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Soccer Capsules: Fire reach Eastern Conference final, blank Revs
Comments 0 | Recommend 0BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — John Thorrington and Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored as the Chicago Fire advanced to the Eastern Conference final, beating the New England Revolution 2-0 Saturday night to win on 3-2 aggregate.
Chicago entered the match trailing in the two-game, total-goal semifinals series after a 2-1 defeat at New England on Sunday.
Thorrington scored in the 35th minute of Game 2 with Marco Pappa and Brandon Prideaux getting assists. Blanco sealed the win with six minutes remaining in regulation.
It's the second consecutive season in which Chicago has eliminated New England from the playoffs, and fourth in eight all-time postseason matchups.
Chicago will host Real Salt Lake, which beat Columbus 4-2 on aggregate two days ago, next Saturday.
This will be the Fire's third consecutive appearance in the conference final, where they've lost each of the previous two.
Chicago outshot New England 21-12, but also had 13 shots on net compared to four for the Revolution.
League Roundups
City out of top 4 after fifth consecutive draw
LONDON — Big-spending Manchester City was held to a fifth consecutive draw in the English Premier League after finishing 3-3 with Burnley, while Arsenal boosted its title hopes by routing Wolverhampton 4-1 on Saturday.
City fought back from being two goals down to lead Burnley 3-2, but Kevin McDonald's late strike earned Burnley its first point on the road.
"It is frustrating and disappointing because we got ourselves into a winning position," City manager Mark Hughes said. "We have to learn to see games out because we have drawn two games at home from winning positions.
"We are 11 games into the season and we have done OK, no more, no less. There are times when we look what we are — a team coming together and trying to gel."
City's place in the top four was taken by Tottenham, which beat Sunderland 2-0, slipping to sixth behind Aston Villa, which thrashed Bolton 5-1.
After 11 matches, Arsenal is two points behind leader Chelsea and above defending champion Manchester United on goal difference. Chelsea hosts United on Sunday in their 12 match of the campaign.
City has not won since September and the draw with Burnley comes before a visit next week to Abu Dhabi to meet the club's owner Sheikh Mansour, who has lavished around $200 million pounds on the squad since last season.
It was Joleon Lescott, the 24-million pound ($40-million) recruit from Everton, who got City's afternoon off to the worst possible start at Eastlands.
The England center back handled Tyrone Mears' cross to concede a penalty that was dispatched into the bottom right by Graham Alexander in the 19th minute.
City's fortunes took a further turn for the worse when Steven Fletcher tapped home at the far post.
But Shaun Wright-Phillips pulled one back before the break with a 20-meter (yard) shot that deflected off Burnley defender Stephen Jordan and City was quickly on the offensive after the restart.
Lescott helped to atone for the penalty by picking out an unmarked Toure, who slotted in the equalizer at the far post. Inside three minutes Bellamy put City ahead — only for substitute McDonald to stun City by slotting in Burnley's equalizer.
By contrast, Arsenal has won six of its last seven league matches to boost its chances of a first title since 2004.
Wolves gifted the visitors a 2-0 lead inside 31 minutes with Ronald Zubar and Jody Craddock scoring own goals before Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas added a third in first-half stoppage time. Andrey Arshavin completed the emphatic victory in the 66th, although Wolves scored a late consolation with Craddock finding the right net.
Spurs took the lead when Peter Crouch headed through to Keane and the Ireland striker bundled the ball over the line in the 14th minute.
Bent, returning to White Hart Lane for the first time since his offseason departure, was booed after winning a penalty early in the second half when there appeared to be minimal contact from Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes. But Bent's low strike into the bottom right was saved by Gomes, who had only been shown a yellow card much to Sunderland manager Steve Bruce's annoyance.
"Bent was through on goal, it's a goal-scoring opportunity, and by the letter of the law he should be sent off," Bruce said. "He's had the chance to save the penalty, but he shouldn't have been on the pitch. And if we're playing 10 men who knows?"
English midfielder Tom Huddlestone secured Tottenham's win with a lethal strike from the edge of the penalty area that went in off the underside of the crossbar.
Villa raced in front against Bolton with Ashley Young scoring after five minutes and Gabriel Agbonlahor adding another just before the break.
Despite Johan Elmander pulling one back for Bolton on the stroke of half time, there was no way back the visitors.
John Carew, James Milner and Carlos Cuellar all scored in the second half to make it a comfortable win for Martin O'Neill's side.
