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Soccer Capsules: Big dogs in soccer must rule their own backyard
Comments 0 | Recommend 0The latest tipping point for American soccer appears to be doing just that, tipping, and it’s located in Mexico City, no less.
It’s called Azteca Stadium, imposingly perched atop volcanic rock 7,400 feet above sea level, which is only one reason why it might be the toughest road game in all of sports. Throw in smothering smog, withering heat, 100,000-plus wildly partisan fans and a host desperate for a World Cup qualifying win — and what you’ve got is the perfect time and place for the U.S. team to demonstrate it’s finally serious about soccer.
U.S. fans have been waiting decades for just such a development and by almost any measure, the sport has never been more popular here. They’ve proven they’ll pay good money to watch foreigners play top-flight soccer, packing stadiums from Seattle to Foxborough, Mass., to see world-class clubs like Chelsea, Barcelona and AC Milan play each other and even teams from Major League Soccer.
They lingered in front of TV sets in record numbers to watch the U.S. team recover from a bumbling start at the Confederations Cup and throw a scare into mighty Brazil right up until the final whistle. Then they stuck around to see a "B" squad of their countrymen carve a path all the way to the finals of the Gold Cup.
All that momentum won’t mean much, however, if the U.S. team gets beat next Wednesday at the Azteca. The Americans may have clawed their way to the No. 12 ranking in the world, but you can’t honestly call yourself a big dog on the international scene unless you rule in your own backyard.
"There is this very tangible negativity that I feel toward me the second I step on the field," U.S. striker Landon Donovan told ESPN .com recently, "As an athlete, I love it. Good or bad, you want people to care. And for some reason, they certainly seem to care."
Since the Azteca opened for business in May 1966, Mexico has been beaten there only once in World Cup qualifying, 2-1 by Costa Rica in 2001. The U.S. team is 0-18-1 in the Mexican capital dating to 1937, and counting its four other losses around the country, effectively 0-for-Mexico.
Defenders of U.S. soccer don’t put much stake in historic records, and it’s a fair argument up to a point. More kids played soccer than basketball here beginning almost three decades ago, but it wasn’t until Americans played host to the World Cup in 1994, followed by the startup of MLS, that the sport garnered serious attention from fans and funding from sponsors like Nike and Adidas.
The U.S. loosened Mexico’s stranglehold on the region not long after that. While the series tilts 15-30-11 in Mexico’s favor over the years, since 2000, the U.S. team is up 10-3-2. Included in that run was nearly a decade of dominance in home matches that was snapped only late last month in New Jersey, where Mexico beat a "B" squad of U.S. players 5-0 in the Gold Cup final.
One measure of how desperate "El Tricolor" is at the moment — currently ranked fourth in regional qualifying, one spot out of an automatic berth — are the words national team coach Javier Aguirre used to warn players arriving at training camp Wednesday.
"In Mexico we’re prone to throw ourselves on the floor after a loss and later feel very good after victories," he said. "We have to find a happy balance. It’s not easy. It’s a temptation to be very up — or very down."
This has all the makings of a trap game: Mexico needs to win, the U.S. doesn’t because it’s been steadily earning qualifying points and there are convenient excuses all around. Most U.S. team players won’t leave their European clubs and gather in Miami until two days before the game and they won’t train at altitude.
After all the successes the sport racked up in the states in recent months, someone asked U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati where the game stood.
"Do I think that we’ve been at a tipping point this summer?" he said. "I’m always careful about saying that because we would have had a dozen tipping points in the last 10 years, so I don’t think I’m ready to say that."
But a moment later, Gulati said the U.S. showing in the Confederations Cup was as close as he was willing to lean in that direction. He acknowledged the Gold Cup loss to Mexico had taken off some of the gloss, but knew exactly what would restore the shine: a win in that singular place where batteries, curses and challenges have rained down on a U.S. team like no other.
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org
Mexico defender Marquez out of U.S. game
MEXICO CITY — Mexico defender Rafael Marquez was ruled out of Wednesday's critical World Cup qualifier against the United States with a calf injury.
The Barcelona player tore a left calf muscle in practice Wednesday at the University of Washington, ahead of the Spanish club's 4-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders in a preseason friendly.
"Obviously, it's not the best news," Mexico coach Aguirre said Thursday. "We had a tiny bit of hope that it was a small injury, but today we confirmed with Barcelona that it will be impossible for him to play."
Even without the new injury, Marquez was doubtful for the match at Mexico City's 105,000-seat Azteca Stadium. He is still recovering from left knee surgery and said a few days ago he was only "20 percent" back to full strength.
Marquez is probably the best-known player on the Mexico team, and it's certain to be a blow for a nation struggling to reach next year's 32-team World Cup finals in South Africa.
Midway through qualifying, Costa Rica leads the North and Central America and Caribbean region with 12 points. The U.S. has 10 followed by Honduras (7), Mexico (6), El Salvador (5) and Trinidad and Tobago (2). The top three advance automatically to South Africa. The No. 4 team plays off with the No. 5 from South America for another berth.
Aguirre said he would not add another player to the squad. Marquez is likely to be replaced at central defense by Jonny Magallon of Mexico club Chivas.
