Tag: international

[REF WATCH] At its Annual General Meeting, the International Football Association Board, which oversees FIFA’s Rules of the Game, has suspended the pursuit of goal-line technology and agreed to experimentation with two additional assistant referees.

[OFF THE POST] Lack of lodging for its World Cup qualifying game at Syria has become an issue for the United Arab Emirates national team because all Damascus hotels have been booked up by delegates attending the Arab Summit, which overlaps with the March 26 game.

[AMERICANS ABROAD]. Oregon product Nate Jaqua, who joined Altach last month from the Houston Dynamo, has scored in each of his first two games for the Austrian First Division struggler. Jaqua’s second goal was an 88th minute gamewinner.

[AMERICANS IN EUROPE] Defender Steve Cherundolo‘s unlucky own goal contributed to Hannover 96’s 2-1 loss to relegation threatened VfL Bochum in Germany. In the Netherlands, Michael Bradley‘s team, Heerenveen fell 3-2 to Nijmegen and slipped to sixth place. In Belgium, Standard Liege with Oguchi Onyewu, slipped out of first place.

With American Tim Howard in goal, Everton thumped Norwegian club Brann, 6-1, to advance to the UEFA Cup round of 16. Freddy Adu stayed on the bench for Benfica, which was headed toward elimination against FC Nuremberg until Oscar Rene Cardozo’s 90th minute goal rescued the Portuguese club.

[AMERICANS IN EUROPE] Standard Liege, with Oguchi Onyewu patrolling the central defense, beat Belgian Jupiler League leader Club Brugge away, 2-1, to go even on points with at the head of the standings. In the Netherlands, Michael Bradley‘s scoring streak ended in Heerenveen’s 2-2 tie with lowly Heracles. Steve Cherundolo faced Bayern Munich in Germany.

[VIDEO] After a defense-minded performance for the USA in its 2-2 tie with Mexico on Wednesday, Michael Bradley went back to his scoring ways on Saturday when his 13th goal of the Dutch Eredivisie season earned Heerenveen a 1-1 tie at leader PSV Eindhoven. It was the sixth straight game Bradley has scored for Heerenveen. Also on target was Clint Mathis, in his home debut with Greek club Ergotelis.

[EUROPEAN RACES] Real Madrid’s eight-game winning streak in Spain ended, while Bayern Munich broke the deadlock at the top of the Bundesliga standings.

Kaka pulled the strings and Clarence Seedorf scored as AC Milan beat Japan’s Urawa Reds 1-0 on Thursday to reach the final of the World Club Cup final on Sunday (TV: Fox Soccer Channel & Fox Sports en Espanol, 5 am ET).

[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] After suffering an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Rangers at home that featured a goal by American DaMarcus Beasley, six-time French champion Lyon returned the favor and beat Rangers, 3-0, at Ibrox on Wednesday and clinched the second berth from Group E in the UEFA Champions League’s round of 16.

Liverpool gained revenge for its embarrassing loss to Marseille at Anfield in October with a 4-0 win at the Stade Velodrome Tuesday on the final day of group play in the UEFA Champions League. The result sent the Reds, last year’s runners-up, to the round of 16 along with Group A winner Porto.

[WEEKEND HEADLINERS/VIDEO] Arsenal’s unbeaten streak in the English Premier League came to an end when it fell at struggling Middlesbrough, 2-1, on Sunday. Real Madrid maintained its four-point lead over Barcelona in Spain thanks to a gutsy win at Athletic Bilbao. French club Paris St. Germain’s road win at Auxerre was overshadowed by the disruptive behavior of its fans angry at its poor play. Bayer Leverkusen’s recent charge has turned the Bundesliga into a four-team race.

With American Tim Howard in goal, English club Everton beat Zenit St. Petersburg, 1-0, to clinch a berth in the round of 32 of the UEFA Champions League. Atletico Madrid, Villarreal, Hamburg and FC Basel also won Wednesday to advance to the knockout phase. American Ramiro Corrales‘ foul set up Basel’s winning free kick by Carlitos in the Swiss club’s 1-0 win over Brann, which is in third place in Group D with four points and still has a chance of advancing depending on next week’s game between Dinamo Zagreb and Rennes. For all the UEFA Cup results …

The Club World Cup begins Friday in Japan with a first-round match between Iran’s Sepahan, the Asian champion, and New Zealand’s Waitakere United, the Oceania winner. Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Espanol will provide live coverage from the tournament, which continues through Dec. 16.

A Peruvian game was abandoned by referee Percy Rojas after fighting in the stands spilled onto the field. The chaos started when Universitario players tried to beat up Sport Ancash midfielder Efrain Viafara – igniting a brawl between the squads — because they felt he insulted them by controlling a pass with his buttocks. The on-field melee inspired the opposing fans to have at it while Ancash led, 2-1.

ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes will provide live coverage of the Final Draw for the 2008 European Championship Sunday at 6 a.m. ET.

Two Hungarian businessman are hoping to revive Hungarian soccer by raising money for youth soccer with slot-machine earnings. Lajos Marton and Gabor Csendes have started installing hundreds of soccer-themed slot machines in bars around the country.

Bora Milutinovic, the USA’s coach at the 1994 World Cup, has been fired as Jamaican national team coach by the debt-ridden Jamaican soccer federation. Milutinovic, the only person to have coached five different countries at the World Cup, took charge of the Reggae Boyz one year ago on a four-year contract. Jamaica, whose last game was an 8-1 loss to Iran in July, won only once under Milutinovic, a 2-0 win over Malaysia. His Jamaica stint was Milutinovic’s eighth with a national team.