Chelsea 1-3 Man Utd

Manchester United inflicted their first defeat on Chelsea since the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as Blues boss to win the Community Shield and lay down a marker for the new season.

Ancelotti's team ended the last campaign as Premier League and FA Cup champions - inflicting home and away league defeats on United in the process, as well as winning the Community Shield.

But they had no answer to a United team inspired by the evergreen Paul Scholes, who controlled the contest from midfield with a superb passing display.

On an afternoon when England's World Cup flops were booed by the vast majority of the 84,623 inside Wembley, Wayne Rooney played a superb low pass for Antonio Valencia's opening goal.

United received a further fillip when new signing Javier Hernandez scored a somewhat fortuitous goal after coming on as a half-time substitute.

Chelsea, who found Edwin van der Sar in impressive form, pulled a goal back late on through Salomon Kalou after the Dutch keeper had made a brilliant one-handed save from substitute Daniel Sturridge.

But substitute Dimitar Berbatov extinguished any slim hopes of a Chelsea comeback with an exquisite lob from Nani's cute pass in the final minute to complete a successful afternoon for Sir Alex Ferguson's team.

The match enjoyed a particularly lively opening period, during which both teams had clear chances to open the scoring.

Valencia did not put enough purchase on an attempted lob, while Scholes wastefully - and somewhat uncharacteristically - volleyed well wide after he had been picked out completely unmarked 16 yards from goal.

Chelsea, with Nicolas Anelka at the tip of an attacking trio that also comprised Florent Malouda and Kalou, quickly responded.



Van der Sar, with a rare handling error, failed to hold a long-range strike from Anelka, but Kalou could not convert the rebound from a tight angle.

If the Dutch keeper had been less than assured with Anelka's strike, he was simply sensational as he palmed clear a goal-bound header from Branislav Ivanovic with one hand.

On a warm Wembley afternoon, the tempo noticeably dipped as the opening half wore on, but there was still a series of breathtaking passes from Scholes to savour.

His deft chip played Rooney through but the striker could not find the target from an acute angle, while several times the veteran midfielder caught left-back Cole out of position with raking cross-field passes.

From one of them, Rooney played a precise first-time cross that Valencia converted for the opening goal four minutes before the break.

Chelsea, who defeated Portsmouth to win the FA Cup on their previous trip to Wembley in May, responded after the restart, with Malouda and the fit-again Michael Essien shooting narrowly wide from long distance, while Van der Sar denied Kalou and Cole, who was later booed from the field as he was substituted.

United had made a triple change at the break - with Hernandez soon into his stride on his first major outing since joining from Mexican side Guadalajara.

The diminutive forward showcased a series of flicks and spins, as well as a speed and willingness to create space.

But he was lucky with his goal, snatching at a Valencia cross only for the ball to strike him flush in the face before deflecting into the net.

Chelsea responded, with Van der Sar twice denying the lively Sturridge but unable to prevent Kalou from slotting home a rebound.

It looked as though the Blues might find an equaliser but the prospect of a fourth penalty shoot-out in as many years ended with Berbatov's crafty lobbed finish in injury-time.

Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson has pulled out of the England squad for Wednesday's friendly with Hungary and retired from international football.

The 30-year-old played at the 2006 World Cup but had drifted off the scene until his recall for this game.

"Only now have I been able to make this decision as previously I haven't been in contention for selection," he said.

"I don't see myself as a number three or four keeper and find that role very frustrating."

The former Leeds and Tottenham goalkeeper made his England debut in 2003 against Australia and won 41 caps, including playing in all five of England's games at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

But he paid the price for costly errors as England failed to reach Euro 2008, most famously failing to connect with a Gary Neville back pass which resulted in an own goal in the 2-0 defeat in Croatia.

His last appearance for England was a 2-1 defeat against Russia in 2007, where he could only palm a long-range shot into Roman Pavlyuchenko's path to set up Russia's winning goal.

Robinson was not selected by England for two years after that, and only earned a recall to the squad when David James was injured for the World Cup 2010 qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra.

