Soccer Sports News & Betting

A dispute between top players and the Mexico Football Federation has escalated, with the governing body saying it will not bow to demands by 13 players who are threatening to boycott upcoming games.

Led by New York Red Bulls defender Rafael Marquez, El Tris captain, the players have asked for the resignation of Nestor De La Torre, the head of national team selections and the third-ranking official in the federation.

“Around here nobody sits down to talk demanding conditions,” Decio De Maria, the secretary general of the federation, said Wednesday. “Nobody sits at the table with conditions about how to fix a problem. Nestor is the director and his head is not on the table as a condition for talks.”

Unrest has followed Mexicos national team since it was eliminated in second-round of this years World Cup. The loss to Argentina was followed by the resignation of coach Javier Aguirre. Since then interim coaches Enrique Mesa and Efrain Flores have handled the team. A new coach is expected to be announced next month.

De Maria acknowledged that 13 players had sent a letter to the federation criticizing De La Torres decision to make public details of a party held after an exhibition on Sept. 7 against Colombia in Monterrey. The party resulted in fines and suspensions.

One of the conditions in the 14-point letter was De La Torres resignation.

“There is a problem to fix, but without conditions,” De Maria repeated. He said he had talked in recent days with Marquez and Cruz Azul forward Gerardo Torrado.

In the letter, the players argued they were free to enjoy themselves once the match had ended and there were no official team activities remaining.

“This argument is about semantics,” De Maria said. “Trying to talk about where official duties end is an uphill battle.”

Mexico has an Oct. 12 exhibition against Venezuela, and De Maria said any player in Mexico or abroad was subject to being selected.

“Everyone makes a mistake,” De Maria said. “All of us can improve the situation. The most effective thing is that both sides talk.”

In the sanctions announced last week, Carlos Vela and Efrain Juarez were suspended for six months each and 11 others were fined: Marquez, Torrado, Javier Hernandez, Giovanni dos Santos, Guillermo Ochoa, Francisco Rodriguez, Carlos Salcido, Andres Guardado, Pablo Barrera, Hector Esqueda and Hector Moreno.

Javier Hernandez scored a late winner Wednesday to give Manchester United a valuable 1-0 away win against Valencia in the Champions League group stage.

The Mexico forward collected fellow substitute Federico Machedas astute pass and sidestepped a defender before beating Valencia goalkeeper Cesar Sanchez with a crisp shot into the bottom right corner in the 86th minute.

“I think 1-0 is a great result for us as it is not easy to come here. We have a bad record over a long period in Spain. It was good to win,” said United manager Alex Ferguson.

The game had featured few clear scoring chances until then and was dominated by a tense midfield battle between the two teams.

United now sits top of Group C with four points after being held to a 0-0 draw in its opening game at home to Rangers. Valencia is third with three points.

With Wayne Rooney missing through injury, Dimitar Berbatov, the Premier Leagues leading goalscorer on six goals this season, was in charge of Uniteds attack, while at the other end, Roberto Soldado led the line for Valencia.

Berbavov shot just wide of goal in the fourth minute. The hosts, meanwhile, had to wait until the 16th minute for their first effort on goal when Pablo Hernandez shot over the bar.

But as the half progressed, Valencia began to pick up the rhythm. Soldado mistimed a header just in front of goal and sent it flying upward, and shortly after half time, Pablo Hernandez shot just wide.

Sanchez was forced into a rare save when Berbatov ran down the left wing, wrong-footed the defender and shot powerfully at goal in the 56th minute before Rio Ferdinand was forced into a timely interception to prevent Pablo Hernandez shooting.

Valencia continued to attack but with no reward, Van der Sar parrying a shot by Jeremy Mathieu and Soldado missing the rebound before heading wide from Artiz Adurizs cross.

“Im not sure if Van der Sar got a touch on my shot, but anyway, I shouldnt fail with those shots, so its bad luck and now we have to wait until the next match,” Soldado said.

Fergusons substitutions proved decisive as the visitors hit Valencia with a sucker punch.

Javier Hernandez, who came on for Anderson in the 77th minute, had already struck the post with a close-range effort when he and Macheda, a replacement for Berbatov, combined for a potentially priceless winner.

“I think what Chicharito (Hernandez) did was he brought us penetration. Just before he scored he made a great run in behind their defense and that was what we needed at that stage of the game,” Ferguson said.

Substitute Javier Morales scored on a free kick in the second half Tuesday and Real Salt Lake reached the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League with a 1-1 draw Tuesday night.

Toronto FC was eliminated from the tournament for top North American and Caribbean pro teams.

Morales, in his first action since Sept. 9, curled a free kick over the Toronto FC wall and past backup goalkeeper Jon Conway from 20 yards out in the 68th to cancel out Jacob Petersons first-half strike.

