BERLIN, Germany — German-born Turkish international Nuri Sahin, who is leaving Borussia Dortmund
for Real Madrid, has been voted Bundesliga player of the 2010-11 season by his peers, Kicker
magazine said Monday. The 22-year-old midfielder was voted best outfield player with 46.1 percent
of the vote, the magazine's survey of 298 players showed, followed in [.
MEXICO CITY, Mexico — Mexico goalkeeper Jose de Jesus Corona has been dropped from the national
squad to defend next month's CONCACAF Gold Cup after television cameras caught him headbutting the
trainer of a rival team during the league playoff semifinals. Corona, who plays for Mexico City's
Cruz Azul, was involved in a fight between [.
LONG BEACH, Cal. The Seventh Annual Cal South Soccer Nation Expo will be taking place on Saturday
and Sunday at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center — its first year in the city.
According to organizers, the expo is the country's largest free soccer expo. To back up that point,
it was announced [.
LONDON, England Roberto Mancini saw Manchester City clinch automatic qualification to the group
stages of the Champions League and immediately demanded a fresh injection of cash. Arsene Wenger
saw his side's season end on a low-key note with a draw against Fulham and promptly heaped more
frustration on Arsenal fans by admitting the club [.
ROME, Italy — Udinese qualified for the Champions League for only the second time in their
history after a 0-0 draw at home to AC Milan ensured they took fourth place in Serie A. Lazio
missed out on Europe's premier club competition on goal difference despite their 4-2 win at Lecce.
And Roma qualified for [.
Timeline of the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday (all times local): 4.00pm
(1500GMT) At kickoff time Blackpool and Wigan Athletic filled the remaining two relegation places
alongside doomed West Ham United. Blackpool, Wigan and Birmingham City were all on 39 points and
with only two goals difference between them.
MANCHESTER, England  Blackpool and Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League on Sunday as
Wigan and Wolves scrambled to safety in a thrilling finale to the English season. Blackpool's
fairytale debut season in the top-flight came to an end at Old Trafford where they were beaten 4-2
by champions Manchester United while Birmingham were [.
TURIN, Italy — Luigi Delneri confirmed on Saturday that as expected he would not be Juventus
coach next season after he failed to guide them to either a trophy or barring a miracle a place in
European competition next season. The 60-year-old who arrived this season after a successful spell
with Sampdoria where he [.
PARIS, France — Lille claimed their first French league title since 1954 despite being held to a
2-2 draw at French Cup final victims Paris Saint-Germain in a heated encounter here on Saturday.
Victors over PSG in last weekend's cup showdown, Lille required just a point to complete the second
league and cup double in [.
BERLIN, Germany Schalke 04 won the German Cup for the fifth time on Saturday, crushing second
division Duisburg 5-0 to book a Europa League spot for next season. Dutchman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
struck twice as Schalke took up their last chance of a European place after a rollercoaster season
saw them reach the Champions League [.
MANCHESTER, England Javier Hernandez has capped a phenomenal debut season for United by scooping
the prestigious Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year Award. The accolade is voted for by fans across
the world on the club's official websites and honours United's best player in the 2010/11 campaign.
Chicharito, who has scored 20 goals [.
PARIS, France Lille moved to the brink of the Ligue 1 and French Cup double when a second-half
Gervinho goal secured a 1-0 league home win over Sochaux on Wednesday. The northeners, who were
last champions in 1954 and won the French Cup on Saturday, have 72 points with two games left and
lead [...]
BLACKPOOL, England  Blackpool dealt a blow to Tottenham's hopes of securing Champions League
qualification on Tuesday, scoring their first win in seven matches with a 3-1 victory at Bloomfield
Road. First half goals from Charlie Adam and DJ Campbell and a late Brett Ormerod strike secured
three precious points for Ian Holloway's side, who [.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Nicolas Anelka eased the pressure on Carlo Ancelotti as his double-strike
inspired Chelsea's 2-0 win over FC Copenhagen in the first leg of their Champions League last 16
tie at the Parken Stadium on Tuesday. Anelka's 15th and 16th goals of the season put Chelsea on
course for the quarter-finals and they [.
BARCELONA, Spain — Real Madrid provisionally moved to within two points of league leader
Barcelona by beating Levante 2-0 on Saturday. Karim Benzema scored Madrid's sixth-minute opener
after a great individual effort from Angel Di Maria, and Ricardo Carvalho sealed the win four
minutes before halftime.
PARIS, France — Marseille beat Saint-Etienne 2-1 Saturday in the French league to keep up its
title challenge. The defending champion cut Lille's lead to three points and provisionally moved
into second place in the standings, one point clear of Lyon which thrashed Nancy 4-0 on Friday.
Lille visits Montpellier on Sunday.
MILAN, Italy Antonio Cassano scored his first AC Milan goal and Robinho struck twice to help the
Serie A leaders end a run of two straight draws in a 4-0 home thrashing of Parma on Saturday.
Second-placed Napoli made sure the gap stayed at three points, however, with the league's top
scorer Edinson Cavani [.
LONDON, England Fernando Torres has explained he could wait no longer for Liverpool to reclaim
their place amongst the English elite, and he hopes that Reds fans will eventually come to
understand that he has joined Chelsea to win trophies and further his career. Torres, signed for a
British record £50 million on transfer [.
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands ADO Den Haag and Groningen will meet in a two-legged playoff for a Europa
League place after coming through Dutch championship playoff semi-finals on Sunday. Den Haag came
from behind to beat Roda JC Kerkrade 2-1 to complete a 6-4 aggregate success, while Groningen beat
Heracles Almelo 2-1 to advance on away [.