Blackburn moved out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 victory over Portsmouth, hitting back after Jamie O'Hara's early goal for the bottom-place visitors.
Jason Roberts, who had recovered from swine flu, came off the bench to score second-half goals either side of a strike by Ryan Nelsen to clinch Blackburn's 3-1 win.
-- Rob Harris
Pedro powers Barcelona over Mallorca in Spain
MADRID — Barcelona rediscovered its scoring touch in a 4-2 win over Mallorca, while Real Madrid kept pace with the defending Spanish league champion by holding on to beat city neighbor Atletico Madrid 3-2 on Saturday.
Pedro Rodriguez curled a shot around Dudu Aouate to give Barcelona the lead in the 11th minute and responded to Jose Nunes' 20th-minute equalizer by pouncing on a rebound just before halftime, after three straight saves by the Mallorca goalkeeper.
Thierry Henry headed home his first league goal of the season in the 44th and Lionel Messi scored a late penalty as Barcelona, coming off two low-key draws, ensured it stayed one point ahead of Madrid after 10 games.
Kaka curled in a long-range shot five minutes into the Spanish capital derby and fellow Brazilian Marcelo scored from a tight angle in the 25th. Gonzalo Higuain added a second-half goal before Atletico started its late rally behind Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero, but Atletico couldn't snap a 10-year home winless streak against its north Madrid neighbor.
Barcelona has 26 points, Madrid 25, while Deportivo La Coruna beat Getafe 2-0 to join Sevilla in third with 19 points. Valencia was next with 18, one ahead of Mallorca. Atletico stayed 18th with seven points.
Miguel Angel "Mista" Ferrer scored a goal and set up Filipe Luis for the other as Deportivo ultimately hung on with nine men to continue its impressive start to the season with a 2-0 win at Getafe.
Also on Saturday, Malaga rallied to draw 2-2 against Tenerife.
At Vicente Calderon, Sergio Ramos appeared to foul Cleber Santana outside the Atletico area but play continued and the ball fell to Kaka, who squared up to shoot through a crowd and into the top of goal for his third of the season.
Marcelo's goal was a fair reward for Madrid's domination, with Atletico unable to get the ball out of midfield.
Higuain appeared to seal the game in the 64th after stealing from Luis Perea and darting into the area to beat Asenjo. The Argentina striker immediately came out for Raul Gonzalez, who started on the bench for the third straight game for the first time since his rookie season.
But Madrid was reduced to 10 moments later when Ramos was sent off for tripping Aguero, who shrugged off Pepe to beat Iker Casillas with a low shot two minutes after Forlan's short tap-in got Atletico on the board in the 79th. Casillas denied Aguero from deep inside the area two minutes into injury time. Madrid has lost only two of its last 33 games against Atletico.
"It wouldn't have been fair if Atletico Madrid had drawn," Casillas said. "The expulsion did a lot."
Coach Pep Guardiola left regulars Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez on the bench to start as Barcelona came into the game on the heels of a scoreless Champions League draw at Rubin Kazan and a 1-1 result at Osasuna last weekend.
"I knew it was a risk but I preferred to have them play less but with more intensity than the whole 90 minutes," Guardiola said.
Pedro opened after Zlatan Ibrahimovic delivered an exquisite backheel pass to put him through into the area for a clear shot.
Barcelona's defense was at fault for the equalizer, as Gerard Pique failed to clear a Mallorca corner that Nunes headed home.
Aouate could only shake his head in disbelief after Pedro's second as the Israel keeper denied successive shots from Pedro, Henry and Sergio Busquet before failing to stop the last effort.
Henry jumped into a cross before Ibrahimovic was tripped up inside the area in the 87th to force the spot kick. Messi joined his Swedish teammate atop the league scoring charts with his seventh goal.
Xavi and Iniesta also appeared in the second half, with Xavi matching Carles Rexach's 328 appearances for the Catalan club — the second most all-time.
Substitute Alhassane Keita was free in the area to score Mallorca's second goal in the second minute of injury time.
"It wasn't one of our best games but it wasn't bad," Guardiola said.
Mista, a surprise starter, streaked into the area in the 13th minute to head Luis' cross from the left past goalkeeper Oscar Ustari.
Deportivo was reduced to 10 men in the 27th after Ivan "Riki" Sanchez picked up a second booking for a deliberate handball that incensed coach Miguel Angel Lotina, who was eventually sent from the touchline in the 34th.
