Other Articles in this Category
Most Viewed Stories
Most Commented Stories
Most Recommended Stories
Save & Share this Article
Soccer Capsules: Mexican season back again; Chivas favorite
Comments 0 | Recommend 0MEXICO CITY — The Mexico football season is set to start again. If it seems like it just ended, that’s because it did.
Pumas defeated Pachuca on May 31 in the playoff to end the so-called Clausura season. The Apertura season opens Friday with Estudiantes of Guadalajara facing Pachuca.
Like most Latin American countries, Mexico breaks up the season into two halves, with clubs also playing in club competitions in South America and the North, Central American and Caribbean region.
Chivas is seen as the main favorite for the Apertura title. The Guadalajara club has all of its starters back, and also sees the return of Mexico national team striker Omar Arrellano who was injured most of last season. Mexico’s most popular club America should also make a push.
Chivas opens against Toluca on Sunday.
The club with the most pressure is America — probably Mexico’s richest team — which has not lifted a trophy in two years. America finished 14th of 18th last season and barely escaped relegation, which would have been a national scandal.
The club has spent $13 million in the offseason buying players — defender Aquivaldo Mosquera of Colombia, Argentine forward Daniel Montenegro and Brazil midfielder Rosinei. Jesus Chucho Ramirez, who won the under-17 World Cup in Peru 1995, returns as the coach.
"We should go up," club president Michel Bauer said. "We know the expectations attached to this shirt and that our millions of fans demand results."
Money may not do the trick.
America spent $25 million buying players during last season’s break between the Apertura and Clausura, and it made little difference.
"The solution is not just one player, we’re a team," Ramirez added.
Pumas have taken a completely different approach. They are going with the same team that defeated Pachuca in the two-legged playoff in May. Pumas won the first leg 1-0 and drew 2-2 in the second to win 3-2 on aggregate. The title was Pumas’ sixth Mexican championship.
"We want to be even better," said Paraguay forward Dante Lopez. "We know it will be difficult — we’re aware of this — but we know if we put in the effort we can do it."
Cruz Azul should also be a contender.
Cruz Azul finished last in the standings for the first time, which has forced a shake-up. Alberto Quintano of Chile comes in as the new general manager and Enrique Meza takes over as the news coach.
"I want to be champion," Meza said. "If you ask me now, I’d say I want to be champion. But promising what I can’t deliver is something I don’t like to do."
Cruz Azul, which takes on Jaguares on Saturday, is looking for its first title since the winter of 1997.
Chivas has fewer question marks.
Chivas spent heavy in the last offseason, but is staying pat this time. The team is built around forwards Omar Arellano and Javier Hernandez, two of Mexico’s best young strikers.
Saturday’s other matches are: Ciudad Juarez vs. Monterrey, Tigres vs. Puebla and Atlas vs. Pumas. On Sunday, Morelia plays Santos.
MLS
Beckham unapologetic after confronting fans
CARSON, Calif. — David Beckham offered no explanations or apologies for the way he confronted an angry group of Los Angeles Galaxy fans over the weekend.
"It’s not a setback for myself. It’s other people that have to change," Beckham said Thursday after practice. "It’s not about whether I can move on. I wasn’t the one booing."
Beckham confronted Galaxy fans in a group called the L.A. Riot Squad during Sunday night’s 2-2 exhibition tie with AC Milan.
Members of the Riot Squad booed and jeered him during the game and displayed banners saying, "Go Home Fraud" and "Is Evil Something You Are or Something You Do?"
"Of course, I don’t like my son seeing that and hearing that," Beckham said. "From an organized group of fans, I think it was disrespectful."
At halftime, Beckham walked toward the group while shouting and pointing. He challenged fans to meet him on the field and tried to lift himself over advertising boards before security intervened. Police arrested a fan who left the stands.
Then after a second-half corner kick in front of the Riot Squad’s section, Beckham immediately turned to those fans, put his index finger to his lips, shrugged his shoulders and blew them a kiss. The kick resulted in a goal.
"At the end of the day, I play my game," Beckham said. "If it’s not good enough for some people, as long as it’s good enough for myself and the team, nothing else matters."
The Riot Squad blamed Beckham for agitating the situation in a statement on the group’s Web site Thursday.
"Had David responded differently on Sunday, the booing and the chanting probably would have ended at halftime," the statement read in part. "We don’t believe questioning Beckham’s commitment to our team is over the line, but it’s clear that David feels otherwise."
Galaxy fans have been angry about Beckham’s public desire to stay with AC Milan beyond March, the original end of his loan. Both clubs and Major League Soccer negotiated a deal to let Beckham stay until the end the Serie A season.
