Football Briefs

LONDON – Liverpool’s season went from bad to worse when the Champions League holders crashed out of the English League Cup with a 2-1 defeat away to Championship side Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Tuesday.

In the day’s other League Cup matches Japan’s Junichi Inamoto struck in extra-time against his former club as West Brom won 3-2 away to Premiership rivals Fulham while high-flying Wigan needed an extra 30 minutes to beat Championship outfit Watford. Meanwhile an Arsenal side showing 10 changes from last weekend’s 1-0 Premiership victory over Manchester City won 3-0 away to top-flight rivals Sunderland.* MADRID – David Beckham’s red card near the end of Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat by Valencia on Sunday was overturned by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Tuesday.Real said that the Federation’s Competitions Committee had brought forward their weekly meeting in order to deal with a number of matters including their appeal and had informed the club that Beckham was now free to play.Beckham was sent off three minutes from the end of Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at the Bernabeu by referee Arturo Dauden Ibanez after receiving a booking for dissent and then a straight red card for applauding the decision “in a sarcastic manner”.But Real appealed against the red card saying that video evidence and photographs showed that Beckham’s clapping was “neither scornful nor sarcastic.”* PARIS – France coach Raymond Domenech will not try to force Zinedine Zidane to turn out in two friendlies next month after Real Madrid said their playmaker needed up to two weeks off to recover properly from a persistent groin injury.France are due to play a controversial match against Costa Rica in Martinique on November 9 followed by an international against Germany on November 12.* FRANKFURT – Forty-four referees remain in contention for around 30 places at the 2006 World Cup, Fifa announced on Tuesday.The names of the referees still in the running to officiate at the tournament, as well as those of 111 assistant referees being considered, will be published in the coming days, soccer’s world governing body said.A total of 46 referees, plus assistants, gathered in Frankfurt in February this year for a preliminary workshop.Fifa will cut that list again to around 30 referees for the tournament, which features 64 matches at 12 venues in Germany from June 9 to July 9.- Nampa-Reuters-AFPMeanwhile an Arsenal side showing 10 changes from last weekend’s 1-0 Premiership victory over Manchester City won 3-0 away to top-flight rivals Sunderland.* MADRID – David Beckham’s red card near the end of Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat by Valencia on Sunday was overturned by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Tuesday.Real said that the Federation’s Competitions Committee had brought forward their weekly meeting in order to deal with a number of matters including their appeal and had informed the club that Beckham was now free to play.Beckham was sent off three minutes from the end of Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at the Bernabeu by referee Arturo Dauden Ibanez after receiving a booking for dissent and then a straight red card for applauding the decision “in a sarcastic manner”.But Real appealed against the red card saying that video evidence and photographs showed that Beckham’s clapping was “neither scornful nor sarcastic.”* PARIS – France coach Raymond Domenech will not try to force Zinedine Zidane to turn out in two friendlies next month after Real Madrid said their playmaker needed up to two weeks off to recover properly from a persistent groin injury.France are due to play a controversial match against Costa Rica in Martinique on November 9 followed by an international against Germany on November 12.* FRANKFURT – Forty-four referees remain in contention for around 30 places at the 2006 World Cup, Fifa announced on Tuesday.The names of the referees still in the running to officiate at the tournament, as well as those of 111 assistant referees being considered, will be published in the coming days, soccer’s world governing body said.A total of 46 referees, plus assistants, gathered in Frankfurt in February this year for a preliminary workshop.Fifa will cut that list again to around 30 referees for the tournament, which features 64 matches at 12 venues in Germany from June 9 to July 9.- Nampa-Reuters-AFP