Soccer Capsules: Moreno, Thomas to Philly in MLS expansion draft
NEW YORK — Columbus forward Alejandro Moreno and Chivas USA defender Shavar Thomas are among 10 players selected by the Philadelphia Union in the MLS expansion draft.
Moreno, who has played for Venezuela’s national team, has 43 regular-season goals in eight MLS seasons. Thomas competes for Jamaica.
Philadelphia, the league’s 16th team, also picked Seattle forward Sebastien Le Toux on Wednesday. Others selected were Colorado defender Jordan Harvey, D.C. United midfielder Andrew Jacobsen, New England goalkeeper Brad Knighton, Los Angeles midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi, Chicago defender Dave Myrie, San Jose midfielder Shea Salinas and New York midfielder Nick Zimmerman.
Each team protected 11 players. No players were chosen from Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Salt Lake and Toronto.
Sounders lose Le Toux to Union in expansion draft
SEATTLE — Seattle Sounders FC forward and midfielder Sebastian Le Toux is headed to Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Union selected him with one of the team's 10 picks in the expansion draft Wednesday.
The 25-year-old from Rennes, France, was the first player the Sounders signed. He appeared in 28 games in Seattle's inaugural Major League Soccer season this year.
Le Toux scored three goals and had seven assists to help lead the Sounders to the U.S. Open Cup championship this year. But he was also one of the team's higher-paid players, earning $112,000, and frequently came off the bench as a substitute. He had one goal and three assists during the regular season.
Le Toux will be back in Seattle next March when Philadelphia plays its first game against the Sounders at Qwest Field.
ESPN Deportes to televise World Cup in U.S.
BRISTOL, Conn. — ESPN Deportes will broadcast next year’s World Cup in the United States with Portuguese commentary in what appears to be a challenge to Univision.
ESPN and ABC, both part of The Walt Disney Co., own all U.S. telecasts rights to FIFA events through the 2014 World Cup, except for Spanish-language rights. Those are held by Univision Communications Inc.
ESPN announced Wednesday that ESPN Deportes will televise more than 40 World Cup matches live. Five-time champion Brazil and Portugal are the only two Portuguese-speaking nations in the 32-team field in South Africa. ESPN360.com will show World Cup matches in Portuguese and other languages not yet announced.
Univision did not have any immediate comment.
"There’s a thriving Portuguese-speaking community in the U.S. that lives and breathes soccer," ESPN Deportes general manager Lino Garcia said in a statement. "With Brazil, undoubtedly one of the most-followed soccer teams in the world, and Portugal qualifying last week, we are leveraging our multilanguage rights to better serve the passionate Portuguese-speaking fans."
Roundups
Three-way duel to qualify in Champions League group
LONDON — Real Madrid, AC Milan and Marseille remain locked in a battle to advance from the same group after not a single team clinched qualification in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Madrid tops Group C with 10 points after Gonzalo Higuain scored in a 1-0 win over FC Zurich that saw the return of Cristiano Ronaldo from nearly two months out with an ankle injury.
Milan drew 1-1 with Marseille to be next with eight points, one more than the French club. Marco Borriello's 10th-minute goal for the Italians was canceled out six minutes later by Lucho Gonzalez.
If Marseille beats Madrid by a two-goal margin on Dec. 8, the Spaniards will still qualify even if Milan defeats last-place Zurich.
Still, Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini is concerned that his team is not playing well.
"Of course, I'm worried. The team somehow does not really end up playing properly on the field," the Chilean said. "It's not the football the team needs to be playing — but we're winning."
Madrid will hope to have Ronaldo back to full fitness to play Marseille. The Portugal winger replaced Raul Gonzalez in the 70th against Zurich in his first club appearance since scoring twice against Marseille on Sept. 30.
Juventus is in danger of elimination after losing 2-0 to Bordeaux, which secured top spot in Group A. Fernando Menegazzo's header put Bordeaux ahead shortly after halftime, and Marouane Chamakh sealed the win with another header in stoppage time.
Bordeaux had already clinched qualification and tops the group with 13 points. Juventus remains second with eight points, one more than Bayern Munich, which beat Maccabi Haifa 1-0 courtesy of Ivica Olic's second-half strike off a rebound.
Juventus will face Bayern in two weeks for a spot in the knockout stage.
"It was a very important game for us. I hope we can now do it in Turin," Olic said.
Chelsea clinched top spot in Group D by beating FC Porto 1-0 after Nicolas Anelka headed in from close range in the 69th minute in a largely uneventful match between two teams that had already qualified.