MLS
FC Dallas beats Dynamo 1-0
FRISCO — Jeff Cunningham scored in the 20th minute to help FC Dallas beat the Houston Dynamo 1-0 on Thursday night.
Cunningham beat Houston’s Geoff Cameron to a loose ball and dribbled past two defenders before firing a shot from outside of the penalty arc and into the right corner of the net. It was Cunningham’s 113th MLS goal, leaving him one behind Chivas USA’s Ante Razov for second place on the career list.
Dallas (6-9-5) won consecutive games for the first time this season, while Houston (10-6-5) missed an opportunity to extend its six-point lead atop the Western Conference.
Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad had stopped Cunningham’s penalty shot in the 13th minute after Bobby Boswell was called for a reckless foul on Cunningham. Onstad made a diving save to his right, and finished with two saves.
Houston, which won the first two meetings between the clubs, played the final 20 minutes with 10 men after Brad Davis received a red card in the 73rd minute.
Dynamo captain Brian Ching left the game at halftime due to fatigue. Ching, the club’s leading goal-scorer, was replaced by Kei Kamara.
FC Dallas will be without captain Pablo Ricchetti for its next game after he received his fifth yellow card of the season in the 22nd minute, triggering an automatic one-game suspension.
FC Dallas outshot Houston 11-6.
United States
Altidore will need time to adapt to Premier League
HULL, England — Jozy Altidore knows it will take time to adapt to Premier League soccer.
The 19-year-old forward has agreed to join Hull on loan this season. He has limited experience at top-level European soccer, but was impressive in helping the United States reach the Confederations Cup final in South Africa in June.
"Hull is a good club, up and coming, and to have the opportunity of playing in the Premier League is a great thing," Altidore said Thursday. "It is going to take a little while to get used to but hopefully it is going to be a success."
Altidore's switch from the Spanish club Villarreal will be completed if he is granted a permit at a hearing Monday. Hull, in northeast England, has an option to buy him permanently at the end of the season.
"Jozy is unproven at this level but has great potential," Hull manager Phil Brown said. "We hope he can fill the void of goals from the front line."
In the Americans' semifinal win over Spain at the Confederations Cup, Altidore used his strength to score the opening goal in a 2-0 victory over the European champions.
Altidore joined Villarreal from the New York Red Bulls in June 2008. After making only two starts and four substitute appearances during the first half of the season, he was loaned to Xerez in the second division on Jan. 30 and didn't get into a game.
"I've been lucky enough to play in Spain and now the Premier League, two of the best leagues in the world," he said. "I'm a huge follower of the Premier League. Most people think it is the best league and I'm no different.
"It boasts a bunch of great players and teams and anybody who's anybody would like to get a chance to play in it."
World Cup Qulifying
Demichelis to miss key World Cup qualifier
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Injured defender Martin Demichelis will miss Argentina's critical World Cup qualifier against Brazil next month, while midfielder Fernando Gago is doubtful because of a groin problem.
The injuries are bad news for Argentina coach Diego Maradona, whose team is battling to reach next year's World Cup finals in South Africa. Argentina is fourth is the South American qualifying standings — the last automatic qualifying spot — with Brazil leading the group going into the Sept. 5 match in Rosario, Argentina.
Argentina has not missed a World Cup since 1970.
Demichelis, who plays for Bayern Munich, will need surgery on an injured right ankle and is out for up to seven weeks, the club said Thursday.
The Argentine Football Association said Gago injured a groin muscle in a practice with Real Madrid. It was not immediately clear how long he will need to recover.
Two other key players are also nursing injuries.
Striker Carlos Tevez and midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron have been left off the Argentina team for an Aug. 12 friendly match against Russia. Both are expected to be fit for the Brazil match.
French League Preview
After 7 straight title wins, Lyon is chasing again
PARIS — Seven-time French champion Lyon finds itself in the unfamiliar position of chasing after the title this season, rather than defending it again.
Lyon's long reign in French football ended with Bordeaux winning the title last season, stopping Lyon's impressive run of seven straight titles that began in the 2001-02 season, and pushing Lyon down to third place in the standings behind Marseille.
The bitterness at losing is still keenly felt by the club's long-serving club president Jean-Michel Aulas, who is still moaning about refereeing mistakes that he claims robbed his team of an eighth title.
"You can analyze however you want, but it took a load of refereeing mistakes — at Bordeaux and at PSG, for example — for us not to be champions," Aulas said this week, ahead of Lyon's opening match away to Le Mans on Saturday.
Closer to the truth, perhaps, is that Lyon's ageing squad — Karim Benzema apart — had already peaked.
Getting the French title back promises to be even harder without 21-year-old striker Benzema, sold to Real Madrid for a fee expected to reach €41 million ($59 million).
Benzema's departure, preceded by that of veteran midfielder Juninho to Qatar's Al Gharafa, further underlined how Lyon's dominant era was over, although Aulas did not express it quite that way.
"We finished (in the top three) for the 11th time in a row, having been French champions seven times," Aulas said. "I don't feel a great sense of failure. But getting first place back, yes, that is clearly our ambition."
Aulas has used the money he got from selling Benzema to help fund an aggressive recruitment drive aimed at wrestling the title back from Bordeaux, staving off ambitious Marseille, and ensuring Lyon qualifies for the Champions League.
