Fuller arrested, Carroll charged over assaults

February 8, 2010

Fuller arrested, Carroll charged over assaults
Ricardo Fuller, the Jamaica striker who plays for Stoke City in the English Premier League, has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a man in a nightclub at the weekend, police said on Monday.

Staffordshire Police said a 21-year-old man had suffered minor facial injuries that did not require hospital treatment following an incident in a nightclub in the Stoke area at around 0100GMT on Sunday.

Fuller, 30, has not been charged with any offence and was bailed until next month pending the outcome of enquiries by the police, who have appealed for witnesses.

Newcastle striker Andy Carroll, meanwhile, was charged on Monday with assault over an incident in which he allegedly attacked another man in a nightclub in the city in December.

He will appear in court on February 25. If convicted, the 21-year-old could, in theory, receive a prison sentence of up to six months but would be more likely to be fined and ordered to do community service.

LONDON (AFP)

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Haiti to open Women’s U-17s against United States

February 4, 2010

Haiti, which was devastated by an earthquake last month, will open the CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s Championship against the defending champion United States, the start of the 16-game, 11-day event.

Despite the calamity which according to some estimates has killed 200,000 in the country, Haiti has confirmed its participation in the second biennial U-17 championship, the first time it has qualified for the CONCACAF finals of a women’s youth event since the 2002 U-19 tournament.

CONCACAF President Jack Warner visited Haiti on Sunday, committing support and offering encouragement to the Haitian Football Federation.

“Haiti’s participation in this tournament under the most difficult circumstances is a testament to the will and commitment of the Haitian Football Federation, their players and coaches and the Haitian people,” Warner said. “We applaud their perseverance and look forward to working together to rebuild their football program and country.”

The team already has arrived in Santo Domingo, where the Dominican Football Federation is providing lodging, training facilities and other assistance to help prepare the side for next month’s championship.

The tournament, to be played entirely at Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium – the home of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense – in Alajuela, Costa Rica, will open March 10, a day later than originally announced, and will conclude with the title and third-place matches on March 20.

Like the CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championship in January, all matches from the U-17 event will be streamed live free of charge at CONCACAF.com. Each game will also be available on-demand shortly after its conclusion.

The CONCACAF event will qualify two teams, along with Under-17 Women’s World Cup host Trinidad & Tobago, for the world championship in September.

Immediately following the Haiti-United States match, host Costa Rica will play the Cayman Islands in the nightcap of the opening day, Group B doubleheader.

Group A will begin the following day, March 11, with Panama playing Mexico and Jamaica facing Canada.

Group play will continue on alternate days through March 15, with the semifinals set for March 18.

FULL SCHEDULE
(Kickoff times in U.S. Eastern; local times in parentheses)

FIRST ROUND
Group A
Cayman Islands
Costa Rica
Haiti
United States

Group B
Canada
Jamaica
Mexico
Panama

Wednesday, March 10
Haiti vs. United States, 6 p.m. (5 p.m.)
Costa Rica vs. Cayman Islands, 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m.)

Thursday, March 11
Panama vs. Mexico, 6 p.m. (5 p.m.)
Jamaica vs. Canada, 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m.)

Friday, March 12
United States vs. Cayman Islands, 6 p.m. (5 p.m.)
Costa Rica vs. Haiti, 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m.)

Saturday, March 13
Mexico vs. Jamaica, 6 p.m. (5 p.m.)
Panama vs. Canada, 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m.)

Sunday, March 14
Cayman Islands vs. Haiti, 1 p.m. (11 a.m.)
Costa Rica vs. United States, 3:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m.)

Monday, March 15
Jamaica vs. Panama, 7 p.m. (5 p.m.)
Canada vs. Mexico , 9:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m.)

SEMIFINALS
Thursday, March 18
(Order TBA)
Semifinal 1, 6 p.m. (4 p.m.)
Semifinal 2, 9 p.m. (7 p.m.)

FINALS
Saturday, March 20
Third-Place
Semifinal losers, 6 p.m. (4 p.m.)
Championship
Semifinal winners, 9 p.m. (7 p.m.)

