Closed-Cicuit For Philadelphia Area Fans: Coming To A Soccer Pitch Near You

Major League Soccer on Thursday announced that they have awarded a 2010 expansion franchise to Philadelphia, which is slated to begin play that season in a new stadium located in nearby Chester, Pennsylvania. The city had not had major outdoor pro soccer since the NASL's Phildelphia Fury skipped town for Montreal after the 1980 season.

Dynamo Mauled In Pan Pacific Final

At Honolulu:

Bare (pictured here celebrating, AP photo) popped in four goals to lead Japan's J-League titleholders Gamba Osaka to a 6-1 brassknuckling of the Houston Dynamo in the championship match of the Pan-Pacific tournament on Saturday night.

Jets Capture A-League Crown

At Sydney, Australia:

Striker Mark Bridge scored the only goal of the match (64') to lead the Newcastle Jets to a 1-0 win Sunday over the Central Coast Mariners, thus capturing this year's Hyundai A-League championship game, making the Jets the third different championship squad in the league's three-year history.

Members of the victorious Jets are seen here celebrating.

Photo by Ezra Shaw, Getty Images

UEFA Cup Round of 32 Concludes

All 16 round-of-32 series in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup concluded Thursday:

At Villarreal, Spain:

Zenit Saint Petersburg captured their two-game set with Villarreal despite dropping game two of series on the road 2-1. With the series deadlocked 2-2 on total goals, the Russian club advanced to the round of 16 because they scored the lone road goal of the series. That was scored Thursday by Pavel Pogrebnyak at 31 minutes.

At Leverkusen, Germany:

After their scoreless road draw last week, Bayer Leverkusen exploded for five goals on Thursday to finish off Galatasaray 5-1 for both game two and the series. Sergej Barbarez scored twice (12', 22') to help lead the Leverkusen offensive onslaught.

At Getafe (near Madrid), Spain:

After being held to a 1-1 road draw last week, Getafe defeated AEK Athens at home 3-0 to take their two game set 4-1. Esteban Granero (45'+1), Cosmin Contra (PK-82'), and Braulio (84') provided the scoring punch for The Dark Blues.

At Liverpool, England:

Yakubu Ayegbeni's triple (36', 54', 72') helped Everton demolish visiting SK Brann 6-1 in game two to easily take their two-game set with the Norwegian club 8-1 on aggregate.

At Braga, Portugal:

Werder Bremen advanced to the round of 16 following their 1-0 road win over Sporting Braga, enabling the German club to win their series rather handily, 4-0 on aggregate. Ivan Klasnic scored the only goal of game two at 78 minutes.

At Moscow:

Despite losing game two 2-0 on the road, Marseille still advanced because of their earlier 3-0 home win over Spartak Moscow, thus the French club won the two-game set, 3-2 on aggregate. Aleksandr Pavlenko (39') and Roman Pavlychenko (85') scored in a gallant effort for the Red-Whites.

At Helsingborg, Sweden:

Mike Zonneveld (47') and Danko Lazovic (65') each scored once to lead PSV Eindhoven to a 2-1 game two road win over Helsingborgs IF, enabling the long-time Dutch club to finish off their opponents on aggregate 4-1.

At Bordeaux, France:

Thomas Chatelle scored the series-winning goal 34 minutes, pacing RSC Anderlecht to a 1-1 road draw with Bordeaux, enabling the Belgian club to take the two-game series on aggregate, 3-2.

At Athens:

Nacho Novo scored the series-winning goal at 81 minutes, enabling Rangers to gain a 1-1 road draw with Panithinaikos and advance to the round of 16 because of the away goals rule, as the score tied at 1-1 after two games, and the Glasgow club scored the series' lone road goal.

At Basel, Switzerland:

Liedson scored twice (41', 51') to lead visiting Sporting to a 3-0 road win over FC Basel to wrap their two-game series on aggregate 5-0.

At Munich, Germany:

Lukas Podolski tallied twice (71', 77') to help lead Bayern Munich to a 5-1 home fistbeating of Aberdeen, enabling the German club to handily take their two-game set 7-3 on aggregate.