Julian de Guzman got a head on Morales shot, but could only deflect it into the roof of the Reds net.

Mexicos Cruz Azul also advanced from the group thanks to a 2-0 win over Panamas Arabe Unido.

Emanuel Villa and Adrian Cortes scored goals at the start of each half to give Mexican club Cruz Azul a 2-0 home win against Panamas Arabe Unido on Tuesday, booking a place in the CONCACAF Champions League quarter finals.

The victory ensured Cruz Azul will progress from Group A to the last eight alongside Real Salt Lake after the American club drew 1-1 at Toronto.

With one game still left to play, Cruz Azul tops the group with 10 points, the same total as Real Salt Lake, but with a better head-to-head record. Toronto has five points and Arabe Unido has three.

Cruz Azul and Real Salt Lake play each other next week to determine the group winner.

Villa scored from Maximiliano Biancucchis pass in the first minute and Cortes notched a penalty in the 49th after a handball in the box as the Mexico City club claimed a comfortable win.

Cruz Azul had crushed Arabe Unido 6-0 in Panama in the teams first meeting.

Spanish club Sevilla has hired Gregorio Manzano as coach after firing Antonio Alvarez following a disappointing start to the season.

Club president Jose Maria del Nido presented Manzano at a news conference Monday shortly before a training session with the squad.

Sevilla is seventh in the standings with eight points from five matches, and is coming off a lackluster 2-0 loss against newly promoted Hercules on Sunday.

Manzano coached Mallorca before Michael Laudrup took over in July. He had led the team to fifth place in the league last season but left after the clubs financial problems became public.

Summaries from the fifth round of the Spanish league (home team listed first):

Saturdays Games

Sporting Gijon 0, Valencia 2

Valencia: Mehmet Topal (7), Roberto Soldado (10).

Halftime: 0-2.

Attendance: 21,000.

Levante 0, Real Madrid 0

Attendance: 17,000.

Athletic Bilbao 1, Barcelona 3

Athletic Bilbao: Igor Gabilondo (90).

Barcelona: Seydou Keita (54), Xavi Hernandez (74), Sergio Busquets (90).

Halftime: 0-0.

Attendance: 35,000.

Sundays Games

Mallorca 2, Real Sociedad 0

Mallorca: Fernando Cavenaghi (7, 63).

Halftime: 1-0.

Attendance: 14,000.

Espanyol 1, Osasuna 0

Espanyol: Alvaro Vazquez (25).

Halftime: 1-0.

Attendance: 20,000.

Deportivo La Coruna 0, Almeria 2

Almeria: Kalu Uche (4, 18).

Halftime: 0-2.

Attendance: 12,000.

Racing Santander 0, Getafe 1

Getafe: Victor Sanchez (17).

Halftime: 0-1.

Attendance: 13,077.

Hercules 2, Sevilla 0

Hercules: David Trezeguet (22, 38).

Halftime: 2-0.

Attendance: 20,000.

Atletico Madrid 1, Zaragoza 0

Atletico Madrid: Diego Costa (20)

Halftime: 1-0.

Attendance: 40,000.

Mondays Games

Malaga 2, Villarreal 3

Malaga: Eliseu Pereira (4), Jose Rondon (29).

Villarreal: Santiago Cazorla (21, 34), Giuseppe Rossi (23).

Halftime: 2-3.

Attendance: 18,200.

River Plate gave away a victory on Sunday, allowing Miguel Caneo of last-placed Quilmes to score in second-half injury time in a costly 1-1 draw for one of Argentinas biggest clubs.

River Plate took the lead with Mariano Pavones goal early in the second half, and the Buenos Aires club had most of the play after that but failed to score again and ensure the win.

Velez defeated Olimpo 3-0 on the weekend, and Estudiantes defeated Boca Juniors 1-0.

A victory would have moved River into third place. Instead, its in fifth place with 14 points, three behind leaders Velez. Estudiantes has 16, but have played one game fewer than Velez, while San Lorenzo has 15.

The biggest victory over the weekend was for Argentinos Juniors, which defeated Banfield 1-0 with Gonzalo Vargas goal. It was Argentinos first victory, a very poor start for the defending Clausura champions.

“Its clear that the survival of a coach depends on winning,” Argentinos Juniors coach Pedro Troglio said. “This is a relief. Its been three tough months and it was important to win.”

In Brazil, Argentine playmaker Dario Conca scored one goal and set up another to help Fluminense defeat Vitoria 2-1 on Sunday and overtake Corinthians to lead the Brazilian league standings.