NEW YORK

Concacaf

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Canada, United States head into semis as favorites

January 29, 2010


It looks like another North American grudge match could decide the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s title.

Both the United States and Canada advanced to the semifinals unbeaten and untied through the group stage, dominating their opponents and only allowing one goal each in three games.

However, both have to get through the knockout semis on Thursday, which will be a repeat of two years ago in Mexico, when the United States beat Costa Rica 4-0, and Canada edged Mexico 2-1.

The United States will face Costa Rica in the first semifinal at 1:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern) with Canada against Mexico following at 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern).

“Costa Rica is an excellent team and I think it will be very challenging game for us,” U.S. coach Jill Ellis said. “We know they have some wonderfully skilled players and they play an attractive style so we are definitely going to have to be prepared. Hopefully, we’ll get our legs back with a couple of days of rest and then we’ll be ready to go.”

The United States has won two World Cups, but has lost to Canada two of the three times they faced off in the CONCACAF final.

The United States doesn’t want to appear like it’s looking past Costa Rica, realizing that a win Thursday qualifies it for the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany in July.

“We’re excited to be in the semifinals,” said striker and co-captain Sydney Leroux, who leads all scorers with five goals. “We are definitely going to be ready and bring our ‘A’ game. That’s all I can ask of my teammates.”

With three teams qualifying for the World Cup, a semifinal loss won’t preclude a trip to Germany, but will require a victory in Saturday’s third-place game.

The United States has been, so far, the most impressive team, outscoring Jamaica, Trinidad and Mexico 12-1, allowing its only goal in second-half injury time of its finale against its southern neighbor.

“It’s fairly obvious that they are physically stronger than us,” Costa Rica coach Randal Chacon said. “They are strong and tall, but we have to take advantage of our strengths. We will work to maintain our shape when we don’t have the ball.”

Mexico and Costa Rica have split their two meetings in the third-place game, and Mexico may feel it’s time to avoid the uncertainty of World Cup qualification in a consolation match.

It benched forward Charlyn Corral, instrumental in El Tri’s victories over Trinidad and Jamaica, when Mexico played the United States. It apparently was looking to prevent her from picking up a second yellow card and having her miss the semifinals. Accumulated yellow cards are not waived after the first round.

“This is the most important game…we can’t keep anything in,” Corral said. “We have to give more than our 100 percent and we have to plat intelligently because we know that in the physical aspect, the height, and in the air battle we may have a disadvantage.”

Canada coach Carolina Morace feels her side has improved each game, but forward Adriana Leon noted she thinks the side needs to improve its finishing.

While the four semifinalists were not unexpected, the Caribbean’s three representatives teams went home disappointed – mostly notably Jamaica.

The “Reggae Girlz” – which reached the semifinals four years ago, returned to their country without a goal and having been outscored 9-0. Along with Cuba and Trinidad. the three Caribbean sides did not win any of the eight games against non-Caribbean opponents and finished with an aggregate goal difference of minus-18.

Conversely, Guatemala, which was playing in its first Under-20 Women’s Championship, managed a victory (over Cuba 2-1) and was the only team to score a goal against the defending and two-time champion Canadians.

GUATEMALA CITY

Concacaf

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U.S. wears down Mexico 2-1

January 26, 2010


Sydney Leroux scored for a third consecutive match and the United States completed a perfect first round with a 2-1 victory over Mexico on Monday at the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship.

Vicky DiMartino scored the other goal for the United States, which finished atop Group B with a third win in as many games and earned a semifinal match against Group A runner-up Costa Rica on Thursday. Mexico finished with six points and will play Group A winner Canada in the other semifinal.

Leroux, which had a pair of goals against both Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica, volleyed a rebound after second-half substitute Kristie Mewis launched a left-footed shot across the face of the goal and struck the far post. Leroux, streaking down the middle of the field, lunged and touched the ball at the six past an out-of-position Mexican keeper Aurora Santiago in the 65th.

