guardiola’s tactical switch swings clásico in favor of ... 2011/lmd wee… · this was a game...

There are still those, remarkably, who ask whether tactics really matter, still those who persist with the Luddite insis-tence that the best players will win out come what may. No matter that Lionel Messi never produces his Barcelona form for Argentina or that Dani Alves regularly flounders for Brazil, Barcelona, these flat-earthers keep saying, win because they have the best players. What happened in the Bernabeu on Saturday, surely, will disabuse them. Good players are important, of course, but this was a game turned on a tactical shift, a game Barcelona won because Pep Guardiola came up with a formulation to which Jose Mourinho could not find an answer. For the first quarter of the game, Barca was rattled. Real Madrid, slightly surprisingly starting not with a 4-3-3 but with a 4-2-3-1, pressed hard and fast, often an effective line of five bearing down on the man in possession, with just Lassana Diarra (used as a midfield anchor and not, as many had expected, as a right back, where Fabio Coentrao fought an increas-ingly vain battle to stop Andres Iniesta) left to support the back four. It was the speed of that pressing, allied to an ill-con-ceived and ill-executed pass from Victor Valdes and some doziness from Gerard Pique, that led to Real Madrid’s opener, and it also prevented Barca developing anything like its usual fluency or rhythm early on. Barca’s system was a little odd, resembling less the familiar 4-3-3 with a false nine than a 4-4-1-1 or perhaps a 4-3-2-1. Alexis Sanchez, beginning to the left, worked across the forward line, with Lionel Messi less a false nine than an orthodox 10, tucked behind him. Cesc Fabregas had what was presumably intended as a free role, but he often seemed too advanced, denying Xavi and Iniesta the simple short passing options on which they thrive. In those opening stages, Real looked dominant and, frankly, it seemed the title was already won, that it was time to in-voke the Three-Year Rule of the great Hungarian coach Bela Guttmann and point out how rarely even the very best sides, and particularly those based on intense pressing, sustain their success into a fourth season. But midway through the half, Guardiola made the tactical switch that turned the game and, perhaps, the season. Dani Alves was pushed forward into an attacking right-sided midfield role, with Carles Puyol moving over to right back, a more naturally defensive presence to stifle Cristiano Ronaldo, who was further neutered by the way Alves was able to prevent Marcelo getting forward to support him. Ronaldo’s contribution, while not overly significant early on, dwindled to zero after that, one badly misplaced header and a couple of unsuccessful free-kicks his only notably involvement in the second half. By the end, Mourinho had shifted him to the right, away from the attentions of Puyol, but by then the game was lost.That meant Sergio Busquets dropping into the back four, although he continued to step out into midfield. In turn, Xavi and Fabregas fell deeper, with Iniesta going wider to the left, Messi floating in a trequartista position, and Sanchez becoming the central forward. It was the triangular interchange of Alves, so much better as an attacking wide man who makes the odd tackle than as an orthodox fullback, Sanchez and Messi that proved key in an attacking sense. That was seen most obviously with the third goal, a superb break begun when Pique won possession and fed Iniesta, who darted through two challenges before giving the ball to Messi. He laid it on for Alves, whose cross was perfect for Fabregas, arriving late, to score with a diving header. The equalizer came from Messi dropping deep away from any markers, picking up possession and surging forward to tee up Sanchez. In the Super Cup, Mourinho had used Ricardo Carvalho to track the Argentine, but the fact he was not a false nine here and had Sanchez ahead of him meant the two center backs had to stay in place. Perhaps if Mourinho had used three holding midfielders, one of them could have tracked Messi, but he opted for the extra creator in Mesut Ozil who could facilitate the high press -- and for 20 minutes or so, he seemed to have got it right. Just as important as the Messi-Alves-Sanchez triangle was the battle between Ozil and Busquets. Dropping in to the back four gave Busquets more time and space and allowed him to initiate moves in the way he usually does, away from the intentions of Ozil. Leaving the opposing playmaker free is a gamble, of course, but it worked here, not least because Ozil is not a particularly quick distributor, almost an old-fashioned No. 10 who takes a second or two to weigh up his op-tions. Often that ability to create calm -- what Argentines revere as “la pausa” -- in the hurly-burly of a game is an asset; here it gave Barca breathing space, and Busquets was able to step out and close Ozil down. This, perhaps, is the ultimate result of Guardiola’s use of a back three this season: on Saturday, he played with a back three-and-a-half, with Busquets operating partly as a center back and partly as a holding midfielder, to an extent doing what fullbacks have been doing for years, and using the space afforded defenders in an attacking sense. That development was logical and could be foreseen. What is startling, though, is the juxtaposition of Busquets’ role with the events of Thursday evening, when two sides Universidad de Chile in winning the first leg of its Copa Sudamericana final away to Liga de Quito and Rwanda in its Cecafa Cup semifinal win over Sudan -- used a 3-1-4-2. There is, it might be added, a common source in that Guardiola and Uni-versidad de Chile’s coach Jorge Sampaoli, are both devotees of Marcelo Bielsa. Perhaps that is the future, revealed on three conti-nents in the space of 48 hours. More prosaically, Satur-day was about Barca reasserting itself, about showing it has not gone stale. Guttmann always insisted that after three years at a club either the manager or the players had to be got rid of to prevent staleness and compla-cency. Guardiola has tinkered with personnel, but more crucially, his side is still evolving tactically, and that gives him options like the one he invoked on Saturday.

