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FRISCO, Texas (AP) - Khano Smith scored in the 72nd minute to help the New England Revolution beat FC Dallas 1-0 on Thursday night.
New England improved to 3-2-1, and Dallas dropped to 2-1-2. Smith's first goal of the season came 2 minutes after New England's Jay Heaps missed an open net by chipping a shot from inside the goalie box over the crossbar, He fought his way past Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty along the left sideline, then cut into the middle before unleashing a quick shot past goalkeeper Dario Sala. The goal was the first allowed by Dallas since April 6 in a 3-3 tie at Houston, a span that included two consecutive shutouts, ending a scoreless streak of 252 minutes, the longest such stretch in the MLS this season. Dallas applied considerable pressure in the final minutes, but Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis held on for his second shutout of the year. Reis made a spectacular diving save on Drew Moor's point-blank header off a corner kick in the 86th minute and then another diving stop on Ricardinho's shot from 20 yards out in stoppage time. Dallas also just missed the net twice in the final moments, with Pablo Richetti's blast from 25 yards out in the 90th minute and Duilio Davino's in-close header in injury time failing to find the mark.
Tags: FC Dallas New England Revolution
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Freddy Adu scored on a penalty kick in the 41st minute to help the United States' under-23 team beat Panama 1-0 on Thursday night in the second round of Group A pool play in CONCACAF Olympic qualifying. The Americans, coming off a 1-1 tie with Cuba on Tuesday, improved to 1-0-1, while Panama dropped to 0-2. The top two teams in the group will advance to the March 20 semifinals in Nashville, Tenn., along with the top two from Group B. The finalists will earn spots in the Beijing Olympics. The United States will finish group play Saturday against Honduras (2-0). Panama, which cannot advance, will play Cuba (0-1-1) on Saturday. If Cuba loses or ties, the U.S. automatically advances. Honduras already has clinched a spot in the semifinals.
"I'm really pleased with the effort," U.S. coach Peter Nowak said. "I think our team played with a lot of heart tonight and we got the result after a very hard fight on the field. You have to give credit to Panama because they put a lot of heart into it, too." Adu scored after Panama goalkeeper Jose Calderon received a yellow card for tripping Josmer Altidore 15 yards from the goal during a breakaway scoring chance. On his penalty kick, Adu struck the ball with his left foot, and it went just past Calderon's outstretched arms into the right side of the net. The 18-year-old American star was given a yellow card in the 90th minute. "I'm going to do whatever it takes, play with some fight, some attitude, just go out and help this team win in any way I possibly can," said Adu, who also scored against Cuba on Tuesday night. The United States, which had five new starters Thursday night, again had trouble converting scoring chances into goals. In the 47th minute, Calderon hit the ground to knock a shot away. Later, he stopped Holden Stuart's free kick from 25 yards. The United States had a brief scare in the 56th minute when Adu fell to the ground after making contact with a Panamanian player. But just as Adu was about to be placed on a stretcher, he bounced up off the ground and was playing again moments later.
www.worldsoccerconnection.net
Tags: Adu Gives U.S Panama Olympic Qualifier
HAVANA (AFP) - Cuba's elite sports machine suffered another major setback in the run up to the Beijing Olympics after seven footballers deserted the under-23 team.
The would-be defectors disappeared from their hotel while the team was in Florida to compete in an 2008 Olympic qualifying tournament.
Five players jumped the team after Tuesday's game against the United States and then two more absconded on Wednesday night.
Captain Yenier Bermudez, goalkeeper Jose Manuel Miranda, defender Erlys Garcia Baro, midfielder Yordany Alvarez, defender Loanni Prieto, defender Yendri Diaz and midfielder Eder Roldan are expected to seek political asylum in the coming days.
An irate team official on Thursday described the actions of the players as "treason."
"It is an act of treason and irresponsibility," said Antonio Garces, director of the Cuban Football Federation. "As a federation, we are nauseated, it is an irresponsible attitude on behalf of the players because we are competing in an Olympic qualifying event for the country."
The 20-year-old Diaz, one of two players who jumped Wednesday, said once he got to US soil he was anxious to defect.
"After the defection of the first five players the morale of the team was low," Diaz said. "I was thinking of leaving after the tournament but given the situation I preferred to bring forward my departure.
Diaz is staying with friends before he officially seeks asylum.
Bermudez told the Miami Herald on Thursday that they are all at peace with their decision to leave.
"We are fine, calm, feeling hopeful of our new lives," he said. "Of course we are nervous because we're young and have no family here.
"We don't yet know the way of life here, be we hope Cuban and American communities will help us get started."
Team coach Raul Gonzalez said the players had not informed him of their decision and insisted they would not be withdrawing from the tournament.
"Nothing has changed. We'll play against Honduras ... (Thursday). We're going to continue to follow all the training programmes and play the rest of the tournament. We're not thinking of pulling out."
The under-manned Cuban team lost 2-0 to Honduras on Thursday in their second game of the tournament. They battled to a surprising 1-1 draw against the United States in their opening game on Tuesday.
Football is a minor sport in Cuba where baseball is the national pastime.
But athletes often go missing from international tournaments like Maikel Galindo who defected last year and is one of the best strikers in the American professional soccer league.
