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Soccer Capsules: CONCACAF endorses U.S. bid to host World Cup
Comments 0 | Recommend 0NEW YORK — The U.S. bid to host the World Cup again in 2018 or 2022 has been endorsed by CONCACAF, football's governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Mexico withdrew its bid in September, leaving the United States as the lone contender from the Americas.
"The United States can count on the full support of CONCACAF," CONCACAF president Jack Warner said Monday.
Warner is a member of FIFA's 24-man executive committee, which will decide the 2018 and 2022 hosts in December 2010.
Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Netherlands-Belgium, Russia, and Spain-Portugal have also bid to host both World Cups, and Qatar and South Korea bid for 2022 only. England and Spain are viewed as the leading contenders to host in 2018, while the United States is viewed among the top candidates for 2022.
Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup.
Seattle coach released from hospital
SEATTLE — Seattle Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid is out of the hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia.
The team says that Schmid was released on Monday. He spent four nights at Overlake Hospital in suburban Bellevue after being admitting last Thursday night after having trouble breathing.
Schmid says he'd like to thank fans for their good wishes and after spending the holiday with family will "be back in the office next week."
Schmid helped Seattle become the first expansion team since Chicago in 1998 to reach the Major League Soccer playoffs in its first year. The Sounders finished the regular season 12-7-11 before losing to Houston in the first round of the playoffs.
American 2nd-tier league dubs itself the NASL
NEW YORK — Pele may not be suiting up, but the NASL is making a comeback.
Organizers announced Monday that the North American Soccer League, the second division men's professional football league, would begin play this spring.
The original NASL lasted from 1968-84 and briefly made a splash with the likes of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia and Johan Cruyff.
The new NASL has nine teams: Carolina RailHawks, Atlanta Silverbacks, Crystal Palace Baltimore, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, St. Louis Soccer United, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
The Major League Soccer season ended Sunday with Real Salt Lake scoring an upset win over Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS Cup.
Elsewhere
Henry considered quitting international football
PARIS — Thierry Henry says the outcry over his hand ball in France's World Cup playoff against Ireland pushed him to the brink of international retirement, and the Barcelona striker is upset that he was not backed by his own federation.
Henry spoke about the fall out from his already infamous hand ball incident that has tarnished his reputation in separate interviews with sports daily L'Equipe and a French radio station on Monday.
Henry has been upset by the virulent criticism he received from former players and politicians, but worse still for the veteran forward with 117 caps and 51 goals was the lack of support from the French football federation.
"I had the (France) coach (Raymond Domenech) and many, many calls from players, coaches, people I had lost contact with who supported me," Henry said Monday night on RTL radio station. "But those who should have come to the front line to support me — to appease what was happening in France and particularly to appease what was happening in England ... no one came."
Henry's hand ball before passing for defender William Gallas to score helped give France a 1-1 draw with Ireland and a 2-1 win on aggregate, advancing the team to next year's tournament in South Africa.
Henry said he received no contact from the FFF, whose president Jean-Pierre Escalettes is a staunch supporter of Domenech, until after he had released a statement apologizing and saying it would be fair to replay the match.
"It's a fact that there was no support. It really shocked me," Henry said.
"The day after the match and the next day, I felt alone, really alone," Henry told sports daily L'Equipe on Monday. "Oh, yes I did (consider quitting). Friday, when everything had gone too far, I was very worked up."
Henry says he has now "moved on" from the incident and is fully focused on facing Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday and against archrival Real Madrid in La Liga on Sunday.
After receiving criticism from former players such as former Ireland and Marseille striker Tony Cascarino and French sports minister Roselyne Bachelot, Henry said it was his friends and family who talked him out of retiring from international football.
"Despite everything that happened, the fact I felt abandoned, I will not drop my country," he said. "I asked myself the question. Without the support of my loved ones, maybe I wouldn't have thought the same way. Now, I've decided — I'll always fight until the end.
"It's been very hard, everything started from something that happens in a game and it went too far. I heard some people giving lectures about this, when I said I was sorry, on the pitch and off it."
Henry received criticism for wildly celebrating Gallas' goal in front of dejected Irish players.
"I shouldn't have done that. But honestly, it was uncontrollable ... Yes, I regret that," he said.
However, Henry dodged the issue of whether he should have immediately told referee Martin Hansson he had handled the ball.
"I was in a no-win situation," he said, adding that the incident will not overshadow his whole career.
"I don't think that everything I've achieved can be tarnished."
-- Jerome Pugmire
Bubka backs Ukraine to meet Euro 2012 demands
MONACO — Ukraine sports great Sergei Bubka says his country is still on track to co-host football's 2012 European Championship in four cities with the final being played in Kiev.