DiMartino put the United States ahead in the 13th minute, running onto a backward ball from Teresa Noyola, taking one touch and hitting a 30-meter blast across goal and out of the reach of Aurora.

The United States had the better possession from the start but Mexico frustrated the Americans, catching them offside frequently and forcing shots wide and high.

Twice the Americans beat the trap in the first half, but Leroux and Tiffany McCarty both shot wide.

Mexico scored a consolation goal in the second minute of second-half injury time. Unmarked defender Alina Garciamendez leapt to head in Natalia Gomez-Junco’s corner kick, leaving Mewis behind the play.

Until that point, Mexico’s best chances came when Natalie Lagunas drove a right-footed shot from 22 meters in the 10th minute that U.S. keeper Bianca Henninger had to slap over the bar with one hand, and when it hit the post in the 73rd.

But for the most part, the United States played in Mexico’s end. Mexico played without Charlyn Corral, who was carrying a yellow card and was relegated to the substitute’s bench. Lydia Rangel, Mexico’s captain in the first two matches, did not enter until the 54th minute.

It was the fourth time the United States and Mexico have faced each other in the CONCACAF championship, with the Americans winning all three previous by a combined 12-0.

GUATEMALA CITY

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Trinidad beats Jamaica for Caribbean bragging rights

January 26, 2010


Candace Seaton scored off the underside the crossbar in the 65th minute and gave Trinidad & Tobago a 1-0 victory over Jamaica on Monday in a match for Caribbean pride at the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship.

Both entered the game already eliminated from semifinal contention and with two losses each in Group B play, having been outscored by a combined 14-1.

After having a shot pushed off the underside of the crossbar by Jamaican goalkeeper Leigh-Ann Jaggon seven minutes earlier, Seaton used a piece of individual skill to give the Soca Princesses the victory.

She took a ball down the right side, cut inside Jamaican defender Lia Blake and took a touch inside the penalty area before deftly looping a right-footed shot just out of the reach of a stretching Jaggon that nicked the crossbar before settling in the back of the net.

It was the first goal for Trinidad in the tournament since Natasha St. Louis scored in the first minute of its opening game against Mexico.

Jaggon thwarted Seaton in the 58th when the Trinidad winger hit a 25-meter shot that the goalkeeper had to push upward off the underside of the bar before it bounded out.

Jamacia had the better of play in the first half with Natasha St. Louis hitting the left corner of the post and crossbar from 25 meters in the 24th minute.

Jamaica returned home with three losses in as many games and without a goal.

Trinidad finished with a flurry, hitting the post again when Mariah Shade’s volley of a rebound hit a sprawled Jaggon and deflected off the goal and out of play.

GUATEMALA CITY

Concacaf

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Mexico tops Jamaica 2-0 for second win

January 24, 2010

Liliana Godoy scored for the second straight game and helped Mexico to a 2-0 victory over Jamaica on Saturday that helped assure El Tri of a semifinal berth at the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship.

Charlyn Corral also scored to give Mexico its second consecutive victory and gave it six points in Group B, just behind the United States.

The goals on either side of halftime highlighted a one-sided match in which Mexico had most of the possession but one in which neither team produced many chances.

Corral, who set up both goals in Mexico’s opening 2-1 victory over Trinidad on Thursday, finally got one of her own in the 45th minute. Godoy sent a high, looping cross from the right that goalkeeper Sashagay Spence was able to get a hand to. But the ball deflected onto Mexican captain Lydia Rangel at the back post and bounded into the middle of the area where Corral pounced opportunistically.

Jamaica, which was beaten 6-0 in its opener on Thursday, often keep eight or nine players in its own half in the first 45 minutes, limiting Mexico’s ability to create anything, but also prohibiting it from getting numbers forward.

It started the second half with an apparent more offensive mindset, and paid for the tactical change quickly.

Godoy traded passes with Sandra Mayor at the top of the offensive third before unleashing a 30-meter blast that curled just inside the left post out of the reach of a diving Spence.

