World Cup Team Features and Other Soccer Capsules: Pique happy to avoid Brazil, play Portugal
POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa (AP) — Spain defender Gerard Pique is happy to have avoided Brazil in the last 16 of the World Cup as his team prepares to play Portugal on Tuesday.
Spain beat 10-man Chile 2-1 to finish atop Group H on Friday.
"The victory was key because it is fundamental to avoid teams like Brazil," Pique said.
But Pique was the only Spanish player to express joy at having avoided the five-time champions to instead face a Portugal team led by Cristiano Ronaldo at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Most of Spain's players know their Portuguese opponents from the Spanish league, such as Ronaldo at Real Madrid. Ronaldo's first season at Madrid was difficult because his club lost both of their matches to Barcelona, which makes up the core of this Spain team. Portugal held Brazil to a 0-0 draw in their last match, to finish second in Group G.
"I'm worried about Portugal, not (Ronaldo)," coach Vicente Del Bosque said. "We saw how they controlled Brazil. They didn't let them play their football and were strong on the counterattack. There's no extra satisfaction in getting Portugal over Brazil."
Spain labored to a hard-fought win over a physical Chile side, which showed that defensive play isn't the only way to bother the 2008 European champion.
While Switzerland defended and scored on one of its few chances in a 1-0 group win, Chile kept Spain off-kilter by denying it the bulk of possession until Marco Estrada's sending off after 37 minutes.
"We weren't at all comfortable in midfield," Xavi Hernandez said, "but we got through it. We're happy to finish first in the group without playing at an extraordinary level."
Barcelona midfielder Xavi wasn't at his best against the Chileans, with Spain's most creative attacks out of midfield mostly coming off the boot of Cesc Fabregas after he replaced Fernando Torres in the 55th.
Under Del Bosque, Spain has recently edged away from all-out attacking football, much like Brazil under Dunga. That has left perhaps Spain's greatest weapon — its talented midfield — thinner, with Fabregas and David Silva consigned to the bench.
One of those two could still make the starting lineup against Portugal as Xabi Alonso nurses a sprained right ankle, although Silva hasn't played since the loss to Switzerland.
Alonso's right ankle isn't Del Bosque's only worry — Torres also picked up a right leg injury against Chile, while backup center back Raul Albiol's World Cup campaign is in doubt after injuring his right leg in training on Saturday.
Initial testing indicated it was likely Albiol only sustained soft tissue damage around his fibula, although Spain was still awaiting further tests.
But Del Bosque may prefer to partner Javi Martinez with Sergio Busquets as holding midfielders instead. Martinez made his debut after replacing Alonso in the 73rd.
"After the defeat to Switzerland we went through a bad time but what is most important is that we've recovered and reached our objective," Del Bosque said. "We deserved to finish where we did after an excellent game — we were better."
Spain rules out broken fibula for Albiol
POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa (AP) — Medical scans Saturday on Spain defender Raul Albiol's injured right leg ruled out the possibility of a broken fibula, although the team said the center back was still doubtful for the rest of the tournament.
The Real Madrid defender fell awkwardly and had to be carried off the field at North West University Sports Complex. Albiol grimaced in pain as he was led off.
The Spanish federation said scans performed at a local hospital ruled out a serious injury to his fibula, although it said it was still awaiting further tests to determine if the 24-year-old would remain in South Africa. The federation said Albiol likely suffered soft tissue damage around the bone.
Although he is yet to play at the World Cup, Albiol has made 22 appearances for Spain since his debut in 2007.
Spain's injury concerns also include Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres, who both picked up injuries during Friday's 2-1 win over Chile.
Alonso sprained his right ankle while Torres picked up a muscle problem in his right leg that Del Bosque said had nothing to do with the knee he underwent surgery on in April. Both players are day-to-day.
Spain meets Portugal on Tuesday at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.
Spain's Alonso a serious doubt for Portugal game
POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa (AP) — Spain coach Vicente del Bosque says midfielder Xabi Alonso is "a serious doubt" for the World Cup last 16 match against Portugal.
Alonso suffered a right ankle sprain during the European champion's 2-1 win over Chile on Friday and his condition hadn't improved much by Saturday night.
