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A sellout crowd of 79,002 came out to see the third and final match in FC Barcelona’s U.S. tour. The Spanish club is one of the world’s most popular soccer teams with Ronadinho, FIFA’s World Player of the Year for the second straight season, and Messi, Argentina’s top player.

The tour started last weekend in Los Angeles, where Barcelona played Chivas De Guadalajara to a 1-1 tie. Barcelona also tied Club America of Mexico in Houston Wednesday, 4-4.

The Red Bulls tied Saturday’s game in the 39th minute, when Ronaldinho gave the ball away to Dema Kovalenko in his own zone. Kovalenko then pushed the ball ahead to Edson Buddle, whose shot was deflected by Barcelona goalie Victor Valdes. But Youri Djorkaeff — seeing his first action since leaving the Red Bulls for personal reasons nearly two months ago — knocked in the rebound.

The score remained tied until early in the second half, when Messi made a brilliant crossing pass to Ronaldinho, who got behind two defenders and beat sprawling reserve Red Bulls goalie Jon Conway in the 51st minute.

“Ronaldinho is truly a special player,” said Bruce Arena, the Red Bulls new head coach and sporting director and the former U.S. team coach. “We all knew that before this game. He brings such a great attitude to the field. He’s one of the finest players in the world.”

Eleven minutes later, Messi got his score by drawing Conway out of the goal, then shaking past for a 3-1 lead. Barcelona’s final goal came in the 87th minute, when Javier Saviola went unabated to the goal after receiving a pass from Messi.

Although the match was an exhibition, FC Barcelona head coach Frank Rijkaard took it seriously.

“Every game is important to us because we always want to leave a good impression for the public,” Rijkaard said. “I think the emotion was great and everyone enjoyed the game. I think the Red Bulls played a good game. They didn’t come here just to defend us — they came to participate and it turned out to be a good game for the spectators.”

The Red Bulls struggled while playing for the first time under Arena. They did not manage a good scoring opportunity in the second half, and New York’s bright spot was the play of Meola, who made five acrobatic stops in the first half on his way to six saves.

“This was a game that was a challenge for any team in the world. This is the best club team in the world last year, and they’ve gotten better,” Arena said. “I was well aware that we were severely overmatched, but our players gained an invaluable experience playing against these top players and the overall speed of play.”

source : http://news.yahoo.com

CARDIFF, Wales - Liverpool's Peter Crouch scored on a header in the 80th minute to send the FA Cup winners past league champion Chelsea 2-1 Sunday in the Community Shield, the traditional lead-in to the English Premier League season.

Crouch was unmarked as he jumped to head the ball past Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini. Liverpool had scored its first goal in the ninth minute on a counter attack, with John Arne Riise making a solo run and shooting past Cudicini.

"They just backed off and backed off, and I thought I'll just have a go," Riise said. "I caught it sweet."

Liverpool fielded a below-strength lineup against a Chelsea squad with almost all its stars, including new additions Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack. Shevchenko had a goal, and Ballack left with an injury after 26 minutes.

Shevchenko scored in the 43rd minute, taking Frank Lampard's cross from the halfway line and chesting it down to sidefoot past Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina. Ten minutes earlier, Shevchenko curled a long shot that a diving Reina parried with one hand.

The Premier League season begins Saturday, with Liverpool opening at Sheffield United and Chelsea hosting Manchester City next Sunday. Chelsea is bidding for its third consecutive league title.

Ballack appeared to hurt his leg, holding ice to his left hip before being substituted. Earlier, he drew a yellow card in the sixth minute.

"If you don't think about the difference of condition of both teams, they deserved to win because they were better than us," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said.

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BERLIN (AP) — Werder Bremen came back to beat Hannover 96 4-2 in the Bundesliga, with Brazilian midfielder Diego scoring one goal and setting up two others in his debut.

Diego scored in the 19th minute goal and assisted on goals for Miroslav Klose in the 85th minute and Daniel Jensen during injury time.

Bremen, ranked as Bayern Munich's biggest rival for the title, needed Hugo Almeida's 79th-minute goal to even the score in the furious final minutes.

"We have an experienced team and will get some good players back," said Klose, the World Cup's top scorer. "I have big hopes that we will have a great season."

Hannover outplayed Bremen for most of the game at home and took the lead on goals by Jiri Stajner in the 41st minute and Vahid Hashemian in the 67th. Hannover has gone 32 years since its last win against its north German rival.

Diego, picked up from FC Porto, stripped U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo of the ball in the penalty area to score his first goal for Bremen. He beat two players on the dribble, then set up Klose with a sideways pass as Bremen took a 3-2 lead.

In Sunday's other game, VfL Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin played to a scoreless tie.

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PARIS (AP) — Nigeria striker Peter Odemwingie scored three goals, sending Lille past Lens 4-0 and into the lead in the French first division.

Lille has six points and is in front on goal difference ahead of Nancy and Bordeaux, which have also won their opening games.

After Mathieu Bodmer gave Lille the lead in the 14th minute, Odemwingie struck in the 33rd and added two goals after the break. Odemwingie was Lille's top scorer last season with 14 league goals.

France winger Franck Ribery played for Marseille in a 2-0 home win over Rennes. Ribery decided to stay with Marseille after saying this week he was intent on leaving the club. He was yellow-carded in the second half and beat four defenders to set up the second goal for Toifilou Maoulida.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Ajax won the Johan Cruyff Trophy, beating PSV Eindhoven 3-1 in the game pitting the Dutch league champion against the cup winner.

Mauro Rosales, Kenneth Perez and Wesley Sneijder scored for Ajax while PSV captain Philip Cocu scored for PSV.

Rosales put Ajax ahead in the seventh minute, finishing a cross from Gabri de la Torre, who joined the team from FC Barcelona in the offseason. Cocu tied the score for the defending league champions on a corner shortly after halftime.

Perez gave Ajax the lead in the 70th, following up a deflected shot by Jaap Stam. Sneijder added insurance with a long shot 10 minutes later.

The Dutch league's regular season begins Friday. 

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Dunfermline came back to hold Rangers to a 1-1 tie in the Scottish Premier League, earning its first point of the season.

Rangers appeared headed to the top of the standings when Thomas Buffel scored in the 63rd minute at East End Park. But substitute Owen Morrison tied it six minutes later, prodding the ball home from close range after his first shot had been blocked.

Hearts and Falkirk lead the league with seven points each, with defending champion Celtic and St. Mirren next with six.

source :http://news.yahoo.com