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| [ PHOTO: THE TIMES OF ISRAEL ] |
A lawmaker in Iran on Sunday slammed the local sports federation for allowing star soccer player Masoud Shojaei to return to the international squad despite appearing against an Israeli team last year, AFP reported. Shojaei, the 33-year-old national team captain, and teammate Ehsan Haji Safi were criticized in Iran after they appeared for their Greek club…
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| [ PHOTO: FOX SPORTS ] |
Leaders of North America's joint bid for the 2026 World Cup said Monday they have seen no evidence of anti-American sentiment as they enter the home stretch of the campaign. The joint US-Canada-Mexico bid has long been viewed as the favourite to stage the most prestigious tournament in football, which will expand to 48 teams for the 2026 finals.
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| [ PHOTO: NEW YORK POST ] |
Estranged United States women's national team goalkeeper Hope Solo announced on Thursday her candidacy for president of the U.S. Soccer Federation in a personal Facebook post. Solo was given a six-month suspension from the U.S. national team for comments she made during the Rio Olympics.
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| [ PHOTO: CHANNEL NEWSASIA ] |
First they dug up the bones and defused the bombs. Then Russia erected a light-as-air stadium for the 2018 World Cup that rises from the ground around which two million people died over 200 days in the Battle of Stalingrad -- the tragic turning point of World War II.
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| [ PHOTO: NEW JERSEY HERALD ] |
The Chinese FA said Sunday that its under-20 team will return home from Germany after indefinitely suspending its tour over protests by activists who unfurled Tibetan flags at a game. The youth team had been scheduled to play a series of friendlies against German fourth-tier sides until May, aimed at improving China's chances at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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| [ PHOTO: CHANNEL NEWSASIA ] |
Qatar on Sunday unveiled the design for what it claims is the World Cup's first 'reusable' stadium, the seventh of eight expected venues that will stage games during the 2022 tournament. Ras Abu Aboud is a 40,000 stadium that will be built on Doha's southern waterfront and host matches up to the quarter-final stage.
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| [ PHOTO: DAILY MAIL ] |
The China under-20 team's controversial tour of Germany has been suspended at least until the winter break following a row over the display of Tibetan flags, the German Football Association (DFB) announced on Friday.
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| [ PHOTO: HONG KONG FREE PRESS ] |
China called for "mutual respect" on Monday as it lashed out at the appearance of Tibetan flags during the Chinese Under-20 team's friendly football game in Germany. The Chinese players stormed off the pitch in Mainz on Saturday after a group of six spectators displayed the flags during the first in a series of friendlies against…
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| [ PHOTO: CHANNEL NEWSASIA ] |
Terror and cyber-security threats to major global sporting events, including football's World Cup and the Olympics, are growing, Interpol's secretary general warned on Wednesday. Speaking on the fringes of a security conference in Doha, where the 2022 World Cup will be held, Jurgen Stock said "a spectrum" of threats, which also included hooliganism, now existed for…
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| [ PHOTO: EXPRESS ] |
Russia says it will take extraordinary measures to combat any terrorist threat when it hosts the World Cup next year, as its military campaign in Syria makes the country a prime target for jihadists. A bombing on the metro in Saint Petersburg in April that left 15 people dead was among the recent high-profile terror attacks…
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| [ PHOTO: THE OREGONIAN ] |
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Houston Dynamo used two perfectly hit shots to take out the Portland Timbers on Sunday at Providence Park. Defender Dylan Remick gave the Dynamo a leg late in the first half and forward Mauro Manotas scored from distance in the second half as Houston advanced to the Western Conference final with a…
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| [ PHOTO: CINCINNATI ENQUIRER ] |
NEW YORK -- David Villa scored on a first-half penalty and Andraz Strunaz added a deflected goal in the second half, but Columbus Crew SC advanced to the Eastern Conference final despite a 2-0 loss to New York City FC in the second leg of a semifinal series on Sunday evening. Columbus won the first leg…
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| [ PHOTO: THE OREGONIAN ] |
TORONTO -- Toronto FC survived a wild 1-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls on Sunday at BMO Field to advance to the MLS Eastern Conference finals. The result left the two-legged series tied at two goals piece, with TFC winning due to the away-goals tiebreaker. The Reds collected a 2-1 result over New York…
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| [ PHOTO: YAKIMA HERALD REPUBLIC ] |
SEATTLE -- Clint Dempsey scored two second-half goals as the Seattle Sounders beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-0 in the second and deciding game of a Major League Soccer Western Conference semifinal series Thursday night.
