Four players selected have no international experience for the national team: defenders Whitney Engen and Brittany Taylor, and forwards Alex Morgan and Kelley O'Hara.
Nineteen of the players were at the Algarve Cup, where the U.S. women won the title for the seventh time. The United States is preparing for qualifying for next year's Women's World Cup.
The roster: Goalkeepers: Nicole Barnhart (Gold Pride), Jill Loyden (Chicago), Hope Solo (St. Louis); Defenders: Rachel Buehler (Gold Pride), Stephanie Cox (Boston), Whitney Engen (Chicago), Amy LePeilbet (Boston), Heather Mitts (Philadelphia), Meghan Schnur (Sky Blue), Brittany Taylor (Sky Blue), Cat Whitehill (Washington); Midfielders: Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue), Shannon Boxx (St. Louis), Kristine Lilly (Boston), Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue), Heather O'Reilly (Sky Blue), Megan Rapinoe (Chicago); Forwards: Lauren Cheney (Boston), Alex Morgan (California), Casey Nogueira (Chicago), Kelley O
FC Dallas acquires goalkeeper Hartman
FRISCO — FC Dallas has signed goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, a four-time MLS All-Star.
The team said Monday that it acquired Hartman in a trade with the Kansas City Wizards, giving them a second-round selection in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft in exchange for Hartman.
The UCLA graduate was drafted in the third round of the 1997 college draft by the Los Angeles Galaxy. After 10 seasons with the Galaxy, he was traded to Kansas City in 2007.
Holden has surgery for broken leg
CHICAGO — U.S. midfielder Stuart Holden has undergone surgery on his broken right leg.
Holden had a two-hour operation Saturday in the Manchester, England, area, during which doctors inserted a plate to cover the fracture in his right fibia, the U.S. Soccer Federation said Monday. The 22-year-old, in his first season with Bolton, was fitted with a cast and will be sidelined for about six weeks.
The timetable would allow Holden to return before the end of the Premier League season and be ready for the start of the Americans' pre-World Cup training camp in mid-May.
Holden was hurt during a challenge by Nigel de Jong during the Americans' 2-1 loss at the Netherlands last Wednesday. The USSF said Holden was "recklessly tackled."
Red Bulls forward undergoes hip labrum surgery
SECAUCUS, N.J. — The New York Red Bulls have announced that forward Giorgi Chirgadze has undergone left hip surgery to repair a labrum tear and decompress the joint.
The Red Bulls said Monday that Chirgadze is expected to recover in four to five months.
The 19-year-old Chirgadze, from Brooklyn, was the first player to sign with New York under the Homegrown Player rule on Sept. 11, 2009. Under MLS rules, he was eligible to train with the team, but could not play in games until the 2010 season.
Chirgadze previously played for the Red Bulls' Under-20 Academy team that won the Super-20 National Championship.
Commentary: Soccer's guardians score own-goal on technology
PARIS — At FIFA headquarters, they should carve this motto above the door: Why annoy some people some of the time when you can infuriate just about everyone all of the time?
In ruling out further experiments on the use of technology to determine whether a goal has been scored, the guardians of soccer have made a bad mistake.
Call it Murphy's law, divine intervention or mere unfortunate coincidence, but soon after the International Football Association Board voted this weekend to stay in the technological Dark Ages, the extent of the rule-makers' folly was exposed by a goal dispute in soccer's oldest domestic cup competition, England's FA Cup.
Had the technology been in use, then a ball with an embedded chip could have sent the message "Goal" or an earpiece beep to referee Steve Bennett when Liam Ridgewell's header for Birmingham crossed Portsmouth's line. Without a long and tiresome hold-up in play and without anyone in the crowd or on the pitch even having to know that he got a computerized helping hand, Bennett could have awarded the goal that would have cut Portsmouth's lead to 2-1 and, with some 10 minutes left to play, might have heralded a Birmingham comeback.
But instead, match officials didn't keep up with the action, as is too often the case. Bennett, forced to rely on nothing more than human eyesight, ruled it was not a goal. Unfairly for him, he was made to look incompetent by TV replays which subsequently showed the ball crossing the line before Portsmouth goalkeeper David James blocked it.
Reaching the cup semifinal would have netted Birmingham at least $680,000 in prize money. The fact that broke Portsmouth needs the cash more doesn't make this situation fair.
Let's hope now that a similar mistake mars the final of the World Cup on July 11. FIFA and the other IFAB members who refuse goal-line technology would have a far harder time justifying their blinkered approach if the outcome of soccer's showcase tournament is determined by yet another avoidable refereeing mistake.
