Soccer Capsules: Italian soccer team summons New Jersey's Rossi
ROME (AP) — New Jersey-born Giuseppe Rossi is among the players called up to play for Italy in its first game since its humiliating World Cup.
Italy faces the Ivory Coast in an exhibition game in London on Tuesday, and Rossi was among the players summoned by new coach Cesare Prandelli on Friday.
Rossi is a striker for Spain's Villareal. He had three goals in Villarreal's recent 4-1 victory over England's Tottenham in an exhibition game.
Rossi was born in Teaneck, N.J., to Italian parents and chose to play for the Italian national team instead of the U.S. squad. He was cut by Italy when its preliminary World Cup roster was pared.
Prandelli succeeds Marcello Lippi as coach after Italy was ousted in the group stage in South Africa without a victory.
Red Bulls' Sassano and Nielsen have surgeries
SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — New York Red Bulls midfielders Luke Sassano and Brian Nielsen have had season-ending surgeries.
The MLS team says Sassano had a right ankle reconstruction procedure done on Thursday at the Hospital for Special Surgery by Dr. David Levine. He will be sidelined 4 to 6 months.
Sassano, who played in three games, will be placed on the team's season-ending injury list, the team said Friday.
The Sassano roster move cleared space for the Red Bulls to put Mexican national team captain Rafael Marquez on their roster. The defender could make his debut on Sunday in Chicago.
Nielsen had cartilage damage in his right knee repaired by Dr. Riley Williams of the Hospital for Special Surgery. The Dane, who played in two games, will be sidelined five months.
The Red Bulls also announced late Friday that defender Kevin Goldthwaite had been waived. Acquired in a trade with Toronto FC in 2007, he appeared in 54 regular season matches, scoring two goals and two assists. He had not played this season because of an injury.
Three Earthquakes players have surgery
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Three members of the San Jose Earthquakes have undergone surgery.
The Earthquakes said Friday that midfielder Andre Luiz had a procedure on his left knee Wednesday to repair the medial collateral ligament and a reconstruction of his posterior cruciate ligament.
Defender Ike Opara on Thursday had surgery on his broken left foot, which he injured July 31 against the Seattle Sounders FC. Steven Beitashour underwent surgery Thursday to repair a fractured right hand that he sustained at practice on Monday.
Luiz is out for the season after appearing in nine games, having last played June 5 against FC Dallas. Opara and Beitashour had their surgeries performed by Dr. Michael Oberlander at Sequoia Surgical Pavilion in Walnut Creek.
DC United acquire D Jed Zayner from Columbus Crew
WASHINGTON (AP) — D.C. United have acquired defender Jed Zayner from the Columbus Crew.
United sent a 2012 second-round draft pick to the Crew in the trade made on Friday. In addition, United will receive Columbus' 2011 fourth-round selection.
The 25-year-old Zayner has made eight appearances, including three starts, for the Crew this season.
League News
Chelsea, Man United meet in Community Shield
LONDON (AP) — Chelsea and Manchester United renew acquaintance in Sunday's Community Shield season opener with one team worried about its form and another concerned by injuries.
Premier League and FA Cup champion Chelsea meets league runner-up United having lost three straight friendlies and still trying to complete its activity in the transfer market.
On the other side, United is without midfielder Michael Carrick because of an ankle injury and striker Michael Owen is worried about the effect the Wembley turf will have on his hamstrings.
Owen is finally fit after rupturing a hamstring at Wembley in February and is wondering whether a re-laid surface containing synthetic fibers will lessen the impact the often uneven field has on players.
Owen's injury after scoring in the League Cup final was one of several blamed on the Wembley turf last season. It was widely criticized and John Terry said it ruined the FA Cup final, which Chelsea won 1-0 against Portsmouth.
"Hopefully it makes it a lot better because I wasn't the only injury to come out of that game and we don't want the same to happen again," Owen said. "There were quite a lot of other injured players and that is the worrying bit.
"If it was just me then you could say it was a freak accident. But the pitch must have had something to do with it because there were loads of injuries."
Owen's return and the signing of Mexico striker Javier Hernandez should provide a big boost to a United side that won the League Cup but missed out on a record fourth straight Premier League title when it finished a single point behind the Blues.
