World Cup - U.S., World Cup and Other Soccer Capsules: Bradley says he'd be 'honored' to stay as U.S. coach
NEW YORK (AP) — Bob Bradley says he'd be "honored" to remain the U.S. coach, and he expects a decision in three to four weeks.
Bradley told The Associated Press on Thursday he had "a very good first conversation" with U.S. federation president Sunil Gulati before leaving the World Cup. Bradley plans to meet with CEO Dan Flynn next week.
"I would simply say that we need time," Bradley said. "Time to talk. Time to think a little bit."
Hired in December 2006, Bradley's contract runs to the end of the year. He led the Americans to the top of their group for the first time in 80 years. But then the team lost 2-1 to Ghana in extra time in the second round.
Gulati said on Monday that "I think the team is capable of more."
"We're proud of the work and the results, and we stand behind that," Bradley said of his coaching staff. "As this four-year cycle ends and a new one begins, we're pleased that regardless of decisions going forward that the work in this four years will pay off in the next four years."
One obvious goal for the next four years is to improve at scoring goals. The U.S. didn't get any from their forwards in South Africa. In his first World Cup, 20-year-old striker Jozy Altidore created chances but couldn't capitalize.
"He still can improve in terms of his pure finishing," Bradley said.
Bradley likes to say that as the level of competition increases, "the window is smaller and the window closes faster." Learning to score through that window takes experience.
Altidore had an excellent opportunity for a goal against Ghana but missed.
"He did so well to put himself in a goal-scoring position," Bradley said. "Over time he'll just understand that in those spots you have a little more time and you don't have to rush anything. That ability to take that chance calmly and finish it, that's a sign of experience."
Altidore scored just twice for English Premier League club Hull this past season and has struggled to find consistent playing time at Europe's highest level.
"When you're a forward, it becomes really important that you are someone that can consistently score for your club team," Bradley said. "That gives confidence. I think that Jozy needs to find a club situation where week in and week out he's on the field and they're counting on him for big goals."
Senators get behind U.S. World Cup bid
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of senators is getting behind an effort to bring the World Cup to the U.S. in 2018 or 2022.
The senators, led by New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, planned to send a letter to FIFA president Sepp Blatter this week on behalf of the U.S. bid. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter.
The senators say they're hopeful that "Americans will be given a chance to display their passion" for the sport. And they argue that the U.S. has the infrastructure to handle soccer's premier event.
At least 22 senators have signed on to the letter at last count.
Celebrities from former President Bill Clinton to actor Brad Pitt serve on the USA Bid Committee.
-- Frederic J. Frommer
Other World Cup News
Commentary: Politicians: Hands off World Cup teams
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Memo to meddlesome lawmakers and presidents everywhere. Focus on problems like poverty and global warming, stay off the soccer bandwagon.
Concentrate on world peace, not the World Cup.
In France and Nigeria, politicians have stepped out of line by acting as though their national teams' World Cup disasters are major affairs of state that should divert them from other, truly vital issues of life. They are not. And pretending otherwise just smacks of political opportunism.
If soccer players need to apologize to anyone for on- and off-field performances, then it is to their longtime supporters — to the ordinary men, women and kids who root for them, not to politicians whose sudden interest in the misfortune of a national squad is suspiciously timed.
Yes, Nigeria had a poor World Cup. It hasn't won a World Cup match since 1998 and again went without a victory this time.
But no, that doesn't mean Nigerian players should now be made to sit in disgrace in a corner, banned from taking part in any international soccer for the next two years — which is what the West African nation's president, Goodluck Jonathan, has decreed.
"The nation has been punished enough. Enough," said Rotimi Amaechi, head of a presidential task force on the nation's World Cup team. "People have had heart attacks, people have had all sorts of issues because of Nigerian football. We now want to reorganize and get back to what it used to be when it was the pride of the nation."
Sounds serious. Way too serious, in fact. Losing is as much a part of sports as winning. Nigeria's government should perhaps be explaining that simple fact to disappointed fans not whipping up emotions by taking an extreme view of defeat. The hundreds of death threats that were e-mailed to midfielder Sani Kaita after he collected a red card in Nigeria's 2-1 loss to Greece showed how ugly things can get when soccer passions spill over.
Media reports out of Nigeria say the government will also be investigating allegations of soccer corruption there — there's nothing wrong with that if the probe has no hidden political motives. And the government won't be faulted if it catches soccer bosses with their hands in the till and misspending money that should have gone toward the sport.
But the best way to get the national team, dubbed the Super Eagles, to play better can hardly be by stopping it from playing at all. Two years out of international soccer, if it really comes to that, would mean Nigerian players missing the next African Cup of Nations and perhaps even the 2012 Olympic Games. That hardly seems likely to position them nicely for the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014, if they even qualify.
Whether the Nigerian president really does have the power to clip the wings of the Super Eagles, who are not meant to take their orders from government, remains to be seen. But the end result may be the same if soccer's international governing body, FIFA, determines that Jonathan is sticking his nose into matters that shouldn't concern him. FIFA takes a very dim, if at times also selective, view of political meddling in soccer and could respond by suspending Nigeria. That would mean no international soccer for all Nigerian teams, including clubs.
