Scott Sealy scored two goals to lead the Kansas City Wizards into the Major League Soccer playoffs with a 2-0 victory over FC Dallas on Saturday.
Kansas City clinched a playoff spot with the win. Its first-round opponent won't be determined until the league's final regular-season game Sunday. The Chicago Fire, who have a chance to reach the playoffs, host the Los Angeles Galaxy.
FC Dallas already had clinched a wild card berth in the Western Conference Semifinals.
In other matches Saturday, Columbus Crew edged D.C. United 3-2, the New England Revolution drew 2-2 with Toronto FC, Real Salt Lake downed the Colorado Rapids 1-0 and Chivas USA played out a scoreless draw with the Houston Dynamo.
Sealy broke a scoreless tie in the 39th minute. After a Dallas turnover, native Texan Davy Arnaud passed across to Sealy on the left side., who fired a shot into the net to the left of goalkeeper Ray Burse.
The Wizards went ahead 2-0 in the second half during the 55th minute. Jack Jewsbury kicked the ball in front of the goalie box, and Sealy drilled in a low shot for his seventh goal this season.
Robbie Rogers scored two goals and Columbus finished a disappointing season on a high note, defeating D.C. United at Washington D.C.
The Crew, already eliminated from the playoffs, snapped United's 13-game unbeaten streak, handing United their first loss since July 22.
Rogers scored in the 21st minute, when he sneaked a left-foot shot past goalie Troy Perkins. He added a goal in the 91st minute to give the Crew a 3-1 lead.
D.C. midfielder Christian Gomez had two goals, scoring in the 89th and 92nd minutes.
At Toronto, striker Danny Dichio scored in the 90th minute to give Toronto FC a draw with New England.
Collin Samuel opened the scoring for Toronto.
Michael Parkhurst and Taylor Twellman scored for New England, which is headed for the playoffs and faces the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Dichio, who was making his first appearance in eight games after being out with an ankle injury, finally connected for Toronto, hammering in a hard shot from just outside the box.
Robbie Findley scored in the 87th minute and Real Salt Lake defeated the Rapids, ending Colorado's hopes of making the postseason.
Real Salt Lake was last place in the Western Conference and already out of postseason contention. Colorado needed a win over Real Salt Lake and some help to get to the playoffs.
Chivas USA held off Houston at Carson, California and secured the Western Conference title.
Chivas finished one point ahead of nemesis Houston, which knocked Chivas out of the playoffs a year ago en route to winning the MLS Cup.
Chivas had to do it down a man for most of the game; midfielder Lawson Vaughn was shown a red card in the 40th minute after tackling Richard Mulrooney.
08 October 2007
Celta Vigo coach Hristo Stoitchkov has been fired by the Spanish second-division club, reports said Monday.
Stoitchkov, who played for FC Barcelona and is widely considered Bulgaria's greatest soccer player, was dismissed one day after Celta defeated visiting Xerez 3-1, Spanish National Radio and other media reported.
Former Real Madrid coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro will replace Stoitchkov, the reports said.
Confirmation from Celta was not immediately available but Spanish news agency Efe said club president Carlos Mourino will give a news conference later Monday to explain the decision.
Celta is 11th in the 22-team second division with 10 points from seven games.
The 41-year-old Stoitchkov was in charge of Bulgaria's national team between 2004 and his move to Celta in April.
Celta lost its first-division place at the end of last season after a two-year spell in the top league.
Stoitchkov won the European Cup in 1992 and four straight Spanish league titles in his first of two spells with Barcelona.
In 1994, Stoitchkov was the leading scorer at the World Cup in the United States, where Bulgaria reached the semifinals, and was voted European player of the year.
Stoitchkov spent his last four seasons as a player in Major League Soccer with the Chicago Fire and D.C. United - where he was also the team's assistant coach.
03 October 2007
A strike from Ramon Morales was enough to send Chivas of Guadalajara into the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana at the expense of DC United.
The Mexican giants had lost the first leg of the series 2-1 in Washington last week, but were in control of the match infront of their own fans, who turned out in large numbers.
A very offensive Chivas created several good opportunities to go ahead in the first twenty five minutes of the half, but were kept at bay by DC goalkeeper Troy Perkins, who was in fine form.
DC slowly began to creep into the match after absorbing heavy pressure from the locals for nearly thirty minutes of the half.
After the break it was much of the same, as the Mexicans continued to pressure their opponents with several dangerous runs, particularly down both flanks.
In the 64th minute Chivas finally went ahead with an outstanding long distance missile from Ramon Morales that was impossible for Perkins to reach.
Chivas could have extended their lead moments later, but couldn't beat Michel for a second time.
In the final minutes of the encounter DC almost drew level, but this time were kept out by the acrobatics of Chivas goalkeeper Luis Ernesto Michel.
Chivas will do battle with Argentina's Arsenal de Sarandi in the quarterfinals of the competition.