Tournament organizer UEFA has set Ukraine a deadline of next Monday to show it has made progress in building stadiums and infrastructure.
Bubka, a former Olympic pole vault champion and a member of the Euro 2012 organizing committee, believes it will be met.
"We would like to deliver what we promised," Bubka told The Associated Press on Sunday at a meeting of athletics' governing body. "We have some issues with some airports and hotels, because we need to host many, many guests. I think it will be done. It's important for UEFA and for us."
UEFA's executive committee will study technical reports before deciding which Ukrainian cities have met hosting standards.
The announcement is scheduled at the Dec. 9-10 meeting on Portugal's Madeira Islands.
UEFA president Michel Platini has stood by Ukraine since it was awarded co-hosting rights with Poland in April 2007, before the global financial crisis.
"UEFA are very professional. I like Michel Platini and I think he's doing a great job," Bubka said.
Last May, Platini approved the Polish cities of Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan and Wroclaw as Euro 2012 venues but only Kiev of the four proposed Ukrainian cities.
Platini extended the deadline for Donetsk, Kharkiv and Lviv and withheld a promise that Kiev's reconstructed Olympic Stadium would host the final.
Bubka, a six-time world champion and gold medalist at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, said he believed the capital's 77,000-capacity arena would satisfy UEFA's demands.
"Of course, but it's a big challenge," he said. "From my office, I can see it day and night. It's called a renovation but it looks like a complete rebuild."
Bubka pointed to his experience as an International Olympic Committee member and IAAF vice president in inspecting cities hoping to stage major sports events. He sat on an IOC commission that assessed Beijing when it was a candidate to host last year's Olympics.
"I see all this process from bidding to delivery," he said. "UEFA use the same experts that the IOC use for evaluation."
Ukraine's work has also been stalled by decision-making disputes between political factions in the government.
But Bubka, a former member of Ukraine's parliament, dismissed concerns that the presidential election scheduled in January could hamper the football project.
"The government and leaders of the country understand that we need to deliver. It's no joke," he said. "The elections will be done and it will be full-speed, working day and night."
Liverpool hoping to remain in Champions League
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has helped his club pull off some amazing comebacks but the task facing his team in the Champions League may be too much even for him.
The five-time champion is on the brink of being knocked out of this season's competition with at least five points to make up on the two teams above it in Group E and only two games to go.
That means even a victory against Hungarian champion Debrecen in Budapest on Tuesday won't be enough if Fiorentina, playing at home, beats group leader Lyon.
But the England midfielder has done it all before.
Gerrard's spectacular long-range strike against Olympiakos in December 2004 prevented Liverpool's elimination at the group stage. Then he famously led Liverpool's fightback from 3-0 down at halftime in the 2005 final against AC Milan before the team won the title by winning a penalty shootout in Istanbul.
At the 2006 FA Cup final, another powerful long-range shot from Gerrard in the dying seconds sent the game against West Ham into extra time at 3-3 and Liverpool won the penalty shootout.
Now back from a lingering groin injury, Gerrard is trying to revive a Liverpool side which has stumbled in the league and seems almost certain to drop out of European football's biggest club competition with only the consolation of playing in the Europa League.
"The mood in the camp is really good, although we know our position in the table isn't good enough," Gerrard said. "But we have faith in our ability. We know we can put things right.
"It's been a frustrating few weeks because as soon as I was fit we had the international break. I've been desperate to play and can't wait to really get going properly again."
Liverpool, which has four points from four games, faces Debrecen, last in Group E with none, without striker Fernando Torres, who has been sidelined for several games with a groin problem.
"We thought it (Torres' injury) would be two or three weeks and he's only 12 or 13 days into that so there's no point in him going," said manager Rafa Benitez. "The next few days will decide if he is fit for Everton (on Sunday), but at this moment there are no guarantees."
Dutch forward Ryan Babel has also been ruled out of the game after twisting his ankle in Saturday's 2-2 Premier League draw with Manchester City at Anfield.
Liverpool should prove too strong for Debrecen but the Reds fans will also be focusing on what happens in Florence the same night.
Fiorentina has nine points and Lyon is top with 10. Although already sure of a place in the last 16, Lyon may not want to lose top spot to the Italian side and may go all out to avoid losing.
A Fiorentina victory would eliminate Liverpool. If that game is a draw, however, and Liverpool wins at the Ferenc Puskas stadium on Tuesday, the outcome of the group hangs on the Liverpool-Fiorentina result on Dec. 9.
Guardiola says Messi's injury status is uncertain
BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said that a decision on Lionel Messi's fitness for the Champions League match against Inter Milan will not be made until Tuesday.
