Colombia and Brazil Move On
Golden goals by Brazil and Colombia on Tuesday did the trick to put the South American teams in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates.
Duda scored twice -- the first in the 83rd minute to tie the score and the second five minutes into overtime -- to give Brazil a 2-1 victory over Slovakia in the tournament for under-20 teams.
Brazil will play Japan on Friday.
Colombia almost let a two-goal lead slip away when Ireland’s Kevin Doyle struck in the 85th minute and Paddy McCarthy tied the score during extra time.
But substitute Erwin Carrillo ended Irish hopes, scoring 14 minutes into overtime for a 3-2 Colombia victory. Edixon Perea and Victor Montano scored Colombia’s other goals.
Colombia will have its hands full Friday when it takes on host UAE, which advanced after an 89th-minute goal by captain Ismail Mattar gave it a 1-0 victory over Australia.
Spain defeated Paraguay, 1-0, on a 66th-minute goal by Sergio Garcia. Spain will play Canada on Friday.
The other Friday quarterfinal has the United States playing Argentina.
In off-field news, German goalkeeper Alexander Walke, who plays for Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, failed a doping test and has been suspended indefinitely.
Champions League
Celta Vigo of Spain and Sparta Prague of the Czech Republic clinched spots in the next stage of the European Champions League.
Celta scored a 2-1 road upset of Group H leader and defending champion AC Milan to secure its spot, getting a tiebreaking goal from Jose Ignacio Saenz in the 71st minute. Milan already had qualified for the next round.
In Group G, Turkish club Besiktas stumbled at home against first-place Chelsea, 2-0, to open the door for Sparta.
Sparta, which trailed Besiktas by two points before Tuesday, got a second-half extra-time goal from Marek Kincl for a 1-0 victory over visiting Lazio to push it through to the next round.
Perugia Player
After failing to lure an American female player as well as Swedish stars Hanna Ljungberg and Victoria Svensson, Perugia President Luciano Gaucci said his next target is Birgit Prinz, who led Germany to the Women’s World Cup title in October.
Gaucci, who has long spoken of bringing a woman to the Italian Serie A team, said he has met with Prinz.
“This time, however, it should work, since I found her enthusiastic,” Gaucci told Italian news agency ANSA. “I hope to have her practicing with the team before Christmas, and then in January she would be available to play.”
Barthez Denied
FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, upheld its ruling that Manchester United backup goalkeeper Fabien Barthez will have to wait if he intends to transfer to French club Marseille.
Marseille had hoped FIFA would relax its transfer rules -- players can change teams only during certain times of the year -- and allow the French national team goalkeeper to join it after he was replaced as the starter at Manchester by American Tim Howard.
FIFA said the decision may be further appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 20 days, but that isn’t likely, since the transfer window reopens Jan. 1.
Quick Passes
Brazilian midfielder Ronaldihno, out of Barcelona’s lineup since early November because of a torn thigh muscle, is expected to return for Saturday’s game against Espanol, the team’s Web site reported.... Denmark, which will play the U.S. at the Home Depot Center on Jan. 18, will play Guatemala at the Coliseum on Jan. 24.
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Times wire services contributed to this report.
