International Soccer

Supporters of Feyenoord soccer club of the Netherlands looted stores and wrecked buses in Rotterdam as they celebrated their team's 3-0 victory over Roda JC Kerkrade in the Cup final.

Costa Rica's players and coach were none too happy with a 1-0 loss to the United States in a World Cup qualifier Friday night that was mainly played in a snowstorm in Commerce City, Colo. “You couldn't see the lines. You couldn't see the ball. You couldn't play,” Costa Rica midfielder Michael Barrantes said. Costa Rican Coach Jorge Luis Pinto was outraged that the game was played. “I asked them to stop," he said after the game. "They should suspend the ref.  It was an embarrassment.

Friday's tragic events in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school, was marked around the soccer world this weekend with several teams paying tribute to the victims. In the English Premier League, four teams -- Queens Park Rangers, Fulham, Aston Villa and Liverpool -- wore armbands in remembrance of those who died. Liverpool and Aston Villa have American owners, which may have influenced their decisions. But the players on Queens Park Rangers decided among themselves to wear the black armbands.

TIJUANA - The question bores Joe Corona. Yet it's always the first one people ask. Is he Mexican or American? "I always say 'both.' Because I have both cultures," says Corona, who was born in Los Angeles but raised in San Diego and Tijuana by a Mexican father and Salvadoran mother. "I know it's a little weird but I feel part of [me] is Mexican because of my family, because I was raised in Tijuana. And American because I was raised here, went to school here. " So while others may see the hyphen in "Mexican-American" as a barrier separating the two countries, Corona sees it as a bridge linking them together.

One man is a World Cup winner from Argentina, widely regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of his generation but no great shakes when it comes to being a coach. Nevertheless, the Al Wasl club of Dubai last week saw fit to name Diego Armando Maradona, 50, as its new coach. Well, good luck with that. The publicity stunt should last a matter of weeks or months, not years. The other man is from Portugal and the closest he ever came to a World Cup was watching one, perhaps in person, more likely on television.

It seems that the U.S. has a game scheduled against 2010 World Cup winner and reigning European champion Spain on June 4 in Foxborough, Mass. What will it mean? Not much, really, No more, in fact, than a majority of the 66 international matches that were played in the past week or the 50 that will be played in the coming week. No more, indeed, than Saturday evening's U.S. match against Argentina at the New Meadowlands Stadium. The Americans were completely outthought and outplayed in the first half of that game before they fought back in the second 45 minutes to earn an ultimately deserved 1-1 tie. The 78,936 fans in East Rutherford, N.J., appeared satisfied by the outcome.

4 The number of goals scored by England striker Wayne Rooney on Saturday as Manchester United thrashed Hull City, 4-0, to move into first place in the English Premier League for the first time since November. 35 The number of days that have passed since the world's most expensive player, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, scored a goal for Real Madrid. 79 The number of international matches played for Germany by defensive midfielder Torsten Frings, who has been told by Coach Joachim Low that he will not be included on Germany's roster for the World Cup in South Africa.

The U.S. Soccer Federation said that Bob Gansler would be replaced as national team coach if an internationally experienced successor is found. Gansler, the team's coach since January 1989, said he is aware of the search and said he will continue on until he is removed. "If we could find an international, experienced coach, we would make a move," USSF President Alan Rothenberg said.

Rinus Michels, "the father of Dutch football" and one of international soccer's towering figures, has died. He was 77. Michels died Thursday at a hospital in Aalst, Belgium, two weeks after undergoing heart surgery. Affectionately known as "the General" or "the Sphinx" because of his stern manner on the field, Michels was a warm and humorous character off it.

Football returns to Anaheim Stadium tonight, but not the kind between teams of helmet-headed players. After all, the Rams have gone to St. Louis and they aren't coming back. No, this is the football played with your feet, the game the world--and more recently and to a far lesser extent the United States--embraces. Beginning tonight, soccer returns to Anaheim Stadium for the first time since 1981 as the Southland hosts the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Friday's tragic events in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school, was marked around the soccer world this weekend with several teams paying tribute to the victims. In the English Premier League, four teams -- Queens Park Rangers, Fulham, Aston Villa and Liverpool -- wore armbands in remembrance of those who died. Liverpool and Aston Villa have American owners, which may have influenced their decisions. But the players on Queens Park Rangers decided among themselves to wear the black armbands.