Since moving to Blackburn two years ago, he seemed to have rediscovered his form, saving two penalties in a Carling Cup shoot-out win over Chelsea as Blackburn reached the semi-finals of the competition.

Rovers manager Sam Allardyce touted him for a place in this summer's World Cup squad, but having fallen behind the more experienced James and the younger Joe Hart and Robert Green in the international pecking order, he was never a likely contender for a place in the party.
Paul Robinson
Robinson's worst England moment came against Croatia in 2006

Allardyce says he fully understands why Robinson has declined Capello's invitation to join up with the England squad once more.

"For the time being, England will miss him," said Allardyce. "They missed him in the World Cup because he should have gone there. He feels that if he isn't going to be number one, then he doesn't feel the need to be travelling with England.

"As my player, I support him because I see him week in, week out and know how well he has performed. It's a big decision he's made, but I understand it."

Robinson was named in England coach Fabio Capello's first squad since the disappointment of South Africa, but with Hart and Ben Foster also included - and more likely starters - Robinson has announced his decision.

"I haven't had the opportunity of anything other than [not being first choice] in recent years therefore I feel it is in the best interest of myself and my club Blackburn Rovers that I concentrate solely on my club football.

South Africa have named Pitso Mosimane as the new head coach of the national side, Bafana Bafana.

The former assistant to World Cup coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has been handed a four-year contract.

His first job is to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, then the same competition in Libya in 2013.

The term of the deal also spans the all-important qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

"I feel extremely privileged to be promoted to head coach," the former SuperSport United boss said at a Johannesburg news conference confirming his appointment.

"It's my vision to take Bafana Bafana to a higher level at the 2014 World Cup.

"At some stage, I may make an error or two and if that's the case, I believe I'll have the grace to accept it, correct it and learn from it."

Mosimane has been set various targets by Safa, according to its chief executive, Leslie Sedibe.

"It's critical to qualify for the Nations Cup and Brazil 2014, and the coach understands the mandate and expectation from the people of South Africa," Sedibe said.

Mosimane has asked that Jairo Leal, another Parreira assistant, and fitness trainer Francisco Gonzalez be retained.

"I'd like to thank Parreira for all the mentoring and confidence he's shown in me," said Mosimane.

Mosimane rose to prominence when leading local side SuperSport United to two cup trophies and to two league runner-up places between 2001 and 2006.

He has been caretaker coach of South Africa once before, leading the side to three victories and three draws from seven games in 2006.

From 2007, he worked under Parreira who strongly advocated his nomination for the post once Bafana Bafana's World Cup dream had ended.

Bafana Bafana's next competitive match is in September when they host Niger for their inaugural 2012 Nations Cup qualifier.

Sierra Leone and the reigning African champions Egypt are the other teams in their group.

France striker Thierry Henry has retired from international football after a 13-year career.

The 32-year-old made the announcement a day after joining Major League side New York Red Bulls from Barcelona.

Henry said he was "fully committed" to the Major League side and did not want to travel regularly back to Europe to play for Les Bleus.

The 1998 World Cup winner is France's all-time record goalscorer with 51 goals in 123 games.

Speaking in New York on Thursday, Henry, who also won the European Championship with France in 2000, said he decided before this year's World Cup finals in South Africa that he would retire.

"I couldn't announce it before because that's the not type of thing you announce before a World Cup," he said.

He was twice used as a substitute in France's disastrous campaign, playing in the group matches against Uruguay and South Africa as the team lost two of their three matches and failed to reach the knockout stages of the competition.

"That was my last game against South Africa. Ironically, it was also my first game in the national team against South Africa," Henry added, referring to his debut in a 2-1 victory against South Africa in 1997.

The French squad went on strike and refused to train before the South Africa match after striker Nicolas Anelka was sent home for verbally abusing coach Raymond Domenech, who has since been replaced by Laurent Blanc.

606: DEBATE
A great goalscoring record, but people forget how good his assists were...

Double 2010
But Henry insisted: "We still have a good team. I think the guys that are going to stay, they still are great players.

"If you see the guys playing individually in their [club] team, they're always doing great.