Hernandez, who is also known by his nickname of Chicharito, joined United for 7 million pounds ($11.1 million) in April. He scored twice at the World Cup and has impressed in preseason, scoring three times for his new club and once for his old team Chivas, against United.
Hernandez, Owen and Wayne Rooney are all in contention for a place in attack against Chelsea, which won both league meetings between the clubs last season for an edge that proved crucial in the outcome of the title.
Chelsea also beat United in a shootout to win last season's Community Shield.
The winner of the Community Shield has gone on to win the league title the past three seasons, although prior to that it has been an unreliable indicator of the year to come.
Liverpool won it twice in the past decade but the closest it has come to winning a first title since 1990 was when it finished runner-up in 2009.
Chelsea scored seven goals twice before wrapping up the Premier League title with an 8-0 win over Wigan but, with the league season starting Aug. 14, is in less than impressive form. It has lost to Ajax, Eintracht Frankfurt and Hamburg since beating second-tier English side Crystal Palace last month.
Most recently it was beaten 2-1 at Hamburg on Wednesday.
"We've had a lot of hard training sessions over the last few days," striker Nicolas Anelka said. "It's a shame because we conceded two rubbish goals but what can I say?
"I think we are improving in our play — we played well in some parts — and I hope we will be OK for Manchester United on Sunday."
Chelsea's lineup will be a familiar one, with Yossi Benayoun replacing Joe Cole in the only notable transfer of the offseason. Chelsea is trying to sign Brazil midfielder Ramires but has not completed the deal.
-- Stuart Condie
New order of business in Champions, Europa Leagues
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — On a busy day at UEFA headquarters, some old powers prepared for new adventures in the Champions League, formerly elite clubs confronted their reduced status in the Europa League, and one ambitious — but spendthrift — newcomer was frozen out by football's new harsh financial reality.
The draw for the Champions League playoff round brought 20 clubs tantalizingly close to the riches that await half of them in the lucrative spotlight of the group stage which begins play next month.
English club Tottenham and Italy's Sampdoria had their best days in the old European Cup 49 and 19 seasons ago, respectively.
Tottenham will like its chances of advancing after being paired with low-ranked Swiss side Young Boys. Sampdoria, the beaten finalist in 1992, has a tougher task against Germany's Werder Bremen.
Ninety minutes later, a parade of former European champions and Champions League regulars found themselves drawn against unfamiliar opponents for the right to reach the group stage of the second-tier Europa League.
Liverpool, meet Trabzonspor of Turkey; Borussia Dortmund, good luck finding Qarabag of Azerbaijan on a map; PSV Eindhoven, welcome to Russia's Sibir Novosibirsk.
Meanwhile, Mallorca of Spain would simply love to be traveling to Belarus to play unheralded Dnepr Mogilev this month.
However, that honor likely goes to Villarreal which took its Spanish rival's berth in the draw — with an asterisk — while Mallorca officials consider whether to appeal their exclusion by UEFA as a punishment for excessive spending.
Mallorca overreached last season when buying and paying players who were supposed to secure the fourth-place finish that would have earned the club entry to the Champions League playoff round.
Instead, Mallorca finished fifth, went into administration with reported debts of €60 million ($79 million) and was consequently barred from the Europa League.
Even a financial rescue package last month part-funded by local tennis hero Rafael Nadal did not change UEFA's mind.
Welcome to the tough-love world of financial fair play, promoted by UEFA after its president Michel Platini felt he had to stop clubs spending recklessly in pursuit of success. Platini set out to both level the playing field, and to protect clubs from collapsing under the weight of debt if banks or wealthy owners pulled their support.
Platini's top official said Friday that UEFA's stance on Mallorca proved the campaign was working, and that an independent team of financial experts was doing exactly the job it was created for.
"If you have rules you don't just hang them there in a nice frame, but to do your job and to act," UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said. "This is only fair toward everyone who has complied with the rules.
"(Mallorca) qualified exactly in a way which is not fair and that we don't accept."
For now, the Champions League playoff round sides which passed UEFA's financial tests are traveling with hope and future riches in sight. Reaching the group stage guarantees basic prize money of €7 million ($9.2 million).