Mista was clear in the box when Andres Guardado's shot rolled to him in the 59th, and the Spanish striker passed to Luis to slot home.
Deportivo played with nine men for the last 18 minutes after Sergio Gonzalez was sent off.
Sunday's 10th round of games include: Sevilla vs. Villarreal; Valencia vs. Zaragoza; Valladolid vs. Xerez; Sporting Gijon vs. Espanyol; Racing Santander vs. Athletic Club; and Almeria vs. Osasuna.
-- Paul Logothetis
Schalke holds Bayern to 1-1
FRANKFURT — Teenage midfielder Joel Matip scored on his Bundesliga debut to earn Schalke a 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich on Saturday.
Bayern defender Daniel van Buyten scored in the 31st minute but 18-year-old Matip's strike in the 43rd gave Schalke its third consecutive draw and left Bayern winless in its last three games.
Defending champion Wolfsburg came from behind to win 2-1 in Hoffenheim, with Grafite notching the winner on his return to the lineup.
In other games, Mainz beat Nuremberg 1-0, Freiburg won 2-1 in Bochum and Borussia Moenchengladbach drew 0-0 with Stuttgart.
On Friday, Bayer Leverkusen routed Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 and will end the weekend on top, no matter what happens in Sunday's games. Leverkusen has 26 points, four more than Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV and Schalke, on all 22. Hamburg plays Sunday in Hannover, while Werder hosts Borussia Dortmund.
In Munich, Bayern again failed to take advantage of its chances and fell six points behind Leverkusen, dropping to eighth place.
Schalke began well and in the fifth minute Kevin Kuranyi beat Martin Demichelis to the ball, unleashing a shot which Bayern keeper Joerg Butt stretched to palm the ball away.
Thomas Mueller then connected with a corner but headed high over Schalke's goal.
Bayern's goal followed a free kick by Holger Badstuber. Several players went for the high cross, the ball came off Kuranyi's head and dropped in front of the unmarked Van Buyten, who steered it home from two meters (yards) for his third goal of the season.
Schalke also scored after a free kick, with Matip rising to head past Butt. Matip was given a surprise start by Schalke's coach Felix Magath.
"He just told me to go out there and do my job," Matip said.
Just before halftime, Van Buyten nearly scored again from another free kick but Marcelo Bordon cleared off the line.
Bayern winger Arjen Robben came on at the start of the second half for Luca Toni and was fortunate to stay in the game after retaliating against Lukas Schmitz for a foul. Robben escaped with a yellow card, like Schmitz.
Miroslav Klose narrowly missed with a diving header in the 62nd minute, as Bayern stepped up the pressure. But Schalke held on to remain above Bayern in the standings.
"We dominate, but we don't create enough chances," Bayern's coach Louis van Gaal said. "It's incredible. We are not scoring, that's the problem."
Van Gaal, who has not used the same lineup in two consecutive matches, again reshuffled the team that lost 2-0 to Bordeaux in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Germany defender Philipp Lahm, one of Bayern's most respected players, criticized Van Gaal for the constant changes in the rotation, but said Bayern's transfer moves were also to blame.
In an outspoken interview with the Munich Sueddeutsche newspaper published on the day of the match, Lahm said Bayern had not developed a "playing philosophy" similar to the ones of other big clubs such as Barcelona.
Players were not brought in to fit into a system and for specific positions.
"You can't buy players simply because they are good," Lahm said.
Van Gaal switches from using one or two strikers, and with Bayern already with a surplus of forwards, new acquisition Mario Gomez has not found his place in the team, leaving the expensive signing mostly on the bench in recent weeks.
"It was not clever of him to give this interview, especially not on the day of the game," Bayern's general manager Uli Hoeness said after the match. "He will regret it."
Hoeness said the management would also discuss the behavior of Toni, who left the stadium after his substitution during the break and did not attend the second half.
Hoffenheim went ahead with Vedad Ibisevic's diving header, but Zvjezdan Misimovic equalized and Grafite scored with a deflected shot.
Grafite was playing his first game since returning from a brief vacation in his native Brazil. Wolfsburg's coach Armin Veh gave the striker the holiday to help him overcome a scoring drought.
Auxerre climbs to 3rd in French league
PARIS — Auxerre notched its sixth straight win in beating struggling Le Mans 1-0 and moved above Monaco into third place in the French league on Saturday.
