Eriksson Agrees to Extension
England Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson agreed to a two-year contract extension Sunday through the 2008 European Championship, trying to end speculation that he would quit to join Chelsea.
The announcement came a day after the Sun tabloid reported that Eriksson had had talks with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon.
“I hope we can stop the speculation now,” Eriksson said. “Chelsea has never offered me anything or any other clubs.”
Eriksson, a Swede who is the first foreigner to coach England’s national team, said clubs in England and abroad had talked to him to see if he would be interested in changing jobs.
“I admit it. I have listened many times to other jobs,” he said. “But I’m still here, and I’m very proud to be here.”
Arsenal Record
Arsenal extended its unbeaten streak to 30 games -- a record to start the season -- with a 1-1 tie at home against Manchester United in the English Premier League.
Thierry Henry scored in the 49th minute for Arsenal, which had shared the unbeaten mark with Leeds (1973-74) and Liverpool (1987-88). Louis Saha scored with four minutes left for United, which remained 12 points behind Arsenal and five behind second-place Chelsea.
The longest unbeaten run in a season is 30 -- by Burnley in 1920-21. The record for an unbeaten streak was set by Nottingham Forest, which didn’t lose in 42 games over the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons.
European Roundup
Real Madrid held on to first place in the Spanish league when Ronaldo returned from injury to score two goals in a 5-1 victory over Sevilla, ending a three-game winless streak.
The defending Spanish champion is one point ahead of Valencia, a 3-0 winner over Racing Santander.
In Italy, Andrea Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko each scored a goal in the last 10 minutes for AC Milan to salvage a 2-2 tie against Chievo to keep the European champions nine points ahead of Juventus.
German Bundesliga leader Werder Bremen came back from a one-goal deficit three times to tie Stuttgart, 4-4, and maintain a nine-point lead over Bayern Munich. Ailton scored two goals for Bremen.
Mexican League
Bruno Marioni scored two late goals after Joaquin Beltran scored early in the second half and UNAM Pumas defeated Chivas of Guadalajara, 3-0, in a matchup of Mexican league group leaders.
Pumas has 25 points in the Clausura tournament after 12 rounds and is nine points ahead of Santos Laguna in Group 2. Chivas has 20 points and leads Irapuato in Group 4 by two points.
The overall and Group 3 leader, Jaguares Chiapas (29 points), tied Atlas, 0-0, on Saturday at Guadalajara. The result moved Atlas into a three-way tie for the Group 1 lead with Toluca, a 3-1 loser to Cruz Azul, and Pachuca, which defeated Club America, 2-1, on goals by Sergio Santana and Marinho Ledesma.
World Cup Qualifying
St. Lucia got two goals each from Sheldon Emmanuel, Jarvin Skeete and Earl Jean in a 9-0 victory over visiting British Virgin Islands at Vieux Fort to advance in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
St. Lucia, which next plays Panama, won the two-game series, 10-0, on aggregate.
Dominica played with 10 players in the second half and still pulled out a 3-1 road victory over Bahamas at Nassau to win 4-2 on aggregate. Dominica will play Mexico in the next round.
Game Goes On
Serbia and Montenegro will go ahead with its scheduled friendly match against Norway on Wednesday despite the shooting death on Friday of Branko Bulatovic, the country’s soccer federation secretary general.
“I hope that despite this tragedy, my players will find strength for a good performance against the very tough Norway team,” Serbia and Montenegro Coach Ilija Petkovic said.
-- Compiled by Jim Barrero
