Soccer

Oscar saved Chelsea, interim boss Rafael Benitez and striker Fernando Torres from embarrassment with an 82nd-minute strike in a Europa League last-32 first-leg 1-0 win at Sparta Prague. Torres, a mega-deal striker now with one goal in 13 games, missed a straightforward effort after 35 minutes and sliced a second-half...

Bradford became the first fourth-tier club to reach the League Cup final for 51 years as it stunned Premier League strugglers Aston Villa with a 4-3 aggregate victory after a 2-1 defeat on Tuesday. Villa was unable to claw back the 3-1 deficit from the first leg of the Capital...

Atletico Madrid held nine-man Sevilla to a draw in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal to edge through to the final and a showdown with city rivals Real. Sevilla, who trailed 2-1 from the opening match, looked to be heading out of the competition when Diego Costa...

Schalke remained unbeaten in the Champions League with a 1-1 draw at Galatasaray on Wednesday. But Schalke scorer, midfielder Jermaine Jones, will miss the second leg of their last-16 tie on March 12 through suspension after picking up his third yellow card of the competition -- 10 minutes before scoring. Jones...

Costa Rica plans to file an official protest with FIFA about Friday's 1-0 loss to the United States in a Rocky Mountain snowstorm, according to a Reuters report. A Costa Rica soccer federation official told domestic media that the protest would be made Saturday, Reuters reported. Costa Rica has 24...

David Beckham pledged to donate his salary to a children's charity Thursday after signing a five-month contract with French Ligue 1 powerhouse Paris-Saint Germain, the latest stop on his globe-trotting career. The 37-year-old former England captain joined PSG after turning down several other offers and pledging to effectively play...

Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic says it would be "great news" and a "dream" if Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo were to join him at the club next summer. Persistent rumours in Spain have linked both the Real Madrid coach and the team's talisman with a move to the Qatari-backed...

Omar Gonzalez replaced captain Carlos Bocanegra in central defense for the United States' World Cup qualifier at Honduras on Wednesday, and Timmy Chandler was in the starting lineup to play right back in his competitive debut for the Americans. Goalkeeper Tim Howard was the captain for the match in San...

Galatasaray reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League after edging out valiant Schalke 3-2 at the Veltins-Arena. Despite taking an early lead through Roman Neustadter, the German side was ultimately undone by strikes from Hamit Altintop and Burak Yilmaz just before the break. Although Michel Bastos levelled just after the hour,...

Malaga coach manager Manuel Pellegrini believes the Champions League quarter-final against Dortmund is “absolutely open” after the two sides played out a 0-0 in the first-leg in Spain. Both teams failed to trouble the score-sheet and the tie now heads to Dortmund with everything to play for. But despite failing to...

England launched a year it hopes will end with a place booked for Brazil by beating the five-time World Cup winners 2-1 for only the fourth time in its history. Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard were England's scorers, either side of a fine equalizer from Fred at the start of...

Aston Villa's disappointment at slipping back into the Premier League's bottom three has been heightened by fresh concerns over their absentee defensive kingpin Richard Dunne. At a time when Ron Atkinson has cited a lack of leaders as one of the biggest problems facing his former club in their survival...