France's government is also making a political mountain of the national team's World Cup fiasco. France's players made fools of themselves by rebelling against their coach Raymond Domenech and the French Football Federation at the World Cup, even refusing to practice one day. And French lawmakers have subsequently looked foolish, too, by acting as if this really is a major issue for France.
They grilled Domenech and outgoing federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes on Wednesday. But they let the pair off the hook by holding the hearing behind closed doors. That was unfair to fans, because instead of speaking to lawmakers, to whom they owe no explanation, Domenech and Escalettes should have spoken to and apologized directly to the French public — which they still have not fully done.
None of this is to say that soccer players and officials shouldn't be held accountable — to fans — when they play or act poorly. And politicians of course should have a say when matters in sports go beyond the field of play. That could be the case with doping, for example, which is both a sports and a public health issue.
But let's not turn World Cup players into political footballs just because they disappoint.
John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester@ap.org.
FIFA not yet ready to act on Nigeria interference
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — FIFA is studying a report from Nigeria before possibly taking action against the country for government interference following the team's first-round exit at the World Cup.
Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the team on Wednesday to sit out international competition for two years as punishment for its poor showing.
FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot said Thursday that Nigeria's government has told FIFA about the ban.
"We have been now officially informed of that and we are looking at this case," Maingot said at a daily World Cup briefing. "We need a little bit of time."
FIFA rules demand that national federations manage their affairs independently or face suspension from world football. National and club teams then cannot play in international competitions, and football officials are barred from attending meetings.
"This is clearly outlined in the FIFA statutes," said Maingot, but adding that "we are not at the step of taking sanctions."
Earlier this week, FIFA president Sepp Blatter restated his disapproval of politicians meddling in football's affairs when asked about a French government inquiry into the team's shambolic display at the World Cup.
Blatter said football officials "can really rely on FIFA in case of political interference — even if it is at the presidential level."
Nigerian lawmakers intervened Thursday to try to stave off possible exile from world football.
The House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on the president to rescind the ban, while also asking a legislative committee to follow the French example and open an investigation into the World Cup performance.
On Wednesday, a presidential spokesman said the government will also investigate corruption allegations surrounding the football federation.
All funds directed toward the federation would be examined and "all those found wanting will be sanctioned," spokesman Ima Niboro said.
Nigeria is scheduled to receive prize money of $8 million (€6.5 million) from FIFA for participating in the World Cup.
Nigerian Football Federation spokesman Ademola Olajire told The Associated Press on Thursday that policemen came into their offices in Abuja after Jonathan announced his decision to pull the team from international matches.
However, Olajire said the officers came after they received information about an anti-government protest planned at the office.
Olajire said the federation remained open for business and that officials had yet to receive any communication from the government. Other leaders at the federation declined to speak with an AP reporter.
Spokesmen for Nigeria's federal police force and its chief anti-corruption agency denied Thursday that their organizations raided the football federation. They also said they had no knowledge of any ongoing investigation.
Known as the Super Eagles, Nigeria was eliminated from the World Cup with only one point after a 2-2 draw with South Korea in its last game.
Nigeria lost to Argentina 1-0 in its Group B opener, and was beaten 2-1 by Greece in a game that turned on the first-half red card to its midfielder Sani Kaita.
Nigeria is next scheduled to play in early September, at home to Madagascar in a qualifier for the 2012 African Cup of Nations.
A standoff between the government and football's governing body could threaten Nigeria's place in the FIFA-run Under-20 Women's World Cup, which kicks off July 13 in Germany.
Nigerian club side Heartland also could lose its spot in the African Champions League. Heartland is one of eight teams to reach the group stage of the continental competition, and is scheduled to host Egypt's Al-Ahly in two weeks' time.
The dispute has arisen despite Nigeria being represented on FIFA's ruling executive committee. Amos Adamu has had a seat on the powerful 24-man body since 2006.
-- Graham Dunbar
In South Africa, women want a World Cup boost
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Ever since Bafana Bafana made a quick exit from the World Cup, the talk of South Africa has been about how to build a soccer power.
The stock answer is this: We've got to develop our boys from the time they're young.
What people don't talk about are the nation's girls.
While South Africa is universally hailed for overcoming apartheid, it is still a conservative country where women athletes can face social stigma — and, in extreme cases, much worse. Eudy Simelane, a former captain of the women's national soccer team, was gang-raped and killed in 2008 by men believed to have targeted her because she was a prominent lesbian.
Usually, the pressure is more subtle, as Sesebo Mokhopa found when a troupe of little girls came to her last year for coaching. They were passionate about the game, said Mokhopa, who is something of a hero in Katlehong because she plays for the women's national team.
But after a few practices, parents told her they didn't like the way the girls were scuffing their school shoes working on passing and dribbling drills, and they couldn't afford shoes just for playing. The girls were 5- and 6-year-olds, just the age Mokhopa thinks they should begin training if they're going to excel as they get older. All dropped out of her impromptu soccer academy.
Parents, though, find a way to get soccer shoes for boys, or are less concerned about their school shoes, said Mokhopa, a 25-year-old midfielder who has been watching World Cup games avidly and is thrilled her nation is hosting so much world-class talent.
