Soccer News

MADRID (AFP) - Real Madrid have been dreaming of winning this season's Champions League final at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium but first they need to get out of the group stage and there is still some work to be done going into Wednesday's home match against FC Zurich.

BERLIN (AFP) - German giants Bayern Munich go into their home Champions League group stage fixture against Israel's Maccabi Haifa FC on Wednesday with their destiny no longer in their own hands.

MILAN, Italy (AFP) - AC Milan can secure qualification to the Champions League knock-out stages and gain an element of revenge if they beat Marseille at the San Siro in Group C on Wednesday.

ROME (AFP) - Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro insisted his Juventus team would be looking for the three points when they play Bordeaux in the Champions League on Wednesday.

MADRID (AFP) - Barcelona showed why they are the current Champions of Europe producing a football masterclass to defeat Italian leaders Inter Milan 2-0 at Camp Nou on Tuesday and move within touching distance of qualification for the knockout phase.

GLASGOW (AFP) - Rangers' Champions League hopes were extinguished for another season here on Tuesday as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Stuttgart at Ibrox.

LONDON (AFP) - Arsenal recovered the swagger that has characterised their best performances this season as they eased into the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Standard Liege.

MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Manchester City's Robinho is fit and set to play against Hull on Saturday in his first game since suffering an ankle stress fracture in August.

BERLIN (AFP) - Bayern Munich's under-pressure coach Louis van Gaal has suspended struggling Italian striker Luca Toni because of a complete breakdown in their relationship, the Bild daily reported Wednesday.

SEATTLE - They were railed and criticized for reaching the championship of Major League Soccer despite a losing record in the regular season.

PARIS - Thank you, Thierry Henry. If nothing else, your cheating against Ireland has shown that ordinary folks — those who are passionate about soccer and those who are not — remain, by and large, decent.

LONDON - Jermain Defoe scored five goals, including a seven-minute hat trick, to match a Premier League record in powering Tottenham to a 9-1 rout of Wigan on Sunday.

WIGAN, England - The outcome was so embarrassing that Wigan's players want to refund the cost of tickets to their fans.

SAINT-DENIS, France - France qualified for its fourth consecutive World Cup when officials missed an obvious hand ball by Thierry Henry that led to William Gallas' overtime goal in a 1-1 tie against Ireland on Wednesday night.

LONDON - American businessman Stan Kroenke has bought 10 more Arsenal shares to put him closer to the threshold that forces him to make a takeover bid.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - Real Salt Lake advanced to its first MLS Cup final by beating the Chicago Fire 5-4 on penalty kicks after 120 scoreless minutes in the Eastern Conference final Saturday night.

SEATTLE - Major League Soccer would like Montreal to become its 19th team in 2012, if it can get a stadium remodeled.

New Zealand reached the World Cup for the first time since 1982, with Cameroon and Nigeria also qualifying Saturday for next year's soccer showcase in South Africa.

HOUSTON - Brian Ching scored six minutes into overtime and the Houston Dynamo advanced to the Western Conference final for the third time in four years with a 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on Sunday.

SEATTLE - A young woman in the first row behind the far corner flag was savoring prime views of the world's most recognizable player.

CARSON, Calif. - Maykel Galindo scored in the 50th minute and Chivas USA rallied to tie the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-2 on Sunday in the first game of their Western Conference semifinal series.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Shalrie Joseph scored in the 75th minute to lift the New England Revolution to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Sunday in the opening game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

NEW YORK - The vicious hair-pulling of an opponent was inexcusable. But prominent advocates of women's sports say that so, too, has been much of the commentary generated by the popular video of college soccer player Elizabeth Lambert's combative tactics in a recent game.

DUBLIN - Ireland has given up hope of a World Cup playoff replay against France because of Thierry Henry's hand ball.

LONDON - There will be no rematch.

PORTSMOUTH, England (AFP) - Paul Hart became the first English Premier League manager to lose his job this season after he was "relieved of his duties" by basement club Portsmouth on Tuesday.

ZURICH - FIFA suspended Iraq from soccer because of political interference in the national federation.

ROME (AFP) - Former Juventus bosses Luciano Moggi, Antonio Giraudo and Roberto Bettega were on Tuesday acquitted of any wrongdoing related to transfer dealings at the club.

FRANKFURT - German prosecutors investigating match-fixing in soccer say 15 people in Germany and two in Switzerland have been arrested and about 200 games in Europe are under suspicion.