| Rubin Kazan v Barcelona: match preview Follow match preview of the Champions League Group D match between Rubin Kazan v Barcelona on Wednesday Sept 29 2010, kick-off 17.30 BST. telegraph.co.uk |
Fucito's 2 Goals Boost Sounders Past Marathon, 2-0 Michael Fucito scored twice for Seattle and the Sounders beat Honduran side CD Marathon 2-0 on Wednesday night in the CONCACAF Champions League. feeds.nytimes.com |
Europe certain to host 2018 World Cup as US withdraws from running • US withdraws as Fifa makes it clear Europe favoured• Decision strengthen's England's 2018 bid positionThe United States has formally announced its withdrawal from the race to host the 2018 World Cup after Fifa made it clear the tournament in eight years' time would be hosted in Europe.England, a leading contender for the 2018 bid, conversely formalised its withdrawal from the 2022 event.As wrangling went on behind the scenes to secure the lucrative tournament, the US and England had nominally remained in the running to stage either the 2018 or 2022 competition.The decision means there will definitely be a European host in 2018, with England and Russia remaining in the running along with joint bids by Belgium/Holland and Spain/Portugal.With Fifa statutes preventing two successive World Cups being held in the same continent, the race for the 2022 tournament will now be between Australia, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar and the US.The Fifa secretary general, JĂ©rĂ´me Valcke, said: "We have had an open and constructive dialogue with the US bid for some time now, after it became apparent that there was a growing movement to stage the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Europe."The announcement of today by the USA bid to focus solely on the 2022 Fifa World Cup is therefore a welcome gesture which is much appreciated by Fifa."A statement from the England bid team said: "England 2018/22 today confirmed to Fifa that it was withdrawing its candidature from the Fifa World Cup 2022 and will now focus on its bid to host the tournament in 2018."This followed consultation with the Uefa president, Michel Platini, on the most appropriate moment to withdraw."England 2018 is delighted it is now clear the Fifa World Cup will be coming to Europe in 2018 following the withdrawal of the United States bid."The chairman of the US bid committee and the US Soccer president, Sunil Gulati, today said: "For some time we have been in conversations with Fifa and Uefa about the possibility of focusing only on the 2022 bidding process, an option we have made reference to many times."We are confident this is in the best interests of the US bid."We wanted to make the announcement now – still 48 days before the final decision – in order to make our intentions clear during the last part of our campaign. This also enables Fifa to finalise the selection procedures during its upcoming scheduled executive committee meeting."That meeting will take place in Zurich on 28 and 29 October.World Cup 2018USAFifaDave Middletonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Jim White: don't be fooled Sepp Blatter, hooliganism in UK is alive and kicking Sepp Blatter insisted England had shown the world how to conquer hooliganism - he should have been at Oxford last week. telegraph.co.uk |
England Pull Out Of Bidding For 2022 World Cup LONDON (Reuters) - England have officially withdrawn from the race to host the 2022 World Cup finals, the FA's bid team said on Friday. feeds.nytimes.com |