As sad as it would be to see the World Cup won undeservedly, it could also be a necessary evil if it forces the IFAB to reconsider. Only such a huge embarrassment, in front of a global television audience of hundreds of millions, could perhaps do the trick. Because the rule-makers don't otherwise seem to give a hoot that their refusal of technology is incomprehensible to the game's leading lights, including Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. It's their word and their word only that counts.
Soccer, as FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke made so abundantly clear this weekend, is not a democracy, even if it is the planet's most popular sport.
Said Valcke: "Technology should not enter into the game, whatever are the opinions."
The IFAB, made up of FIFA and the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, is right to argue that soccer's human face and charms should be preserved. They are correct that referees' calls cause fans to chatter over beers in bars across the world. If referees and not video replays are to remain the final arbiters of the game, as they should, then occasional mistakes are inevitable perhaps even desirable.
But match officials also are being outgunned and second-guessed by television spectators and commentators armed with far more information than is available out on the pitch. According to Valcke, 32 cameras will cover each World Cup game, so viewers will see the action from angles that referees can't. Their mistakes will inevitably be spotted, which is bad for their credibility and that of soccer as a whole. Getting rid of the cameras clearly isn't the answer, getting the referees more help is.
Introducing video replays for other elements of the game, to spot fouls like Thierry Henry's infamous hand ball against Ireland in World Cup qualifying, for example, would take too much power out of the referees' hands, and there likely would be too many stoppages in play while videotape is reviewed.
But just because those technologies are undesirable doesn't mean that all technical solutions are. At the very least, referees should not be missing goals or awarding them when the ball did not cross the line. For the IFAB to claim that it wants to help referees, while at the same time ruling out further experimentation with goal-line technologies that could stop them from making the most elementary mistake, makes no sense.
John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester@ap.org.
League News
Wigan beats Liverpool 1-0 in Premier League
WIGAN, England — Hugo Rodallega fired Wigan to a 1-0 first ever victory over Liverpool on Monday to boost its chances of avoiding relegation from the Premier League and severely damage the visitor's chances of finishing fourth.
The Colombian's 35th minute goal pushed Wigan up two places to 14th and four points clear of the relegation zone with a first triumph over Liverpool after two draws and nine losses and after seven Premier League games without a win.
Liverpool remained sixth after its ninth loss of the campaign, a point behind fourth place Tottenham having played a game more.
"We didn't play well, especially in the first half. We were working hard without any game intelligence," said Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez. "We are unhappy. We have to show more character to be in the top four."
Last season Liverpool finished runner up to Manchester United, which tied its record of 18 league titles. But Liverpool has not won the championship since 1990 and is struggling to compete with Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa in the race for fourth place which would mean a shot at next season's Champions League.
Tottenham has 49 points from 28 games, Man City 49 from 27. Liverpool has 48 from 29 and, although it is three points ahead of Aston Villa in seventh, it has played three games more.
Although Fernando Torres hit the Wigan post with an angled shot early in the game, the home side played better and more threatening football on a surface newly relayed after the old one had been worn out by weekly use by both the town's football and rugby league teams.
With Liverpool lacking cohesion in midfield and frequently wasting possession, it was no surprise when Wigan went ahead but it took a Liverpool blunder to hand the home side the lead.
Dirk Kuyt gave the ball away to Emmerson Boyce deep in his own half and the Wigan midfielder advanced down the wing and then found Rodallega unmarked in front of goal to stroke it past goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
Glen Johnson made his first Liverpool appearance after a 12-game absence with a knee injury but a blunder by teammate Jamie Carragher almost handed Wigan a second goal in the 59th minute.
With Reina out of his goal, the defender's clearance hit Wigan striker Marcelo Moreno and looped towards goal only for Liverpool defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos to head off the line.
Liverpool almost equalized in the 76th minute, however, when Kuyt headed a cross down to Torres and the Spaniard's first time shot rolled past the far post.
Valencia held to 0-0 draw by Racing Santander
VALENCIA, Spain — Valencia missed a chance to strengthen its grip on third place in the Spanish league when it was held to a 0-0 draw by Racing Santander on Monday.
Valencia has 47 points — four better than Mallorca and Sevilla, which lost to Real Madrid 3-2 on Saturday.
Hesitation cost David Villa in the 20th minute as the Valencia striker was too slow in front of goal and allowed goalkeeper Fabio Coltorti time to recover and make the save. Villa was denied by the post moments later following a nice layoff by Pablo Hernandez.
Racing's Sergio Canales went close twice, with Miguel Angel Moya saving the teenage forward's right-footed shot at the close of the first half.
The visitors carried that momentum into the second half and Moya again was the difference as the backup 'keeper denied Mohamed Tchite from close range in the 67th.
Valencia defender David Navarro was sent off with two minutes remaining for a second bookable offence for handling the ball and will miss Sunday's game at Barcelona.
Real Madrid and Barcelona share 62 points with Madrid top on goal difference after Barcelona drew 2-2 at Almeria.
