England, Poland win tuneups leading to Euro

England won for the second straight time under Roy Hodgson on Saturday, while European Championship co-host Poland and the Netherlands enjoyed romps in their tuneups.Danny Welbeck scored his first international goal in the 36th minute to give England a 1-0 victory over Belgium at Wembley that was far from convincing. The English will enter Euro 2012 with a perfect record since Hodgson became coach, having beaten Norway by the same score last weekend.Poland swept aside lowly Andorra 4-0 in Warsaw

June 3, 2012

Spain pressured to retain Euro title

MADRID (AP) ― Spain’s entire squad has finally come together for the last exhibition before the European Championship, with the defending champions playing China on Sunday.A week later, Spain opens against Italy to start the campaign to retain the title and give the debt-stricken nation a morale boost.Nine players from the Copa del Rey final between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, who missed Spain’s training sessions in Austria and wins over Serbia and South Korea, joined the team on Friday.While

June 3, 2012

Officials deny Euro 2012 will be tainted by racism

KIEV (AP) ― Ukrainian officials are denying that football fans of African and Asian origin will be the targets of violence by racist hooligans at the European Championship, and a top tournament organizer says stewards ― and not police ― will be the most visible security at stadiums.A BBC documentary this week showed footage of Ukrainian hooligans attacking Asian fans supporting the same team at a domestic league match, as well as examples of blatant anti-Semitism.Former England soccer player Sol

June 1, 2012

Korea loses grip in AFC

The days when K-League teams sat on the throne of the AFC Champions League seem to have come and gone. Korea, which produced the top tier teams in the past three years, will be lucky to even have a team in the semifinals as all but Ulsan Hyundai have been ousted. Ulsan is the only remaining club out of the four K-League teams sent to the AFC. The club goes into the quarterfinals after beating Kashiwa Reysol 3-2.The team is a relative newcomer to the Champions League and will now have to represen

May 31, 2012

Liverpool to hire Rodgers

LONDON (AP) ― Liverpool appears set to hire Brendan Rodgers as its new manager.The hire would vault the Northern Irishman from relative obscurity to one of the toughest jobs in soccer, with his current club Swansea claiming a deal was expected to be finalized on Thursday.Following talks with Liverpool’s American owners ― Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox ― Rodgers told Swansea on Wednesday he has been offered the job as Kenny Dalglish’s replacement at Anfield and was ready to ac

May 31, 2012

All in one rhythm: WC slogan unveiled

SAO PAULO (AP) ― FIFA and Brazilian organizers announced Tuesday that “All in one rhythm”will be the official slogan of the 2014 World Cup, representing the “unique flavor that Brazil will bring”to football’s showcase event.FIFA said the unveiling of the slogan represents a “major milestone in the path”of the World Cup. Secretary General Jerome Valcke said it will help bring fans together for a uniquely Brazilian celebration.“The official slogan is the result of a joint effort between Brazil and

May 30, 2012

France beats Iceland

VALENCIENNES, France (AP) ― Franck Ribery scored his first international goal in more than three years and Adil Rami had the late winner in France’s 3-2 comeback victory over Iceland on Sunday in a European Championship warmup match.Coach Laurent Blanc picked an experimental and attacking lineup, featuring several fringe players. The move backfired when Iceland went 2-0 in the first half on goals from Birkir Bjarnason and Ajax striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson.Right back Mathieu Debuchy made it 2-1 e

May 28, 2012

Spain downs Serbia ahead of Euro

Hodgson’s England reign starts with win at NorwayLONDON (AP) ― With the European Championship less than two weeks away, Spain showed it is in good shape to defend the title by beating Serbia 2-0 in its first warmup game on Saturday.It wasn’t such a successful night for two more of the continent’s heavyweight sides, however, with a Germany team missing its Bayern Munich stars losing 5-3 in Switzerland and the Netherlands losing 2-1 to Bulgaria.Germany and the Netherlands are in the same Euro 2012

May 27, 2012

Beckham pay cut nearly 40 percent

David Beckham is no longer Major League Soccer's highest-paid player after his salary was cut nearly 40 percent in his new contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy.The former England captain has a base salary of $3 million this year and guaranteed compensation of $4 million, according to figures released on Friday by the MLS Players Union. His previous base salary had been $5.5 million with total annu

May 26, 2012

Didier Drogba leaving Chelsea

LONDON (Reuters) ― Didier Drogba brought down the curtain on a trophy-laden career at Chelsea on Tuesday when he announced he would be leaving the club after eight years in West London.The Ivory Coast striker will leave when his contract expires at the end of June and is now odds-on to follow his former teammate Nicolas Anelka to China.He leaves the club on a high after a starring role in Saturday’s Champions League final when he scored an emphatic equalizer before coolly slotting home the decis

May 23, 2012

FIFA prepares to pick anti-corruption officials

BUDAPEST (AP) ― Tackling corruption in soccer will again top FIFA’s agenda when the 208 members meet this week for a congress that will also see the first woman appointed to the governing body’s executive committee.Continuing FIFA’s efforts to restore its battered image after a series of corruption scandals, FIFA will announce Tuesday which independent officials will be brought in from outside the “football family” to spearhead new ethics and audit committees that are seen as key vehicles for ge

May 22, 2012