Brad Friedel conceded five goals against Newcastle, Wade Barrett made his Danish First Division debut and Greg Vanney returned to the Bastia starting lineup in France. ENGLAND * Brad Friedel (Blackburn, PL) at Newcastle, 1-5. Started: 90 minutes. Friedel conceded goals to Nolberto Solano, Laurent Robert, Jermaine Jenas, Craig Bellamy and teammate Vratislav Gresko. The Sun rating (10=high; 1=low): 7. * Kasey Keller (Tottenham, PL) at Bolton, 0-1. Started: 90 minutes. Kasey was beaten on a Jay-Jay Okocha penalty kick 30 seconds before the final whistle. The Sun rating (10=high; 1=low): 8. * Jovan Kirovski (Birmingham, PL) vs. West Bromwich …

The Los Angeles Galaxy and Columbus Crew advanced to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, but the New England Revolution was crushed in its debut in the CONCACAF club championship. Alexi Lalas' goal with 12 minutes left gave the Galaxy a 1-0 win over Motagua of Honduras Sunday in Fullerton, Calif., and a 3-2 victory on aggregate. Lalas, who also scored in the first leg, scored off Cobi Jones' cross after a short corner. The Galaxy meets Mexico's Necaxa in the quarterfinals. Necaxa, the 1999 CONCACAF club champion, beat Arnett Gardens, 1-0, on aggregate. Edson Buddle, recently called up …

Shannon MacMillan and Mia Hamm scored goals four minutes apart and the U.S. women's national team captured the Algarve Cup title for the second time with a 2-0 triumph over China Thursday at Loule, Portugal. MacMillan scored from a rebounded shot in the 52nd minute and Hamm tallied from a MacMillan feed in the 56th to give the Americans their second tournament championship of the year, to go with a Four Nations title won in China in January. The U.S. women, playing in a 4-5-1 formation with Hamm the lone striker and MacMillan and Kristine Lilly attacking from the flanks, …

Japan canceled its two-game of the United States because of concerns by Japanese clubs about security risks following the outbreak of war in Iraq. The decision was made by the Japan Football Association (JFA) at a meeting Friday in Tokyo. The JFA had last month called off the trip to play Uruguay on March 26 in San Diego and the United States on March 29 in Seattle, but it reversed after a meeting of JFA and U.S. Soccer officials. According to Tokyo newspaper reports, the JFA was given assurances that the FBI and even the CIA would guarantee security, although …

(Subject to change) CHICAGO FIRE Training: March 20-26: Portland, Ore. Matches: Feb. 12 vs. U.S. under-17 national team (1-2). Feb. 15 at Univ. of Central Florida (0-1). Feb. 19 vs. U.S. under-17 national team (2-0). Feb. 22 vs. MetroStars (2-0). March 2 vs. Dallas (0-1). March 5 vs. D.C. United (0-0). March 8 vs. San Jose (0-2) in Copa Carnaval. March 12 vs. Kansas City (0-1). March 20 vs. San Jose (0-1). March 23 vs. Portland Timbers-Seattle Sounders XI (6-0). Schedule: TBD. COLORADO RAPIDS Training: March 16-27: Guadalajara, Mexico. March 31-: Westminster, Colo. Results: Feb. 20 vs. Central Florida (6-1). …

Venezuela will replace Japan as the USA's opponent in the March 29 friendly at Seattle Seahawks Stadium in Seattle, Wash. Japan, which was also scheduled to play Uruguay March 26 in San Diego, canceled its U.S. tour because of concerns by Japanese clubs about security risks following the United States' military attack on Iraq. The decision was made by the Japan Football Association (JFA) at a meeting Friday in Tokyo. The USA-Venezuela game kicks off at 4 pm ET/1 pm PT and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 Saturday, March 29. ''We are certainly disappointed by the decision of the …

The press office of the U.S. Soccer Federation has been inundated with interview requests for Freddy Adu, who has already been featured in Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and major newspapers across the country. Jim Moorhouse, U.S. Soccer director of communications, is feeling the pressure. He's charged with accommodating the media and popularizing American soccer players. ''But Freddy's only 13,'' says Moorhouse. ''Landon Donovan didn't get this kind of attention when he was with the U-17s.'' The inclination is to protect someone so young. To shield him from the hype. To let him be a boy. Born in …