Simphiwe Dludlu, the 22-year-old captain of the national women's squad, said there has been some progress for female athletes, but not enough.
Soccer has taken Dludlu from the cramped streets of another Johannesburg township, Alexandra, to the University of Pretoria on a partial scholarship. She graduates this year with a degree in sports science, and dreams of playing professionally overseas and one day starting her own soccer school for girls.
"Opportunities are there for us, but they are still limited," she said. "We are growing, but it's too slow for my liking."
Most players in South Africa's struggling women's league earn nothing, and can be left choosing between buying soccer shoes or the healthy food an athlete needs, Dludlu said.
"It's amazing how women in South Africa have still got the passion to play," Dludlu said.
Augustine Makalakalane, coach of the national women's team known as Banyana Banyana, "our girls," said: "It's about time that women's football is given parity."
The South African Football Association, which oversees both the men's and women's teams, and Makalakalane say salaries are confidential. Makalakalane says that while he has no complaints about his SAFA pay, he doesn't make the $1 million-plus Carlos Alberto Parreira reportedly got for coaching the national men's team, Bafana Bafana, "our boys."
Makalakalane also says the stipends his players get for attending camps and playing games don't match what Bafana players get.
Makalakalane, a former Bafana star, hesitates to call himself a feminist. But he is committed to ensuring any team he is involved with, whether its players are girls or boys, gets a chance to succeed.
The World Cup has meant opportunity for Nthabiseng Ramatsokotla, the 23-year-old captain of a top league women's team in Alexandra.
Ramatsokotla has been working as a coordinator with Football for Hope, part of a campaign by FIFA, soccer's governing body, to ensure young Africans benefit from the continent's first World Cup. Alexandra has one of what FIFA says will be 20 Football for Hope community centers across Africa, where soccer coaching sessions are combined with lessons about life skills, including avoiding AIDS.
Ramatsokotla said it was a struggle at first to persuade young women to come to the Alexandra center because they "were thinking that soccer is only for boys." Her work, she said, has helped her develop administrative skills she hopes to use to start her own team and soccer academy one day.
Ramatsokotla grew up playing street soccer with her seven brothers. She said her father at first resisted his only daughter's soccer ambitions, but she persisted. At 14, she joined a program for girls started in 1998 by a local coach, Samuel Modiba.
Modiba runs the Alexandra Ladies Football Club on donations and a large portion of his earnings as a coach in Johannesburg schools. Parents at one of the schools where he works in a wealthier neighborhood donate shoes and other equipment for the Alexandra Ladies.
"I was born here," Modiba said. "When I would be in the neighborhood, I would see a lot of girls with talent. But they had no showcase for their talent."
The field behind a high school where his players practice with battered balls is equal parts dry grass and patches of dirt. But Modiba has put together a team that plays in South Africa's top women's league, and produced 17-year-old Jabulile Mazibuko, a member of the national team that has qualified for the under-17 girls World Cup.
Mazibuko dreams of playing professionally in Europe. For now, though, she's watching her heroes in the World Cup.
"There's a few techniques I'm learning from them as a defender," she said. "I wish I could play like them."
-- Donna Bryson
World Cup organizer sets sights on 3 million fan mark
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The World Cup could surpass the 3 million mark in paid attendance, the chief executive of the local organizing committee said Thursday.
Danny Jordaan said the paid attendance is already at 2.69 million people with eight games still to be played.
"The signs are there," Jordaan said of surpassing the 3 million mark. "The South African fans have been superb. The spirit inside the country has been one of the outstanding features of this World Cup."
Official FIFA figures show a total of just under 3.4 million fans attended games at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but FIFA could not say how many of those were paying fans and how many tickets were complimentary.
At the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea, 2.7 million attended matches. There were nearly 2.8 million at the 1998 event in France and more than 3.5 million at the 1994 edition in the United States — which FIFA says is the highest World Cup attendance.
But FIFA also said Thursday it still has 1,000 unsold premier seats for the Argentina-Germany quarterfinal match in Cape Town on Saturday — a game featuring two of the world's biggest teams.
There are also 700 premier and 200 Category 1 tickets remaining for Friday's match between Uruguay and Ghana at Soccer City. Hugely disappointing international hospitality sales has also meant more than half of suites have been left empty at many matches.
Organizers have also struggled to ensure all ticket buyers actually attend games and fill their seats at the stadium.
Port Elizabeth's Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium had at least 4,000 empty seats for each of its first six games at the World Cup — including 12,000 for the round of 16 match between Uruguay and South Korea.
Bloemfontein's Free State Stadium had similar problems and only boasted a capacity crowd for two of its six games. It had rows of empty seats at the other four.
Organizers had to give away tickets to Confederations Cup matches in South Africa last year and promised then that there would be no empty seats at World Cup. But they have yet to solve the problem, despite bulk sales to offload tickets to South African companies and various government departments.
Jordaan also said that South Africa had attracted 364,000 tourists for the first two weeks of the World Cup.
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said that nearly 1 million foreigners — mostly from neighboring countries — have entered South Africa in June.
Nearly 45,000 Americans, and about the same number of Britons, lead the way from western countries during that time, Gigaba said. About 220 people were denied entry, he said.