At Hamburg, Germany:

Even with a 0-0 home stalemate, Hamburg still advanced as they won their series with FC Zurich, 3-1 on aggregate.

At Florence, Italy:

With goals courtesy of Fabio Liverani (38') and Daniele Cacia (81'), Fiorentina defeated visiting Rosenborg 2-1 to take their two-game set 3-1 on aggregate.

At London:

With their game two 1-1 home draw, Tottenham Hotspur advanced, besting Slavia Prague on aggregate for their two-game series, 3-2. Jamie O'Hara scored for Spurs at 7 minutes.

At Madrid:

A scoreless stalemate on the road propelled Bolton Wanderers into a round-of-16 encounter with Sporting as the English club took the two game set with Atletico Madrid 1-0 on aggregate.

At Nuremberg, Germany:

A 2-2 road draw against FC Nurnberg (thanks to super late goals from Oscar Cardoza [90'] and Angel Di Maria [90' + 2] propelled SL Benfica into a two-game series victory on aggregate 3-2. This match turned out to a microcosm of just how bad things are going in the Bundesliga for Nurnberg.

More Champions League Series Openers: Gunners and Rossoneri Draw Blanks; Red Devils and Lyon Also Deadlocked; Barca and Fenerbahce Triumph

The four remaining round-of-16 home-and-away series in the UEFA Champions League opened Wednesday:

At London:

Defending European (and World) club champions AC Milan and hosts Arsenal battled to a 0-0 stalemate. Pictured here, the Gunners' Eduardo da Silva being surrounded by the Rossoneri's Massimo Oddo and Gennaro Gattuso.

At Lyon, France:

Thanks to the equalizer from Carlos Tevez (87', pictured here celebrating with Wayne Rooney), Manchester United was able to gain a series-opening 1-1 road draw with Lyon.

At Glasgow, Scotland:

Lionel Messi's double (18', 79') and Thierry Henry's 52nd-minute tally enabled Barcelona to come from behind and edge Celtic 3-2 on the road in the two clubs' series opener. Lionel is pictured here celebrating.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

Semih Senturk scored the winning goal at 87 minutes (pictured here celebrating) , lifting Fenerbahce to a 3-2 series-opening home win over Sevilla.

All Photos © Getty Images

Reds, Roma, Schalke Capture Openers, Goose Eggs For Blues and Legend

Tuesday marked the beginning of knockout-stage play in the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League:

At Liverpool, England:

Goals from Dirk Kuyt (85') and Steven Gerrard (90', seen here celebrating) powered Liverpool to a series-opening 2-0 home win over Inter Milan. Photo
© Getty Images

At Rome:

Thanks to goals from David Pizarro (24') and Mancini (58', seen here celebrating), AS Roma came from behind to defeat visiting Real Madrid 2-1 in the two clubs' series opener. Photo
© Getty Images

At Gelsenkirchen, Germany:

Kevin Kuranyi's goal at four minutes stood up as FC Schalke 04 defeated visiting FC Porto 1-0 in game on of the clubs' two-game series. Photo of Kevin celebrating
© Getty Images

At Athens:

Visiting Chelsea and Olympiacos battled to a 0-0 deadlock. The Blues' Didier Drogba is seen here trying to free himself against the Legend defense. Photo
© Getty Images

Experimental Video

This, of course, is an uploaded video.

UEFA Cup Round Of 32 Play Continues

The six remaining round-of-32 series in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup opened Thursday:

At Aberdeen, Scotland:

Homestanding Aberdeen and Bayern Munich opened their two-game set with a 2-2 draw. The Dons got goals from a pair of 18-year-olds, Josh Walker (24') and Sone Aluko (41'), while Bayern's goals came courtesy of Miroslav Klose (29') and Hamit Altintop (55').

At Zurich, Switzerland:

Hamburg posted an easy 3-1 road win over FC Zurich in the two clubs' series opener. David Jarolim (49'), Ivica Olic (67'), and Piotr Trochowski (77') scored for HSV.