Aulas has added about €60 million ($86.4 million) to the money from Benzema's sale to fund a €100-million ($144 million) spree on new players.
Lyon has signed striker Lisandro Lopez and defender Aly Cissokho from FC Porto; Saint-Etienne's striker Bafetimbi Gomis, and Lille's Brazilian winger Michel Bastos in a hectic four-week period.
"We lost two great players (Benzema and Juninho), but some very good players have come in," Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris told the club's Web site.
Lopez and Gomis will form the spearhead of Lyon's attack, with Bastos supplying the crosses from the left — and expected to chip in with a few goals from free kicks. Cissokho will take the place of Fabio Grosso, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, on the left of defense, giving Lyon's left flank a far slicker look than last season.
Given the quality of their respective squads, Lloris expects an intense scrap to develop between Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux — with other teams as Paris Saint-Germain and Toulouse lagging behind the front three.
"These three teams seem to be ahead of the others," Lloris said. "The French league has become better with the arrival of some quality players."
Lyon coach Claude Puel was reportedly not opposed to selling Benzema to Madrid, and had told Aulas which players he needed to get the title back. He got everything he wished for.
The 26-year-old Lopez, a powerful striker, is highly rated among Europe's best finishers, and scored at a prolific rate of 24 goals in 27 games, two seasons ago.
Cissokho was on the verge of joining AC Milan until the Italian club pulled out of the deal after a medical test showed that Cissokho apparently had a dental problem that could cause muscular injuries.
"We are building an ambitious Lyon team," Aulas said. "Those who think I negotiated badly, in terms of selling and buying, should come and tell me how I should have done better."
Now that Puel has the players he wanted, he must work on improving team morale, especially his rapport with players.
Puel's disciplinarian, distant approach unsettled senior players last season, including Brazil defender Cris and Grosso, prompting Puel to change his methods and become more approachable and affable toward the end of the campaign.
Both Cris and Grosso, however, have uncertain futures at the club and could be sold before the end of the transfer window on Aug. 31 as Lyon's rebuilding process is likely to continue.
-- Jerome Pugmire
PSG aiming for top 3 again under Kombouare
PARIS — A stalwart defender for Paris Saint-Germain during the club's heyday in the 1990s, Antoine Kombouare now wants to bring the glory nights of European Cup action back to Parc des Princes in his first season in charge.
"When you are at PSG, you have to have lofty ambitions," said Kombouare, who was part of the PSG team which reached the Champions League semifinals in 1995.
"Every day you have to keep building something and keep working. That requires effort, a serious attitude, and ambition," he added. "If you show this attitude in every match, then there is a strong chance you will win something."
Kombouare joined PSG from Valenciennes, and his first match is at newly-promoted Montpellier on Saturday, followed by a home match against Le Mans the week after.
A tough-tackling defender with a fiery temperament, Kombouare played for PSG from 1990-95 and was hugely popular among PSG's fans, who nicknamed him 'Golden Helmet' because of his ability to score headed goals from corners.
In the return leg of the UEFA Cup quarterfinal against Real Madrid in 1993, Kombouare charged up the field deep into injury time to score the goal that knocked Real Madrid out and put PSG into the semifinals.
Those glory nights seem so far away for PSG — which went perilously close to relegation in 2006-07 and 2007-08.
The club has not finished in the top three places in the French league since former coach Vahid Halilhodzic guided the club to second in the 2003-04 campaign, and an automatic spot in the Champions League.
PSG went out in the group stage, and the two-time French champion has not been back in the Champions League since.
Former coach Paul Le Guen steered the club through its most fraught period — which included the shooting death of a PSG fan by a police officer in November, 2006 — and into a sixth-place finish last term.
Frustratingly, PSG missed out this season's Europa Cup on goal difference, drawing its final home game 0-0 against Monaco, allowing Lille into the competition by the narrowest margin, + 1 goal difference over PSG.
Le Guen left soon after and fired a bitter parting shot Alain Roche — the club's sporting director and his former teammate — claiming Roche had undermined him with his "incompetence".
Kombouare and Le Guen also played together during PSG's heyday, winning the French title in 1994 — the club's last.
With no European competition this season, Kombouare will have no distractions from the league — something Le Guen regularly complained about, despite taking PSG to the UEFA Cup quarterfinals last season.
Kombouare is not expected to mount a title challenge just yet, but expects to put PSG back at the top of French football within next three years.
"You come to PSG to win titles. The ultimate happiness would be to one day win the league," he said.
Compared to Marseille and Lyon, Bordeaux has not spent much money in the transfer market, with the club's main acquisition being the €9 million ($13 million) it spent on Turkey striker Mevlut Erding from Sochaux.
Erding is expected to form a potent attacking partnership with Guillaume Hoarau, whose 17 league goals last season took him to the fringes of the France team. Veteran goalkeeper Gregory Coupet also joined after an unhappy spell at Atletico Madrid, bringing with him a vast experience gained from winning seven straight titles with Lyon.
Coupet, France's goalkeeper at the European Championship last year, replaced Mickael Landreau, and wasted no time in talking up PSG's chances.
"PSG must aim for first place. We have quality players and we are not involved in Europe," he told France Football magazine in a recent interview.
