Pope Has Broken Kneecap
The United States has lost defender Eddie Pope for the FIFA Confederations Cup in France this month and, in all likelihood, for the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the U.S. and Mexico in July.
Tests Monday night revealed that Pope, 29, had broken his left kneecap in a collision while playing for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars against the Columbus Crew on Saturday.
A veteran of the 1998 and 2002 World Cup tournaments, Pope will be sidelined for six to eight weeks, U.S. Soccer said.
Defender Cory Gibbs, who plays for St. Pauli in Germany, has taken Pope’s place on the United States roster for Sunday’s match against New Zealand at Richmond, Va.
USA Women
With only two games remaining before she chooses her roster for this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, U.S. Coach April Heinrichs on Tuesday called 23 players into camp in preparation for the first of those games -- against Ireland in Salt Lake City on June 14.
Twelve of the players chosen were on the team that won the world championship in 1999: Brandi Chastain, Lorrie Fair, Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Tiffeny Milbrett, Cindy Parlow, Christie Pearce, Tiffany Roberts, Briana Scurry and Kate Sobrero.
Also called in were LaKeysia Beene, Kylie Bivens, Thori Bryan, Angela Hucles, Heather O’Reilly, Jaime Pagliarulo, Cat Reddick, Danielle Slaton, Lindsay Tarpley, Aly Wagner and Abby Wambach.
Heinrichs said she will name her World Cup roster after a match against Brazil in New Orleans on July 13.
After that, the U.S. has only two warm-up games remaining before starting defense of its world title, both on the West Coast in September. The team’s World Cup sendoff game is likely to be played at the Home Depot Center in Carson.
England, Italy Win
England and Italy scored relatively easy victories as both countries tuned up for the next round of qualifying play for the 2004 European Championship in Portugal.
England, paced by goals from Liverpool’s Stephen Gerrard and West Ham United’s Joe Cole, defeated Serbia and Montenergo, 2-1, in front of 31,000 at Leicester, England.
Cole, a 65th-minute substitute, curled a 25-yard free kick around the defensive wall and past goalkeeper Dragan Zilic to win the match seven minutes from the final whistle.
Nenad Jestrovic had canceled out Gerrard’s 34th-minute goal by scoring just before halftime.
England plays Slovakia at Middlesbrough in a Euro 2004 qualifier on June 11.
Italy, meanwhile, shut out Northern Ireland, 2-0, on goals by Bernardo Corradi and Marco Delvecchio in a game played in Campobasso, Italy, in the region where an earthquake on Oct. 31 killed 26 children and one teacher when a school collapsed.
One banner displayed at the stadium read: “20,000 spectators and 27 angels.”
Italy plays Finland in a Euro 2004 qualifier on June 11.
Quick Passes
Two Brazilian men, Alexandre Martins and Reinaldo Pitta, both business representatives of Real Madrid’s Ronaldo, have been arrested and jailed in Rio de Janeiro on suspicion of money laundering and accounting fraud in connection with the alleged extortion of $33 million deposited in Swiss bank accounts, Brazilian newspapers reported.... Brazilian striker Elber was selected as the German Bundesliga’s player of the year in a vote by the league’s players, edging out his Bayern Munich teammate, German striker Michael Ballack.... Zoran Filipovic resigned as coach of former European champion Red Star Belgrade after the club failed to win a trophy this season.