Immigration staff at the Sao Paulo International Airport scrambled to open additional lanes of its waiting area as chromatic waves of Adidas jackets poured down the escalators. In the jackets, fit young men with groggy faces and myriad hairstyles murmured about how much they slept, or didn't, on the overnight flight from the United States. The blue jackets came from the East; the reds from the Midwest. The green ones hailed in the South; the black jackets flew in from the West. Nobody in Brazil knew the meaning of this color scheme. But the 70 members of …

The Kaiser had to say he's sorry, and Gregg Berhalter is one reason why. Franz Beckenbauer - German World Cup hero of the past and outspoken sage of the present - announced at the halfway mark of the Bundesliga season that Energie Cottbus was a ''hopeless case'' and would for sure drop to the Second Division. Beckenbauer's prediction was hardly controversial when he made it. Cottbus was mired in last place, 10 points deep in the relegation zone, and had given up a league-high 38 goals. When Berhalter joined the team in August, Cottbus had played …

POS.: Forward AGE: HOMETOWN: Palm Coast, Fla. CLUB: Dallas Burn INTERNATIONAL: U.S. U-20s ED, EDDIE OR EDWARD? I prefer E.J. STARTING OUT: I'm from the inner city, the projects. I wasn't into soccer. But all my friends were two years older and playing on this recreational team. One day, when I was 9, I played and I loved it. I joined their U-11 team because I wanted to be the best among my friends. FIRST CLEATS: Pink, purple and blue Mitres from WalMart. CURRENT CLEATS: Red and silver Nike Vapors. OTHER SPORTS: …

In 1961, Hubert Vogelsinger, a pro soccer player and coach who was earning his physical education degree in Vienna, fell in love with Lois Ryan, an American Fulbright scholar. He accompanied her back to Massachusetts even though she told him, ''You don't need to pack your boots or a ball, because I've never seen any soccer in the United States.'' ''I snuck my boots in my suitcase and I was playing with the Italians my first Saturday in America,'' says Vogelsinger, who married Lois four weeks later. He also started as an assistant coach at the Middlesex School, which …

It's easy to see why the WUSA is so gung-ho about ''Bend It Like Beckham'': The league - promoting the film as if it were its own - is the promised land in Gurinder Chadha's delightful comedy of cultural manners, a British smash that wowed festival audiences at Sundance and Toronto and opens in America, finally, in mid-March. Jess (Parminder Nagra) is a tricky forward who'd love nothing more than to play alongside her hero, David Beckham, but opposition from her family - Sikh Punjabis residing in West London - and remote opportunity cloud her path to soccer …

Last season is little more than a laugh to the New York Power, Tiffeny Milbrett was saying. It was a horrible campaign, sure, defined by injury, defensive ineptitude and lots of defeat, but what does that have to do with now? A new coach, lots of new players and a new attitude have made New York a, well, new team heading into the WUSA's third season, which starts April 5. Tom Sermanni, the Scotsman who takes charge after two seasons as San Jose coach Ian Sawyers' chief assistant, sensed it when the Power's preseason camp opened at the …

NETHERLANDS (Champions League)* John O'Brien (Ajax, D1), at Roma (Italy), 1-1Started: 90 minutes. Ajax, winner of four European Cup titles, finishes second to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1997. If O'Brien plays, he will become the first American to play in the quarterfinal stage of Europe's top club competition.ENGLAND (Division I* Marcus Hahnemann (Reading), at Ipswich, 1-3.Started: 90 minutes. The Royals dropped to fourth, one point behind Sheffield United. The top two teams in the First Division go up automatically. The next four teams play off to determine third team to move into the Premier League.* …

(Subject to change)CHICAGO FIRETraining:March 16-20: Santa Clara, Calif. March 20-26: Portland, Ore.Matches:Feb. 12 vs. U.S. under-17 national team (1-2). Feb. 15 at Univ. of Central Florida (0-1). Feb. 19 vs. U.S. under-17 national team (2-0). Feb. 22 vs. MetroStars (2-0). March 2 vs. Dallas (0-1). March 5 vs. D.C. United (0-0). March 8 vs. San Jose (0-2) in Copa Carnaval. March 12 vs. Kansas City (0-1).Schedule:March 20 vs. San Jose (in Saratoga, Calif.). March 23 vs. Portland Timbers-Seattle Sounders XI (in Portland, Ore.).COLORADO RAPIDSTraining:March 16-27: Guadalajara, Mexico. March 31-: Westminster, Colo.Results:Feb. 20 vs. Central Florida (6-1). Feb. 22 vs. U.S. …