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| [ PHOTO: NEW YORK POST ] |
HARRISON, N.J. -- Sebastian Giovinco demonstrated his free-kick mastery again with the go-ahead goal in the 72nd-minute, and Toronto FC took control of its Eastern Conference semifinal series with a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls in the first leg Monday night. It was Giovinco's seventh free-kick goal of the year in all competitions,…
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| [ PHOTO: THE SEATTLE TIMES ] |
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Vancouver Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders played a 0-0 draw Sunday in the first leg of their Major League Soccer Western Conference semifinal series. Vancouver goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic and Seattle counterpart Stefan Frei recorded shutouts as the clubs kept scoring chances to a minimum.
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| [ PHOTO: THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER ] |
The defending MLS Cup champs will have to wait for their ticket to this year's postseason. The Philadelphia Union scored early and held off a Seattle offense that came alive in the last 40 minutes, beating the Sounders 2-0 on Sunday at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa. The Sounders (12-9-11) could have clinched a playoff…
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| [ PHOTO: EMPIRE OF SOCCER ] |
Visiting New York City FC kept the Chicago Fire from closing in on their second-place perch as the teams played to a 1-1 deadlock on Saturday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. Chicago (15-10-7, 52 points) and New York (16-8-8, 56 points) each collected a first-half goal but couldn't add on in the second. Fire forward…
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| [ PHOTO: THE TORONTO STAR ] |
TORONTO -- Victor Vazquez made no mistake. As a result, Toronto FC made history on Saturday night. Vazquez scored the winning goal on a penalty kick in the 79th minute as Toronto clinched first place in Major League Soccer with a 4-2 victory over the New York Red Bulls. Once a league laughingstock, Toronto FC (19-5-8)…
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| [ PHOTO: NEWSDAY ] |
Sporting Kansas City scored a goal in each half to defeat the New York Red Bulls 2-1 in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Wednesday night at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan. It was the fourth U.S. Open Cup championship for Sporting KC. Sporting was founded as the Kansas City Wizards, one…
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| [ PHOTO: LOS ANGELES TIMES ] |
The Los Angeles Galaxy got goals from three players and kept the Colorado Rapids winless on the road with a 3-0 victory Saturday in a battle of teams with dwindling playoff hopes at StubHub Center in Carson Calif. Romain Alessandrini, Emmanuel Boateng and Gyasi Zardes scored for the Galaxy (7-14-5), who ended a 10-game winless streak…
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| [ PHOTO: BIG D SOCCER ] |
Sacha Kljestan and Aaron Long each scored a goal for New York to help the Red Bulls come away with a road point in a 2-2 draw with FC Dallas on Saturday night in Frisco, Texas. New York (12-10-4) extended its unbeaten streak against FC Dallas to five games. The Red Bulls haven't fallen to Dallas…
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| [ PHOTO: ORLANDO SENTINEL ] |
Kei Kamara notched his first career three-goal game to lead the New England Revolution to a crucial 4-0 victory over visiting Orlando City SC on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The hat trick gave Kamara a team-leading 11 goals this season, breaking a tie with Lee Nguyen and Juan Agudelo for the team…
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| [ PHOTO: CHICAGO TRIBUNE ] |
The Chicago Fire continued to struggle on offense, but the defense was much improved. Bastian Schweinsteiger's second-half goal was the only scoring the visiting Fire needed as they beat the short-handed Montreal Impact 1-0 on Saturday at Stade Saputo. Chicago (13-9-5), which was 1-6-1 in its previous eight games, ended a four-game losing streak in which…
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| [ PHOTO: BLEACHER REPORT ] |
Marco Urena scored once in each half and Keylor Navas made several critical stops as Costa Rica defeated the United States 2-0 in a CONCACAF World Cup qualifier Friday at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. Urena scored in the 30th and 82nd minutes, the latter coming a minute after Navas came to the edge of…
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| [ PHOTO: KHALEEJ TIMES ] |
Joachim Loew's world champions Germany head to Prague for Friday's World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic focused on preserving their 100 percent record. The match is Germany's first international of a season which finishes with the World Cup final. Having won all six qualifiers so far in Group C, victory at Prague's Eden Arena will…