Messi, who limped out of Saturday's 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao with a leg-muscle injury, was in the spotlight Monday with the European champions facing a must-win match.
"Until tomorrow we won't know anything. But we're going to do everything we can so that he can be with us," said Guardiola, who fielded several questions about the 22-year-old midfielder's health.
Team doctors will evaluate Messi on Tuesday ahead of the match against Inter. Guardiola added that striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not certain to return from a hamstring injury and his status would remain uncertain until Tuesday. Barcelona is also without Eric Abidal and Yaya Toure, who have swine flu.
"I don't know if Leo or Ibra will be there but we'll play with those we have," said Guardiola, who didn't hide his frustration with repeatedly fielding the same question about the Argentina forward. "I can't deny that we're talking about two important players but let's not forget that whatever we've achieved, we've achieved as a team. It doesn't matter who plays."
Inter leads Group F with six points, one better than Rubin Kazan and Barcelona, while Dynamo Kiev has four. Barcelona could be eliminated from the competition with a defeat should Rubin win the other match in the group. Guardiola also has to keep Sunday's derby match against Real Madrid in mind after his team dropped one point behind its bitter rival in the league standings over the weekend.
"I sincerely think we will win," Guardiola said. "He's the world's best and without him of course we lose qualities just as the Bulls lost out when (Michael) Jordan didn't play or the Lakers when (Kobe) Bryant couldn't. But if we lose it won't be because Messi isn't on the field but because we didn't do things right."
-- Paul Logothetis
Fabregas dismisses latest talk of Barcelona move
LONDON — Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas dismissed the latest speculation linking him with a move to Barcelona, saying he could even stay with the Gunners for the rest of his career.
Outgoing Barcelona president Joan Laporta suggested recently that a deal is already in place to sign the Spain midfielder.
"I am at a great club with a great team and am happy," he said. "We have a long season in front of us and the last thing I want to do is get disconnected from what I have to do playing for Arsenal, who are the club which pays me."
Asked whether he would stay with Arsenal for the rest of his career, he replied: "Why not?"
"I have never really thought about it, staying here all my life, because I am only 22 and you never know what your career will bring," he said. "It is my seventh season now. I am really happy, better than ever, so you never know."
Fabregas, who has been at Arsenal for six years since joining the club at 16, said such speculation had been going on throughout his career because he was a trainee at Barcelona.
"It does not affect me at all," he said. "(It) has been going for years. I don't mind really if it happens, it happens. I do not think about it because I do not want to and I do not think I should."
Wigan players offer ticket refund after 9-1 loss
WIGAN, England — The outcome was so embarrassing that Wigan's players want to refund the cost of tickets to their fans.
Wigan was routed 9-1 by Tottenham on Sunday, matching a league record for most goals scored by a team in a game. Jermain Defoe had five of Tottenham's eight goals in the second half at White Hart Lane .
"We feel that as a group of players we badly let down our supporters yesterday, and this is a gesture we have to make and pay them back for their tremendous loyalty," Wigan defender Mario Melchiot said.
"As a group of professionals, we were embarrassed by the way we performed. We feel it was below our standards and this is something we feel we owe to the fans."
Wigan declined to say how many of its fans were at the game — likely to be fewer than 1,000 — but said the amount the players would pay would be a "five-figure sum."
Although Wigan does not have a huge following and averages about 17,000 fans for home games, those who made the 350-mile round trip to north London and back had a grim day.
Ipswich is the only other team to concede nine goals in a Premier League game, against Manchester United in 1995. Defoe matched the record of five goals in a game by Man United's Andy Cole (against Ipswich) and Newcastle's Alan Shearer (against Sheffield Wednesday in 1999).
What's more, Wigan's lone goal, by Paul Scharner with the score 3-0, looked dubious because he controlled the ball with his arm before scoring.
"We have to draw a line under the game, focus completely on training this week and bounce back on Saturday (against Sunderland)," said Melchiot, a 33-year-old Dutch defender. "We are professionals. We will take it on the chin and move on, but it's important that we do not take our supporters for granted."
German soccer sets up match-fixing task force
FRANKFURT — German soccer authorities have set up a task force to deal with the match-fixing investigation of 200 games in nine European countries.
German soccer federation (DFB) president Theo Zwanziger said at a news conference Monday in Frankfurt that soccer worked closely with state prosecutors during the investigation.
The task force will include officials from DFB and DFL, the German soccer league that runs the top two divisions.
Bochum prosecutors have targeted about 200 people suspected of manipulating games in what is believed to be the largest match-fixing scandal in Europe.