"But as you know, in a team sport, it's always a matter of having a great team. It's not only about individuals, and I think Laurent Blanc can do this."

Henry added that he did not wish to emulate England winger David Beckham, who has combined playing for a Major League team - LA Galaxy - with travelling back to Europe for international duty.

"I always want to be here [the United States] 100% and am fully committed to this cause and the organisation," he stated.

Henry achieved notoriety after France's World Cup play-off victory over the Republic of Ireland in November 2009 when he handled the ball twice in the build-up to his team's decisive extra-time goal by William Gallas.

The striker escaped punishment from Fifa, which said it had "no legal foundation" to deal with the case, and Fifa rejected a request from the Football Association of Ireland to have the match replayed.

"I think they [the Irish fans] will still have something, yeah, but that's the game," he said on Thursday.

"It was kind of weird, but that's the way the game is. I already talked a lot about what happened that day, and I made it clear it wasn't intentional."

Despite France's troubles during the 2010 World Cup finals, Henry said his time at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea was "my worst experience ever".

"As a group, we didn't even score one goal and we were the reigning world champion," he stated.

"And we bounced back and we went to the final of the World Cup in 2006. Obviously we didn't win it. It still hurts."

Brazil midfielder

international midfielder Ramires has welcomed reported interest in him from the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea.

The 23-year-old currently plays his football in Portugal with Benfica, but is happy to be attracting interest from a number of Europe's biggest clubs.

He told Record: "My agent has told me that a number of clubs are interested in signing me, but this didn't surprise me.

"We all know that the World Cup is the perfect stage to prove your worth. One good game could be enough to attract the interest of a big club.

"I don't know the names of the clubs that are after me, but it would be a dream for me to play for a big club such as Barcelona, Real Madrid or Chelsea."

Americans advance with dramatic 1-0 victory over Algeria

PRETORIA, South Africa — PRETORIA, South Africa — When the bus carrying the U.S. team turned the corner into Loftus Versfeld Stadium, the driver suddenly had to pump the brakes. There were people in the road, hundreds of them.

Fans waving flags. Fans with flags draped over the shoulders. Fans with flags painted on their faces. Fans wearing jerseys. Fans wearing funky felt Uncle Sam hats. Fans dancing. Fans singing. Fans chanting. Fans blowing on vuvuzelas. Fans banging on the side of the bus.

U.S. fans.

The symbolism wasn’t lost on Coach Bob Bradley and his players as they gazed out the tinted windows. They had arrived, in more ways than one.

Soccer has been eternally searching for its seminal moment in the United States, and it may have arrived Wednesday in the dying minutes of a game against Algeria played on a chilly afternoon on the opposite side of the planet. The U.S. men have reached the second round of the World Cup before, but this might be the first time they reached the second round when anybody noticed back home.

When anybody cared.

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati was asked afterward if the 1-0 decision against Algeria, forged by a dramatic injury-time goal from talismanic midfielder Landon Donovan, qualified as the biggest win in American soccer history.

“Let me think: Yes,” Gulati said. “We’ve had other wins that were very important, but the difference with today is that America was tuned in. I don’t like to use the term ‘tipping point,’ but this would have been a great opportunity lost.”

Added Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber: “We don’t get many moments like this. I think it’s a sign that people are starting to pay attention. We always talk about the water level rising with soccer. Well, today the water rose.”

It was one of those days when nothing would go right, and then everything did in a sudden, glorious whoosh of fortune. In one swing of Donovan’s right foot, the Yanks went from World Cup elimination to winning the game to winning their first-round group to receiving an unimaginably navigable route to the semifinals.

They’ll play Ghana — 1-0 losers to Germany on Wednesday — in the round of 16 on Saturday in Rustenburg, the same “lucky” stadium where they tied England in their opening match here and where they beat Egypt 3-0 in the 2009 Confederations Cup. Win that, and they get Uruguay or South Korea, two teams also below the Americans in the FIFA world rankings. Win that, and they’re in the semifinals for the first time in the modern era.