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| [ PHOTO: THE TIMES OF ISRAEL ] |
Iran's soccer federation has excluded captain Masoud Shojaei from the soccer World Cup qualifiers against South Korea and Syria, but denies it is punishment for playing against an Israeli club, AFP reported Sunday. Shojaei and his compatriot Ehsan Haji Safi were criticized earlier this month when they turned out for their Greek side Panionios in an…
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| [ PHOTO: THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER ] |
Chris Wondolowski's penalty kick in the final minute of stoppage time helped the San Jose Earthquakes salvage a 2-2 draw with the visiting Philadelphia Union on Saturday at Avaya Stadium. Jack Elliott and Roland Alberg scored unassisted goals for the Union, who were within seconds of notching only their second road win of the season. But…
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| [ PHOTO: BLACK AND RED UNITED ] |
Jared Watts sent the ball into his own net on a backpass gone wrong and D.C. United held on to snap its eight-match winless stretch with a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. Bill Hamid made four saves to help D.C. United (6-15-4, 22…
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| [ PHOTO: THE OREGONIAN ] |
Diego Valeri and Darren Mattocks each scored goals and the Portland Timbers moved into a four-way tie at the top of the Western Conference table with a 2-0 win over the weary New York Red Bulls on Friday night at Providence Park in Portland, Ore. Valeri was the beneficiary of a hustle play from midfielder Diego…
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| [ PHOTO: FOX 11-LOS ANGELES ] |
Three people were stabbed during a soccer game brawl Sunday at El Camino High School in Whittier, California, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. More than 20 people were involved in the fight that took place during an adult male soccer game at the school, Sgt. Brian Neel of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department…
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| [ PHOTO: NEW YORK POST ] |
David Villa recorded a hat trick, highlighted by the game-winner on a penalty kick in the 74th minute, and New York City FC beat the New York Red Bulls 3-2 Sunday at Yankee Stadium. It was the first hat trick of Villa's NYCFC career. The Spaniard has eight goals in his past eight games and an…
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| [ HAT-TIP: ARUTZ SHEVA ] |
The Polish government on Thursday condemned the attack on members of the Israeli soccer club Hapoel Petah Tikva near Warsaw a day earlier, according to Reuters. Two people were injured in the incident, which occurred when a group of masked men attacked the Israeli team after an exhibition game against the local MKS Ciechanow, located approximately…
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| [ PHOTO: THE JERUSALEM POST ] |
Players from the Hapoel Petah Tikva soccer team on Wednesday evening experienced a very frightening and anti-Semitic incident on Polish soil. The players, who played an exhibition game in Sochocin, located about 70 kilometers from Warsaw, were attacked following the game by a number of masked men in what appeared to be a planned ambush by…
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| [ PHOTO: WGN 9-CHICAGO ] |
Marcelo converted the deciding tally in penalty kicks as Real Madrid outlasted a collection of the best players from Major League Soccer in the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday at Soldier Field in Chicago. The game ended in a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes. Real Madrid prevailed 4-2 in the shootout, with Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale…
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| [ PHOTO: SB NATION ] |
The United States and Mexican national men's soccer teams played to a 1-1 draw Sunday night in a CONCACAF World Cup qualifying match at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Michael Bradley gave the United States an early lead with a sixth-minute goal, but Carlos Vela replied for Mexico in the 23rd minute. Mexico remains unbeaten…
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| [ PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST ] |
Portland Timbers forward Fanendo Adi scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season to lead his team to a 2-0 win over FC Dallas in an MLS match Saturday night at Providence Park in Portland. The Timbers improved to 7-5-3 and moved into second place in the Western Conference with 24 points. FC Dallas, which…
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| [ PHOTO: THE KANSAS CITY STAR ] |
Gerso Fernandes scored in the first half, but host Sporting KC surrendered a late goal and had to settle for a 1-1 draw with the short-handed Montreal Impact on Saturday night at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan. Montreal forward Matteo Mancosu delivered the equalizer with an unassisted goal in the 82nd minute. Fernandes finished…