Police arrested 15 people in Germany and two in Switzerland. Authorities say they have caught the ringleaders of the gang that bribed players, coaches, referees and officials.
Swiss second-division club FC Gossau says it has suspended midfielder Mario Bigoni indefinitely for his alleged role in the match-fixing scandal. Club president Roland Gnaegi said Monday the 25-year-old Italian player told him he was recruited by an unnamed teammate to fix the result.
Gossau bans player linked to match-fixing scandal
GOSSAU, Switzerland — Swiss second-division club FC Gossau says it has suspended midfielder Mario Bigoni indefinitely for his alleged role in a European match-fixing scandal.
Club president Roland Gnaegi said Bigoni has admitted that "not everything was clean" when the team lost 4-0 at home to Lugano in May.
Gnaegi said Monday the 25-year-old Italian player told him he was recruited by an unnamed teammate to fix the result.
A European investigation has resulted in 12 arrests in Germany and two in Switzerland. Some 200 matches are believed to have been manipulated, and a betting syndicate is suspected of bribing players, coaches and referees to fix results.
Swiss club FC Thun banned its Senegalese forward Omar Faye on Sunday for one league match because of his alleged involvement.
Austrian minister calls for sanctions over scandal
VIENNA — Austrian Sports Minister Norbert Darabos has called for the "harshest penalties" possible for those involved in a European match-fixing scandal.
Darabos said Monday that clubs guilty of corruption should be withdrawn from all competitions.
He says "we need very serious sanctions" and wants football authorities to "send a clear signal."
The investigation has resulted in 12 arrests in Germany and two in Switzerland, while house searches took place in Austria. Investigators believe 200 games — 11 in Austria's first division — have been manipulated, including three in qualifying for the Champions League and 12 in the Europa League.
A betting syndicate is suspected of bribing players, coaches, referees and other officials to fix games.
Potenza president, others arrested in probe
POTENZA, Italy — Italian media are reporting that police have arrested the president of third-division club Potenza and eight other people on charges of sports fraud, illegal betting or links with organized crime.
Investigators are reportedly also examining a game in the Italian second-division from the 2007-08 season and seven matches in the third division for any evidence of corruption.
Up to 20 people are also being investigated under the operation led by Potenza anti-Mafia prosecutor Francesco Basentini.
When Giuseppe Postiglione was named president of Potenza in 2006 at the age of 24 he became the youngest club leader in Italy.
FIFA calls for emergency meeting in Cape Town
ZURICH — FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called an emergency meeting of its executive committee ahead of the World Cup draw in South Africa.
FIFA said Monday the meeting would take place Dec. 2, two days before the draw in Cape Town.
The statement by the soccer world governing body did not reveal the topics, but its likely the committee will consider the match-fixing allegations in Europe, violence at Algeria-Egypt games and fallout from Thierry Henry's hand ball during the France-Ireland World Cup playoff match.
The Irish federation was denied a replay after Henry's hand ball set up the tying goal and advanced France to the World Cup. It led to more calls for video technology to help referees during a match.
FIFA announces global fan parks for 2010 World Cup
JOHANNESBURG — Soccer supporters in seven international cities will be able to watch Africa's first World Cup for free at fan parks.
FIFA announced Monday there will be fan parks in Sydney, Berlin, London, Paris, Rome, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. Another 10 sites will be chosen in host cities in South Africa ahead of the tournament in June.
FIFA marketing director Thierry Weil said the international "Fan Fests" will help "export South Africa and Africa to the world."
The fan parks proved a huge hit and were attended by more than 18 million fans when they were introduced at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Palermo fires coach Walter Zenga
PALERMO, Sicily — Palermo fired coach Walter Zenga on Monday and hired Delio Rossi as a replacement, a day after a 1-1 draw with Sicilian rival Catania.
With 17 points after 13 rounds, Palermo is 12th in the 20-team Serie A.
Zenga, the former Inter Milan and Italy goalkeeper, led Catania last season and for the final seven rounds of the 2007-08 campaign.
Rossi guided Lazio the past four seasons.
Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini is infamous for firing coaches, with Zenga the 28th he has let go in 20 seasons with Venezia and Palermo.
Last-place Siena makes coaching change
SIENA, Italy — Last-place Siena has fired coach Marco Baroni and hired Alberto Malesani as his replacement.
The Tuscan club made the switch Monday following a 2-0 loss to Atalanta a day earlier.
Siena has only one win and six points after 13 rounds of the Serie A.
Malesani has previously coached Fiorentina, Parma, Verona, Modena, Panathinaikos and Empoli.
Last week, Siena attempted to hire Mario Beretta but the deal fell through when Beretta asked for a two-year contract.
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