Soccer Capsules: Mexico routs Bolivia 5-0 in friendly

SAN FRANCISCO — Braulio Luna scored and set up three other goals as Mexico beat Bolivia 5-0 on Wednesday in an international friendly at Candlestick Park.

Javier Hernandez, the leading scorer in Mexico's top domestic league with Guadalajara, had two goals as Mexico romped through the first of 11 matches it has scheduled to prepare for the World Cup.

Mexico will open the tournament against host South Africa on June 11.

Pablo Barrera and Paul Aguilar also scored for Mexico, which improved to 8-1-1 against Bolivia.

Mexico was playing without its Europe-based players, but still outclassed Bolivia, which finished ninth out of 10 South American teams in World Cup qualifying.

Mexico broke through in the third minute when Hernandez found San Luis midfielder Luna with room on the left wing, and Pumas striker Barrera neatly slotted Luna's low cross inside the near post for a 1-0 lead.

Mexico doubled its advantage in the 13th minute when Hernandez converted a one-touch pass from Luna inside the area.

Luna scored in the 19th minute, jumping on a loose deflection right in front of the goal and Hernandez made it 4-0 in the 21st, running onto a long pass from Luna and beating goalkeeper Daniel Vaca in a one-on-one.

Aguilar notched the only second-half goal in the 52nd minute, hammering home after a corner had been partially deflected by Vaca.

Bolivia came closest to a first-half goal in the 35th minute, but both a free kick from Samuel Galindo and the ensuing rebound attempt by Ronald Eguino bounced off the post. Augusto Andaveris did put the ball in the net in the 67th minute, but it was ruled out for offside.

Mexico bar staff charged in soccer star shooting

The employees were already under custody for investigation in the case. Another employee faces attempted-homicide charges.

The waiters and other staff allegedly either helped the suspect escape, covered up evidence or failed to provide information on the crime.

Neither they nor their lawyers were available for comment Wednesday.

Cabanas is recovering after being shot in the head on Jan. 25. The man suspected of shooting him remains at large.

Cabanas plays for Mexico's club America and had been expected to lead Paraguay's national team at the World Cup in South Africa.

U.S. Soccer

"If we're not playing games week in and week out, that puts us at a big disadvantage," Ching said Wednesday night after helping the U.S. rally past El Salvador 2-1 in an exhibition. "Hopefully, it doesn't happen."

Ching scored on a diving header in the 75th minute and assisted on Sacha Kljestan's go-ahead goal in the second minute of stoppage time.

All but one of the U.S. players was from MLS, which appears to be on the verge of its first strike, and for many it was their last chance to impress coach Bob Bradley before he selects his 23-man U.S. roster. The Americans again badly missed their Europe-based starters, who also weren't used in the 3-1 loss to Honduras on Jan. 23.

Jonathan Bornstein said the potential shutdown should not be the focus.

"It's something we'll take in stride if it were to happen," Bornstein said. "We're all professionals here. We all know what it's going to take, should something happen, to stay in shape and do what we have to do. Should it happen, we'll hit it head on when the time comes."

The 14th-ranked U.S. outshot No. 71 El Salvador 18-3 with the "B'' team. If there is an MLS team camp, Bradley will adjust training plans ahead of the arrival of Europe-based players in mid-May.

"The only thing that I think matters from a national team standpoint is that we'll react accordingly in terms of schedule, training, that kind of thing," he said.

Ching, Kljestan, Bornstein and Heath Pearce were among only a handful of U.S. players on the night's roster who appear to have a decent chance of being selected for the World Cup roster. Ching was on the 2006 team but didn't get into a match.

A second half sub, Ching scored on a 7-yard shot off a long cross from Pearce that goalkeeper Miguel Montes misplayed, offsetting Rudis Corrales' 59th-minute goal for Los Cuscatlecos.

Kljestan intercepted an errant pass, exchanged passes with Ching and scored from 6 yards.

"I thought there were a lot of positive," Bradley said. "Some good efforts. Some positive things on the field."

For next Wednesday's exhibition against the third-ranked Netherlands in Amsterdam, the U.S. lineup should more closely resemble the team that helped the Americans qualify for their sixth straight World Cup.

After that, the Americans have exhibitions against the Czech Republic (May 25) and Turkey (May 29 at Philadelphia) before leaving for South Africa. Coming off first-round elimination at the 2006 World Cup, they open the tournament June 12 against England, play Slovenia six days later and close the first round June 23 against Algeria.