Auxerre's attacking duo of Daniel Niculae and Irineusz Jelen caused problems throughout the match, and they combined to create the winner in the 51st minute. Jelen chased down Niculae's long pass and hit a powerful shot that goalkeeper Didier Ovono parried onto Andrade, who steered the ball into the net trying to clear it.
Coach Jean Fernandez has turned Auxerre's fortunes around in style after a terrible start to the season left the Burgundy club in 19th place with only one point and no goals scored after the first four games.
But Jelen's return has inspired the team and Auxerre has 23 points after 12 rounds, putting it level with Lyon and two points behind leader Bordeaux.
Lyon and Bordeaux have a game in hand and play on Sunday, when Lyon hosts Marseille and Bordeaux travels to Lille.
Monaco missed the chance to pressure Lyon and Bordeaux when it was held to 0-0 at home by Grenoble, ending Grenoble's miserable losing streak and giving the last-place club its first point of the season.
Monaco had several chances to win the match at Stade Louis II, with Grenoble goalkeeper Ronan Le Crom keeping out an effort from Frederic Nimani in the 85th minute, and seeing a shot from Mathieu Coutadeur sail just over the crossbar in the 71st.
The draw leaves Monaco one point behind Auxerre and just one point ahead of fifth-place Lorient, which thumped Boulogne 5-0 thanks to two more goals from its highly rated striker Kevin Gameiro, taking his tally to six this season.
Lorient took the lead when Gameiro clipped the ball neatly over goalkeeper Ibrahim Kone after running onto Morgan Amalfitano's pass, and Gameiro's strike partner Marama Vahirua made it 2-0 seconds before half time to put the home side firmly in control.
Gameiro got his second goal early in the second half when he hit a quick shot past Kone, and midfielder Pierre Ducasse scored his first goal for the club since joining on loan from Bordeaux to make it 4-0 in the 52nd.
Amalfitano completed the rout in injury time.
Lens moved out of the relegation zone and into 17th place with a 2-1 win at Sochaux, which dropped to 15th place.
Defender Romain Sartre put Lens ahead in the 38th minute and Razak Boukari added the second Lens goal in the 85th, before Sloan Privat pulled a goal back in injury time for Sochaux.
In Saturday's other results, it was: Valenciennes 1, Montpellier 1; Nancy 0, Saint-Etienne 1; and Paris Saint-Germain 0, Nice 1.
Colombian striker Victor Hugo Montana opened the scoring for Montpellier in the second minute, heading in a cross from Karim Ait Fana. Carlos Sanchez Moreno equalized in the 52nd when he was left with a simple tap-in after Renaud Cohade's shot came back off the crossbar.
Nice caught PSG with a classic counterattack goal at Parc des Princes.
With PSG pushing for a winning goal, midfielder Stephane Sessegnon took a free kick that Nice managed to clear up the field. The ball broke left to Anthony Mounier and his cross was headed home by France striker Loic Remy.
Dimitri Payet got Saint-Etienne's winning goal midway through the second half.
Toulouse faces Rennes in Sunday's other game.
-- Jerome Pugmire
SKorea's Pohang wins Asian Champions League title
TOKYO — South Korea's Pohang Steelers won the Asian Champions League title Saturday, beating Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad 2-1 in the final for a record third continental title.
Pohang forward No Byung Jun scored from a free kick in the 57th minute, with his shot finding a gap in the Saudi wall.
Nine minutes later, Kim Jae Sung's free kick found defender Kim Hyung Il, who headed into the top left corner to set Pohang on its way to a place in the Club World Cup, where it will join the likes of Barcelona.
Al Ittihad, also going for its third Asian title, pulled a goal back in the 74th minute when Mohammed Noor poked the ball home after Korean goalkeeper Shin Hwa Yong could only parry a close-range header from Tunisian international Amine Chermiti.
Both sides threatened in the closing minutes of the match at Tokyo's National Stadium, but the Saudi side — dubbed "K-League Killers" by Korean media for its past mastery of South Korean clubs — failed to find an equalizer.
"It was a tough match. The quality of Al Ittisad's play is very high," said Sergio Farias, Pohang's Brazilian coach. "In the second half, we were able to regain control of the ball, but they marked us closely. Probably their weakness was that they didn't do well against our set pieces."
Al Ittihad coach Gabriel Calderon said: "We were able to create a lot of opportunities, but we weren't able to capitalize.