Atletico Madrid and Apoel Nicosia, who are battling for third place and a spot in the Europa League, drew 1-1 in Cyprus. Atletico has three points, one more than APOEL.
Besitkas upset Manchester United 1-0 to end the Red Devils' home Champions League unbeaten streak at 23 matches. United, last season's runner-up, had already qualified from Group B and was beaten by Rodrigo Tello's 30-meter deflected shot in the 20th.
United, which will secure top spot with a draw at Wolfsburg on Dec. 8, leads the group with 10 points. Wolfsburg and CSKA Moscow each have seven points after CSKA beat the German team 2-1 in Moscow. Besiktas has four points.
-- Rob Harris
Ronaldo returns for Madrid; United loses
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Real Madrid after an injury layoff, and Besitkas upset Manchester United 1-0 Wednesday night to end the Red Devils' home Champions League unbeaten streak at 23 matches.
AC Milan moved closer to the second round with a 1-1 tie against Marseille, Bordeaux defeated visiting Juventus 2-0 to put the Italian club in danger of elimination and Chelsea won 1-0 at Porto on Nicolas Anelka's goal in the 69th minute to clinch first place in its group.
Ronaldo entered as a 70th-minute substitute as Real Madrid beat visiting Zurich 1-0 on Gonzalo Higuain's goal in the 21st. The winger, sidelined by an injured ankle, hadn't appeared in a match since Portugal's World Cup qualifier on Oct. 10 and hadn't played for his Spanish club since Sept. 30.
In Manchester, Besiktas won 1-0 as Rodrigo Tello scored in the 20th minute on a 30-yard shot that took a slight deflection off defender Rafael Da Silva and bounced past goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Manchester United (3-1-1) has 10 points and already has clinched a berth in the second round. CSKA Moscow rallied to beat visiting Wolfsburg 2-1, leaving both with 2-2-1 records and seven points in Group B.
Edin Dzeko put the German club ahead in the 19th minute, but CSKA came back on goals by Tomas Necid in the 58th and Milos Krasic in the 66th minute.
At Milan, Marco Borriello put the home team ahead in the 10th minute, but Lucho Gonzalez tied the score in the 16th. Real Madrid (3-1-1) leads Group C with 10 points, followed by AC Milan (2-1-2) with eight, Marseille (2-2-1) with seven and Zurich (1-4) with three.
Bordeaux (4-0-1) clinched first place in Group A on goals by Fernando Menegazzo in the 54th minute and Marouane Chamakh in second-half injury time. Juventus (2-1-2) is second with eight points, one ahead of Bayern Munich (2-2-1), which closes at Juventus on Dec. 8.
Bayern Munich defeated visiting Maccabi Haifa 1-0 on Ivica Olic's goal off a rebound in the 62nd minute.
Chelsea (4-0-1) and Porto (3-2) already had clinched berths in Group D. In a match between eliminated teams, Atletico Madrid (0-2-3) gained a 1-1 tie at APOEL Nicosia (0-3-2).
-- Rob Harris
LDQ thrashes Fluminense 5-1 in Sudamericana final
QUITO, Ecuador — Edison Mendez's quality hat trick led Liga de Quito to a 5-1 rout of Fluminense in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final on Wednesday.
The return leg is next Wednesday at Rio de Janeiro, where Fluminense will be relieved after appearing to struggle to breathe at Quito's 3,000-meter altitude.
The final is a rematch of the 2008 final of the Copa Libertadores, South America's club championship, where Liga beat Fluminense in a penalty shootout to become the first club from Ecuador to win a major tournament.
In search of revenge, Fluminense made a remarkable start at Casa Blanca Stadium.
After barely 20 seconds, the ball was worked to Fred on the edge of the box and the former Lyon striker's shot was barely parried away by goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez. Marquinho pounced on the rebound and blasted a powerful shot into the roof of the net.
Liga regrouped fast, however, with Giovani Espinola and Ulises De La Cruz going close with headers.
Mendez pulled the home side level in the 21st minute after receiving a quick free kick on the right and arrowing a shot that stung the fingers of Fluminense goalkeeper Rafael.
Mendez repeated in the 44th. His 30-meter free kick rebounded off the wall but dropped invitingly into his path and the veteran midfielder launched an unstoppable drive off the underside of the crossbar to put Liga in front.
In the 60th, Mendez arrived in the box to complete his hat trick with a downward header from Norberto Araujo's right wing cross.
Franklin Salas swapped passes with Mendez inside the box in the 77th and hit a first-time volley across Rafael for Liga's fourth goal.
De La Cruz sealed a miserable night for Fluminense with a 30-meter strike in the 88th.
