Samuel Eto’o takes the money and runs to Russia

The world’s highest-paid soccer player now plays for a club that is only 20 years old, has never won anything and that no one outside the beleaguered and violence-ridden Dagestan region in Russia has ever heard of, let alone seen play.

Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o, formerly of Barcelona and Inter Milan, has taken the money and run off to join FC Anzhi Makhachkala of the Russian Premier League.

Who could blame him? Eto’o is 30 and on the downward slope of a superlative career that has seen him win European Champions League titles with Barcelona in 2006 and 2009, among many other honors.

If a Russian oil mogul named Suleiman Kerimov is willing to pay him a reported $29 million a year after taxes on a three-year contract, as London’s Financial Times indicated, why not grab the gold and hope for the best?

Inter Milan was thinking much the same thing when it agreed to terms with Anzhi Makhachkala that will net the debt-laden Italian Serie A team $36 million.

“There are other valuable players in the team and we’ll start building again,” Inter Milan Coach Gian Piero Gasperini said of losing the prolific Eto’o, who scored 37 goals last season.

Galaxy acquires Irish international striker Robbie Keane

The Galaxy on Monday officially announced that it has acquired Irish international forward Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League.

To make room for the 31-year-old Keane, who will join the Galaxy as a designated player after his U.S. work visa is approved, the club will have to shed one of its current three designated players.

The belief is that with David Beckham and Landon Donovan virtually untouchable, it will be Colombian forward Juan Pablo Angel who is traded or released.

Angel, 35, has scored only three goals and assisted on one in 22 games for the Galaxy this season.

Keane, a 14-year professional who has played 108 games for Ireland and scored a record 51 goals for his country, is the 10th-highest goal scorer in Premier League history.

His playing resume includes stints with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Coventry City, Inter Milan, Leeds United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Celtic and West Ham United.

Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said he needed a proven striker as the club moves toward the MLS playoffs and pursues the CONCACAF Champions League title.

“I have followed his career and have always respected his ability as a competitor and a goal scorer,” Arena said of Keane in a statement released by the Galaxy.

“I believe that he brings qualities in and around the penalty area that we have been lacking.”

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Soccer's original rules were made to be brokered, apparently

— Grahame L. Jones

Photo: Robbie Keane. Credit: Georgi Licovski / EPA

Fired U.S. soccer coach Bob Bradley finalist to be Egypt’s coach

Bob Bradley, fired as coach of the U.S. national soccer team July 28 and replaced the next day by Juergen Klinsmann, is one of three finalists for the vacant position as Egypt’s national team coach.

Also under consideration by the Egyptian Football Assn. (EFA) are Colombia’s Francisco “Paco” Maturana and Serbia’s Zoran Filipovic.

“The EFA board will meet with the three coaches this week to pick one of them,” the EFA announced on its website on Sunday.

Egypt has won the last three African championships — in 2006, 2008 and 2010 — but its failure to qualify for the 2012 tournament led to the June 6 dismissal of Hassan Shehata as coach.

Under Shehata, the Pharaohs climbed to their highest-ever position in the FIFA world rankings when they rose to ninth in 2010. Egypt currently is ranked 36th.

The EFA has been casting about for a successor, but has reportedly been rebuffed by Portuguese coach Nelo Vingada and talks have broken down with French coach Herve Renard.

If he is named to the post, Bradley, 53, would become the first American-born coach to take charge of a foreign national team since Steve Sampson coached Costa Rica.

Bradley was coach of the U.S. when it defeated Egypt, 3-0, in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.

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—Grahame L. Jones

Photo: Bob Bradley. Credit: Brian Snyder / Reuters

Women's World Cup: U.S. vs. Japan: Victory on penalty kicks earns Japan title

The most dramatic Women’s World Cup final in history has produced the most surprising champion.

Japan twice came from behind to tie the score, first in regulation and then in extra time, and then went on to win the penalty shootout, 3-1, after a 2-2 tie in front of a sellout crowd in Frankfurt Germany.

The U.S. was trying to become the first three-time world champion.

Instead, Japan became the first Asian champion.

It was a deserved victory for the Japanese team, which never gave up, never quit trying, and in the end added another monumental achievement to its earlier feats of eliminating host and defending champion Germany in the quarterfinals and Sweden in the semifinals.

The result was even more meaningful because the Japanese team has ridden a wave of emotion brought about by the devastating March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident in northern Japan that left tens of thousands dead or missing.

Women's World Cup: U.S. vs. Japan: Game tied 1-1 going into extra time

The Women’s World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan is all tied at 1-1 and is heading for 30 minutes of extra time in Frankfurt, Germany.