In 2004, organizers said they expected between 450,000 and 500,000 visitors for the tournament before the global economic crisis led them to revise that figure to less than 300,000.
"We are delighted to have attracted so many soccer tourists for the first two weeks of the World Cup," Jordaan said, although it is still unclear if South Africa will reach its initial estimates, which would provide the country with part of the much-needed economic boost that tournament organizers have banked on.
Still, Jordaan gave an upbeat assessment of Africa's first World Cup, and said it would be "the cherry on the top for Africa" if Ghana beats Uruguay in Johannesburg on Friday to become the first African team to reach the World Cup semifinals.
Jordaan said South Africa's World Cup had been an "extraordinary success" and had proved the country's doubters — and particularly the foreign media — wrong.
"Now, to their credit, those people have said sorry and complimented the way we have run the tournament and the huge success of the first World Cup in Africa," Jordaan said. "There is a positive energy in our country we need to harness and maintain after the World Cup ends.
"For a while we will be depressed (after it ends)," he added, "but we can hold our heads high knowing we have surpassed all expectations."
-- Gerald Imray
South African soccer great looks back wistfully
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Though thrilled that the World Cup has come to his homeland, South African soccer great Jomo Sono can't help but look back to his glory days in the apartheid era and wonder what might have been.
Once a teammate of Pele's with the New York Cosmos, Sono — and several brilliant contemporaries — never got the chance to play for their country because of the international sports boycott.
"I'm not being cocky," he said in an interview Thursday. "We would have definitely won the World Cup."
Well, perhaps. The world champion Argentines were pretty good in 1978. So were the Italians in 1982.
Nonetheless, Sono was part of a generation of South African stars who played abroad, primarily in the North American Soccer league, during the 1970s and '80s. They included both white and black players — among them Steve Wegerle, Neill Roberts, Webster Lichaba and the heralded midfielder Ace Ntsoelengoe — who might have qualified for the 1982 World Cup.
"We could have made a big difference in the world," Sono mused. "But we cannot be sad."
He evoked the legacy of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, who spent more than 27 years in prison before his release in 1990 and his election as president in 1994.
"We spent those years outside, playing football, doing what we love most, while he was sitting in prison," Sono said. "By talking about him and looking at his life, it takes away all the pain and the frustration."
Though excluded from the boycott-era World Cups, Sono says he, Ntsoelengoe and other black players who went abroad contributed to South Africa's eventual transformation.
"We carried the torch for the South African people by playing overseas," he said. "The perception of the white Afrikaners was that the black man can't do anything. We went out to the other side of the world and showed that black people can play football."
"We're also proud to see the World Cup is here today," he said. "It's because of people like us, like Mandela, those who suffered."
Sono was born in the black township of Soweto in 1955, the son of a pro soccer player. His father was killed in a car crash when he was 8, his mother abandoned him, and he was raised by his grandparents.
He played for his father's former club, the Orlando Pirates, and went to the United States in 1977 to join a remarkable New York Cosmos team that included several world-famous though past-their-prime stars, notably Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia and Carlos Alberto.
"It was like the Harlem Globetrotters," Sono said. "All the superstars were there."
Sono bounced around the NASL over the next five years, playing with the Colorado Caribous the Atlanta Chiefs and the Toronto Blizzard.
He returned to South Africa in 1982 and — in an emphatic sign of increasing black influence in South African soccer and commerce — purchased a white Johannesburg team, Highlands Park, and renamed it Jomo Cosmos. It competes in South Africa's top-level Premier Soccer League, with Sono as owner/coach.
Sono has emerged as one of South Africa's best scouts of new soccer talent, and he served a couple of short stints as coach of the national team — including the 2002 World Cup in which he guided Bafana Bafana to 1-1-1 record.
Over the past three weeks, he's attended numerous World Cup matches, including two involving the now-eliminated U.S. team.
"The American kids have improved tremendously. ... They played with a lot of heart and determination," Sono said. "But they're lacking somebody who can control the game. And they also need an out-and-out striker — a focused player who will spend most of his time in the box."
His assessment of South Africa's team was harsher — but he blamed officials, not the players, for Bafana's failure to reach the second round. In particular, he denounced a decision to pull the players out of training camp and send them on a celebratory bus tour around Johannesburg two days before their first match.
"Had they won any trophy? No. You only do that when you've won a trophy," Sono said. "It was all about the officials. You found them on top of the buses, jumping around like school kids — they were happy to be seen."
Looking continentwide, he assailed the moves by four of Africa's World Cup teams to bring in coaches from Europe and South America less than a year before the start of the tournament. And he said soccer officials in many African countries, including South Africa, were remiss for failing to bolster youth development programs.
"Sometimes in Africa, instead of developing the game, they develop their pockets, their bank books," he said.
For all his critiques, Sono depicted this World Cup as "unbelievable success."
"What makes it so special to me is that the country and Africa were criticized — that we cannot handle anything," he said. "The Europeans were character-assassinating this World Cup and — what is funny — they are singing our praises now."
"We Africans are very proud."
-- David Crary
Soccer great says fewer outstanding players now
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Soccer great Eusebio believes top-tier players were more plentiful when soccer was less commercial.