Dempsey scores 2 goals as Fulham beats Blackburn
LONDON — Clint Dempsey scored twice in the second half, helping Fulham beat Blackburn 3-0 Wednesday night in the Premier League and end a three-match winless streak.
Erik Nevland put Fulham ahead in the 43rd minute at Craven Cottage, and Dempsey made it 2-0 in the 67th, tapping in a cross from Damien Duff. He added in the final goal in the 88th, taking Simon Davies' cross and slotting the ball past goalkeeper Pat Robinson.
Dempsey, a 26-year-old from Nacogdoches, has six goals for Fulham this season: five in the Premier League and one in the Europa League. It was his third two-goal game for the Cottagers; he also scored twice against Chelsea and Manchester City last season.
Fulham (5-5-3) moved into 10th place, two spots ahead of Blackburn (5-7-1).
In the night's other game, Hull won 3-2 at home against Everton, with Stephen Hunt, Andy Dawson and Dean Marney scoring in the first 28 minutes against American goalkeeper Tim Howard to build a three-goal lead.
Kamil Zayatte had an own goal in the 49th minute, then conceded a penalty kick that Louis Saha converted in the 65th. U.S. forward Jozy Altidore started his third straight match for Hull.
Everton (4-6-3) has one win in its last seven games and is at 15 points along with Hull (4-7-3), just four above the relegation zone.
Elsewhere
China arrests up to 16 in match fixing probe
BEIJING — Chinese police have announced the arrest of up to 16 former players, along with club and league officials, as part of a widening probe into rampant match fixing in the country's professional football league.
News of the arrests, announced by the Ministry of Public Security, was a top story in newspapers and Web sites Thursday, with reports focussing on the lurid details of how money was exchanged to fix the outcome of games.
News of the detainments, made over a period of time, come amid increased scrutiny over the sorry state of the sport in China, including extraordinary statements of concern from officials as high-ranking as Vice President Xi Jinping. China is now 97th in the FIFA world rankings
In one instance in August 2006, Yang Xu, general manager of second-tier team Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, was accused of handing 200,000 yuan ($30,000) to his counterpart at rival club Shanxi Wellsend, Wang Po, to ensure a win for Guangzhou. Shanxi players were instructed to lose by a wide margin. The game ended in a 5-1 win for Guangzhou.
The reports said Wang Po and another manager, Wang Xin, allegedly bet on the game with an overseas football gambling Web site. But their alleged winnings of just 100,000 yuan ($15,000) suggest Wang Po was acting on behalf of a larger syndicate that had put up the money for the original bribe.
The reports said the investigation was aided by the arrest of Wang Xin in the northeastern province of Liaoning in April after he fled Singapore amid an investigation into match fixing in the southeast Asian city state.
The Singapore probe turned up evidence of match fixing in the Chinese league, helping investigators tie Wang Xin to others involved in the corruption.
Other details of the broader investigation were not clear and only four of those detained were named in the reports: Wang Xin, Wang Po, Yang Xu and Ding Zhe, a former coach in the Chinese league. They were held on the charge of "suspicion of employing commercial bribery to manipulate the outcome of football matches," the reports said.
In a statement carried on its Web site, the Ministry of Public Security said the crackdown was in response to the "fervent wishes of football fans."
"We hope the relevant authorities will take this as an encouragement to step up their management of the football industry," the statement said.
News of the arrests coincides with an announcement by European football's governing body that five clubs in Albania, Latvia, Slovenia and Hungary are suspected in European football's biggest match-fixing investigation.
On Wednesday, UEFA General-Secretary Gianni Infantino described match-fixing as a "cancer we need to eradicate."
Similar language was used by the vice president of the Chinese Football Association, Nan Yong, in comments to the official Xinhua News Agency published Thursday.
"Match-fixing is a 'cancer' in football competition and should be attacked and eradicated ruthlessly," Nan said. "Otherwise, Chinese football will not have a stable, healthy environment in which to develop."
CFA spokesman Dong Hua on Thursday referred reporters to media reports, saying the body would make no additional statements.
The league's problems date back at least until 2001, when allegations of match throwing and bribery of referees first emerged. Similar accusations re-emerged repeatedly over the eight years since, prompting denunciations from the CFA, but little action.
Over the same period, China's performance in international competition slumped as football's popularity among fans lost ground in favor of basketball and young players turned away from the sport in droves.
China was knocked out of 2010 World Cup qualifying last year, failing to make the top 10 sides in Asia. In its only World Cup appearance, in 2002, China lost all three games while failing to score a single goal.