"We'll be favorites, obviously, but we have to give them the utmost respect," Tottenham coach Harry Redknapp said of a Young Boys side which eliminated Turkey's Fenerbahce in the third qualifying round with an upset 1-0 win in Istanbul.
"We are the underdog. It's an English team and they are big names," said Young Boys sporting director Alain Baumann, whose team will play the first-leg match on its artificial surface at the Stade de Suisse in Bern.
Like Young Boys, which will have a full month more of league football under its belt than Spurs, Zenit St. Petersburg hopes to make match sharpness count against Auxerre of France.
The Russian league leader is midway through its season, and eliminated Romanian champion Unirea this week, while French opponent Auxerre only begins competitive action this weekend.
In other ties, Sevilla - which edged Mallorca for that Spanish league fourth place — will face Champions League first-timer Braga of Portugal; Ajax of the Netherlands will travel first to Ukraine's Dynamo Kiev; and a Czech-Slovak duel pits Sparta Prague against Zilina.
First-leg matches are played Aug. 17-18, and return games Aug. 24-25. The groups will be drawn Aug. 26 in Monaco.
The 35 Europa League playoffs are played Aug. 19 and Aug. 26, with winners advancing to the Aug. 27 group-stage draw in Monaco.
It may be that by the time the elite of European football gather for the draws in the casino capital of Europe later this month, Mallorca will be ruing gambling with its financial future.
-- Graham Dunbar
Liverpool to play Trabzonspor in Europa League
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Liverpool will have to beat Turkish club Trabzonspor to reach the group stage of the Europa League, and Juventus needs to get past Sturm Graz of Austria.
The former European champions head the 35 playoffs drawn Friday in Europe's second-tier club competition.
"Turkey is always a difficult place to go ... especially with the disruption we have had with some of our World Cup players only just returning to training," Liverpool secretary Ian Silvester said.
Liverpool was last paired with Trabzonspor in the second round of the 1977 European Cup, the first of its five continental titles.
A seventh-place finish in the Premier League in May meant an early start in the Europa League's second qualifying round, beating Macedonian club Rabotnicki 4-0 on aggregate without Spain forward Fernando Torres and goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
"We're disappointed not to be in the Champions League but we are where we are and we need to improve on last year," Silvester said.
Several former European champions were scattered around Friday's Europa League draw.
Two-time European champion FC Porto travels to Belgium for the first leg against Genk, while Borussia Dortmund is at home against Qarabag of Azerbaijan. PSV Eindhoven has a long journey from the Netherlands to Russia for its first match against Sibir Novosibirsk, and Steaua Bucharest, Romania's only European champion in 1986, travels to Grasshoppers.
Villarreal — a Champions League regular in recent seasons — was drawn at home against Dnepr Mogilev of Belarus, though it could lose its place if Mallorca wins an appeal against exclusion by UEFA after it went into financial administration. Mallorca must decide early next week if it will challenge UEFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Manchester City and CSKA Moscow face long trips for their playoff matches. The English side goes to Romania for its first leg against Timisoara, and the Russians — who reached the Champions League quarterfinals in March — host Anorthosis before heading to Cyprus for the second leg.
"The Europa League is still a big European competition and we are representing a big country," CSKA director Roman Babayev said. "We will do our best to try to win this."
The matches are to be played on Aug. 19 and 26.
Defending champion Atletico Madrid has direct entry to the group stage, which will be drawn on Aug. 27 in Monaco.
-- Graham Dunbar
Elsewhere
APNewsBreak: Investors say Liverpool bid welcomed
NEW YORK (AP) — A China-based group of investors said Friday that Liverpool has welcomed its initial plans to take over the English Premier League club, stressing the proposal does not include any direct ownership by China's sovereign wealth fund.
Marc Ganis, whose Chicago-based company Sportscorp Ltd. has helped form the investment group co-headed by Hong Kong businessman Kenneth Huang, said the group first contacted Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton on Monday.
"We haven't submitted a formal proposal but we submitted the broad parameters of what a proposal would look like to see if it would be welcomed, and it was," Ganis said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, hours after he returned to the United States from China.
Ganis said any deal would not close until well after the summer transfer window ends Aug. 31.
Broughton is selling the club on behalf of American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr., who are trying to offload the 18-time English champions due to personal financial constraints.