Others, such as highly-rated playmaker Stephane Sessegnon, are more cautious. "I think we can aim to finish in the top three," Sessegnon said.
PSG did well to keep him, with several big clubs — including Chelsea — keen to sign him.
The 25-year-old Benin international was voted PSG's best player at the Emirates Cup last week, providing the pass for veteran winger Ludovic Giuly's equalizing goal in a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid.
Kombouare will expect Giuly and Sessegnon to chip in regularly with goals, and will hope the 36-year-old midfielder Claude Makelele's aging legs keep on running.
Makelele was talked out of retiring by Kombouare and agreed to play one more year.
Qualification for the Champions League, however, may make Makelele think again.
-- Jerome Pugmire
Blanc prepares for Bordeaux's French title defense
PARIS — After winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 together in France's golden era, Laurent Blanc and Didier Deschamps will face each other as managers for the first time in the French league, which starts on Saturday.
Blanc is defending his title with Bordeaux, and big-spending Marseille coach Deschamps is trying to prize it off him.
"We won't have any excuses, we have to be ready," Deschamps said.
Last season, Blanc led Bordeaux to its first title in 10 years in only his second season in charge, making him a favorite for the French national team job after the 2010 World Cup — or sooner if France fails to qualify.
Marseille finished second last term, and Deschamps is leading the title charge this year, starting at Grenoble on Saturday. Blanc's team faces newly-promoted Lens on Sunday. Lyon, third last season, is away to Le Mans.
Deschamps has spent nearly euro40 million (US$58 million) on 10 new faces, including former Real Madrid striker Fernando Morientes, club record signing Lucho Gonzalez from FC Porto, and Argentina defender Gabriel Heinze from Real Madrid.
"With the means at their disposal (Marseille) have to go for the title," Blanc said, piling the pressure on Deschamps.
Bordeaux has spent little, has sold defender Souleymane Diawara — to Marseille — and is struggling to keep striker Marouane Chamakh. Chamakh wants to join Arsenal, but Bordeaux wants far more than the euro7.5 million ($10.8 million) so far offered by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
Bordeaux, however, managed to keep playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, the French league's best player last term.
"He knows it's a big year for him ... everyone's waiting for him," Blanc said. "If he stays fit, I think that he can play even better."
Bordeaux signed Gourcuff from AC Milan shortly before the end of last season for euro15 million ($20.4 million)
"Given the folly of the transfer market at the moment, we got a very good deal," Blanc said.
One advantage Blanc has over Deschamps is that his squad has been together for three years.
"They have bought a lot of players, we are relying on our stability," Bordeaux captain Alou Diarra said. "There's a real team spirit here."
Bordeaux would set a French record of 12 consecutive wins by beating Lens. Bordeaux and Lille are both tied on 11, although Lille did so over two seasons between April and September in 1949, while Bordeaux's winning streak came at the end of last season — a French record over a single season.
Marseille finished three points behind Bordeaux as the title race went down to the final day, a refreshing change from Lyon's years of sometimes total dominance with seven straight titles (2002-08).
Lyon sold star striker Karim Benzema to Real Madrid, while playmaker Juninho joined Qatar's Al Gharafa after scoring 100 goals for the club.
"From one season to the next we lose two key players," Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris said.
Lyon has rebuilt by signing striker Lisandro Lopez and defender Aly Cissokho from Porto, Brazilian winger Michel Bastos from Lille and striker Bafetimbi Gomis from Saint-Etienne.
That spending spree should make Lyon a major threat for both Bordeaux and also Marseille, whose success-starved fans have had enough of near misses.
Trophies just keep eluding Marseille, which lost the French Cup final in 2006 and 2007 and has not won any silverware since winning the Champions League in 1993, when Deschamps was captain of a star-studded side.
Deschamps, a tenacious midfielder who covered ground relentlessly, was the total opposite to Blanc as a player.
Blanc's elegant style of play and assured touch saw him become one of the modern game's best defenders, so good that Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson finally managed to sign him in the twilight of this career after years of trying.
France has won no major title since that Euro 2000 triumph, and many of the team's former players have drifted away from the game, many into football media jobs where they prefer the comfort of the critic's couch to the cut and thrust of the dugout.
"You shouldn't forget that this (1998-2000) generation only does what it feels like. They are financially secure," Blanc said in a recent interview with sports daily L'Equipe. "Those who take up this job (as coach) do so because it's their passion. It doesn't appeal to the others."
Blanc and Deschamps are the only players from France's glory era coaching in France's top flight.
Both are fiercely ambitious, and have coaching pedigree — with Deschamps leading Monaco to the Champions League final in 2004 and helping Juventus get promoted back to Serie A after it had been relegated following a match-fixing scandal.
-- Jerome Pugmire
Elsewhere
Huntelaar to transfer to AC Milan
MILAN — AC Milan reached a deal with Real Madrid to sign striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, ending the player's unhappy eight-month spell with the Spanish club.
The Dutch forward arrived in Milan Thursday to sign his new contract, and the club said he would have his medical exam on Friday.
"We have a deal with Real Madrid," Milan vice president Adriano Galliani told Italy's Sky Sport 24 TV channel. "All that's missing is the player's medical exams and the economic agreement with the player."