Chicago, IL DECEMBER 2011www.chicagosoccer.net www.chicagosoccer.netDECEMBER 2011 Chicago, IL

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Guardiola’s tactical switch swingsclásico in favor of Barcelona

Wayne Rooney was cleared to play in England’s final group match at next year’s European Championship following UEFA’s decision Thursday to reduce his three-match ban to two.UEFA’s appeals panel deferred the final match of the England striker’s three-match suspen-sion on condition of his good behavior for four years.He will be eligible when England plays Euro 2012 co-host Ukraine in Donetsk on June 19, but remains banned for England’s games against France and Sweden.Rooney, wearing a Manchester United blazer and tie, did not speak with reporters upon leaving UEFA headquarters with England coach Fabio Capello, who helped present his case in a 90-minute session before a three-member appeal panel.UEFA banned Rooney for three matches after he was sent off for kicking Montenegro defender Miodrag Dzudovic in England’s last qualifier in October.Rooney’s lawyers argued that the incident was an act of petulance rather than malice.Rooney called on some of the same legal team used last month by Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador at his 2010 Tour de France doping hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.London-based lawyer Adam Lewis and Swiss lawyer Antonio Rigozzi helped present the defense for both athletes.Rooney’s hearing began just 10 hours after his club was eliminated from the group stage of UEFA’s Champions League by FC Basel.UEFA said that Rooney’s third suspended match will be activated if he is sent off for a violent conduct offense while playing for England in a European Championship match.“Rooney will also spend a day supporting a UEFA project as part of the sentence,’’ the European soccer authority said in a statement.

Santos striker Neymar has been voted the best player of the year in the Brazilian league.The 19-year-old Neymar scored 13 goals in 21 matches to win the award late Monday, beating Vasco da Gama defender Dede and Corinthians striker Liedson.Neymar played sparingly because Santos was focused on the Copa Libertadores early in the year. He couldn’t personally receive the award because he was traveling with Santos for FIFA’s Club World Cup in Japan.Corinthians won its fifth league title on Sunday, finishing two points ahead of Vasco.Santos and Palmeiras both have eight national titles to be Brazil’s most successful teams. Sao Paulo and Flamengo have six each.