But Cuban authorities have to be concerned with the mass defection of seven footballers just six months prior to the Olympic Games in Beijing (August 8-24).
The Communist island nation has seen a hemorrhaging of its elite sportsman with the biggest blow of late coming last July when world champion boxers Guillermo Rigondeaux and Erislandy Lara failed to turn up for their matches at the Pan American Games.
Double Olympic and world bantamweight champion Rigondeaux and world welterweight champ Lara tried to flee in Brazil but they were arrested by police and sent back to Cuba.
Cuba decided not to send its boxers to the recent World Championships in Chicago for fear of defections.
Tags: Cuban Soccer
HONG KONG (AP) - David Beckham scored a late goal before the Los Angeles Galaxy lost in a penalty shootout Sunday to Hong Kong club South China in the final leg of its preseason Asian exhibition tour. The matched ended 2-2, with South China prevailing 5-4 in the shootout. Beckham played the entire game, with the 32-year-old midfielder trying to regain fitness and prove himself ready for a recall to national team duty with England and claim his 100th international cap. Beckham said the Galaxy did not make the most of its chances. "That's just football. Some days you score loads of goals, some days you can have many chances and not score any," Beckham said. The former England captain was taking a "wait and see" approach to selections for England's friendly against France on March 26. "At the moment, I'm just concentrating on playing with the Galaxy," he said. "I'm training with the Galaxy and playing in the games that I've got with the team here. That's how and where I got my fitness." England manager Fabio Capello had said either he or his assistant will fly to Dallas for the Galaxy's March 14 match to assess Beckham's condition. The first goal of the match was scored late in the first half by South China's Detinho, striking home from the left-hand corner of the penalty area. The Galaxy, which is tuning up for the upcoming Major League Soccer season, tied it in the 61 minute through Alan Gordon. South China captain Li Haiqiang looked to have secured the win with a 90th-minute penalty kick, but Beckham was quick to tie with a penalty of his own in the fourth minute of added time. Beckham was the first player up in the penalty shootout and converted, but a miss by Greg Vanney gave South China claim victory. The Galaxy lost to South Korea's FC Seoul in a shootout, and beat Shanghai-Hong Kong United 3-0 in its other exhibition games last week.
Tags: Galaxy South China In Hong Kong
GLENEAGLES, Scotland (AP) - Soccer's lawmakers agreed Saturday to halt all experiments with camera replay, putting faith in extra manpower instead. FIFA's International Board approved a plan to experiment with the addition of two more referees' assistants, rather than use cameras to rule on disputed goals. FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said there were fears the advance of goal-line technology would lead to its extensive use. FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the Welsh Football Association opposed the use of camera replays. "It's a game played by human beings, a game with a human face," WFA secretary general David Collins said. "There is a feeling it would hinder the flow of the game." The decision was a disappointment to company officials of Hawk-Eye technology, which is used to determine line calls in professional tennis. Last month, tests were done at Reading's Madejski Stadium. "I'm livid, it is completely out of the blue," Hawk-Eye managing director Paul Hawkins said. "A year ago they (the IFAB) set four criteria that had to be met, so they obviously wanted it then. We have invested an awful lot of money and now we have no return on that investment." The English FA was also disappointed with FIFA's decision. "I think it's dead in the water," FA chief executive Brian Barwick said. The two additional assistant referees will be behind the goals and used at a UEFA or FIFA tournament before the board meeting next year.
Tags: FIFA
HONG KONG (AFP) - Soccer superstar David Beckham resumed training on Saturday ahead of a friendly here after suffering a minor injury during LA Galaxy's Asian tour.
Beckham showed no signs of discomfort as he joined an eight-a-side game and delivered his trademark crosses in front of media at Hong Kong Stadium.
Beckham, 32, is using the tour to regain match fitness as he presses for a 100th England cap in the March 26 friendly against France.
He limped out of this week's match in Shanghai after 70 minutes with a right thigh problem but later confirmed he would play here.
Beckham's visit has been low-key compared to his 2003 trip here with Real Madrid. Some 80 percent of tickets for Sunday's match remain unsold, a report said.
"This is the Galaxy, not Real Madrid," Hong Kong Football Association Brian Leung told the South China Morning Post.
Dozens, rather than hundreds, of fans greeted Beckham at the airport on Thursday and only two supporters were seen outside Saturday's closed training session.
However Beckham caused havoc in Shanghai when hundreds of fans and media descended on a hospital where he was visiting leukaemia patients.
During last year's visit to New Zealand, 15,000 schoolchildren watched him train. Beckham was also targeted by a stalker, a report said.
Tags: Beckham
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Carlos Ruiz scored all three goals, including one off a pass by England midfielder David Beckham, as the Los Angeles Galaxy beat Shanghai-Hong Kong United 3-0 in Shanghai on Wednesday. Ruiz of Guatemala scored once just before the half and twice in the last 10 minutes. Beckham sat out the last 20 minutes of the game after being kicked in the right thigh in the first half. He said sitting out was "nothing serious" and simply a precaution because the leg was stiffening up. The Galaxy will play in Hong Kong on Sunday, the last of a three-game Asian tour.
www.worldsoccerconnection.net
Tags: Ruiz L.A Galaxy
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