A company called QSL Sports Limited would be controlling owner of the limited liability corporation that would own Liverpool FC. QSL is co-headed by Huang and Guang Yang, executive vice president of Franklin Templeton Investments and chief investment officer of the China Life/Franklin Templeton Fund.
In an interview arranged through Hill & Knowlton Hong Kong, Ganis said those two would be the only owners involved in the management of the club. Other investors would be passive, and each would own no more than 20 percent.
China Investment Corp. — the country's sovereign wealth fund — would not have a direct ownership stake in the club. However, Ganis said it may be part of an investment vehicle organized by Yang and his financial team that would have a passive ownership interest.
British media had claimed on Thursday that CIC was funding the takeover, suggesting the club would come under the control of the Chinese government.
Ganis and the China-based group began forming last spring as a potential investor with another group that evaluated a potential investment in Liverpool. Ganis contacted the Royal Bank of Scotland, which holds Liverpool's debt, and was put in contact last week with Broughton and Barclays Capital, which is attempting to sell the club for the co-owners.
QSL, in conjunction with the Chinese government, owns and operated two professional sports leagues and one minor league. QSL also owns sports publications and in September will roll out an all-sports website.
Hicks, whose MLB team the Texas Rangers were auctioned this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth, bought Liverpool with Gillett three years ago in a deal valued at 218.9 million pounds (then $431 million). Hicks said he wants between 600 and 800 million pounds ($950 million to $1.25 billion) for the club, whose known debt last stood at 237 million pounds.
Ganis said his group will not bid close to Hicks' valuation.
"If anybody wants to, good luck," he said, without disclosing what his group is willing to bid. "We know what we would be prepared to do. If somebody else wants to look at it in a different way, it's their money. That would be their business, not ours."
Ganis said the group had four primary goals if it makes a bid:
—Leave Liverpool debt free.
—Make a significant equity investment and construct the long-delayed new stadium to replace Anfield.
—Invest a large amount that would be available for player transfers.
—Have an Asian initiative to expand Liverpool's fan base and commercial activities with the goal of creating new economic value for the club using QSL's platform in China.
"What is not one of our goals in the enrichment of the existing owners," Ganis said, "If we submit a proposal and it is accepted, it would be focused on the future and not the past."
Barclays has told potential bidders they will have to show they have the financing to go through with the proposals. After QSL's interest emerged, former Syrian club player Yahya Kirdi claimed Wednesday that he was fronting a consortium of investors from the Middle East and Canada that was close to completing a takeover.
Liverpool has won 18 English league titles — but none since 1990 — and its record has been matched by Manchester United. Beset by infighting between Hicks and Gillett plus player injuries, it failed to qualify for this season's Champions League, losing tens of millions of pounds in revenue.
But captain Steven Gerrard and star forward Fernando Torres decided to remain with the club under new manager Roy Hodgson, who replaced Rafa Benitez after last season.
Ganis said the Financial Fair Play rules that begin for European football this season will help curb extreme spending on transfers.
"But even at that, Liverpool is and always should be one of the highest-spending clubs in all of football," Ganis said. And our financial models presume Liverpool will be at or near the top in spending on players every year."
Ganis said that the investment group has been impressed in many ways with the manner in which Liverpool is being operated.
"From what we have seen from afar, many of the people currently running Liverpool are doing a good job," he said. "There shouldn't be an expectation there would be a mass upheaval if we submit and are approved."
-- Ronlad Blum
UEFA: Mallorca a 'turning point' for club finances
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Mallorca's exclusion from the Europa League on financial grounds could be a turning point in UEFA's campaign to control clubs' overspending on players, general secretary Gianni Infantino said Friday.
Infantino told The Associated Press that the Spanish club's case shows the effectiveness of UEFA's new financial fair play rules and the expert panel it created to monitor clubs.
"This is the message — the Club Financial Control Panel is working," Infantino said of the independent body chaired by former Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene. "This is the first case where they are doing exactly what they have been set up for."
Infantino accepted that Mallorca fans were upset because their club was banned. It qualified for the Europa League with a fifth-place finish in the Spanish league then went into financial administration with reported debts of €60 million ($79 million).
"For all the fans of all the other clubs, it should be a good signal that we don't refrain from taking our responsibilities," Infantino said.