Corinthians dropped to second after allowing an injury-time goal in a 3-2 loss to Copa Libertadores champion Internacional. Corinthians, still without Ronaldo, had leveled the match with a 90th-minute penalty but failed to hold on to the result in the thriller at Beira-Rio stadium.

Fluminense has 48 points from 25 matches, while Corinthians remains on 47 points from 24 games. The other clubs in the chase are Cruzeiro with 44 in 25 games, Internacional with 41 in 24 and Botafogo with 40 in 25. Santos and Atletico Paranaense have 38.

On Saturday, Neymar scored to help Santos thrash Cruzeiro 4-1, while former Shalke and Galatasaray playmaker Lincoln netted to give Luiz Felipe Scolaris Palmeiras a 3-1 win over defending champion Flamengo in Rio.

In Mexico, Cruz Azul was upset by Necaxa 2-1, but still kept the overall lead in the first division with 21 points from nine matches. Cruz Azul also leads Group 3.

Monterrey played a scoreless draw with Queretaro to remain the only unbeaten team in the Mexican league. The point was enough to improve Monterrey to 19 points and the lead in Group 1.

Santos have 18 points in Group 1 despite a 3-2 loss on Sunday to America.

Americas victory improved it to 15 points, good for second in Group 2. Defending Clausura champion Toluca leads that group following a 2-1 victory on Sunday over Morelia.

In a close match in Bolivia, Bolivar and Real Potosi each won Sunday to share the lead with 20 points. Bolivar defeated Blooming and Real Potosi downed Guabira 4-0.

Penarol defeated Bella Vista 2-1 on Sunday to give it a share of the lead in Uruguay with 11 points. Danubio, the leader entering the weekend, settled for a 1-1 draw against Liverpool and also has 11 points.

Results from the eighth round of fixtures in the Argentine Apertura football:

Velez 3, Olimpo 0

Independiente 1, Gimnasia 0

Argentinos Juniors 1, Banfield 0

Estudiantes 1, Boca Juniors 0

Lanus 1, All Boys 0

Colon 2, San Lorenzo 0

Arsenal 0, Newells 0

Huracan 1, Godoy Cruz 1

Tigre 0, Racing Club 0

River Plate 1, Quilmes 1

Monterrey played out a scoreless draw with Queretaro on Saturday to remain the only unbeaten team in the Mexican league.

The point was enough to improve Monterrey to 19 points, just behind leaders Cruz Azul with 21. Cruz Azul lost 2-1 to Necaxa on Friday.

In other key games Saturday, Jaguares of Chiapas defeated San Luis 2-1 with goals from Jorge Rodriguez of Uruguay and Carlos Ochoa. Colombian Tressor Moreno scored for San Luis.

Pachuca ended a seven-game winless streak with a 3-1 win over Estudiantes. Edgar Benitez converted a penalty in the 44th, Dario Cvitanich of Argentina made it 2-0 in the 60th and U.S. international Herculez Gomez completed the scoring in the 83rd. Mauro Cejas scored for Estudiantes in the 85th.

In Monterrey, rain washed out Saturdays match between Tigres and Guadalajara Chivas. The game is to be played Sunday. Conditions Saturday were so bad that the ball couldnt roll or bounce.

“We talked about it with the coaches and they agreed the field was not playable,” said Alejandro Rodriguez, president of Tigres. “For the players well being and the game itself, its the best decision.”

Atlas played Puebla in a late match Saturday.

Estudiantes defeated Boca Juniors 1-0 on Saturday to move within a point of the lead in Argentinas Apertura football championship.

Estudiantes have 16 points and Velez has 17. Estudiantes have played one fewer game than the leaders.

San Lorenzo remained on 15 points after a 2-0 loss to Colon.

In two other matches Saturday, substitute Gonzalo Vargas scored in the 77th minute to give Argentinos Juniors their first victory of the season with a 1-0 win over Banfield. It was Banfields first loss. for Argentinos Juniors.

Santiago Hoyos scored the lone goal to lead Lanus over All Boys 1-0.

Marcos Rojo scored in the first minute for Estudiantes, which turned out to be enough at the Jorge Luis Hirschi stadium in La Plata. It was a rebound for Estudiantes, which was upset last week 2-1 by All Boys.

The biggest victory of the day was probably for Argentinos Juniors, the defending Clausura champions.

“Its clear that the survival of a coach depends on winning,” Argentinos Juniors coach Pedro Troglio said. “This is a relief. Its been three tough months and it was important to win.”

Damina Diaz and Joaquin Larrivey scored in Colons victory over San Lorenzo.

On Friday it was: Velez 3, Olimpo 0; Independiente 1, Gimnasia 0.

On Sunday: River Plate vs. Quilmes, Arsenal vs. Newells, Godoy Cruz vs. Huracan, Tigre vs. Racing Club.