Pearce started at left back and Brad Evans at right back, with Bornstein and Clarence Goodson — the lone Europe-based player — in the center. Ching entered at the start of the second half in place of Conor Casey. Nick Rimando was surprise starter in goal in place of Troy Perkins.

Corrales put El Salvador ahead after Evans made an errant header deep in the U.S. zone that appeared intended for Rimando.

The U.S. had five shots on goal to one for El Salvador in the first half, with Montes making diving saves on Kljestan and Robbie Rogers.

Overall, the United States had an 11-2 shots on goal advantage. The US also had nine corner kicks to one for El Salvador.

TAMPA, Florida — United States striker Brian Ching is worried a possible Major League Soccer strike could hurt the chances of domestic-based players to make the World Cup squad.

The MLS' first strike became a possibility after players failed to match league management's no-lockout pledge with a no-strike offer during labor talks this week.

The league's first collective bargaining agreement expired Jan. 31, and the sides twice extended bargaining, with the latest additional time running out Thursday.

Players say they want increased free-agent rights and more guaranteed contracts, which the league says it is unable to offer.

"If we're not playing games week in and week out, that puts us at a big disadvantage," Ching said Wednesday after helping the U.S. rally past El Salvador 2-1 in an international friendly. "Hopefully, it doesn't happen."

MLS president Mark Abbott said last weekend the league will not lock out players and is prepared to start the season under the terms and conditions of the expired five-year contract.

An MLS strike could postpone the first game of new team the Philadelphia Union and the official opening of Red Bull Arena.

While the league season is due to start March 25, when Philadelphia Union travels to Seattle, Columbus hosts Mexican club Toluca on March 9 in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League, then plays the second leg at the Mexican club eight days later.

CONCACAF, the regional governing body, isn't sure how it would deal with a strike, whether it would cause a postponement or a forfeit.

Donovan expects to return to Everton in future

SAO PAULO, Brazil — Cruzeiro, Corinthians and Flamengo all had victories in the Copa Libertadores group stage on Wednesday to push the claims of Brazilian clubs in the tournament.

Corinthians beat a ten-man Racing of Uruguay 2-1 at home, while Adriano scored Flamengo's second goal in a 2-0 home win against Universidad Catolica of Chile.

Earlier, two Kleber goals helped Cruzeiro win 4-1 at home against nine-man Colo Colo of Chile, while Peru's Juan Aurich had a 2-0 home victory over Bolivar of Bolivia.

Mexican club Monterrey won 2-1 at home against Nacional of Paraguay in the day's final match with the winner coming from Osvaldo Martinez.

The results mean Corinthians tops Group 1, while Flamengo joins Universidad de Chile at the top of Group 8 after the first round of fixtures in both groups. Cruzeiro sits second behind Velez Sarsfield of Argentina in Group 7, and Juan Aurich is third in Group 3, after two games played in each section. Monterrey pulls level with Once Caldas and Sao Paulo at the top of Group 2.

The Copa Libertadores is the top club competition in Latin America. The eight group winners plus six best placed runners-up will qualify for the knockout round of 16.

Mexican clubs San Luis and Guadalajara will enter in the knockout round of 16 after being forced to pull out of last year's tournament at the same stage due to the swine flu outbreak.

World Cup

Even though McDonald is a prolific scorer in club football — netting 50 times in 88 games for Celtic before joining Middlesbrough last month — Verbeek says he doesn't fit into the Socceroos formation.

The 26-year-old McDonald hasn't even made the squad for Australia's recent Asian Cup qualifiers and must now convince Verbeek he is worth a place in the team when the South Africa 2010 campaign opens against Germany on June 13.

"He's not a starting player with me — that's not because he's not good but because I play a different system to the one he's used to," Verbeek told The Associated Press. "I've spoken with him and he knows he might not be a starting player. He was not here the last two games and then the rest of the team starts asking, 'Where's Scotty.' It's up to him to accept a role where maybe he's not playing."

McDonald has failed to score in his first four matches for English second-tier club Middlesbrough.

"He was not playing his best football at Celtic," Verbeek said. "As long as he starts playing well and doing what he has to do then it's good because he's a player who can score goals."

Verbeek is playing down the significance of any player to the team — even top goalscorer Tim Cahill, the Everton midfielder who is sidelined for three weeks with a calf injury.

