Embattled Tournament Receives New Format
FIFA’s controversial World Club Championship will be played in Japan in 2005 under a new format, soccer’s governing body announced Thursday.
The tournament will feature six teams -- the confederation champions from FIFA’s six world regions -- and will be played over eight days in December.
It will replace the Intercontinental Cup, an annual game in Tokyo that featured the winners of the European Champions League and the Copa Libertadores.
European clubs have long voiced concerns regarding the tournament, saying it crowds an already busy calendar.
In response, FIFA backed off plans to make the event a 16-team tournament to be played in the summer.
The new format gives byes to the European and South American champions, with the winners from Africa, Asia, Oceania and CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean) to play first-round games.
The tournament has not been played since January 2000.
The second tournament in Spain, in which the Galaxy was scheduled to participate, was canceled after the collapse of FIFA’s marketing partner.
Zidane Re-Signs
Zinedine Zidane, selected FIFA world player of the year in December, signed a two-year contract extension with Real Madrid that will keep him with the Spanish club until 2007.
Last year, Zidane said he had planned to retire when his deal with Real Madrid expired in 2005.
The team had an option to extend the French midfielder’s current agreement for a year but “in the end, both parties had agreed to extend it by two seasons.”
Swiss Dismissed
After winning in its qualifying group for Euro 2004, Switzerland was stunned after a 2-1 road loss Wednesday to Morocco, which fielded a team of mostly reserves.
Swiss media didn’t take the loss lightly either.
“Wretched, embarrassing, disgraceful,” the daily Blick said. “What was the real scandal? That Morocco put up a third-string selection against Switzerland. No! The real scandal was the result that the Swiss players brought upon themselves.”
CONCACAF Qualifying
Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda all won their opening matches in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
Haiti defeated the Turks and Caicos, 5-0, in Hialeah, Fla., getting three goals from Johnny Descollines. The teams play again in Florida on Saturday with the winner playing Jamaica in the next round.
St. Kitts crushed the U.S. Virgin Islands, 4-0, and Antigua and Barbuda defeated the Netherlands Antilles, 2-0. Those second legs will be played March 31, with the winners playing Barbados and Honduras, respectively.
Quick Passes
Onandi Lowe and Jermaine Johnson scored goals to lead Jamaica to a surprising 2-0 victory over visiting Uruguay in a friendly Wednesday night at Kingston. Uruguay is in fourth place in South American World Cup qualifying.... Colombia and Honduras, both playing under new coaches, battled to a 1-1 tie Wednesday night in a friendly at Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Reinaldo Rueda made his debut as Colombia’s coach, as did Bora Milutinovic, a former U.S. coach, for Honduras.
MetroStar forward Mike Magee, 19, will be sidelined up to two months after a hernia operation.... Arsenal defender Ashley Cole will sit out Saturday’s key English Premier League game against Chelsea because of a back injury.
-- Compiled by Jim Barrero
