David Villa has a slim chance of playing for Barcelona again this season and could also miss the 2012 European Championship after undergoing surgery.
European champions Barcelona beat Qatari club Al-Sadd 4-0 on Thursday to meet Brazilian champions Santos in the final of the Club World Cup.
Portugal routed North Korea 7-0 in the Soccer World Cup on Monday while Spain bounced back from a shock opening defeat to ease past Honduras.
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/ 16 October 2008
Spain beat Belgium 2-1 on Wednesday while England overcame Belarus 3-1 to keep their 100% records in 2010 Soccer World Cup qualifying.
If Spain expects the same generosity from Russia in the semifinals that it received in the teams’ first match of the tournament, it must think again.
They are the men who will reap the plaudits and milk the applause — the goal poachers who can grab glory for their nation in an instant. And they will deserve the adulation if they can rise above the increasingly defensive fare of the modern international game and the fear of losing, which hung heavy over the finals of both Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.
Fernando Torres has established a reputation as vaunted as his own country, Spain, in terms of footballing ability, but like his homeland, equally pressing on his shoulders is the lack of a major title. The 24-year-old is just the latest in a long line of top strikers from Spain to go into battle in search of a senior international title.
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/ 20 November 2007
The cast list for Euro 2008 will be completed on Wednesday with England, Northern Ireland and Portugal among those nations scrapping it out for one of the four remaining places. The treacherous business of qualifying began 15 months ago and now, after more than 3 000 minutes of play, it’s make or break time for England.
AC Milan and Liverpool were upset in the Champions League on Wednesday, and Chelsea won 2-1 at Valencia with a late goal from Didier Drogba. Defending champion Milan lost at Celtic 2-1 after a 90th-minute goal from Scott McDonald. After the goal, a fan ran onto the field and made contact with Milan goalkeeper Dida.
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/ 19 September 2007
AC Milan opened the defence of their Champions League title with a 2-1 win over Benfica on Tuesday, while Chelsea and 10-man Liverpool had to settle for 1-1 draws. Nearly four months after beating Liverpool to win their seventh European Cup, Andrea Pirlo scored one goal and set up the other.
Slavia Prague reached the Champions League group stages for the first time on Wednesday after a 3-1 aggregate victory knocked out Ajax Amsterdam. Belgian titleholders Anderlecht also succumbed in the third qualifying round, losing 2-0 at home to Fenerbahce amid violent crowd scenes.