3

UEFA reduces Rooney’s Euro 2012 ban to 2 games

Neymar voted best player in Brazilian league

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-Monterrey captain Luis Perez knows anything can happen at the Club World Cup and is hoping his team can create some surprises, starting with Sunday’s quarterfinal against Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol.Perez played in the 2000 Club World Cup in Brazil when his Necaxa team pulled off an upset by beating Real Madrid in a penalty shootout to win the third-place playoff.A win against Kashiwa on Sunday would see Mexico’s Monterrey face South American champions Santos in the semifi-nals, but Perez refuses to look beyond his team’s quarterfinal against the J-League champions.“Before we fight against Santos we need to focus on Kashiwa,’’ Perez said. “Our team is very good at controlling the ball and we have a very good defense so we have to use this to our advantage against Reysol.’’Kashiwa, coached by Brazilian and former Santos player Nelsinho, beat Oceania representa-tives Auckland City 2-0 on Thursday to reach the final eight.“Kashiwa is a very strong team so it will be a match between two strong teams,’’ Monterrey coach Victor Vucetich said. “The Japanese team is very organized and disciplined.’’Monterrey collected 16 points from a possible 18 in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League, then beat Real Salt Lake of the United States 3-2 on aggregate in April’s final to qualify for the Club World Cup for the first time.No CONCACAF team has ever reached the final of the Club World Cup, but Perez thinks his team is capable of making history at this year’s tournament.“Yes, it’s true that a team from the continent has never reached the final, but we are very moti-vated and focused and want to make it to the final,’’ Perez said. “We have to win two matches. I know it is very tough and very challenging, but we have many skilled players on our team.’’Champions League winner Barcelona and South American champion Santos of Brazil are the seeded teams in the tourna-ment and enter in the semifinal stage from Dec. 15.The Club World Cup, which features seven sides from FIFA’s six continental confederations, is back in Japan for the first time since 2008 after two editions in the United Arab Emirates.African champion Esperance Sportive De Tunis meet Asian Champions League winner Al-Sadd of Qatar in the second of the two quarterfinals on Sunday.

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Monterrey hoping to surprise at Club World Cup


Unseeded Charlotte beat second-seeded Creighton in penalty kicks Friday night to advance to the NCAA men’s soccer final for the first time.The 49ers (17-4-3) and Bluejays (21-3) failed to score in regulation and both of the 10-minute overtime sessions. But Charlotte converted each of its four penalty kicks, compared to one for Creighton.Charlotte will face either top-seeded North Carolina or UCLA in the final.Charlotte pulled starting goalie Klay Davis for the penalty kicks and replaced him with 6-foot-3 Gavin Dawson, who blocked one shot. Creighton (21-3) also missed a shot high.Isaac Cowles had the winning shot, blasting the ball to the right of Creighton goal-keeper Brian Holt.“I have to give it to Gavin,’’ Cowles said. “He really stepped up for us. He made that stop to give me the cushion I needed.’’It was only the fourth game of the season for Dawson, who also came in for the pen-alty kicks in Charlotte’s victory over Connecticut in the tournament quarterfinals.“We play the players who are the best at each job, and Gavin is very, very good at the penalty stopping,’’ Charlotte coach Jeremy Gunn said. “He’s the best man for the job.’’Creighton, which had won 11 consecutive games, controlled the match throughout the first half. The Bluejays outshot Charlotte 7-2, and most of the action took place on the 49ers’ end of the field.But Davis made three saves, including one during an early flurry of three shots direct-ly in front of the goal, and Creighton had two shots bounce off the crossbar.“We had a great rhythm going in the first half. It was just that our shots didn’t fall,’’ Creighton coach Elmar Bolowich said. “We had some opportunities. The crossbar got in the way a couple of times. That’s just part of the game. When that happens, you have to find a way to get another opportunity. It just wasn’t meant to be today.’’Creighton’s offense became stagnant as the second half progressed, and the Bluejays did not have a shot on goal in either of the overtime periods.“We lost it a little bit in the second half, and (Charlotte) did a very good job defensively,’’ Bolowich said.Charlotte, which will face top-seeded North Carolina or UCLA in the final, is. attempting to become the first unseeded team to win the championship since UC Santa Barbara in 2006.“This isn’t a Cinderella team. We’ve been playing great soccer for a number of years,’’ Gunn said. “There are a lot of teams out there that are every bit as good as this group, but we have a resolve and a determination.’’