In other games played over the weekend, it was: Deportivo 3, Tenerife 1; Malaga 2, Xerez 4; Espanyol 0, Villarreal 0; Mallorca 3, Sporting Gijon 0; Osasuna 0, Getafe 0; Athletic Bilbao 2, Valladolid 0; and Zaragoza 1, Atletico Madrid 1.
San Lorenzo beats Chacarita 3-1 in Argentina
BUENOS AIRES — Bernardo Romeo scored two goals and Sebastian Gonzalez added another to lead San Lorenzo to a 3-1 victory over Chacarita in Argentina's Clausura tournament Monday.
The club, coached by former Argentine international Diego Simeone, improved to 10 points and sits in the middle of the table after eight rounds.
Romeo scored with a header in the 12th minute and got his second in the 64th.
In two other matches Monday to wrap up the round, Gimnasia and Rosario Central drew 1-1 and Arsenal defeated Colon 3-0.
Independiente, which defeated River Plate 2-0 on Sunday, leads the standings with 17 points ahead of Godoy Cruz with 15. Defending champion Banfield is on 14 followed by Velez Sarsfield, Newell's, Gimnasia and Colon — all with 12.
Traditional powers Boca Juniors and River Plate seem headed for poor seasons again. River has nine points and Boca has eight.
Gervasio Nunez equalized for Rosario Central after Nahuel Valentini gave Gimnasia a 1-0 lead in the 23rd.
Mauro Obolo scored two goals and Cristian Alvarez got the other in Arsenal's 3-0 victory over Colon.
Elsewhere
Fiorentina needs win over Bayern in Champs League
FLORENCE, Italy — Fiorentina is hoping to break out of a recent slump and reach to the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time with a win over Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
The team coached by Cesare Prandelli lost the first leg in Germany 2-1, and has won just one of its last nine Serie A matches. The team has also gone 17 games since its last clean sheet.
"We want to make history and we have to think about the opportunity that we have," Prandelli said. "There isn't any problem with fatigue, but I want to see the team concentrate. You play differently in Europe from the league and tomorrow we will do our best not to concede a goal."
On Saturday, Fiorentina was beaten by an uninspired Juventus team 2-1, and the squad appears to have been distracted by speculation that Prandelli will take over from Marcello Lippi as Italy coach after the World Cup.
"We are playing one of the strongest teams, one capable of winning the competition," Prandelli said. "In the first leg, though, we showed we could cause them problems."
In the first round, Fiorentina finished at the top of Group H, above Liverpool and Lyon, and returned from Anfield with a 2-1 win that eliminated the 2005 winners.
"In the past we have shown that we can get out of impossible situations even when we seem weaker on paper," Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey said. "We've already beaten Liverpool twice this season, therefore we can beat Bayern."
By contrast, Bayern goes into the match unbeaten in 18 matches, although it was held to a 1-1 draw at FC Cologne on Saturday, needing Bastian Schweinsteiger to score a second-half equalizer to salvage a point for the Bundesliga leader.
Schweinsteiger, a product of Munich's youth system, has quickly becoming a centerpiece of the side and is a certain starter for Germany at the World Cup.
"Bastian is an outstanding player, one of the best in Germany," Bayern captain Mark Van Bommel said. "He has the ability, and he's showing it now. The coach has got every player knowing exactly what to do in his position. Bastian's benefiting hugely from that."
However, Bayern coach Louis Van Gaal has problems in defense where central defender Martin Demichelis is out after fracturing his face in three places during Argentina's 1-0 win over Germany. Left back Diego Contento also gashed his knee against Cologne and requires stitches.
"We may have won the first game, but Fiorentina is a strong team and will have to attack," Bayern goalkeeper Jorg Butt said. "It will be a very open match and that will give us a lot of opportunities to score."
There is better news for Van Gaal in that his star wingers are likely to be able to play. Arjen Robben will be back after missing the trip to Cologne with a cold and Frank Ribery is likely to start after playing the last 30 minutes Saturday after having taken a knock during France's 2-0 loss to Spain.
Fabregas to miss Arsenal's match against Porto
LONDON — Arsenal will have to cope without injured captain Cesc Fabregas on Tuesday when it goes for the win it needs against FC Porto to progress to the Champions League quarterfinals.
The Spain midfielder was ruled out after missing training Monday, two days after limping out of a 3-1 Premier League win over Burnley with a recurrence of a hamstring injury.
Fabregas has scored and set up more goals than any other Arsenal player this season, so the Gunners may struggle to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit.
"We cannot even take a gamble, so he is not available," manager Arsene Wenger said.
Fabregas scored his 17th goal of the season in the Gunners' fourth straight Premier League win before departing in the 39th minute.
