Thousands mourn death of French soccer fan attacked by hooligans in Belgrade, Serbia

BELGRADE, Serbia — Thousands of people are lining up in downtown Belgrade to mourn the death of a 28-year-old French soccer fan who was fatally beaten by Serbian hooligans.

FIFA medical chief wants more action from refs, coaches to curb violent soccer play

BRUSSELS — FIFA’s medical chief has decried the rise in career-ending fouls over the past two years, calling on referees to show more red-cards and for coaches to do their part in reducing violent play.

Finland’s Pauliina Miettinen to coach WPS champ Sky Blue FC, which had 3 coaches last season

SOMERSET, N.J. — Maybe the newest coach of Sky Blue FC will stick around.

AP Interview: FIFA medical chief wants more action from refs, coaches to curb violent play

BRUSSELS — FIFA’s medical chief has watched the rise in career-ending fouls over the past two years. Now he wants referees to show more red cards and coaches to do their part in curbing violent play.

FIFA to discuss age limit for 2012 London Olympics at Rio meeting

RIO DE JANEIRO — FIFA officials will discuss possible changes on the age limit for male soccer players at the Olympics.

Saudi prince looks to buy 50 percent stake in British football club Liverpool

CAIRO — A Saudi prince wants to buy half of the debt-saddled football club Liverpool, in a deal worth up to $560 million that would mark the latest buy-in by Gulf investors in an English Premier League team.

English soccer club Arsenal announces record profits of $56 million while debt falls

LONDON — English soccer club Arsenal has announced record profits of $56 million following a big increase in turnover and manager Arsene Wenger’s refusal to pay huge transfer fees.

Hockey team to have no designated captain for Canada tour

NEW DELHI - Hockey India’s (HI) new selection committee Wednesday selected its first team for the tour to Canada from Oct 2-5 without a designated captain.

Liverpool co-owners Hicks and Gillett Jr. confirm investment search, no agreements signed

MANCHESTER, England — Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. have confirmed they are looking for outside investors.

Real Madrid’s big-spending gamble looks to be a winner … so far

LONDON — After five wins in five league games, a 5-2 away victory in the Champions League and Cristiano Ronaldo’s five goals in four games, it looks like Real Madrid’s offseason spending spree was worth it.

28-year-old French soccer fan attacked and beaten in Belgrade before match dies in hospital

BELGRADE, Serbia — A 28-year-old French soccer fan, brutally attacked in Belgrade by Serbian hooligans, died Tuesday in a hospital.

Back in Iraq: Soccer match marks Kuwait’s first appearance in Iraq since 1990 invasion

IRBIL, Iraq — A Kuwaiti soccer team will play in Iraq on Wednesday in the first sports competition between the countries since Saddam Hussein invaded his southern neighbor in 1990.

Poison Union: Jazz forward Kirilenko already weary of Shaq-LeBron partnership in Cleveland

LONDON — Although Andrei Kirilenko is hoping for a Russian revolution in the wake of Mikhail Prokhorov’s recent purchase of the New Jersey Nets, it’s LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal that are on his mind ahead of the start of the NBA season.

Lyon on fire on bad night for British clubs

Hamburg (DPA) French club Olympique Lyon were on fire as they won their away Group E match in the Champions League match against Hungarian side Debrecen 4-0 on a night when just one of three British sides in action managed to win.

Troubled Atletico Madrid return to ’scene of crime’

MADRID - A commonplace in crime novels is that the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. Well, that’s exactly what troubled Atletico Madrid will do Wednesday when they return to FC Porto’s Estadio Do Dragao in Champions League Group D action.

Beckhams taking voice lessons to boost careers!

LONDON - Soccer ace David Beckham and wife Victoria are reportedly heading back to school to help them talk better to boost their careers.

Lightning during match in El Salvador kills a football player

SAN SALVADOR - One soccer player died and another was injured when they were hit by lightning while playing a match in a town in eastern El Salvador, authorities said.

Mannone can’t wait for Olympiacos challenge

LONDON - Arsenal’s 21-year-old goalkeeper Vito Mannone is determined to make the most of it when he is handed a third start of the season against Olympiacos in the Champions League Tuesday.

Soccer star Nani turns to pal Ronaldo for advice to end poor form

LONDON - Portuguese winger Nani will ask old pal Cristiano Ronaldo for advice to help put his Stoke horror show behind him.

Liverpool millionaire exposed as sordid supplier of cocaine, hookers

LONDON - Liverpool’s millionaire security expert George Cullen who runs an electronic ticketing system at the club’s Anfield stadium has been exposed as an alleged cocaine supplier and a pimp.

McBride’s goal in 78th minute gives Fire 2-2 draw

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Brian McBride scored in the 78th minute to lift the Chicago Fire into a 2-all tie with Toronto FC on Saturday night.

German football league: Bochum climb out of relegation zone

NUREMBERG - Diego Klimowicz scored the only goal of the match to give VfL Bochum a good 1-0 away win at Nuremberg in a Bundesliga game.

Poor Robert de Niro: He must be wishing that Jake LaMotta had been an Indian cricketer

PARIS — Is cricket the most civilized game ever?

UEFA investigating 40 match-fixing cases, mainly involving eastern European clubs

LONDON — UEFA is investigating 40 cases of suspected match-fixing in the Champions League and UEFA Cup, mostly involving eastern European clubs.

Juventus held by Genoa in Serie A

ROME - A pulsating 2-2 away to combative Genoa allowed Juventus to draw level with Inter Milan at the top of the Italian Serie A.

Emilio scores two goals to lead DC United to 3-0 win over CD Marathon in CONCACAF play

WASHINGTON — Luciano Emilio scored twice in the second half to lift D.C. United to a 3-0 CONCACAF Champions League victory over CD Marathon on Thursday night.

AP Interview: Valcke says US stadium decisions could be as late as 2017

NEW YORK — New stadiums could be considered as late as 2017 for a possible World Cup in the United States in 2022, according to soccer’s No. 2 official.

Russian tycoon’s bid to purchase New Jersey Nets called ‘unpatriotic’

MOSCOW — Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov’s bid to buy the New Jersey Nets was called “unpatriotic” by a member of his country’s upper parliament chamber’s sports committee.

Philadelphia plays first MLS game March 25 at Seattle; Red Bull Arena opens 2 days later

NEW YORK — The Philadelphia Union will start their first Major League Soccer season at the Seattle Sounders on March 25 in the MLS opener.

Wayne Rooney teams up with pal to get matching tattoos on bum cheeks!

LONDON - British soccer star Wayne Rooney and a pal have got matching words tattooed above their bums.

Why England footie players miss penalties

LONDON - England’s star players Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Jamie Carragher could have been suffering from “self regulatory breakdown” when they missed the penalties against Portugal at the 2006 Soccer World Cup.

Cruz Azul blanks Crew 2-0 in CONCACAF Champions match, secures quarterfinal berth

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Pablo Zeballos and Alejandro Vela scored in the first half Wednesday night, leading Cruz Azul of Mexico to a 2-0 victory over the Columbus Crew in a CONCACAF Champions League match.

Landon Donovan doesn’t want to leave anything to chance, knows US needs win at Honduras

NEW YORK — Landon Donovan occasionally forgets just how young and inexperienced the U.S. national team is.

Rio carries hopes of entire continent, promising to excite the world in 2016

RIO DE JANEIRO — South America has never hosted a Summer Olympics. If Rio de Janeiro breaks that streak and gets the 2016 games, the setting could hardly be more spectacular.

Manchester City completely owned by Sheik Mansour as he buys final 10 percent of shares

MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City soccer club is now completely owned by Sheik Mansour, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.