5


Charlotte advances to men’s soccer final

Turkey’s Parliament approved a sharp reduction in prison terms for match-fixing and hooliganism early Saturday, a move that will lead to lighter sentences for any suspects found guilty in a recent match-fixing scandal.The Parliament voted for the new reduced term of a maximum three years in prison, overriding a veto by President Abdullah Gul who argued that the amendments were giving “the impression of a special arrangement’’ to save suspects including Fenerbahce President Aziz Yildirim.Match-fixing scandals have tarnished leagues in Turkey, Italy, Israel, Finland and Greece this year despite UEFA spending millions of euros (dollars) to monitor betting and investigate cases. Chris Eaton, security chief of FIFA, said in October that there was mounting evidence that international and club matches are being targeted by gangs who attempt to bribe players and referees.League champion Fenerbahce was barred from the Champions League this season because of its involvement in the match-fixing scandal and it could be stripped of its domestic title and face relegation. The Turkish Football Federation said it would announce sanc-tions against clubs implicated in the scandal at the end of this season.Nihat Ozdemir, deputy president of Fenerbahce, asked the federation President Mehmet Ali Aydinlar on Friday to end relegation altogether, Hurriyet newspaper reported on Saturday.Fenerbahce went unbeaten through the second half of the season and beat Trabzonspor to the title on goal difference. Officials with Trabzonspor, which replaced Fenerbahce in the Champions League, have also been implicated along with officials or players from several other clubs.Yildirim, who has denied any wrongdoing, faces charges of establishing a crime-ring and match-fixing, the indictment said. He now faces a total of maximum 75 years in prison if convicted. And Fenerbahce risks having its name tarnished like Italian club Juventus, which was stripped of its 2005 and 2006 Italian league titles.Abdullah Kaya, a lawyer for Yildirim, said the charges against his client were “unfounded,’’ the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.Parliament first voted for changes to prison terms earlier this month, only eight months after it approved sentences of up to 12 years for anyone convicted of rigging games. The amendments were passed hours after prosecutors announced details of charges against 93 suspects in an indictment. The indictment included records of wiretapped conversations between the suspects who allegedly exchanged encoded messages.In a speech before the vote in Parliament, Sports Minister Suat Kilic rejected public criticism that political parties were under intense pressure from the clubs to reduce the prison terms for match-fixing. Kilic, however, confirmed that he re-ceived a letter signed by 18 club presidents who said they would like to see the legislation changed.Officials or players from a total of eight Turkish clubs were implicated in the scandal. The indictment accused some sus-pects of bribing rival teams’ players to play badly, or not play at all and coercing referees to make favorable decisions.In one specific claim, Yildirim is accused of ordering his aides to pay ?100,000 ($134,000) to Istanbul Buyuksehir Beledi-yespor player Ibrahim Akin ahead of a match in May, the indictment said.Former Fenerbahce forward Emmanuel Emenike of Nigeria, who was detained and then released without charge in July, is among 14 players charged over alleged match-fixing attempts.Emenike left Turkey following his release and joined Spartak Moscow without playing a game for Fenerbahce.Emenike, who then played for Karabukspor, was reportedly promised a transfer to Fenerbahce in return for not playing in a match against the team - an allegation Karabukspor has denied. The club said Emenike was injured a week before the game and has a doctor’s certificate to prove it.It was not clear what punishment the suspects face if convicted. Yildirim and 30 others, including former Giresunspor president Olgun Peker, remain in jail. The indictment described Peker and Yildirim as the ring leaders in a broad match-fixing scheme. The suspects will go on trial on Feb. 14.The Parliament also reduced prison terms for fans who dismantle seats, chant racial slurs and obscenities or spectators who attempt to bring guns, sharp objects or flares to sports events.The Turkish football league is frequently marred by crowd trouble, with fans lighting flares, throwing objects and yelling obscenities to taunt opposition teams and referees.