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber has presided since 1999 over the fastest-growing professional sports entity in the country. The league, which had 10 teams in 2004, will start next season with 19. And that's not the only number that has increased. MLS is now drawing larger average crowds than the NHL or NBA — and outdrawing professional soccer leagues in Scotland, Brazil and England. Television viewership is way up and expansion fees have more than quadrupled since 2007.

A letter to Sepp Blatter, recently reelected president of FIFA: Dear Sepp, Congratulations on your recent reelection to whatever it was. Four terms, huh? Boy, you've come a long way since you were pushing wristwatches for a living. Just thought I'd drop you a line or two and say how much better things are now that your "zero tolerance" policy is in place. Oh sure, there are still the occasional bad apples that bob to the surface. I saw the other day, for instance, where some Norwegian newspaper claimed that your buddies Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay and Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil had met with Europe's most notorious black-market ticket scalper not long before last year's World Cup in South Africa.

FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter won reelection Wednesday the old-fashioned way — after his only opponent pulled out amid allegations of attempted bribery. That's not to say Blatter wouldn't have won anyway, had the election been held before the charges and subsequent suspension of his rival, Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar, became known. It was that kind of week for FIFA, filled with accusations — including claims of Qatar's "buying" the 2022 World Cup — and leaving soccer fans with the reminder of a dirty, not-so-little secret: Corruption in sports has existed longer than most can remember.

This was Joseph "Sepp" Blatter on Wednesday morning, hours before the 75-year-old Swiss was reelected to a fourth term as president of FIFA, international soccer's scandal-ridden ruling body: "I am the captain of the ship and we are weathering the storm," Blatter said. "Our ship is in troubled water and this is why we need to put the ship back on course — and for that we need a leader. " This was Blatter on Wednesday evening, after delegates representing FIFA's 208 member countries had given him a new four-year mandate in a lopsided 186-17 vote: "We are going to put FIFA's ship back on the right course, in clear, transparent waters," he said.

Jack Warner, the suspended vice president of FIFA, had warned over the weekend that "a tsunami" was about to strike international soccer's governing body. On Monday, that storm hit with a vengeance as Warner accused FIFA of operating "a kangaroo court" and released an email in which Jerome Valcke, FIFA's general secretary, stated that Qatar had "bought" the 2022 World Cup. Qatar, which finished ahead of the U.S. in the Dec. 2 vote to stage the quadrennial tournament, immediately objected and said it would consider legal action.

TIJUANA - The question bores Joe Corona. Yet it's always the first one people ask. Is he Mexican or American? "I always say 'both.' Because I have both cultures," says Corona, who was born in Los Angeles but raised in San Diego and Tijuana by a Mexican father and Salvadoran mother. "I know it's a little weird but I feel part of [me] is Mexican because of my family, because I was raised in Tijuana. And American because I was raised here, went to school here. " So while others may see the hyphen in "Mexican-American" as a barrier separating the two countries, Corona sees it as a bridge linking them together.

Two of international soccer's most influential figures, Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago and Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar, on Sunday were provisionally suspended from the sport while a more in-depth inquiry is conducted into bribery allegations made against them. Warner, 68, is a FIFA vice president and has been president of soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region for the last 21 years. Bin Hammam, 62, is president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)

One man is a World Cup winner from Argentina, widely regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of his generation but no great shakes when it comes to being a coach. Nevertheless, the Al Wasl club of Dubai last week saw fit to name Diego Armando Maradona, 50, as its new coach. Well, good luck with that. The publicity stunt should last a matter of weeks or months, not years. The other man is from Portugal and the closest he ever came to a World Cup was watching one, perhaps in person, more likely on television.