Jamaica’s chances were almost exclusively limited to shots from distance, the best of which came less than two minutes after the opening kickoff when Nicole Campell launched a drive from midfield that settled on top of the net.

The second half was similar to the first with Mexico dominating possession and Jamaica finding it difficult to get out of its own end.

Mexico will face the United States in the group finale on Monday while Jamaica will face Caribbean rival Trinidad.

GUATEMALA CITY

Concacaf

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Leroux, U.S. dominate Jamaica 6-0

January 22, 2010


Sydney Leroux scored two goals and assisted on another to lead the United States to a dominating 6-0 victory over Jamaica in the opening game for both Thursday at the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship.

Leroux, the Golden Ball winner at the 2008 Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile, also hit the post twice and enabled the United States to control the match from the start.

Christine Nairn scored a goal in each half and Teresa Noyola and Tiffany McCarty each added a second-half goal for the Americans, who are the defending World Cup champions.

Leroux, who plays collegiately at UCLA, put a volley from 12 meters off the crossbar in the fifth minute and Nairn converted in the ninth minute as the United States to start an impressive showing that saw the United States outshoot Jamaica 11-1 in the opening half.

Nairn finished a play that started with Zakiya Bywaters working in from the right and feeding McCarty inside the area. McCarty was unmarked but tipped the ball back to the top of the area, where an onrushing Nairn – the only player on the U.S. team to have earned a cap with the senior American women’s team — hit a right-footed shot just inside the right post.

The U.S. players clearly appeared bigger, faster and stronger than their Caribbean counterparts, but Jamaica managed a brief period of possession, highlighted by Sashana Campbell’s 19-meter free kick that crashed off the American crossbar.

But the United States quickly regained control and doubled its lead in the 25th when Leroux moved in from the left, raced around Shanise Foster and cut inside Nicole Campbell before unleashing a right-footed shot from 25 meters that deflected in off the left post.

Leroux hit a left-footer from 12 meters that struck the post in the 33rd, two minutes before capitalizing on a Jamaican defensive blunder for her second.

Goalkeeper Bianca Henninger blasted a goal kick that bounced once. Leroux raced past a slow reacting Jamaican defense to head the ball just outside the area, beating keeper Sashagay Spence coming off her line.

Jamaica was unable to maintain any significant possession in the U.S. half, leading to the most lopsided result in the first four games of the tournament.

The U.S. onslaught continued in the second half, with Noyola volleying a long ball from Leroux to hike the American lead to 4-0 in the 49th. Nairn, the vice captain who plays for Penn State University, scored her second in 71st, sending a left-footed free kick from 23 meters just inside the left post.

McCarty, who was involved in several chances, finally was rewarded in the 83rd, beating an offside trap to take a pass from Bywaters and finish with a ball across the face of goal inside the left post.

GUATEMALA CITY

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2009: Costa Rica carries CONCACAF flag to U-20 World Cup semis

December 19, 2009


Reaching the semifinals of the Under-20 World Cup doesn’t make up for Costa Rica’s inability to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa. It might take some of the sting out of it – especially for the future.

While its senior team fell 30 seconds short of making the World Cup finals next year, Costa Rica’s youngsters garnered the soccer world’s attention with a run to the final four in Egypt, and signaled the Ticos could be a significant CONCACAF power for years to come.

A second CONCACAF title run in Trinidad, capped by a 3-0 victory over the United States, continued in Egypt. After escaping group play on goal difference, Costa Rica upset host Egypt 2-0 before a partisan host crowd of 70,000 and then beat the United Arab Emirates in the quarterfinals.

A semifinal loss to Brazil ended the run, which would provide hope to the Central American nation for the prospects of its national team.

“I’m very happy with how my team responded – they were compact and tenacious, just as we’d planned,” Costa Rican manager Ronald Gonzalez said. “It’s a performance that gives us great confidence for the future.”

The loss on penalties to Hungary in the third-place match didn’t do anything to dampen the mood of a squad which represents an “excellent new generation of Costa Rican footballers,” Gonzalez said.