"We don't have big stars, they might seem like big stars in Australia, but they are just good footballers who enjoy themselves," Verbeek said. "I have five or six key players in my team who are good for the balance of the team. The guy who scores goals (Cahill) is also important, he has the quality to score goals out of nothing.

"But he is not more important to me than goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer because he's the guy taking care of the clean sheets."

Verbeek is in Sun City meeting fellow World Cup coaches and the Dutchman's main concern has been ensuring the grass on the pitches is up to standard.

Verbeek's immediate priority in the tournament will be steering Australia out of Group D, which contains Germany, Serbia and Ghana.

"We will probably not be world champions, our target is to get to the final 16 and then we will try to survive," Verbeek said. "That's what they did four years ago after a very tough group — and we have a very tough group again."

The World Cup could be Verbeek's last involvement with the Australia team.

His contract expires after the June 11-July 11 tournament, and he will discuss his future with Football Federation Australia executives after the Asian Cup qualifier against Indonesia on March 3.

"If I'm not going to stay it has nothing to do with Australia, it is to do with only myself," Verbeek said. "I keep my options open ... maybe I want something else."

-- Rob Harris

WADA offers FIFA assistance over African medicines

SUN CITY, South Africa — FIFA has confirmed the training bases for all 32 World Cup finalists in South Africa.

The list published Wednesday confirmed that England will use Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus as its training base despite the ongoing building work at the Rustenburg complex which came under scrutiny this week.

European champion Spain will also be based in the northwest province at Potchefstroom, while defending World Cup winner Italy will be at the Leriba Lodge in Pretoria.

FIFA says the list could change.

In a high quality and evenly contested game at San Siro, Inter coach Jose Mourinho gained an advantage over the Premier League team he led to back-to-back English titles in 2005-06.

"There were no surprises for me, no surprises from Chelsea — just two teams playing with the quality they have," said Mourinho, who won the Champions League with FC Porto in 2004.

"Chelsea can play better, Inter can play better, but this is the reality of the Champions League. Sometimes it's difficult to express your qualities. This is a knockout, so you know any mistake can cost you qualification."

Chelsea, managed by former AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, needs only to win the second leg 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on March 16 to reach the quarterfinal on away goals.

"It is not a good result but we have to accept this," Ancelotti said. "But it is not a bad result to score an (away) goal in the (knockout) round of the Champions League.

"We have to win the next game against Inter but we have a (chance) because this evening we played a good game. We start with one goal conceded but we had a very good reaction. We had a good control of the game."

In a city where he successfully served Milan with Champions League titles both as a player and coach, Ancelotti fielded an attacking formation of three strikers but his side trailed by the three minutes

Argentina forward Diego Milito collected a ball from Samuel Eto'o and easily sidestepped Chelsea captain John Terry before firing past goalkeeper Petr Cech at his near post.

After Chelsea striker Didier Drogba's free kick from 25 meters hit the Inter bar, the visitors equalized in the 51st minute.

Salomon Kalou scored with a 22-meter shot inside the far post after a determined run by right back Branislav Ivanovic had opened up the defense.

But Chelsea was level for only four minutes. Cambiasso hit a shot that was blocked and followed up with a low, left-footer that flew inside the far post.

Chelsea lost Cech to a calf muscle injury in the 60th and replaced him with Hilario.

At Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Sevilla went ahead in the 25th minute when an unmarked Alvaro Negredo tapped the ball into an empty net from a cross by Jesus Navas. But CSKA earned the draw when Gonzalez fired in a left-footed shot in the 66th minute.

"It would have been better to win but this can be considered a good result," Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez said. "We needed to make short passes because of the artificial pitch. We got a draw and we will decide everything in the second leg."

On Tuesday, defending champion Barcelona drew 1-1 at Stuttgart and Bordeaux won 1-0 at Olympiakos.

-- Robert Millward

Stoke ousts Man City from FA Cup

LONDON — Ryan Shawcross and Tuncay Sanli scored extra-time goals as Stoke beat Manchester City 3-1 in an FA Cup fifth-round replay on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals.

Torres, 25, made his first appearance for Liverpool in five weeks in Sunday's 0-0 draw with Manchester City when he came on as a late substitute. Torres has been sidelined due to a knee injury.

While Benitez said it's possible Torres could make an appearance against Unirea, he reiterated that the club will exercise caution in bringing its star forward back.