AC Milan and the city of Milan "hold a special place for us Dutch," the Italian news agency Apcom quoted Huntelaar as saying after he arrived at Malpensa airport.
"I know Marco Van Basten. He was my trainer at Ajax as well as for the national team," Huntelaar said, referring to the former Netherlands striker who spent much of his career with Milan in the late 1980s and early 90s.
"I really want to train and to begin a real adventure," Huntelaar said.
Galliani did not disclose details of the deal with Madrid, saying only that Huntelaar would not be on loan but would transfer permanently to Milan.
Madrid also confirmed Huntelaar's transfer on its Web site.
Spanish sports daily Marca reported Thursday that Milan was prepared to pay between €15 million ($21.6 million) and €18 million ($26 million) for Huntelaar in a deal welcomed by Madrid, which is keen to offload players before the start of the season.
Madrid has spent €254 million ($365 million) on eight players including Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka since Florentino Perez returned to the club presidency in June
So far, the club has raised a reported €15 million ($21.6 million) through the sales of Javier Saviola and Javi Garcia to Benfica and Daniel Parejo to Getafe.
Expected to follow Huntelaar out of Madrid is his compatriot Rafael van der Vaart. There are doubts over the futures of three more Dutchmen — Ruud van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder — together with Mali's Mahamadou Diarra.
Huntelaar, who turns 26 next week, made only 13 first-team starts after joining Madrid from Ajax for €20 million ($28.8 million) in December when Ramon Calderon was the Spanish club's president.
However, a miscalculation by Madrid meant Huntelaar was ineligible to play in the second stage of the Champions League. Madrid was unaware that clubs could only field one new player who had played in European competition earlier in the season. Midfielder Lassana Diarra, the team's other transfer window signing, was picked instead.
Madrid recently agreed to transfer Huntelaar to Stuttgart for a reported fee of €18 million ($26 million) but the Netherlands' striker rejected the move and the deal collapsed.
Boca: Clubs need to double TV income to be viable
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentine clubs need to double their income from TV broadcasters if they are to escape from under the crippling debts that have forced the indefinite postponement of the new season, according to a top official from Boca Juniors.
Estimates suggest Argentina's first-division clubs alone have combined debts of 700 million pesos ($182 million), including back taxes, player salaries and payments owed to the Argentine Football Association (AFA).
Until the clubs' massive debts are reduced, professional football at all levels has been put on hold, an unprecedented crisis in one of the world's most fanatical football nations.
"The (TV) income would have to double," said Jose Beraldi, the vice president of Boca. "If they can, or can't, I don't know. I can't judge how television runs itself."
Speaking to radio La Red, Beraldi estimated clubs would receive about 200 million pesos ($51 million) more annually if the cost of TV rights were doubled. However, Beraldi's figures seem a little off as broadcasters reportedly pay 268 million pesos ($69 million) for the rights at present under a contract that runs through 2014.
But even a doubling of income from TV rights would not wipe out the massive debts.
On Wednesday, clubs said they turned down a proposal by TV rights holders to give teams an advance of about 40 million pesos ($10.4 million) as a short-term solution to their financial difficulties.
AFA president Julio Grondona has proposed making cable TV subscribers pay an additional 12 pesos per month ($3.30). He said the extra income would go to the teams, but TV rights holders quickly turned down the idea.
"Television is not going to be the milk cow to put the clubs' houses in order," said Marcelo Bombau, president of Torneos y Competencias (TyC), a TV rights holder.
The global economic crisis has hurt Argentine clubs by dampening down transfer activity. In the past clubs have averted financial meltdown by selling top players to wealthier European clubs.
Just this week, Argentine striker Jose Sand was sold to Dubai club Al Ain for a fee reported to be $10 million.
-- Vicente Panetta
No serious offers yet for West Ham, say owners
LONDON — West Ham's owners have received no satisfactory offer for the Premier League club and dismissed a report Thursday that it is negotiating a sale to American sports tycoon Clark Hunt.
Georg Andersen, an executive at Iceland's Straumur bank which owns 70 percent of the club's holding company, denied a British newspaper's claim that CB Holding had opened takeover talks with Hunt, who owns American football clubs the Columbus Crew and FC Dallas
"We still believe there is no buyer out there willing to pay what we believe the club is worth," Andersen told The Associated Press by telephone. "We are not actively pushing to sell the club. A lot of people are interested, but are only willing to buy it cheaply."
Hunt's spokesman said he was not interested in expanding his portfolio of clubs.
"We're fully content with our sports holdings at this time and have no interest in any additional investments," Ryan Petkoff said.
The intervention in June of Straumur investment bank, which is controlled by the Icelandic government, prevented West Ham going bankrupt. CB Holding took over the debts of previous owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson when it bought the club in June.
Straumur had provided much of the financing for Gudmundsson's 2006 takeover and assumed control in June, as a debt moratorium in Iceland protecting the former chairman's holding company was due to expire.
Straumur itself is being restructured after running out of cash assets and being temporarily taken over by the Icelandic government.
Gudmundsson was unsuccessful in attracting a buyer after being hit heavily by the global economic meltdown, primarily with the collapse of Icelandic bank Landsbanki, in which he had a 41 percent stake.