The former Portuguese star was the top scorer at the 1966 World Cup with nine goals and is considered as one of the game's best ever players. Asked to rate the sport now and when he was playing, the 68-year-old Eusebio said it was difficult to compare.
"The only answer I can give you is that my generation, of the '60s, we played football," Eusebio said Thursday. "There were many good players all over the world. Every country had great players.
"You can't compare with today. Today football is commercial. You can count the good players on one hand."
Eusebio's joint news conference with former Germany striker Gerd Mueller, who scored the most goals at the 1970 World Cup, was hosted by Adidas, which sponsors the Golden Boot award for the tournament's top scorer.
Eusebio predicted that strikers Gonzalo Higuain of Argentina or David Villa of Spain would win the award, but wasn't impressed by the number of goals scored in the tournament so far.
"Did you say there have been many goals in this tournament?" Eusebio asked. "I haven't seen many goals so far in this tournament. The top scorers in this tournament have four goals, but there is still a lot of time left."
Villa, Higuain and Robert Vittek of Slovakia share the scoring lead with four goals.
The 65-year-old Mueller said his namesake in today's German team, Thomas Mueller, would win the top scorer award. The 20-year-old midfielder has scored three goals so far.
"He's a good player," Mueller said. "At 18, he was already in the squad. He's a very valuable player. On top of that, he's a very decent person, a good person and that's important, too."
Regardless of who scores the most goals, Eusebio predicted that Argentina forward Lionel Messi would be remembered as the best player of the tournament.
"As we all have seen on TV and in the stadiums, I have no doubt that this little player, who plays for Argentina ... will win this title," Eusebio said.
-- Karl Ritter
South Korea coach steps down
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's Huh Jung-moo announced Friday he will resign as coach of the national football team.
Huh, 55, who returned from the ongoing World Cup in South Africa earlier this week, told a news conference he "would like to have an opportunity to recharge."
"There are many great and capable ... leaders in our football community. I think they should be given a chance" to coach the national team, he said.
Huh's successor is yet to be decided.
South Korea finished second in its group and advanced to the round of 16 at the World Cup before being knocked out in a 2-1 loss to Uruguay. The team advanced out of the group stage for the first time on foreign soil.
South Korea's best ever World Cup performance came in 2002 when it reached the semifinals as co-host with Japan.
Huh was appointed as coach of the national team in late 2007 after Pim Verbeek of the Netherlands left to lead Asian rival Australia.
"What I felt during the World Cup tournament is that the global football powerhouses, especially the South American teams, performed well" and were too much for us, he said.
"Whatever I do, I would like to contribute to the development of Republic of Korea football in any way," he said, referring to South Korea by its official name.
Huh, who played for Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in the early 1980s, coached South Korea twice before his latest stint — leading the team in 1995 and again from 1998 to 2000. He also played for South Korea at the 1986 World Cup.
South Korea's next scheduled match is a friendly against Iran in September. The team will travel to Qatar to contest the Asian Cup in January.
Japan receives warm welcome home from World Cup
OSAKA, Japan (AP) — Japan's football team returned home to an enthusiastic reception on Thursday after having exceeded expectations at the World Cup.
Thousands of fans waved flags that read "Thank You" when greeting the squad at Kansai International Airport.
Japan surprised many by beating Cameroon and Denmark in group matches before being defeated in a penalty shootout by Paraguay in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
"We returned a little earlier than we wanted," coach Takeshi Okada said. "We wanted to play one more game, but this was a great team that did a good job of representing the spirit of Japan."
It was the first time Japan had reached the knockout stage of a World Cup on foreign soil. Japan also reached the second round when it co-hosted the 2002 tournament.
Keisuke Honda, who scored twice in the group stage, paid tribute to his teammates.
"My teammates supported me and created situations that made it easier to score," Honda said. "But to be honest, I am disappointed, so will work hard to improve."
The team's performance in South Africa touched off large celebrations at home.
Thousands went to stadiums around the country to watch public showings, while Tokyo pubs and sports bars were open all night and packed. After the win over Denmark, the normally sedate streets of Tokyo erupted in celebration.
Okada, who said before the tournament he was targeting a semifinal berth, has indicated he will step down as coach. Guido Buchwald, a former Urawa Reds coach and German defender, has been mentioned as a possible replacement.
Nakamura retires from international football
OSAKA, Japan (AP) — Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura has announced his retirement from international football.
After spending most of the World Cup on the bench, the 32-year-old Nakamura told Japanese media Thursday that he has played his last game for Japan. The former Celtic and Espanyol player made only one substitute appearance in South Africa, during the 1-0 loss to the Netherlands on June 19.
Responding to a question from Nikkan Sports newspaper about his next game for Japan, Nakamura said "there won't be one for me."
Nakamura returned to J-League team Yokohama F Marinos in February after struggling with Spanish side Espanyol, where he was used mostly from the bench.
Irmatov to referee Argentina-Germany at World Cup
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — FIFA has appointed Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan to referee the Argentina-Germany quarterfinal at the World Cup.
Saturday's game in Cape Town will be the 32-year-old official's fourth match at the tournament, including the opening game between South Africa and Mexico plus Argentina's 2-0 group-stage win over Greece.
Yuichi Nishimura of Japan will take charge of the Netherlands-Brazil quarterfinal in Port Elizabeth on Friday, which will be his fourth match.