"Now it is a question of one step at a time," Benitez said Wednesday. "You cannot push him too hard because you could lose the player and it is not necessary."

Liverpool won the first leg 1-0 at home. Despite the advantage, forward Ryan Babel said there is still plenty of pressure because of how important it is for the club to claim some silverware.

"At Liverpool we try to win every trophy that it is possible to go for," Babel told the Liverpool Echo.

After being eliminated from the Champions League and without a chance of winning any domestic competitions, the Europa League represents Liverpool's only chance of claiming a trophy this season.

Babel hopes to contribute to Liverpool's trophy pursuit after recently returning to the side. Babel fell out with Benitez last month and was dropped from the squad after some posts on his Twitter page upset the Liverpool manager. But he started Sunday's match against Manchester City and hopes to play an important role for the remainder of the season.

Benfica was the first team to advance to the next round of European football's second-tier competition after clinching a 4-0 win at home Tuesday in its second leg match against Hertha Berlin, winning 5-1 on aggregate.

The remaining 30 teams all play their second leg matches Thursday.

Juventus is sitting comfortably as it takes on Ajax at home after claiming a 2-1 win in Amsterdam in the first leg.

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said last week's result gave Juventus a lift in confidence.

"Victories give you a boost in confidence and we need to give continuity to our result," Buffon said. "We will pick up where we left off in our game in Amsterdam."

Ajax must win for the first time in Turin if it is to advance, having lost all four matches it has played there previously.

Hamburg will be missing striker Ruud van Nistelrooy when it travels to PSV Eindhoven, the club where the Netherlands striker began his career.

Van Nistelrooy, who moved from Real Madrid to Hamburg in the January transfer window, will stay in Germany to receive treatment for a thigh strain he suffered against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, after making a quick comeback from injury.

"It's better to take a break again now," Van Nistelrooy said. "I would have loved to be there, but we don't want to take any risks."

Attacking midfielder Ze Roberto, who has also been out injured, is ready to help Hamburg's cause.

"Our big aim is not just to reach the next round," the Brazilian told the club's Web site, "but to play in the final in our own stadium."

Hamburg will be heading into the second leg with a 1-0 advantage.

Shakhtar Donetsk, which won the competition last year before it was revamped as the Europa League this season, will be looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit after losing to Fulham away in the first leg.

Shakhtar defender Razvan Rat said he was impressed by Fulham in the first leg, as the club was a "very level squad, where all the players work in equal manner to gain a positive result."

But Rat said, "the main task for us is to go further in the Europa League. We will do our utmost. We are spurred to win after (the) London defeat."

Other matches include Roma vs. Panathinaikos, Valencia vs. Club Brugge and Sporting vs. Everton.

-- Matt Schiffman

Adelaide beats Pohang in Asian Champions League

ADELAIDE, Australia — South Korea's Pohang Steelers lost their first game as Asian Champions League defending champions, beaten 1-0 at Australia's Adelaide United on Wednesday.

Breaking from the halfway line following a Pohang corner, Adelaide teenage striker Matthew Leckie pressured Park Hee-chul to stab the ball past the latter's goalkeeper in first-half stoppage time. Leckie was credited with the goal by match officials, as the ball possibly deflected off him last.

Adelaide defeated Pohang twice in the group stage two years ago, going on to make the 2008 final, and maintained a perfect record against the South Korean club.

The champ two years ago, Gamba Osaka packed the midfield to stifle host Suwon Bluewings in a goal-less draw. Suwon was happy for the point with little form behind it as the South Korean league had yet to start.

The other Group G match was also a 0-0 draw, as Henan Construction of China dominated Singapore Armed Forces without any luck. Amado Diallo, Zheng Lu and Xiao Zhi all hit the posts in a squandered opportunity for three points.

Beside Adelaide in Group H, China's Shandong Luneng also emerged a winner from a valuable 1-0 win at Japan's Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Shandong Luneng's winner came via a header in the 76th minute from China international striker Han Peng.

Pakhtakor, the only club to qualify for every Asian Champions League since the new format in 2003, started Group C with a 1-0 win over Emirates host Al-Ain. Pakhtakor took advantage of its few chances to score during a counterattack capped by Artur Gevorkyan in the 59th.