-- Rob Harris
Portsmouth reveal interest in Viduka
LONDON — Portsmouth director Peter Storrie is interested in bringing Australia striker Mark Viduka to Fratton Park.
The 33-year-old Viduka is a free agent following his release from recently relegated Newcastle.
Speaking to The (Portsmouth) News, Storrie said he would welcome Viduka's arrival, as long as the Australian is physically prepared for the new season.
"A fit Mark Viduka is still a very, very good experienced player and this is a special year for him because he has the opportunity to captain his country in the World Cup," Storrie said in Thursday's edition. "We would be fools not to want Mark here. But at the moment he's still on vacation as I understand it."
Being unattached to a club, Viduka has been under no obligation to train this offseason.
"We would have to see what his fitness levels are like and how long it is going to be before he is fit," Storrie said. "Effectively, he has missed a preseason and the preseason is so important."
Despite the setback, Storrie remained optimistic.
"You never know, he might have been working out right the whole way through and be pretty fit," Storrie said. "So of course he would interest us."
UEFA lifts threat to ban FC Porto in bribery probe
NYON, Switzerland — UEFA has officially lifted a threat to ban FC Porto from the Champions League for its involvement in a bribery and match-fixing scandal.
The decision announced Thursday guarantees the Portuguese champions their place in the lucrative 32-team group phase this season — and a minimum euro7 million ($10 million) payout in bonus money and share of television rights sales.
The case has hung over Porto for more than a year since it was briefly kicked out of last season's Champions League for allegedly bribing referees and fixing Portuguese league matches in the 2003-04 season.
UEFA's disciplinary panel said Thursday it was "not authorized to rule" on expelling Porto from its showpiece club competition because the statute of limitations had passed.
The Champions League rule book says any club wishing to play must not have been involved "in any activity aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of a match at national or international level."
But the rule applies only to events since April 27, 2007, when the latest UEFA statues took effect.
The panel, therefore, "has closed its investigation and struck it off the list of cases," UEFA said in a statement.
Porto was implicated in the long-running Golden Whistle criminal probe in Portugal, which investigated claims that referees were offered bribes before two Porto matches during its title-winning season five years ago.
Club chairman Jorge Pinto da Costa was eventually cleared of wrongdoing by a judge last April.
However, Porto was punished by the Portuguese league in May 2008, and accepted a six-point deduction because it had already secured the title by a runaway margin.
That put Porto's Champions League place in jeopardy and it was briefly kicked out of the 2008-09 edition last year. UEFA's appeal panel quickly reprieved the club by ruling that it could not act before the Golden Whistle case was completed.
That decision was criticized at the time by UEFA president Michel Platini as following "the letter, but not the spirit, of the law."
Rival clubs Benfica and Vitoria Guimaraes — who stood to gain if Porto was excluded — challenged the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport but lost the case.
Porto was eventually beaten by Manchester United in the quarterfinals, an overall performance which earned the club euro14.5 million ($20.4 million) in bonuses and television shares from UEFA. The club earned more money from ticket and merchandise sales.
The draw for this year's Champions League group stage is Aug. 27 in Monaco.
Islam scholar: Schalke anthem not offensive
BERLIN — A scholar of Islam asked by Schalke to assess a club anthem that mentions the Prophet Muhammad has concluded that the decades-old song is not insulting.
The Bundesliga club commissioned the study by Bulent Ucar, a professor at the University of Osnabrueck, following complaints by Muslims angered by what they saw as lampooning of the prophet in a verse of the anthem, whose current wording dates back to the 1960s.
The verse — which also caused short-lived protests in 1997 — says the prophet knew nothing about football but picked the colors blue and white, the Schalke colors.
In his report, posted on Schalke's Web site Thursday, Ucar said that "the assertion is objectively correct, because there simply was no football in the 7th century," when the prophet lived.
"Besides, a good deal of humorlessness goes into interpreting this text as a disparagement of the prophet and a hate campaign against him," wrote Ucar, himself a Muslim. "It contains no substance that is in any way slanderous."
Ucar added that there was no suggestion that the author of the current text — Hans J. Koenig, a Cologne-based musician who died in 1992 — was "in any way critical of, still less hostile toward Islam."
Koenig's text was inspired by an older folk song that says the prophet "understands a lot about colors."
Already this week, the general secretary of Germany's Central Council of Muslims has said he sees no problem with the Schalke anthem, a playful tribute to the club titled "Blue and White — How I Love You."
The official, Ayman Mazyek, suggested that the background to the flap could be the fatal July 1 stabbing in a German courtroom of an Egyptian woman, which caused outrage in Egypt and beyond.
Schalke has said it received hundreds of e-mails and letters of complaint and contacted police and state security.
Cem Ozdemir, a leader of Germany's opposition Green party who is of Turkish origin, said he did not consider the anthem a mockery of the prophet.
"My impression from the Turkish Muslim community is that the agitation is very limited," Ozdemir told the Bild daily.
-- Geir Moulson
Bayern's Demichelis out for up to 7 weeks
BERLIN — Bayern Munich says defender Martin Demichelis could miss up to seven weeks of the season after tearing a ligament in his right ankle.
Demichelis will need surgery for the injury, which occurred during practice Wednesday, the team said on its Web site Thursday.