"We want to support David," the Riot Squad’s statement continued. "We will almost certainly end the booing and chanting when Beckham plays in his first MLS match in our stadium, but it is ultimately up to David.
"If (he) shows the evident disinterest he did at the end of last season, or if he provokes us further, we might have something more to say to him."
Beckham was recently criticized in the book, "The Beckham Experiment" by Galaxy teammate Landon Donovan for not giving his full effort during the final half of last season.
Donovan said Thursday that he doesn’t expect to see Beckham as a late addition to the MLS All-Star roster for the July 29 game against Everton.
Beckham has played in only two games with the Galaxy this summer since returning from a five-month loan to AC Milan.
"There’s a lot of guys that have been here from minute one and worked very hard to get this honor," Donovan said. "And I don’t think if asked that he would necessarily want to be on the team because he’s a pretty honest guy. He works hard and he knows that a lot of guys deserve this."
World Cup
Head of U.S. World Cup bid not ruling 2018 out
CHICAGO — The United States isn’t conceding the 2018 World Cup to Europe.
Despite the likelihood that FIFA will favor going back to Europe for that tournament, the head of the U.S. bid committee said Thursday it hasn’t given up hope of hosting in 2018. The United States is one of 11 countries that has formally declared its desire to host the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022; Netherlands-Belgium and Portugal-Spain have submitted joint bids.
The World Cup will be in South Africa in 2010 and Brazil in 2014, the first time it’s left Europe for consecutive tournaments. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has already said there is a "general understanding" that Europe will play host in 2018, making 2022 a more realistic option for the United States.
"It may turn out to be that way," said David Downs, executive director of USA Bid Committee Inc. "If that would be the case, it would not bother us. But we’re not giving up on 2018 by any stretch."
FIFA’s executive committee will decide on both bids in December 2010. Eight of the 23 executive committee members are from Europe.
The United States has only hosted one World Cup, and the 1994 event drew a record 3.59 million fans. The 2018 or 2022 World Cup would be an even bigger success, Downs predicted, estimating ticket sales could easily reach 5 million. Though soccer is far more popular in the United States than it was in 1994, there is still plenty of room for growth, Downs said.
"If hosting the World Cup would enfranchise more generations, that would impact the entire sport for years to come," Downs said.
Though the quality of play has improved in Major League Soccer, which started play in 1996, it still has a long way to go to rival top European leagues. And Blatter maintains the league needs to switch to a traditional soccer schedule that starts in August and ends in the spring, rather than its current format of starting in the spring and ending in the fall.
While Downs said he’s "very proud" of the strides MLS has made, he knows the bid committee will have to find a way to let FIFA members know MLS is only a small portion of U.S. soccer culture. There are people who don’t have interest in going to an MLS game, but play on the weekends, follow the English Premier League or come out for a U.S. national team game.
"People care here, in enormous numbers," he said.
Downs has been visiting possible sites for a U.S. World Cup during the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The three-week tournament used 13 sites throughout the country, including the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. The U.S. bid will include 18 stadiums, and Downs expects there would be 12 to 14 sites for an American World Cup.
Though the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas have some of the older stadiums under consideration, Downs said he can’t imagine a U.S. bid without games in California. There has been talk of new arenas in both cities, and Downs said the bid committee will make clear to FIFA that changes could be made as stadiums are built or updated.
While some have questioned why FIFA is picking the 2018 and 2022 cities at the same time, Downs said he has no problem with it.
In fact, he’s glad the United States is getting two shots.
"Given the amount of effort we have to put in for this bid, to know if we didn’t get 2018 that we have a fighting chance for 2022 is extremely comforting," Downs said. "It would be heartbreaking to not get 2018 and be told, ‘Go away, don’t come back for 20 years."’
-- Nancy Armour
South Africa to WCup fans: Enjoy, then go home!
JOHANNESBURG — As South Africa gears up to host next year’s World Cup, steps are being taken to make sure fans go home when it’s over.
South Africa, the strongest economy on the continent, has an estimated 3 million to 5 million undocumented African immigrants in a population of 47 million, according to the South African Institute of Race Relations, and their presence has already sparked bloodshed.
Now some are predicting eased entry procedures for the monthlong tournament will make things worse.
George Khola, 36, a Ghanaian who sells fruit and vegetables at a Johannesburg market, is sure that the migrant numbers will soar with the approach of the games.
"This is the chance," he said. "The whole of West Africa will come."
Others say that with or without the World Cup, the migrants will keep coming in search of jobs, or as refugees from persecution and poverty.
"We know that South Africa is a magnet for migration on the continent," said Morne Fourie of the government agency that regulates immigration.
