THE HAGUE (AFP) ― Dutch football coach Guus Hiddink will bring the curtain down on an illustrious, globetrotting, coaching career at the end of the current season, the Anzhi Makhachkala handler told Dutch TV on Tuesday.Hiddink has led both the Netherlands and South Korea to the World Cup semifinals, took Russia to a European Championships semifinal, and won the European Cup (now the Champions League) with Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.“I’ve still got the energy and still get a real buzz each time I s

Nov. 28, 2012

LONDON (AP) ― Harry Redknapp’s first match as manager of last-place Queens Park Rangers ended in a 0-0 tie at Sunderland on Tuesday night.QPR (0-9-5), in its second season since promotion, is seven points from escaping the relegation zone. It was coming off a 3-1 loss at Manchester United last weekend.“I felt more optimistic tonight than I did on Saturday,” Redknapp said. “I just have to keep encouraging them.”In another match between struggling teams, Aston Villa defeated 19th-place Reading 1-0

Nov. 28, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― Don Garber says David Beckham did everything Major League Soccer asked of him to grow the sport in the United States during his 5 1/2 seasons with the Los Angeles Galaxy.The 37-year-old former England captain plays his final competitive match for the Galaxy on Saturday in the MLS Cup against Houston.When Beckham left Real Madrid in 2007 to sign a $32.5 million, five-year deal with the Galaxy, Beckham said he wanted to win and increase the league’s popularity both domestically and

Nov. 27, 2012

LONDON (AP) ― Rafa Benitez was greeted with jeers from Chelsea fans, and the Blues were held to a 0-0 draw Sunday by Manchester City in his first game as manager.A forgettable match lacking in clear-cut scoring chances was notable for the scenes that unfolded in the stands at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea fans welcomed Roberto Di Matteo’s successor with boos.“My experience in England is that when the fans are singing I don’t understand what they say,” said Benitez, who managed Liverpool from 2004-1

Nov. 26, 2012

Brazilians have voted to name the 2014 World Cup mascot Fuleco.FIFA says more than 1.7 million people in Brazil took part in the vote to select the name for the three-banded armadillo. The other options were Zuzeco and Amijubi.Fuleco comes from the Portuguese words “futebol” (football) and “ecologia” (ecology), and FIFA says it “seamlessly represents the way in which the FIFA World Cup can combine the two to encourage people to behave in an environmentally friendly way.”Football‘s governing body

Nov. 26, 2012

MANCHESTER (AFP) ― Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has hailed QPR’s South Korea midfielder Park Ji-sung as “one of the best professionals” he has had during his 26-year reign at Old Trafford.Park left United in July to join QPR in a 2 million pounds deal which ended his seven-year spell at United, during which the South Korean won four Premier League titles, the Champions League, and three League Cups.The 31-year-old, who has missed the last four matches with a knee injury, may not recov

Nov. 23, 2012

LONDON (AP) ― Roberto Di Matteo’s reign as Chelsea manager ended Wednesday when he was fired six months after guiding the Blues to an unlikely Champions League title and replaced by Rafa Benitez.Russian owner Roman Abramovich displayed his trademark ruthlessness by getting rid of Di Matteo with the defense of the European trophy in tatters following a 3-0 loss at Juventus on Tuesday.“The team’s recent performances and results have not been good enough and the owner and the board felt that a chan

Nov. 22, 2012

FC Seoul, which captured its second title in three years in South Korea’s top soccer league on Wednesday, has been as complete a team as they come this year.FC Seoul reached 90 points in the ongoing K-League season with a 1-0 win over Jeju United Wednesday, 12 points clear of No. 2 team Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors with both clubs having three games left.FC Seoul’s dominance in the 16-team K-League has been such that it remains the only club without consecutive losses this year.This was the first seas

Nov. 22, 2012

CARSON, California (AP) ― David Beckham will announce the next stop in his soccer career near the end of the year. Until then, he’s focusing on winning one more trophy with the Los Angeles Galaxy.Beckham said Tuesday he has several “exciting opportunities on the table” to continue playing after he leaves the Galaxy next month, capping a six-season U.S. career with Los Angeles’ second straight appearance in the MLS Cup on Dec. 1.“I still feel that I have something left in me as a player,” Beckham

Nov. 21, 2012

Chelsea could become the first defending Champions League winner not to reach the knockout rounds, losing 3-0 at Juventus on Tuesday night as Fabio Quagliarella, Arturo Vidal and Sebastian Giovinco scored.Chelsea (2-2-1) dropped into third place in Group E and can advance only if it beats Nordsjaelland (0-4-1) on Dec. 5 and Shaktar Donetsk (3-1-1) wins at home against Juventus (2-0-3).“It’s a big disappointment,” Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo said. “It’s been a difficult evening for us, for

Nov. 21, 2012

FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, is scheduled to hold a disciplinary meeting Tuesday at its Switzerland headquarters to revisit a South Korean player’s controversial post-match celebration at the London Olympics.The 23-year-old Park Jong-woo came under the international spotlight in August in London, following his celebration of South Korea’s bronze medal against Japan with a banner that read, in Korean, “Dokdo Is Our Territory.”Dokdo refers to a group of South Korea’s easternmo

Nov. 20, 2012