Referee Poll Quits International Play

English referee Graham Poll, who showed a Croatian player three yellow cards before sending him off in a World Cup match, is quitting international refereeing.

The experienced Premier League referee told Britain’s Sky Sports television Thursday that he had considered retiring from all soccer after his blunder, which meant a Croatian player stayed on the field three minutes longer than he should have in a group stage game against Australia.

The result of the match, which was a 2-2 draw, was not affected and Croatia was eliminated. However if the result had changed as a result of Poll’s blunder, one of the teams could have demanded the match be replayed.

Poll said he has decided to continue refereeing in the Premier League.

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England’s David Beckham said he might want to finish his career in Major League Soccer.

“I want to play at the highest level for a few more years yet. I’ve got that planned out,” Beckham said. “Going to America is one of the ideas that I’ve thought of in the future.”

Beckham probably would play for the Galaxy or the New York Red Bulls, where his profile would be the highest.

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Italy looks set to recall forward Francesco Totti to the starting lineup for its match against Ukraine.... France captain Zinedine Zidane missed training because of a minor injury but should be fit to play against Brazil.