Del Bosque says "he's a serious doubt to play on Tuesday. He's already undergoing treatment and we can only hope he'll be ready. If not, someone else will play."
Spain is also without defender Raul Albiol, who injured his right leg during Saturday's training.
Striker Fernando Torres is also nursing a right leg problem but is expected to recover in time for the match at Cape Town's Green Point Stadium.
Okada prepares Japan for scrappy Paraguay team
GEORGE, South Africa (AP) — After surprising the skeptics in the opening round of the World Cup, Japan coach Takeshi Okada knows he's got a special challenge coming up.
He may have to change tactics to get the Japanese past a scrappy Paraguay team and into the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time.
Japan's three group games were against attack-minded teams, but the match against Paraguay on Tuesday offers a different problem.
"They're a team that knows how to play when it really counts," Okada said. "All South American teams are not necessarily the same, but Paraguay have a very similar game to Chile. They've got a very solid back line, they push forward in numbers and switch quickly from defense to attack."
The Blue Samurai surprised many by beating both Cameroon and Denmark to reach the round of 16, and a narrow 1-0 loss to the Netherlands — which won Group E — also showed how hard the Japanese are to beat.
"Since we've come to South Africa things have changed, it's hard to say if it's one specific thing," Japan goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi said. "Once we got our first win, we started to play better."
Japan made it this far when it co-hosted the tournament in 2002, but reaching the quarterfinals will have even more significance if the Japanese can do it away from home.
Paraguay drew with Italy 1-1 in its opening match, and then beat Slovakia 2-0 and drew 0-0 against New Zealand.
Although Japan has excellent free kick specialists such as Keisuke Honda and Yusuhito Endo, Okada is anticipating another tight match. He will put his players through penalty drills either on Sunday or Monday in anticipation of a shootout.
Okada already seems to have briefed his players to keep their composure at all times against Paraguay.
"They will be trying everything to rile us," Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka said. "They are smart. Against New Zealand they were not taking risks and were just waiting to pounce on mistakes."
Tanaka has shrugged off a minor back complaint after getting banged up against Denmark on Thursday and expects to face Paraguay.
Saturday's training session in George saw the Japanese players in high spirits, with a jovial atmosphere underlining the unity in Okada's squad, which bowed in unison to its fans at the end of the group phase like the cast of a Broadway show.
The 34-year-old Kawaguchi is appearing in his third straight World Cup and has been impressed with the togetherness shown by the players.
"Everyone is working hard together. This helps I think," Kawaguchi said. "We have a nice group, we are talking with each other, before the training, after the training, before the match. There is a lot of communication."
-- Jerome Pugmire
Tulio overcomes back injury, ready for Paraguay
GEORGE, South Africa (AP) — Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka has shrugged off a minor back complaint and will be ready to face Paraguay in their round of 16 match on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Tulio bruised his back in the latter stages of Thursday's 3-1 win against Denmark, but trained alone on Saturday in a light session.
"I just picked up a knock late in the game against Denmark. I'll be all right," Tulio said Saturday. "You expect fatigue to build up during a tournament, but I am really looking forward to playing against Paraguay."
Tulio had an eventful few days leading up to the tournament, scoring own goals in friendly losses to England and Ivory Coast and colliding with Didier Drogba, resulting in the Ivorian captain breaking his right arm.
FIFA watching France fallout for interference
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — FIFA is monitoring the fallout in France over Les Bleus' World Cup failure, warning that it won't hesitate to suspend the 1998 champions if it discovers government interference with the team.
France President Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to personally investigate the squad's meltdown, and met with Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot on Wednesday to discuss ways to reform French soccer.
France was eliminated from the first round of the tournament after going on strike, failing to win a match and having striker Nicolas Anelka thrown off the squad for insulting the coach.
FIFA statutes prohibit governments from interfering with the independence of FIFA members.
Iraq was suspended for such interference in 2008 and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, who is French, said Saturday that there's "no reason to have a different approach for a European country."
Valcke said he had already spoken with Bachelot over the matter.
"I told them to be very careful, because every time there is interference FIFA will react like any country," Valcke said. "We will definitely look at what France is doing, and that's not just because I am French.
