Galaxy’s Jones Sidelined After a Tonsillectomy
Galaxy winger Cobi Jones will miss the next two matches -- against the Colorado Rapids in Denver on Saturday and against the Tecos of Guadalajara, Mexico, in Nashville next week -- after undergoing a tonsillectomy on Tuesday.
The operation is expected to keep Jones, 33, sidelined for seven to 10 days, the Galaxy said.
“Cobi seems to have been getting sick a lot over the past six months and the decision was that he would get a lot better with the surgery,” Coach Sigi Schmid said. “Since he has a little bit of a [quad] injury, [the feeling was] let’s take care of it right now.”
Jones missed the Galaxy’s 3-2 season-opening victory over the New England Revolution and played only the final 33 minutes of the team’s 1-1 tie with D.C. United on Saturday.
Blokhin Injured
Oleg Blokhin, Europe’s player of the year in 1975 and current coach of Ukraine’s national team, was hospitalized in Kiev after suffering injuries in a car crash, the Ukraine Football Assn. announced on its Web site.
The 51-year-old former Soviet Union international and Dynamo Kiev standout had cuts on his head and a light concussion but was not in any danger. Details of the accident were not revealed.
Missing Afghans
Nine players from Afghanistan’s national team went missing in Italy, where they were due to take part in a charity match against Verona to raise money for a new orphanage and two medical centers in Afghanistan.
The players, none of whom were identified, disappeared Monday from their hotel in Peschiera, outside Verona. Team officials, who have the players’ passports, said it was unclear whether the nine were trying to defect.
Italian Squabble
Italian soccer officials will hold an emergency meeting in Milan today in the wake of at least two controversial refereeing decisions last weekend that brought into question the impartiality of Serie A match officials.
League leader AC Milan was awarded a game-winning penalty kick in the 84th minute of its match against Empoli when referee Gianluca Paparesta judged that Empoli goalkeeper Daniele Balli had knocked down AC Milan forward Jon Dahl Tomasson. Television replays showed there was minimal contact.
Similarly, Inter Milan was a 3-2 winner over Perugia on an 88th-minute goal by Obafemi Martins that appeared to be clearly offside.
The latter result so incensed Perugia Chief Executive Alessandro Gaucci that he resigned, blasting Italian league and federation officials in the process.
New Coaches
Turkey, which finished third in the 2002 World Cup, and Uruguay, which qualified for Korea/Japan ‘02, named new national team coaches on Tuesday.
The Turks selected Ersun Yanal to head their team, a choice based largely on Yanal’s success in leading the unfashionable Ankara club Genclerbirligi into the fourth round of the UEFA Cup. He was given a four-year contract, details of which were still being resolved.
Yanal replaces Senol Gunes, fired last month in the wake of Turkey’s failure to qualify for this summer’s European Championship in Portugal.
In Montevideo, meanwhile, Uruguay selected Jorge Fossati as its new national coach. Fossati, 53, will step down as coach of Liga de Quito in Ecuador to accept the post. He previously won titles as coach of River Plate in Argentina and Penarol in Uruguay.
Fossati replaces Juan Carrasco, fired last week after Uruguay was beaten, 3-0, by Venezuela in a World Cup 2006 qualifying match.
Quick Passes
Manchester United forward Ruud Van Nistelrooy dismissed reports that he was contemplating a move to Barcelona as “wild rumors,” saying that he would not have recently signed a new contract with United if he had been unhappy with the club. The Dutch striker is under contract until 2008 and the Barcelona-based daily Sport said he would command a $77-million transfer fee. ... In what might be a related rumor, England’s Sun tabloid newspaper reported that Chelsea is interested in acquiring Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho from Barcelona, a move that would provide at least some of the money for a swoop on Van Nistelrooy. ... Czech international Tomas Rosicky on Tuesday returned to training with Borussia Dortmund six weeks after breaking his forearm in a German Bundesliga match. ... Roy Keane, who was banished from Ireland’s national team after a furious argument with then-coach Mick McCarthy just before the 2002 World Cup and vowed never to play for his country again, has made himself available for selection and could play against Poland on April 28.
-- Compiled by Grahame L. Jones
