Tag: international

A group of Austrian fans have started a petition that so far yielded 4,000 signatures urging the Austrian national team not to participate in the 2008 European Championship it is co-hosting with Switzerland. “This is not about criticizing players or coaches,” said Michael Kriess, one of the petition instigators. “We simply say that the way Austria is playing is an insult to our, to every fan’s aesthetic understanding of the game.” The petitioners say watching Coach Josef Hickersberger‘s team is detrimental to one’s mental health.

Colombian First Division club America’s financial woes were compounded when a security van carrying its gate receipts from Sunday’s game in Cali against Once Caldas was held up. Four cars with 15 men armed with machine guns escaped with about $40,000 from the day’s ticket sales. “We’re asking the authorities to help us recover the money because it is what we live off,” said America’s marketing manager Gregorio Ruiz. “We’re struggling as it is and now they rob us.”

The inebriated Danish fan who stormed the field and attacked referee Herbert Fandel during a European Championship qualifier in June will have to perform 40 hours of community service but his 30-day prison sentence for attempted assault and illegal entry is suspended because the court said he had already suffered significant consequences after the assault. Denmark was tied, 3-3, against Sweden when the fan rushed the field and attempted to punch Fandel. The game was abandoned and Sweden was awarded a 3-0 win.

Jose Burgos came on as a 77th minute sub for 12 de Octubre with his team trailing 2-0 against Olimpia and notched a hat trick within 10 minutes.

The U.S. military had hoped to foster goodwill and bring joy to Afghanistan children when it dropped soccer balls from a helicopter in the Khost province. But at least one of the balls had a small picture of the Saudi Arabian flag, which includes script with the words Allah and the Prophet Muhammad. Villagers were upset and angry, pointing out they found kicking something with the names of the Muslim icons on it offensive. The U.S. military spokesman said it regretted the incident. The balls were reportedly manufactured in China and bought by the U.S. military in a market in Kabul.

A dispute between Ugandan brothers over the Copa America final resulted in fatal stabbing, according the New Vision newspaper. Brothers Sam Naluswa and Moses Kyegombe were watching the Brazil-Argentina game and after Brazil scored its second goal, Kyegombe, an Argentina supporter, turned off the television. Naluswa, a Brazil fan, lashed out at him and their father broke up the scuffle. But Naluswa allegedly followed his brother home after Brazil’s 3-0 win and stabbed Kyegombe, who died on the way to the hospital.

Fans of Greek team Iraklis attacked the club’s headquarters with gasoline bombs, setting a fire, then stormed the building and vandalized several offices. There were no injuries and no arrests of the fans, who were protesting the club’s inability to attract new investors to pay off  debts. Iraklis finished 13th last season in the 16-team league.

[VIDEO] American goalkeeper Adin Brown scored on a header off a corner kick in stoppage time to earn his Norwegian club Aalesund a 2-2 tie with Rosenborg.

FIFA eased up on its ban on high-altitude games, raising the limit to 3,000 meters from 2,500 while applying the ban only to World Cup qualifiers. But Bolivia, whose president Evo Morales [photos] led the campaign against the ban, won’t be able to play in its capital, La Paz (3,600 meters above sea level). Brazil suffered its first ever World Cup qualifying loss in La Paz 14 years ago. Further defeats in the Andean highlands by Argentina and Brazil, which have seats on FIFA’s executive committee, prompted the ban.

Reuters reports that Poland is considering using up to 20,000 prisoners to help build roads, stadiums and hotels for the 2012 European Championship that it is co-hosting with Ukraine. tournament.

[PHOTO] Bibiana Steinhaus, described by the German press as a pretty blond policewoman, is poised to become the first woman to referee in German men’s professional soccer. The 28-year-old, whose latest day-job assignment was shielding the G-8 Summit from anti-globalization protesters in Rostock, was promoted by the German soccer federation to the Second Division after six years of refereeing the men’s third division. Only two percent of Germany’s 80,000 referees are female. The only other female referee in German men’s pro soccer was Gertrud Gebhard, who lasted two games as a lineswoman in 1995.

Jeremiah White, a 25-year-old Pennsylvania product who played college ball at Wake Forest, helped AGF Aarhus clinch promotion to the top Danish league tier, the SAS Ligaen, with a 2-0 win over Kolding IF last weekend.

[VIDEO] Finland’s European Championship qualifying game against Belgium in Helsinki was delayed for six minutes because of a field invasion – by an owl. Referee Mike Riley stopped play in 19th minute as fans cheered on the owl that soared past ducking players, perched for a while on one crossbar, then traversed the field to check the view from the opposite goal’s crossbar. The owl eventually wrapped its talons around a railing behind one of the goals and watched the Finns win, 2-0.

Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’ performance in their 4-1 win over China …

The USA’s friendly on Saturday against China in San Jose (8 pm ET/5 pm PT, live on ESPN2 and Galavision) will be its final warmup before this summer’s Gold Cup and Copa America. The Chinese are prepping for the Asian Cup in July, and will also meet the Los Angeles Galaxy (June 5) and Colorado Rapids (June 10) on their U.S. tour. On May 16, China fell 1-0 to Thailand in what was its first loss to a Southeast Asian team in nearly two decades — a defeat that almost got Coach Zhu Guanghu fired.