South Korea clinched a berth in men’s soccer at the London Olympics, blanking home side Oman 3-0 in the penultimate regional qualification contest.At Al Seeb Sports Stadium in the Omanese capital, winger Nam Tae-hee scored seconds into the match, and his teammates added a pair of second-half goals to send Korea to its seventh-straight Olympics.The victory gave Korea a four-point cushion over Oman at the top of Group A with one game left for both nations. Korea is at top with 11 points on three w

South Korea clinched a berth in men's football at the London Olympics here Wednesday, blanking home side Oman 3-0 in the penultimate regional qualification contest.South Korea`s national soccer team celebrate after Nam Tae-hee (second from left) scored the first goal. (Yonhap News)At Al Seeb Sports

Chelsea fared nearly as badly as Arsenal on its trip to Italy, leaving English clubs in danger of missing the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time since 1996.Ezequiel Lavezzi scored two goals and Edinson Cavani had one as Napoli rallied from an early deficit for a 3-1 victory Tuesday night in the first leg of the total-goals, second-round series.In the earlier game, Pontus Wernbloom scored on the last play as CSKA Moscow held visiting Real Madrid to a 1-1 tie.“We will analyze strong

Arsenal’s Park Chu-young was relegated to the reserve team, Britain’s Metro newspaper reported Monday.It was another reminder of a tough rookie year in the Premier League for the South Korean captain, who has played less than 10 minutes with the season more than half way through.His teammates Andrei Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh were also transferred to the second-string squad.Metro speculated the team’s manager Arsene Wenger sent his second-unit scorers to the reserves in hope of revitalizing t

MADRID (AP) ― Lionel Messi’s sublime chip capped a four-goal performance as the three-time Ballon d’Or winner moved past the 40-goal mark for a third straight season in mesmerizing fashion to lead Barcelona’s 5-1 thrashing of Valencia on Sunday.Barcelona had to come from behind to stay within 10 points of Real Madrid, easily answering the Spanish leader’s 4-0 rout of Racing Santander one night earlier with a pure display of the football that has crowned it the world’s best team.The undoubted sta

This week will be a vitally important period for Korean soccer as the U23 team is set to play Oman on Wednesday in the Asian qualifier for the London 2012 Olympics. The senior national team will then play a friendly against Uzbekistan on Saturday before facing Kuwait in the 2014 World Cup qualifier on Feb 29.Manager Hong Myung-bo’s U23 side is looking to reach its seventh straight Olympics, and make its ninth overall appearance at the quadrennial competition.The Korea U23 team’s chances are high

Ki Sung-Yueng (center) with his celtic teammates (AP-Yonhap News)Celtic ended a week they started four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League with a colossal 17-point advantage after a 5-0 win away to Hibernian on Sunday.Second-placed Rangers' 10 point penalty for going into administ

LONDON (AP) ― Arsenal lost to Sunderland 2-0 in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday, leaving the English Premier League club facing a seventh straight season without a trophy.Arsenal is 17 points behind league leader Manchester City and lost the first leg of its Champions League knockout match 4-0 at AC Milan this week.The Gunners failed to properly clear Sebastian Larsson’s 40th-minute free kick and Richardson scored on a volley. Larsson then struck the post with 12 minutes left, with the

Messi and Sanchez give Spanish giants big first-leg leadHowever much Bayer Leverkusen frustrated Barcelona, stifling Lionel Messi proved impossible for 90 minutes.Messi helped Barcelona shake off its domestic troubles, getting his 38th goal and 20th assist of the season in a 3-1 victory at Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night that moved the defending champions toward the quarterfinals.“When you play against the German teams, you don’t have the control or possession a lot and they are physically str

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) ― With an escort of jet fighters screaming above and tens of thousands of screaming fans on the ground, Zambia’s victorious soccer team flew home Monday to a hero’s welcome.The Copper Bullets, or Chipolopolo as the national team is called, descended from the plane to meet ecstatic fans and show off the African Cup of Nations trophy that has eluded the southern African nation for more than 30 years.“Go Zambia, go!” the crowd roared.The players were driven off on the backs of a

LONDON (AP) ― Luis Suarez’s refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United’s 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.Wayne Rooney scored twice for the second straight match to guide United to victory at Old Trafford. But all the focus was on the pre-match handshake that never happened, inflaming tensions between England’s two most successful clubs.Starting his first match since serving an eight-gam