6


Turkey approves reduced penalties for fixing


Former U.S. national team player Santino Quaranta is retiring from professional soccer.Quaranta said Wednesday he is leaving MLS after 11 seasons, including 10 with D.C. United.The 27-year-old midfielder battled drug and alcohol addictions during his career before asking for help and beginning a recovery in late 2007. He now plans to spend much of his time helping others overcome similar problems in his native Baltimore.Quaranta made 15 appearances with the U.S. team, scoring his only goal during the 2009 Gold Cup.He was 16 when he joined United in 2001, the youngest player ever drafted by MLS at the time.He played in 21 games this year and had one goal and four assists. United last week declined to pick up his contract option for 2012.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was charged with improper conduct by the Football As-sociation on Wednesday over an alleged obscene gesture he made toward Fulham fans. Suarez, who is already being investigated by the FA over an allegation he

racially abused Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, was photographed walking from the pitch following Mon-day’s 1-0 Premier League defeat in west London with his middle finger raised, apparently at the home supporters.The FA said the Uruguay international has until 1600 GMT next Monday to respond to the charge.Birmingham defender Stephen Carr

was banned for one match last season over a similar incident involving fans of local rival Aston Villa, while Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton was warned about his future con-duct for an insulting gesture toward Liverpool’s Fer-nando Torres. Suarez was charged last month with racially abusing Evra, who is black, during a match on Oct. 15. That case has not yet been resolved. The FA also charged Liverpool on Wednesday “with failing to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion.’’Liverpool players harangued referee Kevin Friend over his decision to send off midfielder Jay Spearing for a dangerous tackle on Mousa Dembele.

German football federation’s outgoing president has again sharply criticized FIFA’s decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, saying the Gulf nation is too small to host the event.

Theo Zwanziger said Qatar had been rated as the worst of all the candidates bidding for the 2022 World Cup. Qatar won the final vote over the United States. Australia, Japan and South Korea also made unsuccessful bids. “Political interests should not prevail if the fundamentals, the sporting conditions, have been somewhat perverted,’’ Zwanziger said Wednesday. “I never understood how such a small country could get the World Cup.’’ Zwanziger is a member of FIFA’s executive committee. He was appointed in October to head one of the new committees established to clean up football’s governing body, which has been fighting allegations of bribery and corruption.

On Friday, Zwanziger announced he would step down next October, one year earlier than his term was scheduled to finish. General secretary Wolfgang

Niersbach was picked as his designated successor.

7


Former US midfielder Quaranta retires from MLS

Luis Suarez charged overalleged obscene gesture

German football chief criticizes Qatar decision

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-David Beckham lifted a trophy in what could be his final game for the Los Angeles Galaxy as his side beat Austra-lian A-League side the Melbourne Victory on penalties in a friendly match Tuesday.The 36-year-old former England captain was given the man of the match award after the Galaxy’s 4-3 shootout win following a 2-2 draw.Beckham didn’t score but provided several classy touches. He is out of contract at the end of the Galaxy’s season and hasn’t yet where he will play next year. He is understood to be weighing offers to remain in the United States or to join the French club Paris St. Germain.Beckham’s every move cheered by a 34,000 crowd until he was substituted three minutes from the end. His audacious lob from inside his own half on 13 minutes which just missed was reminiscent of the 1996 goal for Manchester United against Wimbledon from similar range which launched him to stardom.He also won one of two penal-ties for his side in normal time when he was checked by Vic-tory defender Petar Franjic to earn the spot-kick for Robbie Keane.Melbourne made the stron-ger start Tuesday and led 2-0 after 37 minutes with goals by Carlos Hernandez and Isaka Cernak. But after a dubious penalty for handball just before halftime which Keane converted to make it 2-1, the Galaxy improved in the second half. Keane’s second penalty squared things up at 2-2.

The Galaxy pressed hard but were unable to find the winner in nor-mal time.Tuesday’s match was to see a contest between Beckham and former Liverpool star Harry Kewell but Kewell was withdrawn by Melbourne to ensure his fitness for an A-League match this weekend.“We have an important

game on the weekend, and the manager’s told

me I can’t play,’’ Kewell said. “I’m 100 per cent fit, I

trained today, and I wanted to be out there.’’

Kewell’s wife Sheree Murphy tweeted “don’t know who is

more gutted, me or him.’’

AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said Tuesday he has sent a loan request with an option for a per-manent move to Manchester City after reaching contract terms with Carlos Tevez.“There’s an agreement with the player and a short while ago we sent a mes-sage with an offer to City: a free loan with the rights for a full transfer under certain conditions,’’ Galliani told the

club’s official TV station, Milan Channel.City don’t want to send Tevez on loan to any club, however, and is looking for him to leave on a permanent deal in the January transfer window.Corriere dello Sport reported that the deal between Milan and Tevez includes a base sal-ary of ?3 million ($4 million) for the second half of this season, then ?5 million ($6.7 million) plus bonuses for the next three seasons.A Milan spokesman would not reveal details to The Associ-ated Press.Tevez’s contract with City is reportedly about ?10 million ($13.4 million) per season, meaning he would be taking a big pay cut to join Milan.“He’s turning down a mountain of money,’’ Galliani said. “He had enormous incentives with City for the Premier League and Champions League. He’s not playing, he’s a great player and if he does well with us we’ll exercise the option. Tevez wants to join us, half the deal is done. Now we’re await-ing a response from City.’’

Galliani added that Milan presi-dent Silvio Berlusconi has given him the OK to proceed.“He’s showing once again how much he loves the Rosson-eri colors,’’ Galliani said.City manager Roberto Mancini has been feuding with Tevez since the player refused to warm up during a Cham-pions League game against Bayern Munich in September. Tevez has not played for the club since the incident, after which City suspended him for two weeks and fined him a fortnight’s wages.Galliani said he wants Tevez in Dubai at Milan’s holiday training camp at the end of this month.“He’s a player of great worth. The idea is to bring him to Dubai like we did with (David) Beckham and (Antonio) Cassano over the last few years,’’ Galliani said, referring to other recent midseason transfers.Milan needs another striker because Cassano is out long-term following heart surgery, although Tevez would not be eligible for the Champions League after featuring for City against Napoli at the beginning of the campaign.

8


LA Galaxy wins in Beckham’s possible farewell Galliani says Milan has reached terms with Tevez

9


Legal problems delay kickbacks case documentFIFA postponed publication of a Swiss court document naming soccer officials who took millions of dollars in kickbacks from World Cup broadcast deals.FIFA said “legal measures taken’’ by a party involved in the 10-year-old ISL scandal prevented it from releasing the court papers on Dec. 17.“These measures request another thorough legal analysis, which will postpone the envisaged publication of the ISL file,’’ FIFA said in a statement.FIFA did not identify which third party has stalled the process.The BBC has reported that the document implicates former FIFA President Joao Havelange and Ricardo Teixeira, the 2014 World Cup organizing committee president.On Monday, Havelange’s resignation as an IOC member was con-firmed days before the Olympic body was likely to suspend the 95-year-old Brazilian, who led FIFA for 24 years until Blatter succeeded him as president in 1998.The IOC’s leadership was expected to act on an ethics commission in-quiry into alleged payments made by the ISL marketing agency before its 2001 collapse with debts of $300 million.Dealing with the ISL case became a signature test of Blatter’s prom-ised willingness to reform FIFA and world soccer after a slew of scandals involving bribery, vote-rigging and ticket scams.Blatter promised in October to publish the document after his executive committee, including Teixeira, meets Dec. 16-17 in Tokyo.“It was my strong will to make the ISL file fully transparent at this meeting,’’ Blatter said in a statement. “I have now been advised that as a result of the objection of a third party to such transparency it will take more time to overcome the respective legal hurdles.“This does not change my stance at all. I remain fully committed to publishing the files as soon as possible.’’Blatter’s promise of publication was initially met with skepticism by veteran FIFA watchers. However, Blatter and FIFA officials insisted in recent weeks that the 41-page German-language document from the Zug court would be translated into English, French and Spanish and then published.The document details a settlement announced in June 2010 whereby senior soccer officials admitted taking kickbacks and repaid $6.1 million. The officials repaid the money on condition that their identities remained anonymous.Blatter has said he was cleared of any wrongdoing in all aspects of the ISL case. Still, the court document could give details of his awareness of kickbacks being paid at a time when commercial bribery was not a crime in Switzerland.The announcement Tuesday is a second setback in five days for the credibility of Blatter’s mission to clean up FIFA’s im-age and improve its governance.Global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International walked away from its consultancy role with FIFA after citing a breakdown in their working relationship.The not-for-profit body said it could not accept that FIFA paid members of expert panels it appointed to advise on re-forms.TI also insisted that reform task forces be allowed to re-examine past allegations, including claims of unethical behavior during the 2018 and 2022 World Cup votes. However, FIFA refused the request.