"I'm very satisfied with the quality of play my team demonstrated. We did lose, but our players showed what a Saudi team is capable of."
Al Ittihad nearly scored several times in the first half, including a searing free kick from Hicham Aboucherouane that keeper Shin leaped far to his left to punch out of the way, while Noor created a chance for Chermiti from close range — only for Pohang captain Hwang Jae Won to make a sliding tackle to clear the danger.
The victory for Pohang added to its titles in 1997 and 1998.
It was the first Asian Champions League title to be decided by a one-off match, having been over two legs since the format started in 2003.
Al Ittihad, considered the slight favorite entering the match, had previously dominated Korean clubs.
In 2004, the Saudi side eliminated Jeonbuk Motors in the semifinals. The first leg of the final with Seongnam Chunma ended with a 3-1 home loss but in the most famous turnaround in Asian club soccer history Al Ittihad won 5-0 in the second leg. The Saudi side then thrashed Busan I'Park on its way to the 2005 title.
With no Japanese team in the final, Tokyo's National Stadium was about half-full for the match, given that Asian football fans rarely travel overseas in large numbers to support their team.
Several hundred red-clad Pohang fans chanted, beat drums and waved flags at one end of the stadium, while a smaller group of Al Ittihad supporters wearing yellow-and-black cheered at the other.
-- Malcolm Foster
Olympiakos plays to 1-1 draw against Iraklis
ATHENS, Greece — Apostolos Vellios came off the bench Saturday to score an injury-time goal for Iraklis and salvage a 1-1 draw at Olympiakos.
Enzo Maresca had given Olympiakos a first half lead, and the draw was enough to give the defending champion the overnight lead in the Greek league. Olympiakos has 26 points, one more than Panathinaikos, which travels to Levadiakos on Sunday.
Olympiakos was without four regular starters because of injuries, but attacked from the start. However, Iraklis had the best early scoring chance when a blistering shot by Dimitris Giantsis in the fourth minute forced Antonis Nikopolidis to make a diving save.
Olympiakos came close to taking the lead in the ninth when goalkeeper Wojciech Kowalewski leaped high to send a shot by Giorgos Niklitsiotis over the crossbar.
Maresca put Olympiakos ahead with a powerful shot from the edge of the area in the 39th.
Olympiakos' Brazilian midfielder Dudu had a shot that bounced off the crossbar in the 86th, one minute before Nikopolidis stretched to save a low drive by Costas Giannoulis. In the 89th, Nikopolidis made a flying save to a powerful shot by Stelios Iliadis.
Two minutes into injury time, the 17-year-old Vellios beat Nikopolidis with a shot from inside the area after a cross from Denis Epstein.
Also Saturday, it was: Aris 0, Kavala 0 and Panthrakikos 1, PAOK 2.
On Sunday, its: Asteras vs. Giannena, Atromitos vs. Ergotelis and Xanthi vs. Panionios. AEK hosts Larissa on Monday.
Boyd gives Rangers 2-1 win over St. Mirren
GLASGOW, Scotland — Two goals from Kris Boyd gave Rangers a 2-1 victory against St. Mirren on Saturday in the Scottish Premier League.
Boyd gave Rangers the lead in the first minute of the game with his sixth goal of the season, after Mirren goalkeeper had saved John Fleck's shot.
Boyd added his second in the 57th. The striker scored from close range following good approach play from Nacho Novo and DaMarcus Beasley.
Stephen O Donnell's scored a late consolation goal for St. Mirren.
Rangers is now one point behind league leader Celtic, which plays Falkirk on Sunday.
Also Saturday, Hibernian and Hearts drew 0-0 in the Edinburgh derby; Aberdeen beat St. Johnstone 2-1; Hamilton and Motherwell drew 2-2 and Dundee United won at Kilmarnock 2-1.
Guimaraes ends Braga's near perfect start
LISBON, Portugal — Guimaraes snapped Braga's near perfect Portuguese start with a 1-0 victory over the early league leader on Saturday.
Yves Desmarets' stunning goal in the 30th minute at Alfonso Henriquez Stadium handed Braga its first defeat in 10 games. The surprise leader had won eight games coming in, among them four-time defending champion FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting.
Benfica can match Braga with 25 points with a victory against Naval on Monday.
Porto was third with 20 points followed by Rio Ave and Nacional with 14.
Setubal and Olhanense played to 0-0 in Saturday's other game.
