MLS Pursues Deal With Real Madrid

Major League Soccer remains in negotiations with Real Madrid to bring the Spanish powerhouse to the United States and serve as the opponent for the MLS All-Star game in July.

In March, MLS Commissioner Don Garber and deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis traveled to Madrid to meet with Real officials for discussions on how the club could build its own brand in the U.S.

Included in those talks was the possibility of following Mexican businessman Jorge Vergara’s lead of investing in an MLS team as well as the possibility of playing in the All-Star game. Vergara’s Mexican league team, Chivas of Guadalajara, was the opponent last summer.

“Real Madrid recognizes that there are 280 million people in this marketplace and they want to tap into it,” Tim Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Galaxy and five other MLS teams, told Bloomberg News.

Potential sites for the July 24 game include the Rose Bowl, the Home Depot Center and Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., according to the Washington Post.

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U.S. Beats Haiti

Chicago Fire midfielder Craig Capano scored in the 71st minute to lead the United States under-20 team to a 1-0 victory over a select squad from Haiti at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

D.C. United forward Freddy Adu, 14, one of four MLS players on the roster, had one shot on goal and another that sailed over the crossbar after a free kick.

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Champions Cup

Deportivo Saprissa eliminated the Chicago Fire from the CONCACAF Champions Cup despite losing, 2-1, to the MLS club.

Andy Williams and Jim Curtin scored second-half goals, but the Costa Rican club advanced to the final by a 3-2 aggregate score.

Saprissa defeated the Fire, 2-0, in the first semifinal leg last week and will next play host to Costa Rican counterpart Alajuelense in the first leg of the final series May 5 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Alajuelense eliminated Monterrey of Mexico, 2-1, on aggregate.

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Israel Ban Lifted

A 2 1/2-year ban on international soccer games in Israel was lifted because the sport’s European governing body was satisfied with security arrangements.

The ban removal takes effect immediately, UEFA said. Israel’s women’s national team will play host to Estonia on May 8.

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Howard Returns

U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard recorded a 2-0 victory over Charlton in his return to Manchester United’s lineup, giving him a strong chance of playing in the FA Cup final.

Howard had sat out the previous five games after Coach Alex Ferguson decided that Howard needed a rest.

United, third in the Premier League standings, plays division one Millwall in the FA Cup final May 22.

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Baggio Farewell

Roberto Baggio has accepted Italy national team Coach Giovanni Trapattoni’s offer to play in a friendly match against Spain next week in a special “farewell” appearance.

“I called him to ask him if he would like to and he was pleased,” Trapattoni told Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.

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Quick Passes

Ron Atkinson, a former Manchester United coach who became a popular soccer analyst, quit his TV job after making an off-air racist comment, his network said....Deportivo La Coruna tied host FC Porto, 0-0, in a first-leg Champions Cup semifinal game in Portugal. The teams will play the second game of the home-and-home, total-goals series in Spain on May 4....Glasgow Celtic, which recently clinched the Scottish league title, lost at home for the first time in 77 matches, 2-1 to Aberdeen.... Former England captain George Hardwick died Monday after a long illness. He was 84. The former Middlesbrough player also coached the Netherlands from 1959 to 1961.

-- Compiled by Jim Barrero