The relationship between Manchester City and forward Carlos Tevez has deteriorated fur-ther after the club fined the striker $1.5M for refusing to play against Bayern Munich. In re-sponse, the Argentina international has threat-ened to sue City manager Roberto Mancini for defamation of character. City handed Tevez a record four-week fine plus a two-week suspension following the completion of a lengthy disciplinary hearing that found Tevez had been guilty of misconduct.

South Korea’s state television network says Cho Kwang-rae has been fired as coach of the national football team.

Cho was appointed in July 2010 and led the team to third place at the 2011 Asian Cup but has been under pressure since last month’s shock 2-1 defeat in Lebanon in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.KBS made the announcement Tuesday and says the Korean Football Association has already identified three possible candidates to replace him: Afshin Ghotbi, Choi Kang-hee and Hong Myong-bo.

Ghotbi is a former assistant with the national team and currently head coach of Japanese club Shimizu S-Pulse, Choi has just led Jeonbuk Motors to a second K League title, while Hong was the 2002 World Cup captain and is now Olympic team coach.

Cho Kwang-rae fired as South Korea coach

The United States will play Canada, Cuba and El Salvador next spring at Nashville, Tenn., in Group A of regional men’s soccer qualifying for the 2012 Olympics.Mexico was drawn Tuesday with Honduras, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago in Group B, which will be in Carson, Calif.Winners of the two semifinals, which will be played in Kansas City, Kan., get the North and Central American and Caribbean berths in the London Games.The tournament will be March 22 to April 2. The schedule will likely be released this week.

The Vancouver Whitecaps have agreed to contract terms with vet-eran South Korean midfielder Young-Pyo Lee.The 34-year-old has earned 127 international appearances for South Korea and played in the last three World Cups. Vancouver coach Martin Rennie said Lee can also play defender and will help strengthen the team’s defensive backline.Lee has played in South Korea, England and the Netherlands in his career. He spent the last two seasons with Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal. The move to Major League Soccer is pending receipt of his international transfer certificate. The Whitecaps will introduce Lee at a news conference on Wednesday at BC Place.

10


Tevez to sue Man City

CONCACAF Olympic qualifying draw set

Whitecaps agree to deal with South Korean star

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Bayern won’t sign anymore South Americans

Bayern Munich will stop signing young South American players and will concentrate on finding local talents, according to the club’s chairman

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.Bayern has had little luck with young players imported from South

America.“We won’t bring any more young players from South America, it

makes no sense,’’ Rummenigge was quoted as saying in Wednes-day’s edition of Sport-Bild weekly.

Rummenigge said the Bundesliga club would instead expand its scouting at home.

“That’s going to be our focus, and not other countries or continents,’’ he said.

Jose Ernesto Sosa of Argentina and Julio dos Santos of Paraguay flopped at Bayern. Brazilian defender

Breno remains with the club but hasn’t played much. Breno was also arrested recently over ar-

son allegations at his rented house. He has been released.

Al-Jazeera buys French rights for Champions LeagueQatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera has bought French rights to screen the Champions League for three seasons.UEFA says it sold four of five available media packages covering 133 matches each season from 2012-15. The value of the deal was not disclosed.Al-Jazeera replaces incumbents TF1 and Canal Plus as UEFA’s main broadcast partner in France.UEFA says a fifth package - including first choice of games on 13 match dates, and the final - has not yet been awarded.Al-Jazeera’s deal continues its buying spree of sports media rights in France. It already has bought domestic and international rights to screen French league matches.Al-Jazeera has Middle East and North African rights for the Champions League.

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