"The length of the recovery time is naturally tough," said general manager Christian Nerlinger. "We hope that the healing will go as good as possible and we will have him back as soon as possible."
The team said Jose Sosa and Miroslav Klose were day-to-day after they kicked each other going for a ball during practice.
Both were "in question" for the season opener Saturday against Hoffenheim, the club said.
Real Madrid quartet in Spain squad
MADRID — Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque picked four Real Madrid players in his squad on Thursday for the friendly against Macedonia, the powerhouse's biggest contingent in three years.
Three of the Madrid players included for next Wednesday's match in Skopje are new signings — the former Liverpool duo of Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa, and Raul Albiol, who joined from Valencia. The fourth is goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
Madrid last boasted as many players in the squad for European Championship qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Liechtenstein in September 2006 when Luis Aragones was coach. Two of them have not played since — Raul Gonzalez and Michel Salgado.
Injury prevented a fifth Madrid player, defender Sergio Ramos, from being included in Del Bosque's 21-man squad. Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta and Valencia midfielder Marcos Senna are also out injured.
Ramos's place was taken by Osasuna left back Ignacio Monreal, who was called up for the first time.
"I'm very surprised. This is the best thing that can happen to you," Monreal was quoted as saying by news agency Europa Press. "Making my debut for the (Osasuna) first team was the greatest. Now this squad announcement is something magic."
Spain will hope to use the match against 53rd-ranked Macedonia to bounce back from its Confederations Cup elimination by the United States — a 2-0 semifinal loss in South Africa which ended the European champion's 35-game unbeaten streak and 15-match winning run.
Del Bosque said Thursday that the loss had added to the team's experience and last season had still been "moderately positive."
"Overall last season we won 14 games out of 15 and we're on our way to achieving our biggest aim since I took charge of the national team and that's qualifying for the World Cup," Del Bosque said.
Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente and Valencia midfielder Pablo Hernandez, both of whom played in the Confederations Cup, were omitted from Thursday's squad.
Spain's next World Cup qualifying games are home encounters against Belgium and Estonia on Sept. 5 and 9. Del Bosque's team leads Group 5 with a perfect 18 points from its six games.
Swiss pick Schwegler, recall Degen to face Italy
BERN, Switzerland — Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld gave a first call-up to midfielder Pirmin Schwegler and welcomed Liverpool defender Philipp Degen back to the international scene Thursday as he named a 21-man squad to host World Cup holder Italy in a friendly next week.
The 22-year-old Schwegler earned selection ahead of Wednesday's game after scoring at the weekend in his first match for new club Eintracht Frankfurt following a summer move from German Bundesliga rival Bayer Leverkusen.
Degen played the last of his 30 internationals in May 2008 as the Swiss prepared to co-host the last European Championship, and before Hitzfeld took charge. The 26-year-old right-back was then sidelined by a series of injuries in his first season at Anfield.
Defender Philippe Senderos is selected while expected to complete a transfer from Arsenal to Everton as he seeks regular first-team action before the 2010 World Cup finals.
The roster includes six home-based players, including captain Alex Frei, fellow striker Hakan Yakin and winger Johan Vonlanthen who all returned to Switzerland in the summer after Hitzfeld asked his players to seek more influential club roles in the key World Cup season.
Switzerland will face world champion Italy in the same 38,000-capacity St. Jakob Park stadium in Basel where it will play Group 2 co-leader Greece in a sold-out qualifying match Sept. 5.
Strikers Baros, Sverkos back in Czech squad
PRAGUE — Czech Republic strikers Milan Baros and Vaclav Sverkos, who were expelled from the national team for disciplinary reasons, are back in the squad for next week's friendly against Belgium but Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky will miss out with a new injury.
The Czech football federation indefinitely suspended Baros and Sverkos together with Tomas Ujfalusi, Martin Fenin, Marek Matejovsky and Radoslav Kovac on April 8, a week after a 2-1 loss to Slovakia in a World Cup qualifier in Prague.
The six had been under fire after a tabloid newspaper criticized them for going to a restaurant, reportedly with prostitutes, after the qualifier against Slovakia.
Midfielder Rosicky, who recently returned to Arsenal's squad after injuries that kept him sidelined for nearly 18 months, was left out of the squad due to a muscle injury — that could also rule him out of the qualifier against Slovakia on Sept. 5.
"We hoped he would come (to play against Belgium). We have no detailed information about the injury. It was clear that after such a long time minor muscle injuries have to come," Czech coach Ivan Hasek said, having talked to Rosicky by telephone late Wednesday.
"I don't know the diagnosis and it's hard for me to judge if he would be able to help us against Slovakia. But muscle injuries take at least three weeks. It's tough for him. But compared with the previous serious injury, this is a minor thing."
Arsenal, whose Premier League campaign starts at Everton on Aug. 15, confirmed the injury but would not give details, while Czech media said it was a thigh problem that would sideline him for weeks.
The Czechs play Belgium on Wednesday in the northern town of Teplice in a warm-up before facing Slovakia.
The Czechs are fourth in Group 3 with eight points from six games, seven behind leader Slovakia.
It will be Hasek's first match in charge since taking over as coach for the rest of the World Cup qualifying campaign last month.