"No (government official) can ask for someone to resign. There is a system in place to run football around the world and that system is under FIFA. We are always warning people about how this pyramid is working. I hope to avoid having to send an interference letter for this situation."
In FIFA's official rule book, Article 13.1.(g) states that national federations are obliged "to manage their affairs independently and ensure that their own affairs are not influenced by any third parties."
At its 2009 congress in the Bahamas, FIFA members agreed to take a tougher stance against federations whose work was interfered with by third parties — namely "politicians, governments, states, media, etc."
FIFA agreed then that federations should be punished even if they were not at fault for the third-party interference.
Greece was European champion when it was suspended from world soccer for several days in 2006 because its parliament tried to change a law regulating professional sports organizations.
Spain was threatened with expulsion just weeks before Euro 2008 because the incoming national government wanted sports federations to hold elections before the Beijing Olympics later that year.
Iraq was suspended for several days in May 2008 after its government disbanded all national sports bodies. The dispute threatened Iraq's place in the World Cup, and was resolved three days before it was scheduled to play a qualifier against Australia.
When countries are suspended, national and club teams plus referees cannot take part in international matches and officials are barred from attending soccer meetings.
A suspension would affect France's preparations to organize the 2016 European Championship. It was awarded the hosting rights last month by UEFA.
-- Andrew Dampf
Former North Korea player says team to get warm welcome
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea's World Cup football team will receive a warm welcome when it returns home from South Africa, a veteran of the country's historic 1966 squad said Saturday.
Pak Du Ik played for North Korea when it advanced to the quarterfinals in England 44 years ago in its first World Cup. The team eliminated Italy before being knocked out by Portugal.
This time, however, North Korea didn't fare as well, losing group matches to Brazil 2-1, to Portugal 7-0 and to Ivory Coast 3-0.
Pak, speaking to international TV news agency APTN in Pyongyang, said the team did its best in South Korea, despite the losses.
"Now when the Korean team gets home, officials and crowds of people will go to the airport to welcome them," he said. "This is because taking part itself is a success."
Pak said that while North Koreans regret the Portugal result, they have praised the team's players.
"It is a pity that we let in three goals against Ivory Coast. I think if we had played harder we would not have lost two goals in the first half and one goal in the second half," Pak said. "But on the other hand, I think they did their best."
North Korean official media had not yet reported the result of the match against Ivory Coast early Saturday, but the news had spread quickly within Pyongyang by word of mouth.
Football is very popular in North Korea, and the country's second World Cup appearance in 44 years caused great excitement and expectation among its citizens.
Pak said the experience was valuable.
"We have learnt a lesson from the three World Cup matches, we accumulated experience and we found an answer to how to improve our football," he said. "To decrease the gap between our team and teams from Europe, South America and Africa."
Italy returns home
ROME (AP) — Italy's World Cup players have returned home after their early exit in South Africa, amid indifference from fans and a few insults.
Players who landed at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport Saturday morning were largely ignored. A small group of fans shouted "Shame on You!" as the footballers and coach Marcello Lippi walked in the terminal.
Other players traveled on to Milan's Malpensa, where virtually no fans awaited them.
After disappointing draws with Paraguay and New Zealand, the Azzurri were kicked out of the tournament with a shocking defeat to Slovakia, finishing last in their group.
Not since 1974 had Italy failed to qualify to the second round.
Also
Medical chief wants more action against elbows
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The head of FIFA's medical committee on Saturday hailed an overall decrease in World Cup injuries and an increase in fair play, but wants referees to get even tougher during the rest of the tournament.
Michel D'Hooghe said in an interview with The Associated Press that there were several tackles and elbows thrown during the group stage that could easily have broken a jaw or a leg.
"We could have had another (Marcin) Wasilewski," D'Hooghe said, referring to the Polish international who lost almost a full season after a vicious foul broke both bones in his leg last August.
He refused to mention specific teams or players.
D'Hooghe also said he was unhappy that some elbowing resulted only in bookings and not an automatic red card.
He said he had approached Angel Maria Villar Llona, the head of FIFA's Referee Committee, and FIFA president Sepp Blatter to make sure referees would be tough on such actions in the knockout rounds.
"Overall, the refereeing is good, but it could be improved on the issues I raised," D'Hooghe said.