Guatemala's Carlos Batres has been appointed to his third match, when Spain and Paraguay meet on Saturday at Ellis Park, Johannesburg.
Olegario Benquerenca of Portugal will officiate the Uruguay-Ghana quarterfinal on Friday at Johannesburg's Soccer City for his third match of the tournament.
Other Soccer Capsules
President Obama honors NJ's Sky Blue soccer team
President Barack Obama saluted New Jersey's Sky Blue FC women's soccer team at a White House ceremony on Thursday.
Sky Blue earned the White House visit as winners of the inaugural Women's Professional Soccer championship last year.
Obama noted that the team had to overcome multiple coaching changes and a slow start to reach the playoffs, then win three games on the road in eight days to capture the title.
Through it all, Obama said, the team "stayed focused on their ultimate goal. That's what teams do."
Sky Blue FC, which plays its home games at Rutgers' Yurcak Field in Piscataway, won the WPS title by defeating the Los Angeles Sol 1-0 in the title game last August in Carson, Calif.
DC United sign Argentine forward Pablo Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AP) — D.C. United have signed Pablo Hernandez, a 23-year-old forward from Argentina.
United said on Thursday that Hernandez is joining the team on loan from Defensor Sporting of Uruguay. Hernandez will be available to play once he receives his international transfer certificate and appropriate visa.
Hernandez played in 11 games with Defensor Sporting last season, scoring three goals. He has been training with United for several weeks.
Hodgson targets Champions League return
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Roy Hodgson targeted a return to the Champions League and made clear his desire to keep stars Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres after being appointed Liverpool manager on Thursday.
The 62-year-old Englishman, who led Fulham to the Europa League final last season, was confirmed by Liverpool as the replacement for Rafael Benitez. Details of Hodgson's three-year contract were not disclosed.
"The priority is to try to help the team do better than last year, try and get back into the Champions League, where the club has always been," Hodgson told a news conference.
"This is a very big club, a club with enormous tradition, and in the future, when the club is sold, it will get stronger rather than weaker. I'm convinced that the chance to work here is the right deal for me at this point in my career."
Despite uncertainty over Liverpool's ownership and the financial constraints that come with failing to qualify for the Champions League, Hodgson described holding on to Gerrard, the England midfielder, and Torres, the Spain striker, as "very important for the club."
"I can't nail their feet to the floor but I can try to persuade them if they stay here we can have a good season," he said. "I'm very anxious that the club keeps all its best players."
The chairman, Martin Broughton, insisted there are no plans to sell either player, who have been linked in the media with moves away from Anfield.
"We don't need the money," Broughton said, although he added that should either player leave, the revenue would be invested in new signings.
Hodgson added that he had not discussed what funding would be available to him in the transfer market.
"It's not the right time to talk about that," he said. "It's a bit disappointing that on your first day it's matters of money that take precedence over football matters.
"I took the job because I wanted to be manager of Liverpool Football Club, to work with the players ... to benefit from the fan base and the support for the club."
Hodgson had also been linked with England following the team's dismal second-round exit from the World Cup, but he denied there was a possibility of his holding out to become Fabio Capello's successor.
"When this job was first discussed with me there was no question of there being any change in the England manager set-up," he said.
"I don't expect there to be a change but there was never a question of whether I should hold on for something different because I wanted to be here."
Benitez left Liverpool to join Inter Milan after the 2009 Premier League runner-up slumped to seventh place last season, which meant it missed qualification for the Champions League.
Instead, Liverpool still has to come through qualification in July and August for the Europa League group stages.
Club captain Gerrard backed Hodgson as the right man to succeed Benitez.
"The club have made a good appointment in Roy Hodgson," Gerrard said. "He is hugely experienced and I believe he is the right man for Liverpool."
"I think it's been worth the wait and I'm sure he's just keen now to get on with it and start to quickly put in place his plans for the new season."
Hodgson saved Fulham from relegation in 2008 and guided the west London club to an all-time best seventh place a season later.
Fulham dipped to 12th this season but made it to only the second major final in the club's 131-year history before losing 2-1 to Atletico Madrid in Hamburg.
Benitez's six years in charge at Anfield ended on June 3.
In a 34-year coaching career, Hodgson has had spells in England, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Italy, where he was twice in charge of Inter.
Hodgson has also coached Finland, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland, which he guided to the 1994 World Cup in the United States. He has also acted as a technical adviser to UEFA, European football's governing body.
But after coaching stints with Fulham and Blackburn, Liverpool will be his first job at a major top-flight club in his own country and only his second in Europe after Inter.
Benitez took Liverpool to the Champions League title in his first season but failed to win the English league title the club last won in 1990. Manchester United has now equaled its record of 18 league titles.
Last season's seventh-place finish was Liverpool's worst for 11 years and a key factor in Benitez's departure.
Hodgson's anticipated appointment had already received a mixed response on Merseyside, with many fans demanding a higher profile name or someone with deeper roots at Liverpool.
Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill and former Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann were linked with the job, while former manager Kenny Dalglish, who currently works with Liverpool's academy, expressed an interest in taking charge for a second time.
Broughton said, however, that Dalglish had never been considered for the role.
