Hiddink may take helm of Netherlands

AMSTERDAM (AP) ― Guus Hiddink says he is pulling together a team to assist him as the next Netherlands coach.Louis van Gaal has already announced he will step down after the World Cup in Brazil, but the Netherlands Football Association has not yet confirmed Hiddink’s appointment.The Dutch FA said Saturday it had no comment.“I am busy with the KNVB putting together the whole team I want,” Hiddink said in a Friday night radio interview. “That’s going to take a few days or weeks.” Van Gaal has rebu

March 2, 2014

Korea to gather ahead of pre-World Cup friendly

The South Korean men’s national soccer team will gather on the weekend in preparation for an upcoming pre-World Cup friendly match against Greece.The 22-man squad, coached by Hong Myung-bo, will report to the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul, on Saturday. The team will then depart for Athens the following day. The match is scheduled for Wednesday.Hong has called up players based in European leagues for this game. In three earlier matches held between late Janua

Feb. 28, 2014

Tottenham moves on in Europa

LONDON (AP) ― After a gloomy start to 2014 for English Premier League teams in Europe, Tottenham achieved what five rivals failed to do ― win.Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City all opened the Champions League knockout phase with first-leg losses, while Chelsea drew. But on Thursday, hours after Swansea was knocked out of the Europa League, Tottenham overturned a 1-0 deficit against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk to win 3-1 at White Hart Lane and advance to the round of 16.Roman Zozulya headed

Feb. 28, 2014

Real thumps Schalke

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) ― With an overwhelming offensive display, Real Madrid became the first road team to score six goals in a knockout-stage game of the Champions League and put itself in position for its fourth straight trip to the quarterfinals.Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema scored two goals each Wednesday night in a 6-1 rout of Schalke in the first leg of its second-round matchup.“We played a very, very good match,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “We got well into

Feb. 27, 2014

FC Seoul makes strong start in ACL

FC Seoul made an emphatic start to the ACL, scoring in each half to beat a lackluster Central Coast Mariners 2-0 in the opening round of group play. In a night that featured five draws from the eight matches played, 2013 runner-up Seoul provided the most dominant performance. Defender Osmar converted a penalty in the 33rd minute to give the lead over the Australian side. (AP)

Feb. 26, 2014

Chelsea stays on top of table

LONDON (AP) ― Wins by Chelsea and Manchester City, and a potent attacking display by Arsenal, left the top of the Premier League unchanged Saturday.Chelsea leads the way after captain John Terry clinched a 1-0 victory over Everton in stoppage time by bundling in from Frank Lampard’s cross, with goalkeeper Tim Howard’s body helping to turn the ball into the net.Arsenal is just a point behind its London rival as Olivier Giroud scored twice in his return to the starting lineup in a 4-1 victory over

Feb. 23, 2014

FIFA: We won’t hide from protests during World Cup

FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil (AP) ― FIFA says it is concerned about security challenges during the World Cup in Brazil but isn’t afraid of being targeted by public demonstrations expected in June. “FIFA is not coming now with less people. Instead, we are increasing our staff during the World Cup, obviously, and we are not hiding our brand,” director of security Ralf Mutschke said on Thursday. “FIFA is not feeling as a target and we are not hiding ourselves or our symbol. We are proud to be here and to

Feb. 21, 2014

Brazil’s worst nightmare: Argentina wins World Cup

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ― For Brazilians, not winning the World Cup would be bad enough.Even worse would be rival Argentina winning in Brazil where 200 million locals are expecting to celebrate.“This would be every Brazilians worst nightmare,” said Newton Cesar Santos, the Brazilian author of a 600-page history of the Brazil-Argentina rivalry ― Brazil X Argentina: Stories of the Biggest Classic in World Football.“Let anybody win, but not Argentina.”There are many intense soccer matchups: Netherlands

Feb. 18, 2014

Man City beats Chelsea, reaches FA Cup quarters

MANCHESTER, England (AP) ― Manchester City powered forward with ease into the FA Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, overcoming Premier League title rival Chelsea 2-0 to maintain its quadruple chase.Stevan Jovetic and Samir Nasri provided the goals to avenge a 1-0 league loss this month, with a formidable City in complete control and preventing Chelsea from hitting the target once.“We can beat everyone,” Jovetic said. “We learnt something (from losing to Chelsea), you could see that on the pitch.”Alt

Feb. 16, 2014

No WC for Park Ji-sung

INCHEON (Yonhap) ― Park Ji-sung, former captain of the South Korean men’s national soccer team, will not come out of his international retirement to play in the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the team’s head coach said Friday.Hong Myung-bo, who will lead South Korea to its eighth consecutive trip to the World Cup this summer, said Park told him he will not come out of international retirement for one last hurrah.“I had a heart-to-heart with Park Ji-sung,” Hong told reporters at Incheon Inter

Feb. 14, 2014

S. Korea drops to 61st in FIFA rankings

Korea dropped out of the top 60 in FIFA rankings for the first time in nearly two decades.According to the February ranking unveiled by FIFA on Thursday, South Korea slipped eight spots to No. 61.South Korea has lost its last two international matches: 4-0 to Mexico on Jan. 29 and then 2-0 to the United States on Feb. 1.Among member nations of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), South Korea is trailing five countries: Iran (38th), Japan (50th), Australia (53rd), Uzbekistan (57th) and the Uni

Feb. 13, 2014

Valcke heading to Brazil amid WC problems

SAO PAULO (AP) ― FIFA’s top official in charge of the World Cup is returning to Brazil to inspect host cities as the country continues to struggle to finish its stadiums just four months before the tournament begins.FIFA said Wednesday that Secretary General Jerome Valcke will visit three venues beginning Sunday, and will help decide whether the southern city of Curitiba will remain in the showcase event amid delays in stadium construction.One of Valcke’s stops will be in the jungle city of Mana

Feb. 13, 2014

Messi nets 2 as Barca fights back

BARCELONA (AP) ― Lionel Messi scored two goals and set up another to lead Barcelona to a 4-1 comeback victory at Sevilla on Sunday, moving the defending champions into a three-way tie for the Spanish league lead.Despite Barcelona showing the same vulnerability in defense, Messi’s best performance since returning from a lengthy injury layoff ensured that his side bounced back from a defeat by Valencia in the previous round. Barcelona is now level with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid at the top of

Feb. 10, 2014