Hasek, who is also the federation chairman, also called up Hannover forward Jiri Stajner for the first time since a European Championship qualifier against Slovakia in October 2006 and Besiktas midfielder Tomas Sivok, who last played for the national team in May 2008 in a friendly against Scotland.
Belgium recalls Mpenza for Czech friendly
BRUSSELS — Emile Mpenza is making a return to Belgium's team for next week's friendly in the Czech Republic after a two-year absence.
The 31-year-old Mpenza has scored 17 goals in 54 internationals for Belgium but his form has been erratic for the past few years. Early in the season, he has already scored four goals in as many matches for FC Sion in the Swiss league.
Vincent Kompany is absent because he is still recovering from a toe injury.
Belgium is already rebuilding its squad for the 2012 European Championship since it has given up hope of reaching next year's World Cup. It is trailing in fourth place in Group Five, which is led by Spain.
Dick Advocaat will take over as coach at the end of the year after Rene Vandereycken was fired after a string of poor results. The team is currently led by assistant coach Frankie Vercauteren.
Portugal sticks with trusted players for friendly
LISBON, Portugal — Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz is sticking with a core group of 18 players for next week's friendly against Liechtenstein.
Since taking charge a year ago, Queiroz has experimented with players less-used or overlooked by predecessor Luiz Felipe Scolari.
But as Portugal's faltering World Cup qualifying campaign approaches a phase of must-win games, the former Manchester United assistant coach stuck with tried and trusted players Thursday for the Aug. 12 match in Vaduz.
The squad is led by winger Cristiano Ronaldo, with Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho paired in the central defense.
Portugal is in third place with Sweden, both with nine points from six games, in Group 1. Denmark leads with 16 points.
The Portuguese, who in June ended a four-game winless streak when they secured a 2-1 win at Albania, have to beat Denmark and Hungary next month to stay in contention.
Defender Proedl added to Austria squad
VIENNA — Werder Bremen defender Sebastian Proedl was added to Austria's 21-man squad for next week's friendly against Cameroon.
Autria coach Dietmar Constantini initially overlooked Proedl because the 22-year-old defender had influenza lately and missed most of Bremen's preparations for the Bundeliga season.
Bremen on Thursday confirmed that Proedl was fit again and likely to appear in the club's starting lineup against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Austria will still miss five injured players when it takes on Cameroon in Klagenfurt on Wednesday.
Visa trouble foils Norway-North Korea friendly
OSLO — Next week's planned friendly match between Norway and North Korea's women's football teams has been canceled after Norwegian immigration officials refused to give the visitors entry visas.
"They (the North Korean team) did not present travel documents that were valid. ... They were not the ordinary North Korean passport," said Christian Seter, acting director of the Norwegian Immigration Directorate's visa division. "We denied them on that ground."
The match was scheduled to take place in Moss — just south of Oslo — on August 14, ahead of the Women's European Championship in Finland.
Wigan signs Chelsea striker Scott Sinclair on loan
WIGAN, England — Wigan has signed Chelsea striker Scott Sinclair on loan for the Premier League season.
The England under-20 forward has started just one Premier League match for Chelsea. Wigan is the sixth club he has joined on loan to get first-team experience.
With Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou preferred at Chelsea, he played for Birmingham in the League Championship last season but failed to score in 14 appearances.
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez says "Scott is a fantastic talent who can operate either up front or out wide and I'm delighted to have him join us."
Report: Tottenham to buy Newcastle's Bassong
LONDON — Tottenham has reportedly agreed to pay Newcastle 8 million pounds ($13.4 million) for French defender Sebastien Bassong.
Sky Sports News says that Bassong has passed a medical examination with the Premier League club and is close to completing the transfer.
The 23-year-old French defender was one of the few Newcastle players to stand out as it was relegated last season and is set to leave just two days before the Magpies play their first match in the second-tier League Championship.
Burnley complete Guerrero loan deal
LONDON — Burnley completed a deal to bring 19-year-old Ecuadorean international Fernando Guerrero to Turf Moor on a season-long loan from Ecuador's Independiente del Valle on Thursday.
The Clarets have the option to purchase the winger at the end of the upcoming season should he impress.
The former Real Madrid U19 player becomes the Clarets' sixth signing of the summer as they look to strengthen their squad ahead of their first Premier League campaign since 1976.
Guerrero showed good form whilst on trial at the club during their preseason tour of America in July, scoring as Burnley swept 5 goals past VC Fusion in their first game. He also played 90 minutes against Portland Timbers, who Burnley defeated on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
The player, who will take Burnley's number 32 shirt, does not require a work permit as he has an EU passport after emigrating to Spain as a child.
Thailand excluded from Nehru Cup
NEW DELHI— Thailand has been excluded from this month's Nehru Cup football tournament because organizers say the country reneged on an agreement to send a first-choice side to India.
Alberto Colaco, secretary of the All India Football Federation which organizes the invitational tournament, said Thailand would be replaced by Palestine in the six-nation event.
"We discovered from the lineup that the Thailand team featured only under-19 players," Colaco told reporters.
"We told the Thailand's national federation that we cannot accept a junior team for the tournament meant for national squads. We had to scratch Thailand's entry as they did not respond favorably."
Palestine joins Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, Syria and defending champion India in the Aug. 19-31 tournament in New Delhi.
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