U.S. Learns Its Road to Olympics

The United States, which reached the semifinals of the Sydney 2000 Olympic soccer tournament before losing to eventual silver medal-winner Spain, will have to get past Panama, Canada and Honduras to qualify for the 2004 Athens Games.

The Americans, coached by Glenn “Mooch” Myernick, will play Panama on Feb. 3, Canada on Feb. 5 and Honduras on Feb. 7 in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying at the Estadio Tres de Marzo in Guadalajara.

If the U.S. finishes first or second in Group A, it will play the winner or runner-up from Group B, which consists of Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, in the semifinals at Guadalajara’s Estadio Jalisco on Feb. 10.

The semifinals winners will qualify for the Olympics.

Danes Invade Carson

Denmark will send a second-string national team, comprising players from the Danish league, to play the U.S. at the Home Depot Center on Jan. 18, the Danish Football Assn. (DBU) announced.

While in California, the Danes also will play Guatemala on Jan. 24 and one other unnamed opponent at sites yet to be determined, the DBU said.

Burn Picks Clarke

Former Northern Ireland player Colin Clarke, 41, was hired as coach of Major League Soccer’s Dallas Burn after serving in an interim capacity for the last six games of the 2003 season.

Clarke, an assistant with the Burn the last three years, played for 12 years in the English league and made 38 appearances for Northern Ireland.

Euro 2004

One dozen referees, headed by Italy’s Pierluigi Collina, were selected to officiate at the 2004 European Championship in Portugal.

The other 11 chosen were: Kim Milton Nielsen of Denmark, Mike Riley of England, Gilles Veissire of France, Markus Merk of Germany, Terie Hauge of Norway, Lucilio Cardoso Cortez Batista of Portugal, Valentin Ivanov of Russia, Lubos Michel of Slovakia, Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez of Spain, Anders Frisk of Sweden and Urs Meier of Switzerland.

Quick Passes

Australia scored a 3-2 upset victory over Brazil to clinch its place in the next round of the FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates. Spain and Slovakia also reached the final 16. The U.S. can advance today by beating South Korea.... FIFA said Thursday it would select the host nation for the 2010 World Cup on May 15, just ahead of its centenary celebrations in Paris. South Africa is favored to be chosen, but Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia also are bidding to stage the quadrennial world championship.... Manchester United Coach Alex Ferguson, 61, underwent treatment for a minor heart irregularity that caused him to spend two hours at a hospital before being released.... Former Serbia and Montenegro national team striker Predrag Mijatovic, who scored the winning goal for Real Madrid against Juventus in the 1998 European Cup final, has retired at 34.... Dutchman Huub Stevens, 50, was fired as coach of Hertha Berlin in the German Bundesliga the day after the club was pounded, 6-1, by Werder Bremen in a German Cup match.... European champion AC Milan gave defender Alessandro Costacurta, 37, a new contract through 2005.

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Times wire services contributed to this report.