Once Hodgson's appointment was made official, many fans and former players welcomed his arrival and suggested this could be the start of a new era at Liverpool.
"After having foreign managers in Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez, it seems there was a thought process of going back to British," former Liverpool captain Phil Thompson said. "The club needs a steadying influence and Roy will provide that. He's done a fantastic job at Fulham and has a wealth of experience having managed all over Europe."
American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr., who bought Liverpool three years ago, have put the club up for sale after a public fallout over the running of the club. Liverpool is now heavily in debt.
Broughton said no bids had been received for the club at this stage.
"We're still in the middle of that process," Broughton said. "There have not been any offers. We wouldn't have expected any at this stage (but) there are a number of interested parties.
"There is no specific deadline on it. We are hopeful that a deal can get done before the end of the transfer window (in August)."
Last month, the club announced a pretax loss of 16 million pounds ($23.5 million; €18.5 million) for last season, a steep decline from a healthy profit the year before.
Hodgson finally lands high-profile job in England
LONDON (AP) — Having restored his reputation in England as a manager of the highest quality, the well-respected and much-traveled Roy Hodgson has landed what he has dubbed "the biggest job in club football."
Hodgson, who on Thursday was announced as the new manager of Liverpool, has previously taken charge of three national sides and managerial roles with clubs in six different countries.
The Liverpool fans who initially demanded a high-profile manager to replace Rafa Benitez appear ready to welcome the erudite Hodgson with open arms, hopeful he can usher in a new era of success at the club.
The 62-year-old Hodgson had been seen as a potential replacement to England manager Fabio Capello following the national team's dismal showing at the World Cup — but he hasn't always been so in-demand in his native country.
Hodgson arrived at Fulham in 2007 with a point to prove after an up-and-down spell with Blackburn in 1997-98. After a clutch of poor buys and with rumors of dressing room unrest, he was let go midway through his second season in charge at Ewood Park — with Blackburn ultimately relegated.
It is sometimes forgotten that he guided Rovers into the UEFA Cup at the end of his first season and oversaw a major improvement from the previous year. But his achievements at Fulham made England — and Liverpool, in particular — sit up and take notice.
He saved Fulham from relegation on the final day of the 2007-08 season. The following year it finished seventh in the Premier League, the highest final placing in its history. Last season, Hodgson's Cottagers beat some of Europe's biggest teams, including Italian giant Juventus, on its way to the Europa League final.
Fulham lost 2-1 to Atletico Madrid but Hodgson's reputation domestically was back to the level it had assumed abroad. In Europe, the multilingual Hodgson is respected and admired, with an impressive CV to boot.
He started his career in Sweden with Halmstads, where he won the league championship twice. He later won five successive titles and two Swedish Cups with Malmo.
He moved to Switzerland, where, after managing Neuchatel Xamax, he took over as coach of the national team, which he led to the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
Since then, Hodgson has had two spells at Inter Milan, stints at Swiss side Grasshopper, Danish club FC Copenhagen — where he won the Superliga title — and Italy's Udinese, as well as taking charge of the national teams of United Arab Emirates (2002-04) and Finland (2006-07).
He rounded off his successful spell at Fulham by being named the League Managers' Association's manager of the year. He showed he could succeed with a limited transfer budget, something he is likely to have at Liverpool as the club battles ownership issues and its failure to qualify for next season's Champions League.
Arguably Hodgson's greatest attribute has been his ability to get the best out of players who are not household names. With players such as Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano at Anfield, he will now have to prove he can manage world-class stars who are rumored to be unhappy with a lack of success.
But given Liverpool's current financial situation, Hodgson may yet prove the shrewdest signing it could have made.
-- Jessica Cullen
Lewington takes temporary charge of Fulham
LONDON (AP) — Fulham has put Ray Lewington in temporary charge of the first team following the departure of Roy Hodgson to Liverpool.
Hodgson resigned from his post as Fulham manager on Thursday to take over at fellow Premier League side Liverpool on a three-year contract.
The London club has said Lewington, who was part of Hodgson's backroom staff, will take charge of team matters until a new manager is appointed.
Lewington, who made 270 appearances for Fulham during his playing career, managed the club between 1986 and 1990.
Prandelli expects recovery from World Cup failure
ROME (AP) — New Italy coach Cesare Prandelli vowed not to dwell on the team's embarrassing group-stage exit at the World Cup and insisted his players will quickly bounce back from their failure in South Africa.
Prandelli, who has replaced Marcello Lippi as Azzurri coach, signed a four-year contract on Thursday and was formally presented at Rome's Olympic Stadium.
Defending champion Italy exited the World Cup after finishing bottom of a group that included Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia, but former Fiorentina coach Prandelli wanted to draw a line under this summer's disappointment.
"There is a lot of quality, a lot of experience and a lot of good things to build on," Prandelli said. "What happened, happened. We need to keep hold of the good things and put good systems in place.
"Of course we want a good team and we have good players for this. I want to get the team playing well and put long-term plans in place."
Prandelli's first match in charge will be against Ivory Coast on Aug. 10, at Fulham's Craven Cottage in London. Italy then begins its qualification for the 2012 European Championship with an away match against Estonia on Sept. 3.