Sporting looks for its first win in five rounds on Sunday against Rio Ave, while Leiria plays Academica and Leixoes is against Nacional in other 10th round games.
Elsewhere
Benitez holds talks over Liverpool finances
LIVERPOOL, England — Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has held talks with the club’s managing director about the financial implications if it failed to reach the knockout round of the Champions League.
Liverpool has qualified from the group stage every season since Benitez took charge five years ago and won the competition in 2005. But it now risks elimination after a draw in midweek at Lyon, and could miss out on up to $16.6 million from UEFA.
The 18-time English champions must win its final two Group E games and hope that Lyon gets at least a draw at Fiorentina in its next match.
"I spoke to (managing director) Christian Purslow the other day about the finances," Benitez said Saturday. "The first thing, though, is that we have confidence we can still reach the last 16 of the Champions League this season, but whatever happens, the budget was done for this season based on us only qualifying for the group stages. And we did that, that is complete.
"Whether we can still bring in more money, we will wait and see. The commercial department is working very hard, for the next season (qualifying) it is a question of time."
Another pressing problem is that Liverpool could miss out on the competition next season, with the team out of the Premier League top four following a disappointing start.
Liverpool’s American owners Tom Hicks of Dallas and George Gillett Jr. are trying to raise around 100 million pounds by diluting their stakes.
Liverpool hosts Birmingham on Monday having lost three of its last four league matches.
"I am confident the team will finish in the top four and we are able to continue to do well in Europe, so let’s start against Birmingham with the right result," Benitez said. "We have to do our job against Birmingham, and then I can guarantee that things will start to get easier."
That would be more likely if both Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard were fit following groin problems.
Gerrard is unlikely to be available for Monday, while Torres is likely to be risked again.
Capello not dismissing erratic Maradona's Argies
LONDON — England manager Fabio Capello is not writing off Argentina's World Cup chances despite questioning Diego Maradona's strategy of constantly changing the team.
While Capello's side breezed through qualifying and clinched a spot in South Africa with two games to spare, Argentina squeezed through in its final match to avoid a playoff.
Uncertainty still surrounds the future of the erratic Maradona, who has continually juggled his lineup, using around 80 players during his first year in charge.
"They had some problems because they only qualified in the last game. I think there were problems in the style and he changed the team a lot of times with a different first XI," Capello said. "Maradona is not my problem, but Argentina are always a really good team. Argentina are really important for the movement of football around the world because they have players like (Lionel) Messi and a lot of other important players.
"It's always a show when they play and for this reason I think it is good they will be at the World Cup."
As for England's chances, a barometer of the team's progress will be how it performs against Brazil in a friendly next Saturday in Doha, Qatar.
Capello will name the 23-man squad for the Middle East trip on Sunday and striker Michael Owen is again set to miss out despite making the provisional squad following his midweek goal for Manchester United in the Champions League.
"(Playing Brazil) will be important for us to understand where we are," Capello told a media round-table at Wembley Stadium. "It is very important to note the different style that they play. Also we are playing against players at a very high level. This is very, very important. The same problems we will have to face at the World Cup.
"Brazil play like a team now, not waiting for a stroke of genius from one player ... it is not only my imagination that Brazil are one of the best."
While England won nine out of 10 qualifiers, Capello's squad has had mixed results in friendlies against European powers, beating Germany, but losing to 1998 World Cup winner France and European champion Spain, while drawing with the Netherlands.
"It's a different style that we met (each time) and we understand a lot about the different styles against Holland, Germany or France," Capello said. "I think about my team and I analyze the team I have to beat. To win the World Cup you have to beat all the teams.
"We will speak about the French and Argentina but one or two of the African teams will be challengers. Ivory Coast and Ghana are really good and the passion of the South Africans will help their team a lot."
-- Rob Harris
Ibrahimovic out 1 week with leg muscle injury
BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the Spanish leader's Copa del Rey match this week after injuring a thigh muscle in Saturday's 4-2 win over Mallorca.
Ibrahimovic could still be available for Sweden's friendly against Italy on Nov. 18, Barcelona said.
The striker hurt his left leg in the 87th minute after being brought down inside the area to set up a penalty that Lionel Messi converted for Barcelona's fourth goal.
Barcelona said Ibrahimovic will be out for one week, ruling him out of Tuesday's domestic cup match against Cultural Leonesa, which Barcelona leads 2-0 from the first leg.
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