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| [ PHOTO: STARS AND STRIPES ] |
The United States puts its three-match World Cup qualifying unbeaten run on the line Sunday when it visits a Mexican team that hasn't lost any of its 11 qualifiers this World Cup cycle. The Americans have never won a qualifying match in Mexico's famed Azteca Stadium, going 0-13-2 overall at the storied venue that sits more…
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| [ PHOTO: CHICAGO FIRE ] |
The Chicago Fire extended their unbeaten streak to seven games and avenged a blowout March loss to Atlanta United FC with a 2-0 victory on Saturday afternoon at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. Chicago (8-3-4, 28 points) improved to 7-0-1 this season at home as it moved to within one point of first-place Toronto and the…
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| [ HAT-TIP: FAITHZETTE ] |
Faith and football united a soccer team in Indonesia. Three Indonesian soccer players (all of different religions) prayed on the field after scoring big in a game last month. The Bali United FC team posted a photo to Facebook on Sunday showing Christian, Muslim and Hindu players side-by-side as they showed gratitude. "Because different beliefs will…
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| [ PHOTO: DAILY MAIL ] |
Sydney (dpa) - Saudi Arabia's national football federation has issued an apology after their players failed to properly observe a minute's silence at Thursday's World Cup qualifier against Australia in Adelaide. The incident occurred just prior to kick-off as players and fans were asked to observe a minute's silence in honour of the victims of Saturday's…
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| [ PHOTO: THE GUARDIAN ] |
Teenager Christian Pulisic scored the fourth and fifth World Cup qualifying goals of his international career to lead the United States to a 2-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago in a pivotal match on Thursday night in Commerce City, Colo. Tim Howard needed only two saves at the home park of his club team, the Colorado…
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| [ PHOTO: TORONTO SUN ] |
Saudi Arabia's soccer team sparked social media outrage this week when its players roamed around and stretched during a minute of silence for victims of London's June 3 terror attack. An entire stadium of Australian soccer fans watched Thursday as Saudis took their positions during a minute of reverence for those who perished last week's London…
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| [ PHOTO: THE SEATTLE TIMES ] |
Will Bruin scored on a header in the 69th minute against his former team as the Seattle Sounders defeated the Houston Dynamo 1-0 Sunday night before 40,258 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. Bruin took a cross from Cristian Roldan and scored on a lunging header from about 3 yards out, powering the shot past Dynamo goalkeeper…
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| [ PHOTO: FOX SPORTS ] |
The Sunday tie will feel like a moral victory for Orlando City. The Lions, despite losing two players to red cards, managed to salvage a 0-0 draw with the Chicago Fire on Sunday evening at Orlando City Stadium. Chicago played with a man advantage for 54 minutes and was up two men for game's final 24…
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| [ PHOTO: FOX NEWS ] |
Rome (dpa) - More than 1,500 people were injured in Turin at a stampede after panic broke out during a public screening of the Champions League final, officials said. Around 30,000 people were watching the match Saturday between Turin side Juventus and Real Madrid at the city's Piazza San Carlo when fans began running following a…
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| [ PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON TIMES ] |
Alan Gordon came off the bench to score the winner in the 86th minute as the Colorado Rapids stunned Columbus Crew SC 2-1 on Saturday night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. Colorado (4-8-1) had the worst record in MLS and had scored just 10 goals entering the game but rallied after Federico…
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| [ PHOTO: MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER ] |
Roland Lamah scored three times in the first 31 minutes to set the tone as FC Dallas ended a four-match winless skid with a 6-2 victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. If this was a boxing match, the referees would have stopped the fight to save Real Salt Lake.…
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| [ PHOTO: RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH ] |
Midfielder Blerim Dzemaili scored his first goal of the season, giving the Montreal Impact a 1-0 victory over the visiting New York Red Bulls at Stade Saputo on Saturday. Dzemaili scored from Ignacio Piatti in the 67th minute. He had a goal called back in the 30th minute because of an offside call. New York was…
