MADRID (AFP) ― In the week that he marked the 10th anniversary of his competitive debut for Barcelona, Lionel Messi could become the all-time top scorer in the history of La Liga.The Argentine made his bow as a 17-year-old in a 1-0 win at city rivals Espanyol on Oct. 16, 2004. Now he is preparing to face Eibar at the Camp Nou on Saturday needing just two goals to equal Telmo Zarra’s all-time Spanish top-flight record of 251, set in the 1950s.Messi, who told fans he was “constantly trying to impr

Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to give Portugal a 1-0 win over Denmark in a European Championship qualifier Tuesday night and put his team’s campaign back on track after a 1-0 loss at home to Albania.John O’Shea scored in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time of his 100th international appearance, lifting Ireland into a 1-1 tie at World Cup champion Germany, which lost 2-0 at Poland in its previous qualifier last weekend.In Belgrade, a small d

In front of a sell-out crowd in Warsaw, Poland finally did it.The Poles beat World Cup winner Germany 2-0 for their first win in 19 meetings with the Mannschaft to move three points clear of its powerful rival in European Championship qualifying on Saturday.It was Germany’s first defeat after 18 competitive games, and its first loss in qualifying after 33 matches.Also in Group D, Robbie Keane’s hat trick helped Ireland thrash Gibraltar 7-0, taking his international goals tally to 65 and becoming

Defending champion Spain lost a qualifying game for the first time in eight years Thursday, while England left nothing to doubt in the European Championship.Spain fell 2-1 at Slovakia in Group C for its first loss in a qualifier for the European Championship or World Cup since 2006.Paco Alcacer appeared to have sparked Spain’s comeback in the 82nd, only for Miroslav Stoch to catch its defense off balance with a counterattack with three minutes left.England had no such trouble against minnow San

NYON, Switzerland (AP) ― UEFA banned Italian football federation president Carlo Tavecchio for six months on Tuesday following a racist comment during his election campaign.Tavecchio, a long-standing executive in Italian football, was elected president in August despite causing a stir over a reference to bananas when discussing the presence of foreign players in Italy.“Mr. Tavecchio will be ineligible for any position as a UEFA official for a period of six months starting from the communication

The men’s national soccer team will open camp Tuesday for upcoming friendly matches at home as new head coach Uli Stielike makes his South Korea debut.South Korea is scheduled to host Paraguay on Friday in Cheonan, about 90 kilometers south of Seoul, and then play Costa Rica in Seoul on Oct. 14. Both matches will kick off at 8 p.m.Stielike, the former German international named South Korean boss last month, will open training camp Tuesday at the National Football Center in Paju, north of Seoul,

Record-chasing Lionel Messi and Neymar scored as Spanish league leader Barcelona eased to a 2-0 win at nine-man Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.Messi chipped goalkeeper Antonio “Tono” Rodriguez in the 35th minute for his 249th league goal, leaving him two behind the all-time scoring record held by Telmo Zarra since 1955.A minute later Neymar added his seventh league goal in as many rounds.While Messi will have to wait for his own landmark, Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo broke a league record that

South Korea defeated Vietnam 3-0 for the women's football bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games on Wednesday.Kwon Hah-nul, Jung Seol-bin and Park Hee-young each scored a goal in the second-half, as South Korea earned its second consecutive Asiad bronze.South Korea had lost to North Korea 2-1 in the semifinals Monday to fall into the bronze medal contest, while Vietnam had lost to Japan 3-0 in the other semifinal match.After a scoreless half at Incheon Football Stadium, Kwon got the team's firs