Abou Diaby replaced Fabregas on Saturday and could stand in if his captain is not able to play.
Veteran defender Sol Campbell, who scored Arsenal's goal in Portugal two weeks ago, did train freely Monday after recovering from a groin problem.
The former England international is again set to play, with central defender William Gallas ruled out because of injury.
Porto manager Jesualdo Ferreira is expecting a very tight match, especially because of Arsenal's away goal.
"We know the goal that they scored is very important," he told reporters at Emirates Stadium on Monday night. "We know we have to fight in this match to qualify.
"We know that this will be a very difficult match, but we have the weapons to compete with Arsenal."
Manuel Almunia is back in action and should start in goal ahead of Lukasz Fabianski, whose error led to Porto's opening goal. Fabianski also picked up Campbell's pass for the free kick that led to the second-half winner.
Porto playmaker Ruben Micael said he has fully recovered from a shoulder injury and that Ferreira would make a final decision on his fitness Tuesday. He also said that the absence of Fabregas won't necessarily make it an easier game for Porto.
"I think it can make it more difficult," Micael said. "Fabregas holds the ball a lot. We will find an Arsenal who will start strong and try to score in the first minute and we will also try to score a goal."
Cameroon midfielder Alex Song was suspended against Burnley but is available to play in Europe, while Andrei Arshavin was a substitute at the weekend and could play after recovering from injury.
Porto has lost its last six matches in London and sustained its heaviest Champions League defeat early last season at Emirates Stadium. Ferreira wasn't dismayed by that record.
"There is always a first time in our life for everything," he said.
But neither of the Gunners' scorers in that 4-0 group-stage win will be playing Tuesday.
Emmanuel Adebayor has left the club and Robin van Persie has not played since November because of injury.
Porto slipped 11 points behind Benfica in the Portuguese championship with a 2-2 draw against visiting Olhanense at the weekend.
-- Stuart Condie
Lavicka named coach of the year
SYDNEY — Sydney FC's Vitezslav Lavicka was named coach of the year by Australia's Professional Footballers Association on Tuesday, out-polling Wellington's Ricki Herbert and Melbourne's Ernie Merrick.
The Czech born former Sparta Prague coach received 66 votes in a poll of A-League players ahead of Herbert with 30 and Merrick with 29. Sydney FC will play Wellington in the A-League preliminary final on Saturday, vying for a place in the final.
"Vitezslav has brought a different level of organization, professionalism and culture to Sydney FC since he joined the club," Sydney defender and PFA president Simon Colosimo said.
"Our players understand their roles in the team and have confidence in the system we play," he added. "This confidence has driven a new level of unity amongst the playing group and staff."
Injury puts Breno out for rest of season
NUREMBERG, Germany — Struggling Bundesliga club Nuremberg says on-loan Brazilian defender Breno will be out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Breno joined Nuremberg in January on loan from Bayern Munich until the end of this season. But Nuremberg said Monday that a right knee injury he picked up in the club's weekend win over Bayer Leverkusen will put him out for at least five months — meaning that he won't play for Nuremberg again.
It said that he will be operated on by a specialist in the United States. Breno played seven matches for Nuremberg.
Rangers in talks about takeover bid
GLASGOW, Scotland — Scottish champion Rangers has announced that majority shareholder David Murray is talking to a London-based property developer about a takeover of the club, which is 31 million pounds ($46.8 million; €34.4 million) in debt.
Murray quit as chairman last August and has since been looking for a buyer and the club issued a statement Monday that it is in talks with Andrew Ellis, a former director of English club Queens Park Rangers.
Rangers, which has said up an independent board committee to conduct negotiations with any potential buyers, has not bought any new players since August 2008.
Premier League announces Dykes as TV frontman
LONDON — ESPN Star Sports broadcaster John Dykes will front the Premier League's 24-hour international TV feed when it launches in August. Available to the Premier League's international rights licensees, the high definition service will provide news content and game coverage.
Chief executive Richard Scudamore said at Monday's launch that 46-year-old Dykes was known as "Mr. Premier League" in Asia after having worked there for two decades fronting game coverage. He would be the lead presenter and anchor studio presentation of the matches.
West Brom players to have "Help Chile" on shirts
WEST BROMWICH, England — West Bromwich Albion players aim to raise money for the victims of the Chile earthquake on Tuesday with the words "Help Chile" on their shirts at a League Championship match against Sheffield Wednesday.
Albion's Chile defender Gonzalo Jara, who is sidelined with a broken bone in his foot, had to evacuate his wife and children from their apartment in Santiago when the earthquake struck Feb. 27.
West Brom does not have a regular shirt sponsor and is allowed to carry different logos on a match-by-match basis. The club will encourage fans to donate to the Chile relief fundraising through Red Cross organizations.