-- Christopher Bodeen
UEFA names five clubs suspected of fixing matches
NYON, Switzerland — Five clubs in Albania, Latvia, Slovenia and Hungary are suspected in European soccer’s biggest match-fixing investigation.
The European soccer governing body identified the clubs Wednesday as KF Tirana (Albania), KS Vllaznia (Albania), FC Dinaburg (Latvia), NK IB Llubljana (Slovenia) and Honved (Hungary). They allegedly fixed seven qualifying round games in the Champions League and Europa League between July 16 and Aug. 6.
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino described match-fixing as a "cancer we need to eradicate." He said the seven matches were among 40 in continental club competitions previously identified as being under suspicion.
About 200 matches are being investigated in a criminal probe led from Bochum, Germany.
Infantino said UEFA opened its own investigation into the activities of three referees and one official connected to UEFA. No member of UEFA’s administrative staff is suspected, he said.
"We don’t know if this is the end of the story," Infantino said.
UEFA officials met Wednesday with national association leaders from the nine countries — Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey — to share information about the investigation.
"At the start people were certainly shocked about the magnitude (of the scandal)," Infantino said after the three-hour summit at UEFA headquarters. "At the end of the meeting there was much more reassurance because we are working together."
UEFA is cooperating with the Bochum prosecutor’s office, which has targeted domestic league matches across nine countries. German-based betting syndicates are suspected of bribing players, coaches, referees and other officials to fix games. The suspected leaders are believed to have made at least $15 million, authorities say.
Police arrested 15 people in Germany last week, including Ante Sapina, a Croatian national who was convicted in Germany’s match-fixing scandal in 2005 that involved referee Robert Hoyzer. Another man was arrested in Croatia on Tuesday.
UEFA will ask for access to the criminal case files and agreed with its nine national members not to disclose details of matches and people under suspicion.
Belgian FA general secretary Jean-Marie Philips said he has confidence in UEFA’s handling of the investigation. In a joint statement, UEFA promised strong action against any player, referee or club official implicated.
"He will be out of football, this is very, very clear," Infantino said.
SC Verl, a fourth-tier German team, said Wednesday it has suspended two players suspected of manipulating two games. The players have not admitted to any wrongdoing.
A third player suspected in the match-fixing is no longer with the club, according to Verl president Jochen Scholz.
Swiss second-division clubs Gossau and Thun have both suspended a player who was questioned by police.
UEFA said soccer authorities would work with state justice departments to share information and file criminal complaints, acknowledging that its investigative powers could not tackle organized crime.
UEFA routinely monitors Europe’s top divisions and domestic cup competitions for evidence of suspicious betting patterns.
Peter Limacher, its head of disciplinary service, said the betting fraud detection system had been widened across Europe in July and helped make the investigations possible.
-- Graham Dunbar
Liverpool says Benitez's job not under threat
LONDON — Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez's job is not under threat despite his team's elimination from the Champions League, according to managing director Christian Purslow.
The five-time European champions beat Debrecen 1-0 Tuesday for its first victory in a month, but were still knocked out of the group stage for the first time in six seasons under Benitez because Fiorentina beat Lyon in the other Group E match.
Liverpool has to finish in the top four of the Premier League to qualify for next season's competition. Going into Sunday's Merseyside derby against Everton, Liverpool is seventh — 13 points adrift of leader Chelsea.
"The key now is to finish in the top four to make sure we are in the Champions League group stages for the next season," Benitez said. "We have to change our target. We have to think about the league and finishing in the top four. Only then can we also think about the Europa League and the FA Cup.
Purslow said Benitez isn't about to be fired. To do so would likely cost the club at least $30 million.
"Rafa's signed a new five-year contract," Purslow said Tuesday. "He's four months into that contract, so to discuss that is not appropriate. He is under no threat.
"You don't deviate from long-term plans for people and the way to take the club to the next level because of two late goals against Lyon — and that's what it boils down to."
Benitez won the Champions League in 2005 at the end of his first season with Liverpool and reached the 2007 final, but the Spaniard must now settle for a spot in the Europa League this season.
Despite the TV revenues and prize money being far less lucrative than the Champions League, Purslow said the financial impact on Liverpool would be "limited."
Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. are searching for investors to inject 100 million pounds ($167 million) into the club, taking a 25 percent stake to reduce the club's debt of 245 million pounds.
"We are prudent in what we budget — if we go into the Europa League and have three home games, we are financially equivalent on what we budgeted to achieve in the Champions League," Purslow said. "I like to think we'll be taking 40 or 50,000 to Hamburg in May (for the Europa League final), and if we get halfway to doing that, we will make more money than we would have from the next round of the Champions League.