At Trondheim, Norway:

Adrian Mutu scored the lone goal (16') of a series-opening match that saw Fiorentina defeat hosts Rosenborg 1-0.

At Prague, Czech Republic:

Dimitar Berbatov (4') and Robbie Keane (30') each scored a first-half goal that enabled visiting Tottenham Hotspur to hold off Slavia Prague in their series opener 2-1.

At Bolton, England:

Thanks to El Hadji Diouf's goal at 74 minutes, Bolton Wanderers picked up a series-opening 1-0 home win at the expense of Atletico Madrid.

At Lisbon, Portugal:

SL Benfica will head into their rematch in Nuremberg, Germany against FC Nurnberg with a 1-0 home win in the series opener. Ariza Makukula scored the game's lone tally at 43 minutes.

2007-08 UEFA Cup, Round of 32 Action Starts Wednesday

The first knockout round of the 2007-08 UEFA Cup commenced on Wednesday with ten games:

At Saint Petersburg, Russia:

Pavel Pogrebnyak scored the lone goal of the match (63') to lead Zenit Saint Petersburg to a 1-0 home win over Villarreal in the opening match of a two-game, total goals series between the two clubs.

At Istanbul, Turkey:

The series opener between guests Bayer Leverkusen and Galatasaray ended in a 0-0 draw.

At Athens:

Ismael Blanco's equalizer in second-half stoppage time (90+4') enabled AEK Athens to come from behind and gain a 1-1 home deadlock with Spanish club Getafe.

At Bergen, Norway:

Goals from Leon Osman (59') and Victor Anichebe (88') powered Everton to a 2-0 series-opening road win over SK Brann.

At Bremen, Germany:

Naldo (5'), Daniel Jensen (27'), and Hugo Almeida (PK-90+5') provided the scoring punch to lead Werder Bremen to an easy series-opening 3-0 home whitewashing of Sporting Braga.

At Marseille, France:

Olympique de Marseille registered a 3-0, series-opening home pasting of Spartak Moscow. Benoit Cheyrou (62'), Taye Taiwo (68'), and Mamadou Niang (79') provided the scoring for the hosts.

At Eindhoven, Netherlands:

PSV Eindhoven got the jump on visiting Helsingborgs IF in their two-game set with their 2-0 opening-game win. Timmy Simons (PK-7') and Danko Lazovic (33') provided the goals for The Rood-Witten.

At Brussels, Belgium:

Jan Polak (79') and Mbo Mpenza (90+5') scored late to lift RSC Anderlecht to a 2-1 come-from-behind series-opening home win over Bordeaux.

At Glasgow, Scotland:

Visiting Panathinaikos and Rangers battled to a 0-0 stalemate in the opening game of the two clubs' two-game series.

At Lisbon, Portugal:

Sporting blanked visiting FC Basel 2-0 in game one of their two-game set. The Lions' Simon Vukcevic scored both goals (8', 58').

It's A Six-Pack For Egypt

At Accra, Ghana:

Mohamed Aboutriaka scored the game's only goal at 77 minutes to lift Egypt to their sixth African Nations Cup title on Sunday, as they blanked Cameroon 1-0. Pictured here are members of the Egyptian squad celebrating another ANC crown. Photo from Issouf Sonogo for Getty Images

African Nations Cup

The two semifinal matches in this year's African Nations Cup, being played in Ghana, are taking place today.

Cameroon vs. Ghana (the lone African club to advance beyond the group stage in the 2006 FIFA World Cup)

and

Defending tournament champs Egypt vs. 2006 World Cup group stagers Ivory Coast.

The two winners would play for the title on Sunday at Accra, Ghana.


UPDATE: Cameroon held off hosts Ghana 1-0, and Egypt continued their defense of their tournament championship with a 4-1 thrashing of Ivory Coast. Two two winners will play each other on Sunday at Accra, Ghana for the title.

US And Mexico Deadlocked

At Houston:

In their first exhibition match of 2008, the United States men's team and Mexico battled to a 2-2 deadlock.

Jozy Atltidore and Oguchi Onyewu each tallied once for Team USA, while Jonny Magallon scored both Mexico goals.