Mallorca decided on Friday to appeal its exclusion from the competition to local Spanish courts rather than the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Its place in Friday's draw for the Europa League playoff round was taken by seventh-place Villarreal, which was listed with an asterisk next to its name for the first leg match against Dnepr Mogilev of Belarus on Aug. 19.
Infantino said UEFA's financial fair play campaign — urging clubs to spend only what they earn from football-related business — was now accepted by clubs, leagues and politicians at the European Union.
It was driven forward by UEFA president Michel Platini, who feared that clubs' spending on buying and paying players was spiraling out of control.
Platini described high spending to chase success as a form of cheating, and feared some clubs would collapse under the weight of debt if banks or wealthy owners withdrew support.
UEFA unveiled rules in May that will limit clubs' spending from 2012, or face exclusion from future Champions League and Europa League competitions.
However, the European authority said its expert panel would immediately begin monitoring clubs' excesses. Dehaene's team advised the UEFA disciplinary body before it officially issued Mallorca's ban.
"If you have rules you don't just hang them there in a nice frame. But to do your job and to act," Infantino said. "This is only fair toward everyone who has complied with the rules."
Depending the appeal, Mallorca could become the fifth club denied entry to this season's UEFA competitions despite qualifying through results on the field. The others were Portsmouth (England), Cork City (Ireland), Lokomotiv Astana (Kazakhstan) and Vetra (Lithuania).
Infantino said UEFA had a simple message.
"You qualified exactly in a way which is not fair and that we don't accept," he said.
-- Graham Dunbar
Fabregas says he will stay at Arsenal this season
LONDON (AP) — Cesc Fabregas ended Barcelona's hopes of signing him in time for the new season on Friday when he confirmed that he will stay at Arsenal despite being interested in the transfer.
Barcelona responded by expressing regret that its bids, which it said never exceeded €40 million ($52 million), weren't considered by Arsenal.
Fabregas said he had been excited at the prospect of returning to the club he left to join Arsenal in 2003.
"I cannot deny that joining a club like Barcelona was an attractive move for me," Fabregas said in a statement. "This was the club where I learnt my football. It is my hometown where my friends and family are and a club where I have always dreamed of playing.
"There are not many players in the world who would not want to play for Barcelona."
Fabregas, who helped Spain win the World Cup in South Africa, talked over the move with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who repeatedly said in public that he would not sell his captain to Barcelona.
The Spanish champions made their initial offer in June before the World Cup.
"In the light of the statement released today regarding the contractual future of Cesc Fabregas, FC Barcelona regrets the decision of Arsenal FC to declare the player not for sale and their decision not to take into consideration the offers proposed," Barcelona said. "None of those offers, in any way, exceeded 40 million euros."
Fabregas has five years remaining on his Arsenal contract.
"I am a professional and I fully understand that it is Arsenal's prerogative not to sell me," Fabregas said. "I owe a lot to the club, manager and the fans and I will respect their decision and will now concentrate on the new season ahead with Arsenal.
"I can assure all the fans that now the negotiations have ended I will be 100 percent focused on playing for Arsenal."
Fabregas left Barcelona for Arsenal as a 16-year-old.
Now 23, Fabregas is the Gunners' key player. Despite missing several games because of injury he scored 19 goals in 36 appearances last season.
He returned to training this week after taking time off following Spain's 1-0 World Cup final win over the Netherlands on July 11.
Fabregas apologized to Arsenal's fans for not publicly committing to the club earlier but said he had only just decided to stay. He stopped short of saying he would remain beyond the 2010-11 season.
The speculation over his future was reminiscent of that surrounding Thierry Henry when he was at Arsenal.
The France striker was widely expected to join Barcelona after the Spanish team beat Arsenal 2-1 in the 2006 Champions League final. He opted to stay but joined Barcelona the following year.
-- Stuart Condie
Doctor: Kaka put career at risk at World Cup
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — The doctor who recently performed surgery on Kaka’s knee said the Real Madrid forward put his career at risk by playing for Brazil at the World Cup.
Dr. Marc Martens performed the arthroscopic surgery on Kaka’s left knee on Thursday after a routine preseason check by Madrid doctors discovered the problem. The Brazil international player will be sidelined three to four months.