Iran's Sepahan and Saudi Arabia's Al Shabab renewed acquaintance two years after two showdowns won by Sepahan. This time Al Shabab salvaged a 1-1 draw with a second-half goal by Faisal Al Sultan.

There were goals aplenty in Group D, in which Iran's Mes Kerman came back to defeat Emirates visitor Al Ahli 4-2, and Saudi's Al Hilal downed Qatari host Al-Sadd 3-0.

Iran international Mehrzad Madanchi looked like spoiling Mes' day with a 2-1 goal for Al Ahli just before the hour mark, but Mes rallied when Mahdi Rajabzadeh equalized in the 75th, and Mehrdi Rajab Zadeh hit the winner 10 minutes later. Ali Samareh added a last-minute score to help boost spirits at the struggling Iran Pro League club.

Al Hilal was on the board after only nine minutes thanks to the first of a pair by Yasser Al Qahtani. He headed in a cross from Thiago Neves, and volleyed in the clincher in the 66th. Neves' last-minute goal made sure the trip home to Saudi Arabia was much more comfortable.

AC Milan beats Fiorentina 2-1 in Serie A

MILAN — Alexandre Pato scored in injury time Wednesday as AC Milan rallied to win 2-1 at Fiorentina to rise to second place in the Serie A.

Pato's goal was his 10th of the season and came nine minutes after Milan substitute Klaas Jan Huntelaar had come off the bench to score. Fiorentina striker Alberto Gilardino gave the hosts the lead in the 14th minute.

Inter Milan leads the standings with 55 points, four more than Milan and five in front of AS Roma.

In Wednesday's other match, Udinese came from behind to beat Cagliari 2-1 in Pasquale Marino's first match since returning as Udinese coach.

Udinese's Alex Sanchez and Antonio Di Natale scored second-half goals after Jeda had given Cagliari the lead in the first half.

FIFA is making its new online transfer register a requirement for most leagues later this year, fundamentally altering how players ranging from Cristiano Ronaldo to unknown Latin American teens can move to new teams in different nations.

The system is remarkably easy, with clubs signed up to a Web-based network required to match the details of any international player transactions and upload proof of payment, identification of agents involved and other documents to confirm a player's new employer.

The transfer monitor has been a long time coming.

FIFA says years of poor oversight has led to rogue agents "owning" their clients and controlling their destinies, illegal payments between clubs and companies, and even money laundering through transfers of fictitious footballers — practices that FIFA hopes its new system will stamp out.

"The transfer market is one of the last places on the planet where you have billions of dollars and no one is really checking," said Mark Goddard, head of the FIFA anti-corruption program. "It has basically been a jungle with no oversight, and that is changing."

Goddard and other FIFA officials explained the system to journalists in Zurich, outlining its advances in terms of speed, accountability and clarity compared to the current confusion of paper documents and faxes that have long been the basis of international transfers.

The network went online in 2007 and most major leagues have been using it during the last couple of transfer windows. From October, over 3,000 football clubs in nearly 150 nations will be required to log the details of each player either sold or purchased in an international deal or have the transaction blocked.

World football's governing body has been eager to tighten transfer regulations after discovering that many deals involved unlicensed operators taking a commission. Its Zurich headquarters has also been deluged in paperwork during peak trading times as buying and selling clubs faxed details of their deals, sometimes with information that didn't match.

Goddard highlighted the advantages of the new system, which has already registered 4,000 transfers since 2008:

—Transfers will have to be agreed on time, with the Web-based system closing as the window for deals expires. This will help avoid the last-minute confusion that has been a source of debate in moves such as Andrei Arshavin's switch to Arsenal last year.

—Third-party "owners" of players, such as Anglo-Iranian businessman Kia Joorabchian who controls the "economic rights" to Argentine stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, would be unable to hold up a transfer as they seek their own compensation.

—Minors will be better protected from moving internationally without their parents' approval.

—Clubs will be able to seal transfers faster, as an English and a Scottish club proved last month by registering a deal in just seven minutes.

—Auditing will be significantly easier, as FIFA staff and national football officials can inspect deals from anywhere in the world with a simple login password.

—And transactions involving fictitious players, a common money laundering technique, will be harder to get away with as players' identities would first need to be established.

"The system was designed specifically with money laundering in mind," Goddard said. "Anecdotal evidence tells us that it is probably quite a massive problem. We know of transfers of imaginary players by third parties and other groups using football in order to wash it and turn dirty money into legitimate funds."

