U.S. to Face Paraguay in July

The U.S. men’s team, the defending CONCACAF Gold Cup champion, will play host to Paraguay at Columbus, Ohio, on July 6, six days before beginning defense of its title.

The game will be the fourth for the United States at Crew Stadium, where it is 1-0-2, including a 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Mexico in February 2001.

“The match against Paraguay provides an important link between the completion of the Confederations Cup and our team’s participation in the Gold Cup,” said U.S. Coach Bruce Arena.

The U.S. will compete in the Confederations Cup in France on June 18-29. The Gold Cup, the championship of the North and Central American and Caribbean region, is scheduled July 12-23 in the United States and Mexico.

Brazil Cancellation

Security concerns reportedly have forced the U.S. and Brazil to cancel an unannounced friendly that was supposed to have been played in Los Angeles on April 30, according to a Brazilian newspaper.

Folha, a Sao Paulo daily, reported that an unnamed U.S. soccer official told Brazilian representatives that teams could be the targets of terrorist attacks if the U.S. is at war with Iraq.

Canceling games would seem to go against the U.S. federation’s recent philosophy, since, in addition to the Paraguay match, it has scheduled two other international friendlies during the next four months -- Japan at Seattle on March 29 and Mexico at Houston on May 8.

“I can only say there won’t be a game,” Ricardo Teixeira, Brazil’s federation president, told the newspaper, declining to elaborate.

The U.S. is scheduled to play Brazil in the Confederations Cup on June 21.

Algarve Cup

The U.S. women’s team begins play today in the Algarve Cup in Portugal, taking on Canada in the first of three group games.

This will be the first game between the countries since the final of the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup in November. The U.S. won, 2-1, in overtime on a goal by Mia Hamm, improving its record against Canada to 24-3-2.

Hamm is one of 13 players on the roster who played in the 1999 Women’s World Cup.

The U.S., which is 16-8-3 in the tournament’s nine-year history and has won the title only once (2000), will play Norway on Sunday and Sweden on Tuesday.

UEFA Cup Roundup

Favorites Liverpool and Lazio stayed on track to reach the semifinals of the UEFA Cup after the first of home-and-home quarterfinal matches.

Liverpool tied Celtic of Scotland, 1-1, at Glasgow in a match billed as the “Battle of Britain.” Emile Heskey scored in the 17th minute after Henrik Larsson had given Celtic a 1-0 lead.

Lazio won, 1-0, at home over Turkey’s Besiktas on substitute Simone Inzaghi’s 56th-minute goal.

In Thursday’s other quarterfinals, Spain’s Malaga won at home over Portugal’s Boavista, 1-0, and Panathinaikos of Greece defeated FC Porto of Portugal, 1-0.

Quick Passes

The Galaxy signed goalkeeper Dan Popkik, who played the last three seasons with the A-League champion Milwaukee Rampage, and former UCLA defender Scot Thompson, the 16th pick in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft.... The Columbus Crew signed two-time Major League Soccer All-Star midfielder Ross Paule. Columbus acquired Paule’s rights from the New York/New Jersey MetroStars for defender Chris Leitch and midfielder Jeff Matteo.... Veteran Canadian national team goalkeeper Pat Onstad has signed with the San Jose Earthquakes.... AS Monaco, the first-place team in France’s first division, may be relegated at the end of the season even if it wins the league championship because of its debt of more than $57 million, Bloomberg News reported.