For years now, D'Hooghe has campaigned for tougher sanctioning as violent fouls increased globally. He even produced a DVD of some of the worst fouls committed in recent years to help get the message across at a FIFA medical congress attended by all national federations in October.
To a certain extent, it seems to have had an impact at this World Cup.
While exact statistics are not yet available, D'Hooghe said "we have seen less injuries than at other World Cups.
"Our prevention campaigns have worked," he said. "And I have also seen an improvement of fair play on the pitch."
D'Hooghe also said all doping tests were negative so far.
The 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan saw no less than a dozen serious facial injuries from elbowing. That decreased to two injuries in Germany four years ago when the medical staff at FIFA campaigned to make an elbow to the face an automatic red card offense.
The most famous incident in South Africa was when France's Yoann Gourcuff was sent off against the host nation in the first half for jumping up for a header with his elbows raised, hitting Macbeth Sibaya in the head. After the game, Gourcuff said "I didn't know that he was behind me," but wouldn't complain about the decision itself.
D'Hooghe said cracking down on foul play at the World Cup will also help decrease injuries in other competitions.
"The World Cup stands as an example for the next four years," D'Hooghe said.
-- Raf Casert
Soccer is a life saver for HIV Positive Ladies
DOMBORAMWARI, Zimbabwe (AP) — For members of the Positive Ladies Football Club, playing soccer is much more than just a way to have fun.
All its members are women infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. In this impoverished district outside the Zimbabwe capital, having an outlet and a bond with teammates has helped the players keep up their spirits as they fight the disease and the stigma that goes with it.
And now is a special time for the club. It fields a team known as the ARV Swallows (ARV is an abbreviation for antiretroviral medication) which will compete in a tournament in neighboring South Africa while the World Cup is being staged.
The Swallows have already triumphed in one local women's league, and they've kicked stigma and prejudice off the field at their home ground at Zinyengere government school, about 20 miles southeast of Harare, said Ivy Choga, a nurse with Medecins sans Frontieres, or Doctors without Borders, the international medical humanitarian organization.
In this southern African nation, where nearly a quarter of the adult population is estimated to be infected with the virus that causes AIDS, people with the disease were long shunned in local communities. Infected women were banished from families.
"They were hidden away and getting very sick. Families were planning burials," Choga said.
In Domboramwari, or Stones of God in the local Shona language — named after the district's bleak landscape of granite rocks — the "Positive Ladies" on Saturday were helping a group of their members prepare for a trip they once never dared dream of.
The Swallows are competing in a 5-a-side tournament of HIV positive women in South Africa scheduled July 2 and organized on the sidelines of the World Cup by Doctors Without Borders from its HIV treatment projects in southern Africa.
They will be led by coach Jonas Kapakasa, a former goalkeeper in a Zimbabwe club side.
"Everyone is very excited. We're ready to show what we can do," Kapakasa told The Associated Press.
He said he canceled practice Wednesday after a child of one of the Swallows became ill. Teammates rallied around to help get the child to the district hospital.
"It was a real team effort," he said. "I'm so proud."
AIDS groups have warned that foreign funding for life saving medication is diminishing. The so-called "Halftime" tournament in Johannesburg calls on international donors not to cut back on antiretroviral funding when the fight against the disease is only half over.
"Imagine the referee stopping the match against HIV/AIDS halfway through. ... Nobody calls it quits at halftime," Doctors Without Borders said in a statement.
In this arid Zimbabwe district, with regular power outages and no electricity at all in some parts, unemployment and food shortages are acute. Players in the Swallows grow and sell their own vegetables, some make basic handicrafts and artificial flowers from grass and scrap materials and others receive food handouts from independent charities. They receive their medication from the Dutch branch of Doctors Without Borders.
Annafields Phiri formed the team in 2008 after a Harare businessman launched a women's football league to promote his skin and hair care products.
Choga, the nurse, said regular exercise strengthened the women and helped them throw off years of depression, discrimination and isolation. Singing and dancing goes along with their practices three times a week.
There have been injuries on the field, but neighborhood skeptics who now turn out to support the Swallows had learned more about the risks of HIV infection from unprotected sex, often a taboo subject in Zimbabwe — and how the risk from cuts and bruises is minimal, Choga said.