Marcos Urena, who led the team with three goals and an assist, Josue Martinez (two goals), Diego Estrada and David Guzman were the keys in helping Los Ticos improve on their first-round exit from the World Cup two years ago in Canada.

Gonzalez’s men advanced while CONCACAF’s other three representatives – the United States, Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago — all were eliminated in the group stage.

Costa Rica’s CONCACAF title was its first since 1988, sealed in the final with a pair of goals by Martinez and another by Estada.

It advanced to the final with one-goal victories over Canada and Mexico – which failed to get out of the group stage and was sent home without a victory – and a draw against Trinidad.

The United States dominated a first-round group including Honduras, Jamaica and El Salvador, winning twice and outscoring its opponents 5-0. Both the Americans and Costa Rica needed penalties to get past the semifinals after being held to goalless draws.

The United States prevailed over Trinidad, and Costa Rica outlasted Honduras. While its semifinal appearance assured the United States of a CONCACAF record 12th appearance in the World Cup, the Americans once again failed to claim the confederation crown at the U-20 level.

It was their first chance at a title since 1996, the last year CONCACAF conducted its finals as a championship at a single venue. Brian Perk was the U.S. hero, recording four shutouts before allowing three goals to Costa Rica in the title match.

By Vijay Setlur

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Giggs wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year award

December 14, 2009


Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs crowned a memorable 2009 by being named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Sunday after topping a public vote.

Formula One world champion Jenson Button was runner-up in the poll and world hepathlon champion Jessica Ennis came third.

Wales international Giggs, 36, is the most decorated player in English football history and in May won a record 11th Premier League winners’ medal.

He was only the fifth footballer to win the award in its 55-year history and the first since his former Manchester United team-mate David Beckham in 2001.

“Perhaps I’ve become more appreciated as I have got older,” said Giggs, who received his award in front of an audience of 11,000 people at the Sheffield Arena in northern England.

“It’s unusual for a 36-year-old to be playing with a team like Manchester United for 20 years but I am enjoying it and long may it continue.”

The other footballers to win the award were England’s World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore (1966), Paul Gascoigne (1990) and Giggs’s current United colleague Michael Owen (1998).

The England men’s cricket team, currently on tour in South Africa, were named Team of the Year after beating Australia to regain the Ashes.

England football manager Fabio Capello was named Coach of the Year.

World champion diver Tom Daley, still only 15, won the Young Sports Personality of the Year award.

Jamaica’s Olympic champion Usain Bolt won the Overseas Sports Personality of the Year award for the second year in a row.

Bolt lowered his own world records in the 100 and 200 metres to 9.58 and 19.19 seconds respectively at this year’s World Championships in Berlin.

Spanish golf great Severiano Ballesteros, the first European to win the US Masters title, received a lifetime achievement award.

Ballesteros, who is currently suffering with cancer, was unable to attend the awards ceremony and received his trophy at home in Pedrena, Spain from fellow Spanish golfer Jose Maria Olazabal.

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year, which is restricted to British sportsmen and women, as is the team award, has been in existence since 1954 when then 5,000m world record holder Christopher Chataway was the inaugural winner.

LONDON (AFP)

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Cayman Islands seals last place in U-17 Women’s Championship

December 13, 2009

Marissa McLaughlin scored five minutes after the opening kickoff, enough to give the Cayman Islands a 1-1 draw against the Dominican Republic on Saturday and the final berth in the CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s Championship.

McLaughlin’s goal helped earn a 3-3 aggregate draw and a 2-1 victory on away goals having drawn the first leg 2-2 a week ago in the Dominican Republic in the two-leg Caribbean third-place playoff.

Anajairo Burgos equalized in the 26th minute, her third goal of qualifying, but the Dominicans were unable to score the winner.

The Cayman Islands becomes the eighth and last team in the field for the championship, set for March 9-20 in San Jose, Costa Rica.

It will join the defending champion United States, host Costa Rica and Haiti in Group B. Group A will consist of Canada, Mexico, Jamaica and Panama.

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands

Concacaf

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