The Americans technically finished tied with England — a 1-0 winner against Slovenia — atop Group C with one win and two ties. The first tiebreaker is goal differential, and both teams were at plus-one. The second tiebreaker is total goals scored, and the Americans had four to England’s two.

That gave them their first group title in World Cup history.

Another first: A win in the third and final game of the group stage. Entering Wednesday they were 0-for-7, including five losses in third games of five straight World Cups dating since 1990.

One thing that wasn’t a first: how they did it.

Drama has become the hallmark of this team, the ability to hew magic from desperation. Down 1-0 to England after four minutes? Down 2-0 to tiny Slovenia at halftime and facing probable elimination? Still tied 0-0 with Algeria as the game entered injury time and facing certain elimination?

No problem, no problem, no problem. In qualifying for this World Cup, they scored a staggering nine times after the 85th minute.

On Wednesday, the Americans had another goal negated by a dodgy referee’s call, had a shot smack off the post, had sitters sail over the crossbar, had headers go just wide, had sure goals spectacularly swatted away by Algerian goalkeeper Rais M’Bolhi.

“Sometimes you have games like this, where you have a lot of chances and you can’t score,” Mt. Carmel High alum Steve Cherundolo said. “Usually those games end up 0-0. But today we found a way, somehow we found a way.

“This team never says die, and we proved that one more time.”

It came in the final, riveting moments of a wild game both teams knew they needed to win to reach the second round. Algeria would launch an attack. The United States would survive the assault, then come racing back in the other direction.

Algeria had just created maybe its best scoring chance since Rafik Djebbour hit the crossbar with a thunderous shot in the sixth minute — a point-blank header by unmarked Rafik Saifi that went right at U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard.

At this point, the U.S. midfielders and forwards had essentially abandoned their defensive compatriots, no longer tracking back to help and leaving them on an island to ward off Algerian offensive forays so they could stay forward on the attack. So when Howard collected Saifi’s header and unleashed a long throw to Donovan at midfield, the Yanks were suddenly roaring the other way with a 4-on-3 advantage.

Donovan touched the ball wide to Jozy Altidore, who curled a low cross into the penalty area to Clint Dempsey, who hit a shot toward the left corner of the net.

Which the sprawling M’Bolhi blocked. The ball bounced in front the goal, spinning in the grass for a tantalizing split-second, the game hanging in the balance, as players from both teams frantically converged on it.

“The moment,” Donovan said, “kind of slowed down for me.”

He got there first and slotted it into the net.

Pandemonium.

Donovan sprinted toward the corner flag and slid on his stomach as one teammate after another piled on top. Players and coaches skipped 15 yards onto the field from the bench. Howard pointed to the heavens and screamed. In a VIP box, Former President Bill Clinton was losing his voice cheering. In another VIP box, tears were running down the face of Gulati.

“First thing I did was look for the referee to make sure nothing was called,” Gulati said wryly. “Then I turned around and hugged everyone in sight.”

Back home, the water continued to rise

Manchester United's Dimitar Berbatov Blown Away By North American Support

Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has been amazed by the support the club has received so far on their tour of the United States.

Berbatov, 29, has been with the rest of the squad in Chicago as they prepare for the first match of their North American tour in Toronto, Canada today. As usual with United's summer trips, scores of fans have been on hand to give them a huge welcome.

Speaking to Soccer Moment News, the Bulgarian was blown away by the reception he has received on the other side of the Atlantic.

"You get a positive energy from the fans," Berbatov said.

"They are always cheering for the team and always cheering for the players. For example, today in training it was very nice for us to see all the people there supporting us, and it's like that all over the world wherever we go.

"It shows how big Manchester United is."

United are also set to meet the Philadelphia Union, Kansas City Wizards and the MLS All Stars, before taking on Chivas in Mexico in the coming weeks.

Wes Brown was convinced the games will stand the team in good stead for next season.

"It will be a good game," Brown noted.

"We're probably more used to playing Celtic than anyone, so I'm sure there'll be a few tackles flying in.

"It's more of a fitness thing and about just getting back into it."