World Soccer

Anja Niedringhaus (AP) Brazil was chosen to host the 2014 World Cup, Tuesday, the first time since 1950 the soccer showcase will be held in the country that has won the event a record five times. They become the fifth country to host two World Cups following Mexico (1970 and 1986), France (1938 and 1998), West Germany/Germany [...]

Silvia Izquierdo (AP) Brazil thumped Ecuador 5-0 on Wednesday night in a qualifying game for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Milan’s midfielder Kaka scored two goals. Vagner Love, Ronaldinho and Elano also scored for Brazil, which opened qualifying Sunday with a 0-0 tie with Colombia. Brazil, a five-time World Cup champion, is the only country to [...]

Misha Japaridze (AP) England’s hopes of reaching the finals of Euro 2008 were dealt a serious blow on Wednesday when they relinquished a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 against Russia in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. A win would have seen England qualify for next summer’s tournament but they must now beat Group E leaders Croatia and hope Israel [...]

Fernando Llano (AP) Venezuela 0-2 Argentina Gabriel Milito and Lionel Messi scored first-half goals to lead Argentina over Venezuela 2-0 Tuesday night in a World Cup qualifier. Milito beat goalkeeper Renny Vega in the 16th minute with a header off a free kick from Juan Ramon Riquelme. Messi split two defenders in the 43rd minute and scored with a [...]

Inaldo Perez (AP) Brazil struggled to an uninspiring goalless draw 0-0 away to Colombia in their opening match of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign on Sunday. Kaka, Ronaldinho and Robinho–Brazil’s biggest stars–were eclipsed by Colombia’s Radamel Falcao Garcia, Aquivaldo Mosquera and Carlos Alberto Sanchez. Coach Dunga and his players blamed the journey to Bogota, the crowd, the [...]

Oliver Lang (AFP/DDP) Germany became the first team to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals despite 0-0 draw in their Group D match against Ireland at Croke Park on Saturday. The point was enough to secure the visitors their place with three games to spare. Scotland made things a lot tougher for both Italy and France to follow. Scotland [...]

Marco Bucco (Reuters) Germany can secure their place at Euro 2008 on Saturday with victory in Ireland. But many of Europe’s elite nations are still biting their fingernails as the qualification journey nears its end. Twice former champions France are sweating in third place in Group B after their shock home defeat by surprise leaders Scotland last [...]

Laurent Gillieron (AP) Former European champions Bayern Munich was drawn to play Red Star Belgrade in the group stages of the UEFA Cup. Besides 1991 European champion Red Star and Premier League team Bolton Wanderers, Bayern was also drawn with Braga and Aris Salonika in Group F. Two former winners were also paired in the same group - [...]

Carl De Souza (AFP) AC Milan was upset 2-1 at Glasgow Celtic in the European Champions League on Wednesday night. Stephan McManus gave Celtic the lead in the 62nd minute, but Kaka converted a penalty kick in the 68th. Scott McDonald scored the winner in the 90th minute. Shakhtar Donetsk won 1-0 at Benfica in the other Group [...]

Jon Super (AP) Wayne Rooney gave Manchester United a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford in the European Champions League Group F on Wednesday. There may have been no repeat of the epic magnificent seven the last time they met Roma but United up into pole position in their bid to reach the Champions League knock-out phase. In the [...]