Martens said in Friday editions of Spanish newspaper Marca that Kaka played through the pain in South Africa with a nagging injury that soon became “unbearably painful.”
Martens said Kaka told him the pain came during the knockout stage matches against Chile and the Netherlands.
Even without one of soccer’s biggest stars, Real Madrid brings a formidable lineup to the final match of its two-game tour against the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Rose Bowl.
“All that matters was that the operation was a success,” Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said. “As the leader of a group, I cannot waste my time crying over a player. I have other players counting on me.”
Real will face Major League Soccer’s best team in the Galaxy, the league leader in victories (12) and points (40).
Coach Bruce Arena’s squad features United States World Cup star Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle, who leads MLS with 12 goals.
Among the other players on Real’s roster are Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael van der Vaart, Gonzalo Higuain and three members of Spain’s World Cup champions: Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos.
All of them traveled to California, where Real Madrid rallied for a 3-2 exhibition victory over Club America of Mexico City on Wednesday night in San Francisco.
Joining that group is the club’s biggest offseason acquisition: Sami Khedira, the 23-year-old German midfielder who replaced the injured Michael Ballack at the World Cup.
Khedira — who made only five international appearances before the World Cup — started all seven of Germany’s games in South Africa and scored one goal. Real purchased him from VfB Stuttgart in Germany’s Bundesliga.
“This is a young group, which is really going to benefit him,” said Casillas, Real’s captain. “Khedira is brand new and has trouble speaking Spanish. But the squad is doing everything it can to help him adjust.”
Khedira did not play against Club America, unlike Real’s other new midfielders: Angel DiMaria, Pedro Leon and Sergio Canales, who scored one of the three goals.
DiMaria played in all five of Argentina’s games in the World Cup, starting four.
Mourinho — who guided Inter Milan to the Italian league, Italian cup and Champions League titles last season — is using the trip “to try three different tactical systems,” he said.
“His training sessions are spectacular,” Ronaldo said. “They have great intensity. We don’t feel tired because we are extremely motivated.”
Loew picks 8 World Cup players for friendly
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany coach Joachim Loew will rest most of his World Cup players for next week's friendly in Denmark.
The squad includes eight players who traveled to the World Cup but hardly played. Germany finished third at the tournament in South Africa.
Piotr Trochowski, one of the World Cup players, pulled out on Friday with an Achilles' tendon injury. Loew did not name a replacement.
Loew's 18-man squad does not include captain Michael Ballack, who missed the World Cup because of an ankle injury. Thomas Hitzlsperger returns after being left out of the World Cup.
Wednesday's match in Copenhagen will be Loew's first since he extended his contract by two years shortly after the World Cup.
Loew picked two newcomers, defender Sascha Riether of Wolfsburg and midfielder Marco Reus of Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Ballack has been training with Bayer Leverkusen but he has not played since getting injured in the FA Cup final in May, when he was still at Chelsea.
Loew left out all of his World Cup starters except goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Manchester City defender Jerome Boateng, who played several games, is also in the squad.
"It was clear from the start that we would leave out the established players," Loew said. "After the demands of the World Cup, it is important that they can now concentrate on preparing for the new season at their clubs."
Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal has questioned the necessity of the friendly so shortly after the World Cup, with most of the players only now returning from their late vacations. Other Bundesliga coaches also have criticized the timing of the match.
Loew picked only two Bayern players, midfielder Toni Kroos and striker Mario Gomez.
Apart from Gomez, there is only one other striker in the squad, Patrick Helmes of Bayer Leverkusen, who makes his comeback after a long-term knee injury.
"We chose the players that we had been observing even before the World Cup," Loew said.
The squad includes players who did not make the final cut for the World Cup.
Van Gaal: Robben wasn't protected in Dutch team
MUNICH, Germany (AP) — Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal said Friday that star winger Arjen Robben should not have been allowed to play at the World Cup for the Netherlands because he wasn't fully fit.
Robben reported to Bayern's preseason training camp with a torn left hamstring, the same injury he picked up before the World Cup.
Van Gaal said the Dutch team's coach and doctor failed to protect Robben and allowed him to play despite the injury. Robben missed the first two games but then played every game, including the 1-0 extra-time loss to Spain in the final.