Dr. Darshan Vigneswaran, a migration expert at Johannesburg’s University of Witwatersrand, says migrants will keep coming because entry can easily be obtained by paying a bribe at the border.
The government says it is working on ways to balance welcoming the fans and making this an event for the whole continent — without compromising borders.
"This is Africa’s World Cup, not just South Africa’s," Fourie said.
South Africa is spending nearly $145 million to streamline entry for the games. It is the first World Cup host to offer an "event visa" for visitors from countries lacking visa-free arrangements with the host government. They will have to show a purchased match ticket, an address while in South Africa and a return ticket home.
Immigration officials will run spot checks on the addresses and deport overstayers. But finding them could be difficult. Once inside South Africa, it should be easy to melt in among the illegal immigrants already here.
Fourie acknowledged that corruption at border posts is a problem — also saying it wasn’t unique to South Africa — and believes that machine-readable passports would help to curb it.
Tensions were ignited in the spring of 2008 when mobs attacked shantytowns where immigrants live, killing more than 70 people and scaring thousands into leaving the country.
"That powder keg is still there," said Vigneswaran. "In a year of economic downturn, as very wealthy people celebrate (the World Cup), there will be people being killed in townships for being foreigners."
Nde Ndifonka of the International Organization for Migration said such violence is one of its biggest concerns, but doubted many migrants who attend the World Cup would stay.
Still, anti-migrant sentiment is evident, with many citizens blaming them for the 25 percent jobless rate and high crime.
Sitaka Shange, an office worker, said that until the government addresses crime and deports illegal immigrants already in the country, she wouldn’t consider South Africa ready to host the World Cup.
"They come here and take jobs," Shange said. "They will agree to a salary that South Africans will never agree to."
Kevin Sithole, who said he had fled economically devastated Zimbabwe a few months earlier, believed the World Cup was bound to attract illegal migrants, and he didn’t think the government could prevent it.
"When the time comes I want to be here," said Sithole, 21, a street hawker of gum and cigarettes in Yeoville, an inner-city Johannesburg suburb. "A lot of people will be making money."
Despite the government’s promise to curb the flow, Khola, the Ghanaian, seemed to think the World Cup meant open borders.
"For the World Cup, they give a visa to everybody," he said.
There are also those who believe Africa’s borders, the product of European colonial rule, shouldn’t even matter.
On a wall near Khola’s fruit stand, graffiti was scrawled on a wall: "Who Drew the Borders Anyway?"
Silva: Brazil to spend whatever needed for WCup
SAO PAULO — President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says Brazil will not skimp on spending for the 2014 World Cup.
"Obviously, we don't want to host a World Cup spending more than what we have," Silva said on Thursday. "What we want is ... to spend whatever is necessary to facilitate the lives of people before, during and after the World Cup."
The cost of the 2014 tournament could reach more than $40 billion in infrastructure alone, according to Globo's G1 Web site on Wednesday.
Silva said it will need investments from the private sector, which will have a chance to "make money" from the World Cup.
The president said the improvements for Brazil's first World Cup since 1950 will stay in place after the competition and will benefit Brazilians.
Argentina moves Brazil match to Rosario
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina Argentina will play its World Cup qualifier against Brazil at Rosario Central stadium after coach Diego Maradona complained about the quality of the field at the regular River Plate stadium in Buenos Aires.
Julio Grondona, the president of the Argentina Football Association, confirmed the move on Thursday.
Rosario is located about 180 miles northwest of Buenos Aires. Argentina officials announced earlier this week they had received permission from FIFA to play the Sept. 5 match in Rosario.
Maradona, a former star player with Boca Juniors — River Plate's archrival — described the playing field as "disastrous" and a "pasture" before a 1-0 victory over Colombia on June 6 in a World Cup qualifier. He also said the place needed a paint job.
With four games left to play, Argentina occupies the fourth and final automatic qualifying slot from South America.
The group is led by Brazil (27 points), Chile (26) and Paraguay (24). Argentina's 22 keep it just ahead of Ecuador (20), Uruguay (18), Colombia (17) and Venezuela (17).
The team finishing fifth will play the fourth-place finisher from North and Central America and the Caribbean for another spot in South Africa.
Elsewhere
Gerrard says his mistake led to bar fight
LIVERPOOL, England — England midfielder Steven Gerrard said Thursday he mistakenly believed he was about to be attacked when he punched a man who refused to let him pick a song to play in a bar.
The Liverpool captain denies charges of affray after being accused of hitting businessman Marcus McGee at the Lounge Inn bar in the early hours of Dec. 29 as he celebrated his team's 5-1 win over Newcastle.