"It's a missed opportunity financially, but it has no effect on budgeted performance and that's the key thing."
With one group game remaining, Liverpool has seven points despite only scoring four goals. Debrecen has even managed to score a goal more despite being bottom with zero points.
Injuries have been a major problem this season with striker Fernando Torres the biggest casualty.
"I do believe that with Torres fit, we would have got through into the last 16," Benitez said. "I do not know whether Torres can play against Everton. He has been working and training all week, but when his injury was assessed we were told that he would need three weeks of treatment. At the moment he has had just over two weeks, so we will have to see how he is nearer to the match."
-- Rob Harris
Ronaldo back from injury layoff for Real Madrid
MADRID — Cristiano Ronaldo returned to action after nearly two months out due to injury on Wednesday, coming on as a second-half substitute in Real Madrid's 1-0 Champions League win over FC Zurich.
The Portugal winger, the world's most expensive footballer, hadn't played for Madrid since injuring his right ankle in a victory over Marseille on Sept. 30 in which he scored twice.
He came on for Raul Gonzalez in the 70th minute and was cheered by the Santiango Bernabeu crowd.
Ronaldo's only real chance came in the last minute when Esteban Granero put him through in the area, but Zurich goalkeeper Johnny Leoni was able to save his angled shot.
"I think these 25 minutes tonight will have been a big help," said Pellegrini, who watched the Spanish league leaders go to the top of its group with 10 points to virtually book its place in the knockout phase of the competition.
"He showed good rhythm," Pellegrini said. "He's trained really well and left all of the worries over his injury behind. Everyone knows what Cristiano brings."
The Chilean coach, who said he remained "worried" about the team's disjointed play, will be particularly pleased to have Ronaldo back in time for the "clasico" match against arch rival Barcelona on Sunday.
-- Paul Logothetis
Ajax to cooperate with China youth program
AMSTERDAM — Ajax has signed a three-year contract to cooperate with the China Football Association's youth program.
Ajax says the club's commercial director Henri van der Aat signed the deal Wednesday in Beijing.
Van der Aat said that the "China Football Association youth trainers will be given insight into our training methods and the association will send a delegation of coaches each year for training in Amsterdam,"
Ajax's world-renowned youth training scheme has cultivated stars like Johann Cruyff, Patrick Kluivert, Clarence Seedorf and Wesley Sneijder.
China's national youth teams also will play in tournaments organized by Ajax, and the Amsterdam club's first team will visit China to play the national or Olympic team.
Barcelona extends Abidal's contract to 2012
BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona has signed France international Eric Abidal to a one-year contract extension that keeps him with the European champions through 2012.
The 30-year-old France left back also saw his buy-out clause increased to €90 million ($136 million).
Abidal made 91 appearances since joining the Spanish champions from Lyon to start the 2007-08 season. He then helped the team become the first Spanish club to win the league, Champions League and Copa del Rey titles in the same season.
The former Lille and Monaco defender is the sixth Barcelona player to agree to a contract extension this season.
Romario to play match with 2nd-tier club in Rio
RIO DE JANEIRO — Romario is returning to the soccer field — at least for a day.
The 43-year-old forward, who ended his career last year after 23 years, plans to fulfill his late father’s dream by playing a match with America, a second-division club in Rio de Janeiro.
Romario’s father, Edevair de Souza Faria, supported America and always wanted to see his son play for the team. The father died last year.
Romario oversees the soccer operations of the club, which has already secured a spot in the first division next year and can clinch the title against Artsul on Wednesday.
Romario led Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title in the United States. He hasn’t played an official match since November 2007 with Vasco da Gama.
Hannover soccer team to honor Enke on jersey
HANNOVER, Germany — The Hannover soccer team says its players will wear jerseys with a black No. 1 in tribute to goalkeeper Robert Enke for the rest of this season.
The Bundesliga club said the German Football League gave its approval Wednesday to the plan.
Germany goalkeeper Enke died after stepping in front of a train on Nov. 10. His widow later said he had suffered from depression for years.
Hannover said the idea for the special shirts with a black No. 1 on the chest came from United States defender Steve Cherundolo.
The team first wore the shirts for its league match against Schalke last weekend.
Alex Song signs new contract with Arsenal
LONDON — Arsenal midfielder Alex Song has signed a long-term contract with the Premier League club.
The 22-year-old Cameroon international joined Arsenal in 2005 and has made 96 appearances for the club. He has also helped Cameroon qualify for next year's World Cup in South Africa.
Arsenal made the announcement Wednesday in a statement on its Web site.