"Every player wants to play a World Cup. He'll do anything to be make it happen," Van Gaal said. "That's why we have a coach and a doctor, to protect the player. It's the job of a coach and very much so of the doctor — and it wasn't done.
"I called Robben several times during the World Cup and warned him," said Van Gaal, who is also Dutch.
Van Gaal said Robben had fluid drained from his hamstring every two days during the World Cup.
"Everyone knew that he wasn't in a good condition," Van Gaal said.
Bayern officials have been fuming over Robben's injury and are hoping for compensation from the Dutch football federation.
Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk has said Robben was fit at the end of the tournament and other Dutch team officials have denied any wrongdoing.
New Italy coach calls up Balotelli
ROME (AP) — New coach Cesare Prandelli has called up Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano for Italy's first match since its humiliating World Cup.
Prandelli took over from Marcello Lippi after the Azzurri were eliminated at the group stage in South Africa without winning a match.
In his first callup on Friday, Prandelli chose players who had been shunned by Lippi, such as the 19-year Balotelli, a talented but undisciplined Inter Milan striker who might transfer to Manchester City.
For Cassano and Villareal striker Giuseppe Rossi it is a return to the national team.
Defender Giorgio Chiellini, and midfielders Daniele De Rossi and Riccardo Montolivo kept their places.
Italy plays the Ivory Coast in a friendly on Tuesday in London.
Juventus striker Amauri, a Brazilian-born who has recently become an Italian citizen, received his first cap.
Mancini to talk with Robinho about Man City future
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini will hold talks with Robinho to determine the forward's future as his loan stint at Santos ends.
Robinho wants to continue playing for Santos after a successful six months back at his old club, but it may not have the finances to make the move permanent.
City paid Real Madrid 32.5 million pounds (then $58 million) for Robinho in September 2008, but the 26-year-old Brazil international struggled to adapt to the English game.
Mancini said on Friday that Robinho will be returning to Manchester after Brazil's friendly against the United States on Tuesday.
"He will come back here because I need to speak with him," said Mancini, who took charge at City in December. "I worked with him for one month, then he decided to go back to Brazil. He said he wanted to stay at home so he could prepare to play for Brazil at the World Cup.
"There was no pressure from me but now I must speak with him because it is very difficult for him to stay at Santos."
Five French players face disciplinary case
PARIS (AP) — The French soccer federation has opened a disciplinary case against five of the players who went on strike at the World Cup in South Africa.
Nicolas Anelka, Franck Ribery, Eric Abidal, Jeremy Toulalan and captain Patrice Evra will appear before the disciplinary commission of the French federation this month.
French federation president Fernand Duchaussoy said Friday it doesn't necessarily mean sanctions will be taken.
Investigators interviewed 18 of the 23 World Cup players, staff members and federation officials who were in South Africa when the players decided to boycott a practice.
The strike was to protest Nicolas Anelka's exclusion from the squad following an expletive-filled tirade directed at France coach Raymond Domenech during a 2-0 loss to Mexico.
Sao Paulo fires coach Ricardo Gomes
SAO PAULO (AP) — Sao Paulo coach Ricardo Gomes has been fired after the team's defeat in the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores.
Club directors fired Gomes on Friday, but described his work there as "dignified" and "respected."
Nevertheless, club directors said in a statement on Sao Paulo's website it was time the squad was taken in a new direction after not making it to the finals of Latin America's top club competition.
Former AS Monaco coach Gomes took over in June 2009 after Muricy Ramalho was fired.
When Gomes started last year, Sao Paulo was near the bottom in the standings of the Brazilian championship. But within a few months he had them with a chance to win the title up until the final game. Sao Paulo gave no word on when it might choose a new coach.
Olympiakos sacks Lienen after early European exit
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Olympiakos has fired German coach Ewald Lienen after the Greek club suffered a shock elimination from the Europa League. A club statement on Friday said the decision was taken by mutual consent.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv dumped the Greek club out of European competition with a 1-0 win on Thursday thanks to a 42nd-minute winner from Roberto Colautti.
The 56-year-old Lienen took over at Olympiakos in June as part an effort to return to dominance after losing the league title to Panathinaikos.
Summer signings included Argentinian Ariel Ibagaza, Denmark's Dennis Rommedahl and Albert Riera of Spain.