Teams found breaking the rules will be punished, Goddard said. FIFA will monitor transfers, he added, but declined to say how many staff and how much money it would devote to tracking down cheats.

For all its benefits, the register will not apply to transfers among clubs in the same nation, and details of transactions will not be shared with the public.

"This is not a silver bullet that will solve everything," Goddard said. "But we want to make sure that it is the clubs that get the money, and most importantly that it is the football value of the player that is being bought, not his marketing or commercial value that is being sold through third parties."

-- Bradley S. Klapper

FIFA: Pompey cash crisis is wake-up call over debt

As a new UEFA study showed that the total assets for Premier League clubs is almost half that of all Europe's clubs combined, Valcke questioned how a team in the world's richest league can be on the verge of going into financial administration.

Portsmouth, which is bottom of England's top flight, reportedly has debts of 70 million pounds ($105.5 million; €79.8 million) and is set to be deducted nine points if it enters administration — a form of bankruptcy protection — on Friday.

The south-east club will go into administration unless a buyer comes forward before then to allow Portsmouth avoid a winding-up hearing at the High Court on Monday.

Premier League executives have told Portsmouth owner Balram Chainrai that they will not advance payments to bail out the club, which won the FA Cup less than two years ago by strengthening the squad beyond its means.

"It is the richest league in the world so this is strange. If you talked about another league I would say fair enough, but the richest league in the world, what's the reason?" Valcke told The Associated Press. "It's because the club was badly managed, they ran it to have a chance of winning titles by buying too expensive players and just getting more in debt every day. It's a mix-up of everything — it's not just linked to the financial situation around the world.

"It's also some of the management. If say you make 10,000 pounds a month, you should not buy something that costs 20,000 pounds a month. All of it was maybe based on a debt system and the first time a club hits the wall, at least it's a good signal and lesson for all people who think debt is a way to survive."

The UEFA study published Wednesday revealed that Premier League clubs' assets are €4.3 billion — 48 percent of that of all clubs in Europe as a whole.

The European Club Footballing Landscape report, which has looked at the 2007-08 accounts from all 732 clubs licensed by UEFA, shows that the English top-flight debts were €3.8 billion — 56 percent of the total across Europe.

The report did not include the debts of Portsmouth and West Ham because they had not been granted UEFA licenses that year due to their financial problems.

Spain's La Liga has the next highest debt of €978 million but with assets of €2.5 billion.

UEFA president Michel Platini is pushing for a system in which clubs that spend beyond their means will be prevented from playing in the Champions League and Europa League.

The report is critical of the debts heaped on Manchester United and Liverpool by their takeovers by American owners.

"English clubs, where stadium ownership is the norm, contain on their balance sheets an estimated 48 percent share of the total value of European balance-sheet fixed assets and 56 percent of Europe-wide net commercial debt," the report says. "Just over half of this commercial debt has been placed into the club (or at a holding-company level) recently as a result of leveraged buy-outs, so far acting principally as a burden rather than to support investment or spending."

Although it does not mention the clubs by name, the 716 million pounds of debt racked up by the Glazer family at United, and Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr.'s 237 million pounds of debt, account for a major part of the overall Premier League figure.

-- Rob Harris

Botev Plovdiv expelled from Bulgaria's top league

SUN CITY, South Africa — Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk expects Robin van Persie back in action by April as he makes good progress recovering from an ankle injury.

Van Persie was key to the Dutch team's impressive World Cup qualifying campaign in which it won every game, but he damaged ligaments playing in a friendly for them in November.

Van Marwijk spoke with Van Persie last week and claimed Wednesday that the forward is "improving all the time and feeling better."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger didn't expect Van Persie back before the end of April.

But Van Marwijk now says that "I hope that he will play at the beginning of April and he feels this is maybe possible. He is a very important player for me so it is very important for me that he is fit."

VIENNA — Austria captain Emanuel Pogatetz will return to the national side for next week's friendly against Denmark after 11 months out due to injury.

The Middlesbrough defender has been included in the 23-man squad announced Wednesday by coach Dietmar Constantini.

Four regulars were missing from the squad — defenders Gyorgy Garics and Sebastian Proedl, and strikers Erwin Hoffer and Stefan Maierhofer — while Wiener Neustadt midfielders Mario Reiter and Patrick Wolf got their first call-up.

Austria plays World Cup contender Denmark in Vienna on March 3.