The Azzurri will be without Fabio Cannavaro and Gennaro Gattuso, who both announced their retirements from international duty after the team's World Cup exit.
There are also concerns that Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will not have recovered from a back injury in time for the Ivory Coast match, although Prandelli intends to name him as the team's new captain.
"Of course for the first game we will only have a few days' preparation and we will have to see who is available," he said.
"I would like to give Gianluigi Buffon the captain's armband. I hope he will be a point of reference for the team and carry on to the European Championships."
Prandelli refused to be drawn on which players he will call up for the match.
Lippi, who guided Italy to World Cup glory in 2006 but could not repeat that feat four years on, was criticized toward the end of his second tenure for ignoring in-form Sampdoria striker Antonio Cassano and the pace of Inter Milan forward Mario Balotelli as he was afraid it would upset the harmony of the squad.
"Balotelli and Cassano are excellent players and they wouldn't have any problem playing together," Prandelli said. "Those called up will merit it, but I want them to act with respect for their role in the team.
"In the last few years, Cassano has grown up and calmed down. Getting married will help even more."
In the fallout from Italy's early World Cup elimination, many questions have been raised over the quality of young players coming through.
Nine of Lippi's squad in South Africa were age 30 or over, but Prandelli said he expected new faces to come through soon.
"The youth systems are the future of Italian football," Prandelli said. "In terms of learning the game, improving technique and learning skills.
"The clubs have invested heavily in these systems and I am convinced that we will see a lot of young players coming through in the next few months."
Juventus signs Bonucci and Martinez
TURIN, Italy (AP) — Juventus has announced the signings of Leonardo Bonucci and Jorge Martinez in separate deals worth more than €27million ($US33.3million).
Defender Bonucci joins from Bari for €15.5million ($US19million) and has signed a five-year contract. Martinez, who is a Uruguayan midfielder, arrives on a four-year contract from Catania for €12million ($US14.7million).
The 23-year-old Bonucci has won two caps for Italy. He traveled as part of the squad to the Word Cup in South Africa, but did not play. Martinez spent three seasons with Catania, making 86 appearances and scoring 22 times. He has won 15 caps for Uruguay.
The pair are Juventus' third and fourth major signings of the summer, following Simone Pepe and Marco Storari.
Footballer Davenport cleared of attacking sister
LUTON, England, (AP) — The former West Ham United defender Calum Davenport has been cleared of head-butting and trying to throttle his pregnant sister during a drunken row.
The 27-year-old footballer, who has also played for Tottenham and Sunderland, was found not guilty of actual bodily harm by a jury at Luton Crown Court on Thursday.
Davenport was accused of launching the attack on his 28-year-old sister Cara after being told she was pregnant again. During his trial, it was claimed that, on August 22 last year, a heated row broke out between the pair about how she was financially going to support her second child.
Davenport, a former England under-21 international, was accused of calling his sister a "form of cancer" and a "whore" before allegedly grabbing her by the throat and bundling her to the ground.
Gunmen kill soccer player, another man in Sweden
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Gunmen shot and killed Swedish soccer player Eddie Moussa as well as another man early Thursday in southern Sweden, according to police and the player's club Assyriska.
The 26-year-old striker for the second-tier club was shot at a place used for card games in the Ronna area of Sodertalje, about 18 miles south of Stockholm. The other man had not yet been identified to the media. A third man was injured and is in stable condition.
Police are searching for two or three gunmen who escaped from the scene on a scooter, which later was found burning nearby. No suspects have yet been identified, police spokeswoman Bjorn Engstrom said.
Assyriska said the planned game against Angelholm FF on Thursday has been postponed.
-- Malin Rising
Platt joins Manchester City coaching staff
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Former England international David Platt has joined Roberto Mancini's coaching staff at Manchester City.
Platt, who played alongside Mancini at Sampdoria between 1993 and 1995, has been made first-team coach, the club announced Thursday. City manager Mancini said that the 44-year-old Platt would bring "a wealth of experience to his role."
After his retirement as a player in 1999, Platt had spells managing Nottingham Forest and the England Under-21 side. He has also worked in the media.
Platt was capped 62 times by England and was part of the team that reached the semifinals of the 1990 World Cup. He also played for Aston Villa, Juventus and Arsenal, among others.
Fernando Santos named as new Greece coach
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The Greek Football Association has hired Fernando Santos as the new national-team coach.
The 55-year-old Portuguese coach replaces Otto Rehhagel, who resigned after Greece's group-stage elimination from the World Cup in South Africa. The Greek FA said Thursday that Santos will be formally appointed on Friday.
Santos has been the coach of PAOK Thessaloniki for the past three years, guiding the northern Greek team into next season's Champions League qualifying rounds.
Rehhagel, who turns 72 in August, led Greece to a surprise title at the 2004 European Championship but the team failed to progress beyond the first round at Euro 2008 or at this summer's World Cup.
Romania midfielder Nicu joins Freiburg
FREIBURG, Germany (AP) — Romania midfielder Maximilian Nicu is joining Bundesliga club Freiburg on a free transfer from relegated Hertha Berlin.
Freiburg gave no details Thursday of the German-born 27-year-old's contract. The club finished 14th in the 18-team top division last season.