England's professional referees secure new sponsor
LONDON (AP) — The body managing England's professional referees has secured a new sponsor in an agreement it says will help improve the training of officials for the Premier League.
Professional Games Match Officials will be sponsored for three years from this season by Tune Group, the owner of previous sponsor Air Asia.
PGMO did not announce the terms of the agreement but said it was "a seven-figure deal."
Malaysian-based Tune also has a stake in Formula One team Lotus, the ASEAN Basketball League and Tune Hotels.
PGMO general manager Mike Riley says Tune's involvement "will further help the development of refereeing in this country and throughout the world."
Ballack wants to play in 2012 Euros
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Michael Ballack says he would like to play for Germany in the 2012 European Championship and expects to carry on as captain of the national side.
Philipp Lahm was Germany's captain at the World Cup and has said he would like to stay on.
But Ballack, who turns 34 next month, told Sport1 television he expects to take over from Lahm when he recovers from the ankle injury which ruled him out of the World Cup.
Ballack says that barring unforeseen circumstances he would like to play at the 2012 Euros but not the 2014 World Cup because "you have to know when to quit."
Man United's Carrick to miss start of season
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United will be without midfielder Michael Carrick for the start of the season due to an ankle injury.
United plays Chelsea on Sunday in the Community Shield before beginning its Premier League campaign against Newcastle on Aug. 16.
Manager Alex Ferguson said Friday that Carrick was injured during Wednesday's 7-1 friendly win over the Airtricity League XI in Dublin.
Ferguson says that "it is nothing serious but he will be out for a couple of weeks, so he will miss the start of the season."
Czechs lose Petr Cech for Latvia friendly
PRAGUE (AP) — Injured Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech will not recover in time to play in next week's friendly for the Czech Republic against Latvia.
Cech tore a calf muscle in his right leg in training on July 20, and Czech Republic coach Michal Bilek said he would arrive for the game only if he plays in Sunday's Community Shield match against Manchester United.
Czech Republic team manager Vladimir Smicer said Cech told him Friday that after a training session it became clear he wouldn't be able to play any of the two games.
Smicer said Jan Lastuvka of Dnepr Dnipropetrovsk, who has yet to play a game for the national team, has been called up for Wednesday's match in Liberec.
Paraguay names World Cup squad for friendly
ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino named most of the team that reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup for a friendly against Costa Rica on Wednesday in Asuncion.
The only absence will be midfielder Diego Barreto, who is out with an injury. He will be replaced by Osvaldo Martinez of the Mexican club Monterrey.
The game will be played to honor Paraguay footballer Salvador Cabanas, who survived a gunshot wound to the head on Jan. 25 in a bar in Mexico City. He played for Mexican club America. He has been undergoing treatment at a rehabilitation clinic in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.
Bayern extends Mueller's contract
MUNICH, Germany (AP) — Bayern Munich has given World Cup revelation Thomas Mueller a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the Bundesliga club until 2015.
The 20-year-old forward played all 34 Bundesliga games for Bayern in his first season and was its second top scorer with 13 goals. He helped Bayern sweep the domestic double and reach the Champions League final.
Mueller scored five goals and had three assists to earn the Golden Boot award at the World Cup as well as the Best Young Player title. Germany finished third.
Red Star Belgrade coach resigns
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Ratko Dostanic has quit as Red Star Belgrade coach following its failure to qualify for the Europa League.
Dostanic resigned on Friday after the 1991 European champions lost 3-2 on aggregate against Slovan Bratislava in the third qualifying round.
Red Star said it will name the replacement soon.
Dostanic took over the most popular Serbian team in March last year, placing disappointingly second behind Partizan Belgrade in the premier league last season.
Five poles convicted after football clashes in Greece
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Court officials in Greece say five Polish men have been convicted of public order offenses after clashes broke out at a Europa League match between Aris and Jagiellonia Bialystok.
Four of the Polish fans were released Friday after their sentences were suspended, while the fifth received a 29-month jail sentence for assault and other offenses.
Clashes between rival fans occurred outside the Harilaou Stadium on Thursday, while Polish fans also clashed with police inside the stadium at halftime.
Aris advanced 4-3 on aggregate after Thursday's match ended in a 2-2 draw.