DALLAS, Texas The highest level of soccer competition in the world is coming to Dallas for the
Green Soccer Bowl tournament, Feb. 26-27 at the Cotton Bowl. The weekend tournament will pit the
national teams from Nigeria, Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama against each other. Nigeria will be
using the tournament as a tune-up [.
MADRID, Spain — Sevilla were held to a 0-0 draw in the Andalusian derby with bottom side Malaga
on Sunday and lost further ground in the hunt for a European place. It has been a disappointing
campaign for Sevilla who have just one win from their last four matches and are six points off a
[...]
MOSCOW, Russia Seydou Doumbia struck in each half to secure CSKA Moscow a 2-1 win over second
division side Alania Vladikavkaz in the Russian Cup final on Sunday. The Ivory Coast striker opened
the scoring with a low shot following good work by Brazilian forward Vagner Love in the 13th minute
but Love's compatriot [.
SEATTLE, Wa.—Jeff Parke scored on a header off Tyson Wahl's corner kick in the third minute of
second-half stoppage time to give the Seattle Sounders a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on
Saturday night. Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller made three saves for his third shutout of the
season. Wahl's corner kick from the right [.
 LONDON, England — A double by England striker Carlton Cole inspired Premier League strugglers
West Ham to a 5-1 thrashing of Championship side Burnley and earn them a place in the FA Cup
quarter-finals here on Monday. The 27-year-old struck in the 48th and 50th minutes to add to German
Thomas Hitzlsperger's opener on his [.
MANCHESTER, England Patrice Evra has committed his future to Manchester United and agreed a new
four-year contract, with an announcement expected from Old Trafford on Friday morning. Evra had
considered leaving Old Trafford, tempted by the possibility of playing in Spain, and had been
linked with a move to Real Madrid.
PARIS, France — Marseille and Lyon both came from behind to breathe new life into their title
challenges on Saturday, with OM beating Sochaux 2-1 and OL overpowering derby rivals Saint-Etienne
4-1. Andre-Pierre Gignac was the match-winner for Marseille at Sochaux, as the defending champions
secured a victory that took them up to second place [.
LONDON, England At the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal kept the pressure on United with a comfortable win
against Wolves. Van Persie put Arsene Wenger's team ahead in the 16th minute with an emphatic
volley from a Cesc Fabregas cross. Wolves had ended United's 29-match unbeaten run last week, but
they are back at the bottom [.
LONDON, England — Former Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has been appointed head coach of West Brom,
the Premier League club confirmed Friday. West Brom, who fired Roberto Di Matteo earlier this week,
hired Hodgson just over a month after he was sacked by Liverpool. Hodgson, 63, was voted English
football's manager of the year last [.
MADRID, Spain — Real Madrid responded in style to Barcelona's record breaking 16th consecutive
victory with Cristiano Ronaldo leading the way in a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad on Sunday. Ronaldo
was charged up for the game after receiving criticism for not scoring in four games and having seen
Leo Messi hit a hat-trick in [.
WOLVERHAMPTON, England Manchester United suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season
in a shock 2-1 loss at bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers. In a top vs bottom clash that all but
the most optimistic Wolves fan assumed would be a United walkover, two goals from George Elokobi
although Kevin Doyle will try [.
BERNE, Switzerland Japan moved into the top 20 of the FIFA world rankings on Wednesday after
winning the Asian Cup last month while world champions Spain stayed in first place. Japan's record
fourth Asian title which they won in Qatar lifted them 12 places to 17th, making them the Asian
confederation's highest-ranked side.
LONDON, England AFC Wimbledon won promotion to the Football League for the first time in their
history with a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Luton at Eastlands. After a goalless 120
minutes, top scorer Danny Kedwell netted the winning kick after Dons keeper Seb Brown saved from
Alex Lawless and Jason Walker.
NUREMBERG, Germany — Nuremberg extended its winning run in the Bundesliga to four games on
Friday, when goals from Julian Schieber, Robert Mak and Almog Cohen earned a 3-0 home win over
Eintracht Frankfurt. Frankfurt has yet to win in the Bundesliga in 2011, and has been outscored by
11 goals to none since the [.
PARIS, France  Raymond Domenech continues to slide apparently effortlessly from one controversy to
another. His latest is an interview with L'Express in which the former national team coach labelled
the players who mutinied at last year's World Cup as "horrible, unthinking brats." This angered
both his former employers at the French federation whom he [.
BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona earned a record 16th straight win in the Spanish league by beating
Atletico Madrid 3-0 with a Lionel Messi hat-trick on Saturday. The historic win provisionally
lifted Barcelona 10 points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table ahead of its fierce rival's
match against Real Sociedad on Sunday.
LONDON, England The football final of the London 2012 Olympic Games will be played at Wembley on
Saturday, August 11 next year which means the Premier League's curtain-raising Community Shield
will have to go elsewhere. The Closing Ceremony of the Games is the following day August 12 when
the Community Shield is [.
MANCHESTER, England — Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has dedicated his sensational winner
against Manchester City to his club's fans. Rooney knows some United supporters have become
disillusioned with the England international since he handed in a transfer request following a row
over the club's perceived lack of ambition.
The Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner got a boot in the nose from Angel Rangel when Sunderland
played Swansea about a month ago, but the Black Cats have been playing brilliantly in his absence
(including two games against his parent club) and Martin O'Neill now says that he will have to
fight to regain his place [.
LONDON, England - West Ham United have beaten out rivals Tottenham Hotspur to take over the London
2012 Olympics stadium, according to the BBC. The decision is set to be announced later this week
after both English Prmeier League sides submitted bids to the Olympic Park Legacy Company, an
unsourced report on the BBC's website said.
