Marta will join the L.A. Sol Cut off at the pass
Brazilian striker Marta made it official Monday, announcing in Switzerland that she will join the Los Angeles Sol of Women’s Professional Soccer on a three-year contract.
“I have in mind that a very competitive league will be created,” Marta said of the seven-team WPS that begins play this spring. “We are looking at the future. I think it will attract many players.”
The 21-year-old three-time FIFA women’s world player of the year echoed David Beckham when she said: “I am concentrating on getting there and doing what I know best. Bringing the game forward and making it more competitive, because the U.S. is very strong football-wise.”
Like the Galaxy, the Sol will play at the Home Depot Center in Carson, and there will be some doubleheaders featuring both teams, a Sol spokesman confirmed.
Marta made her remarks before the FIFA World Gala in Zurich, where she was once again named the year’s best player.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the 23-year-old Portugal and Manchester United winger, won the FIFA player of the year award on the men’s side.
-- Grahame L. Jones
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The Kansas City Wizards re-signed forward Claudio Lopez, allowing the club to remove the designated player tag from the Argentine star.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 34-year-old Lopez had six goals and seven assists in MLS play after signing with the Wizards before the 2008 season.
Lopez has 10 goals in 58 games with the Argentine national team, appearing in two World Cups and the 1996 Olympics. He had previously played for first-division teams in Argentina, Spain, Italy and Mexico.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Utah’s Kruger, Smith will try NFL draft
Utah defensive end Paul Kruger is making himself available for the 2009 NFL draft.
The sophomore had a team-high 7.5 sacks and added 61 tackles for the Utes (13-0), who finished the season No. 2 in the Associated Press poll.
In a statement issued through the university on Monday, the 6-foot-5, 265-pound Kruger says the decision to forgo his final two years of college eligibility is one of the hardest he’s had to make.
Junior defensive back Sean Smith is joining him.
The 6-foot-3, 214-pound Smith led the Utes with five interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. He also broke up a team-high nine passes.
Kruger and Smith were first-team all-conference picks last season.
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Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle says he will return to the Longhorns for his senior season in 2009.
Kindle, who struggled with injuries as a freshman and sophomore, thrived under first-year defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, recording 10 sacks.
Also announcing they would return next season were junior linebacker Rodderick Muckelroy and junior defensive tackle Lamarr Houston.
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Southern Mississippi has given first-year Coach Larry Fedora a contract extension.
The Golden Eagles (7-6) ended the season with five straight wins and knocked off Sun Belt champion Troy, 30-27, in overtime in the New Orleans Bowl, extending their streak to 15 consecutive winning seasons.
The extension pushes his contract to four years through 2012, the most allowed under state law.
Financial terms have not been completed.
The school set records for ticket sales under Fedora, who replaced Jeff Bower last year. --
Former Auburn All-American defensive lineman Tracy Rocker is returning to his alma mater as defensive line coach, Coach Gene Chizik announced.
Rocker held the same position at Mississippi, where he helped guide the No. 14 Rebels to a major turnaround from worst in the Southeastern Conference to a Cotton Bowl victory over Texas Tech, driven in large part by outstanding play along the defensive line.
Rocker won the 1988 Outland and Lombardi Trophies and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
ETC.
Point guard Gerrity enrolls at USC
Mike Gerrity, a point guard from North Carolina Charlotte, has enrolled at USC and will join the Trojans’ basketball team. He will not be eligible to play until after the fall semester in 2009 and will have 1 1/2 years of eligibility remaining.
“This seemed like a good fit,” said Gerrity, who added that he wanted a chance to play in the Pacific 10 Conference.
Gerrity, who is 6 feet, 170 pounds, played in 26 games for the 49ers last season, averaging 4.7 points and 3.5 assist per game.
A graduate of Santa Ana Mater Dei, he previously played at Pepperdine, where he averaged 14.1 points and 3.4 assists in 21 games.
-- Chris Foster
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Azeri, a former horse of the year, is still the property of Michael Paulson after a bid of $4.4 million fell short of the owner’s reserve price.
The 11-year-old mare in foal to another horse of the year, Ghostzapper, was expected to be the highlight of the first day of Keeneland’s horses of all ages sale.
Paulson declined to disclose the reserve price he set, but did say the $4.4-million bid was close.
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Former Fed Cup captain Zina Garrison and the U.S. Tennis Assn. are mired in a dispute over her departure.
The USTA announced in December 2007 that 2008 would be Garrison’s final season at the helm, with Mary Joe Fernandez taking over in 2009.
“There’s an ongoing dispute, and there has been discussion of litigation, and there is not a firm date on which litigation is going to be filed,” Garrison’s lawyer, Debra Katz, said.