Gerrard told Liverpool Crown Court he "remembers swinging my right hand two or three times" at McGee in self-defense, but said he didn't know McGee had initially been hit by a friend of his.
"I thought he was going to hit me. He was on his way forward to me and his behavior had changed from when I was having a discussion with him. I didn't know why," Gerrard said. "I am certainly mistaken in thinking he was coming towards me to throw punches at me. Now I know, obviously, he had been struck, reacted and thought the strike was by me, and he came into me and that's when I reacted.
"I didn't go over there with any intentions to fight ... obviously, I am upset about how the whole thing turned out."
The 29-year-old Gerrard said the incident took about four or five seconds before he was "pushed and pulled" away from McGee.
"It was very difficult at the time to explain to police why I did throw that first punch," Gerrard said. "We were arguing and I told the police I felt that Marcus came towards me and that's why I raised my arms. I firmly believed Marcus came towards me to hit me."
But prosecutor David Turner said "he went over for a fight and got one."
"Without doubt, Steven Gerrard is a world class footballer, a man whose physical ability on the football field whether heading, chesting or kicking the ball is immaculate," Turner said. "I am sorry to say, so was his bar room fighting that night."
Turner had earlier put it to Gerrard that he wasn't used to anyone saying "No" to him because "people admire and worship you."
"If you ask for a beer there are 16 on the bar," Turner said.
Gerrard responded: "People do say no to me. Maybe not all the time but they do it."
Former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish provided a character reference for Gerrard that was read out to the jury. Dalglish, now a club ambassador, said he had known Gerrard since he joined Liverpool at the age of 14.
"Steven is a very responsible man and always has been," Dalglish said. "He is humble and his personality can be described as quiet."
Dalglish said Gerrard "receives a lot of grief for simply trying to be normal."
Five other men have already pleaded guilty in the incident and another admitted a lesser charge of threatening behavior. The jury is set to be sent out Friday to consider its verdict.
Benitez downplays Liverpool's preseason blips
SINGAPORE — Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has downplayed unconvincing performances in preseason friendlies, saying his team's performances have been hampered by player absences.
"It's very difficult when you have a lot of players away, coming back later," Benitez said at a news conference in Singapore on Thursday. "We have to analyze the team after maybe two more weeks, because if the players only train three days, it's impossible to have an idea."
"It's going well. You can't say that it's bad."
Liverpool, which had five Spanish internationals arrive late for preseason training after taking part in the Confederations Cup, hasn't won any of its subsequent friendlies. A 1-1 draw against Thailand on Wednesday followed a 1-0 defeat by Rapid Vienna and a scoreless draw against Swiss club St. Gallen.
The team picked up two injuries in the Thailand game, with first-choice central defender Martin Skrtel straining his right hamstring and fringe forward Nabil El Zhar damaging the medial ligament in his right knee. Both flew back to England rather than continue on tour for Sunday's friendly against Singapore.
"They both have gone to Liverpool and they will have some scans and after the doctor will explain to us the situation," Benitez said. "It's too early (to know the extent of damage), we have to wait."
Midfielder Yossi Benayoun also said fans should not be concerned by the team's failure to win in preseason.
"It doesn't matter if we win or lose," Benayoun said. "We just want to get our fitness right. The main thing is to be ready for the Primer League."
Star striker Fernando Torres, who played 10 minutes against Thailand in his first appearance of the preseason, predicted Liverpool would win a trophy next season, having gone without any silverware for the past two campaigns.
"Maybe this year is more important than the year before because we have a good team and we can play better than last season," Torres said. "Two years and no trophies is a long time for Liverpool."
"I'm sure that this year we can win the Premier League or the Champions League or a big trophy like this."
Benitez said he expects captain Steven Gerrard, who is on trial in Liverpool facing affray charges stemming from a barroom fight in December, will soon be back with the team. Gerrard has denied the charges.
"We're in touch with Gerrard, we talk with him everyday and it's OK," Benitez said. "He has the support of the club."
"We're confident that everything will be good, and in the end he'll be playing for us and scoring a lot of goals."
-- Alex Kennedy
Henry: Experience can give Barca edge over Madrid
BISHAM ABBEY, England — Thierry Henry is unfazed by Real Madrid's lavish offseason spending spree, saying Barcelona's superior experience will prove crucial.
Madrid has spent €214 million ($302 million) on five players — including attackers Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema — following a trophyless season. Barcelona, by contrast, has been more modest with only Zlatan Ibrahimovic set to arrive from Inter Milan with Samuel Eto'o heading in the opposite direction.