Defender Nyarai Bengina, 33, said being diagnosed HIV positive in 2006 was the saddest time of her life. Seeing her drawn body, wracked by tuberculosis and near death, neighbors had taunted her to take poison to end it once and for all.
Now the beaming, smiling mother of three will soon be enjoying soccer in Johannesburg and rooting for Argentina.
"We've got our lives back," she said.
-- Angus Shaw
Other Soccer News
Ngwenya helps Dynamo tie Rapids
HOUSTON (AP) — Joseph Ngwenya scored his first goal of the year to give the Houston Dynamo a 2-2 tie with the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.
Ngwenya tied it at 2 in the 80th minute, taking a centering pass from Brian Mullan in the middle of the box and scoring into the right side from 12 yards out.
Houston (5-7-2) ended a three-game losing streak in its return from a three-week World Cup break. Colorado (6-3-3) extended its season-high unbeaten streak to five.
"The guys are pleased to get the point. It's tough to come here with the conditions," said Colorado goalkeeper Matt Pickens, who had three saves.
"We know that. That's not an excuse or anything, but it is very tough to come down here and play. After being off for two weeks, the humidity and this heat, grinding it out and getting a point, I think it's justifiable for us. It keeps our streak alive."
Houston, 4-0-2 overall against Colorado in Houston, hadn't won since May 22 when it beat D.C. United 2-0.
"The way things are going, it's good that we showed some fight and walked away with a point," Houston midfielder Corey Ashe said. "It's a good point and we battled back."
Colorado took a 2-1 lead in the 71st minute on a Houston own goal off Jaime Smith's corner kick. Smith's corner deflected in off Lovel Palmer's left hip.
"There are the concerns that you come out of the training environment, which is very different, back into the cut and thrust of the league and you are not quite sure where the players' sharpness and form is because we have had some time off," Colorado coach Gary Smith said. "It took us 45 minutes to really get into our stride.
"I have to be honest, when we scored the second, I thought we might have had enough to push on and win the game."
Danny Cruz gave Houston a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute with a left-footed shot from 30 yards out. Cruz took a centering pass from Corey Ashe and let Conor Casey go by him before finding the left net with a hard shot.
Casey tied it at 1 in the 45th minute with his third goal in four games and sixth of the season. Houston's Eddie Robinson lost the ball to Mehdi Ballouchy, who got it into the middle box for Casey. Casey drew goalkeeper Pat Onstad out of the box Casey chipped it in from 10 yards out.
"That misplay before halftime, we were well in control of the game and not giving up chances and keeping possession of the ball really turned the game around and it took us a while to recover," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said.
After 17 days off because of the World Cup break, Colorado was pleased to get the result, but both teams lamented their missed chances.
"It's good to be back," Casey said. "Obviously, it was nice to have some time off. It was nice to get a point in the end coming into the heat. It's never easy to play here. After going up, it's a little disappointing not coming away with three, but I think it's a fair point."
FC Dallas tops Chivas USA, 2-1
CARSON, Calif. (AP) — David Ferreira converted a second-half penalty kick to help FC Dallas beat Chivas USA 2-1 on Saturday night.
Ferreira scored in the 61st minute after Chivas' Osael Romero tied it in the 59th minute with his first MLS goal. Ante Jazic accounted for FC Dallas' first goal, scoring an own goal late in the first half.
FC Dallas (4-6-2) scored more than one goal for the second consecutive match and for just the fourth time in 12 MLS games this year.
Chivas, meanwhile, dropped its sixth consecutive match to fall to 3-9-1.
Romero, though, gave the club a bit of offensive spark. Romero scored on a header in the 59th minute. But on FC Dallas next possession, Jazic knocked Marvin Chavez down inside the penalty area.
Ferreira fired the spot kick into the left side of the net as Chivas goalkeeper Zach Thornton dived the opposite way. The goal was Ferrerias second of the season.
Ferriera also was involved on the club's first goal. In the 45th minute, Ferreria sent a corner kick toward the goal. FC Dallas' Brek Shea stood outside the 6-yard box with Jazic behind him, and the ball bounced off Jazic and past Thornton.