"(Madrid) can do whatever they want to do — we know we are going to have a difficult task retaining whatever we can retain. We want to concentrate on us," Henry said. "Everyone will want to beat us and every game will be very difficult. Also, our season will be very long. Real Madrid? I believe we'll be close all season but I hope our experience will push the balance in our favor."
Barcelona president Joan Laporta was scheduled to return to Spain on Thursday from the team's training camp near London to complete the signing of Ibrahimovic. Henry is sure the Sweden striker can adapt quickly at the Camp Nou stadium.
"I will be sad (to see Eto'o go) because we are losing a great player and I will lose a friend," Henry said. "It looks like Ibra is coming, he is an amazing player ... Arsenal were on the point of signing him before he went to Ajax. Since then, I've kept a close eye on him.
"If he comes here, he won't have any problems settling in as he's a great player."
Henry was a key part of Barcelona's team last season that became the first to win the Spanish league, Champions League and Copa del Rey titles in one campaign after having joined in 2007. He scored 25 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions last term.
"I had a difficult first season, but when we won the treble over there we had a special thing on the pitch," Henry said. "I never wanted to leave the team like that you want to give something back to the team.
"Being there after a season, I wasn't happy enough with what I had done. I don't feel I cheated anyone but I didn't deliver. It would have been impossible for me to walk out like that. For those who know me even when we won the treble I wasn't happy with some of the games I played."
The 31-year-old France striker is now at home at the Catalan club.
"Finally, I feel I am part of the team and this club," Henry said. "I thanked the boss (Pep Guardiola). I had a great conversation with him and he reassured me he still wanted me to stay at Barcelona, which was very important to me."
France teammate Franck Ribery doesn't look like joining him, though.
"He's got a Barca shirt at home, but when we've talked it's been about everything except football," Henry said. "I think he'll stay at Bayern Munich this year."
Brazilian striker Keirrison moved to Barcelona on Thursday from Palmeiras for €14 million ($20 million) on a five-year deal, but he is set to go out on loan for next season.
Barcelona will take on Tottenham on Friday and Egyptian side Al Ahly on Sunday in the Wembley Cup.
-- Rob Harris
Inter Milan reaches deal to sign Eto'o
MILAN — Inter Milan reached a deal to sign Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o, his agent told Italian media on Thursday.
Josep Maria Mesalles made the announcement after talks with officials from the Serie A champion, and confirmed the Cameroon striker will sign a five-year contract.
"It is not official, but an accord with Inter is done," Mesalles told Sky Italia. "The player is happy. The only problem is negotiating his exit from Barcelona. But within a week it will be resolved.
"Eto'o should be arriving here on Monday or Tuesday. He will sign after his medical and then he will be at the complete disposition of the coach."
Eto'o will arrive from Barcelona with midfielder Alexander Hleb, who will join on loan for a year. Inter's Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be heading in the opposite direction.
Barcelona said on its Web page that the deal was done pending the "final details," with director general Joan Oliver traveling to Milan late Thursday after Inter officials communicated to the Spanish champions an agreement had been reached with Mesalles.
It is believed that Eto'o is negotiating some type of compensation package for leaving with a year left on his contract and having helped Barcelona to eight important trophies in five seasons.
Ibrahimovic, meanwhile, left Inter's tour of the United States early to conclude his move in Europe.
"After individual training in the campus at Harvard University and lunch at the hotel, Zlatan Ibrahimovic said goodbye to Jose Mourinho and the team before starting his journey to Sweden," Inter announced on its Web site.
"The striker, with the club's permission, left ... to conclude the negotiations that he is involved with."
Eto'o notched 34 goals for Barcelona last season, including the opener in the Champions League final victory.
Barcelona signs Keirrison from Palmeiras for €14m
BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona agreed to a €14 million ($20 million) deal to sign Brazilian striker Keirrison from Palmeiras on Thursday.
The 20-year-old Keirrison is expected to arrive at the Camp Nou later and undergo a medical examination on Friday before signing a five-year deal.
Barcelona said Palmeiras could receive up to €16 million ($23 million) depending on the number of games Keirrison plays with the Spanish champions, although coach Pep Guardiola had said the team planned to loan Keirrison out to start.
"The club has decided to sign him but, in principle, to send him out on loan," Guardiola said earlier this week. "I'm not counting on him this season."
Keirrison, whose full name is Keirrison da Souza Carneiro, scored 26 goals in the past two seasons in the Brazilian league.
See archived 'Sports' stories »
We want our site to be a place where people discuss and debate ideas that foster stronger communities. We built this for you. Please take care of it. Tolerate broad thinking, but take action against obscene or hateful material. Make it a credible and safe place worth preserving and sharing.