Alex Morgan gave the Americans the lead in the 69^th minute on a superb individual goal off a long pass from teammate Megan Rapinoe.

The U.S. then committed a dreadful defensive error in the 81^st minute when it failed to clear the ball out of danger, allowing Japanese midfielder Aya Miyama to score from close range.

If the match remains tied after extra time, it will go to penalty kicks. 

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-- Grahame L. Jones

Photo: U.S. forward Alex Morgan, center, fails to score past Japan goalie Ayumi Kaihori during the second half of Sunday's Women's World Cup final. Morgan later scored the first goal of the match for the U.S. Credit: Martin Meissner / Associated Press

Women's World Cup: U.S. and Japan tied at halftime of final, 0-0

At halftime in the final of the Women’s World Cup in Frankfurt, Germany, the U.S. and Japan were tied at 0-0 in a match the Americans were dominating.

Time and again in the first 45 minutes the Amercians created opportunities to take the lead, but each time they failed with the final shot.

The Japanese, playing in their first final, gradually began asserting themselves in the match, but were not as dangerous as they had been in defeating Germany and Sweden in their quarterfinal and semifinal games, respectively.

The first 15 minutes of the championship match belonged to the U.S., which created four clear scoring chances.

In the ninth minute, Lauren Cheney was just wide left with a shot off a pass from Megan Rapinoe and Abby Wambach lashed a shot just over the Japanese crossbar.

Two minutes later, Carli Lloyd followed suit with a shot that was just high and second later Rapinoe steered a cross from Heather O’Reilly wide right.

Women’s World Cup: Japan defeats Sweden, 3-1, to play U.S. in final

Two goals by midfielder Nahomi Kawasumi and another by veteran playmaker Homare Sawa earned Japan a stunning 3-1 victory over Sweden in the semifinals of the Women's World Cup in Frankfurt, Germany, on Wednesday night.

The Japanese team, which eliminated defending champion Germany in the quarterfinals, will play the U.S. in Sunday's final in Frankfurt.

The Americans defeated Japan twice in friendly matches in the U.S. in the spring, but Coach Nori Sasaki's team has grown considerably in skill and confidence since that time.

Wednesday's victory came after the Swedes, previously unbeaten and untied, had taken the lead on a 10th-minute goal by forward Josefine Okvist.

But Japan tied it up nine minutes later on Kawasumi's first goal. Two goals in a five-minute second-half spell, first by Sawa in the 60th minute and then by Kawasumi in the 64th, destroyed Swedish hopes.

Sweden will play France in the third-place game on Saturday in Sinsheim, Germany.

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Women's World Cup: U.S. defeats France, 3-1

Don't expect World Cup semifinalists to get harsh media treatment

-- Grahame L. Jones

Photo: Japan's Homare Sawa, top, celebrates with teammates after scoring the eventual game-winning goal in the 59th minute against Sweden. Credit: Matthias Schrader / Associated Press

Women’s World Cup: U.S. defeats France, 3-1, and reaches final

The United States swept into the final of the sixth Women’s World Cup with a convincing 3-1 victory  over France in the semifinal on Wednesday in Moenchengladbach, Germany.

The Americans will play either Sweden or Japan in Sunday’s final in Frankfurt.

Goals by Lauren Cheney, Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan were more than enough to overcome a talented French team that did more of the attacking but could not turn those offensive forays into goals.

Sonia Bompastor scored the lone goal for France, briefly tying the game in the second half before the U.S. reasserted itself.

Women’s World Cup: U.S. vs. France, U.S. leads at halftime

The U.S. leads France, 1-0, halfway through their rain-spattered Women's World Cup semifinal match at Borussia Park Stadium in Moenchengladbach, Germany.

Although France started off the brighter and more adventurous of the two teams, it was the U.S. that took the lead when former UCLA standout Lauren Cheney scored in the ninth minute.

A back-heel pass from Carli Lloyd to Heather O'Reilly set O'Reilly free to run at the French, and her pass into the goal area was deflected past French goalkeeper Berangere Sapowicz by Cheney.

It was Cheney's second goal of the tournament, having also scored the game-winner in the U.S.' opener against North Korea.

U.S. knocks Brazil out of Women's World Cup, 5-3 on penalty kicks

The U.S. has beaten Brazil in the Women's World Cup, keeping the American dream of winning a third Cup alive and well.

In an astonishing finish to an already dramatic and incident-filled match, U.S. forward Abby Wambach scored in injury time at the end of extra time to salvage a 2-2 tie and send the quarterfinal game in Dresden, Germany, to penalty kicks.

Shannon Boxx, Carli Lloyd, Wambach, Megan Rapinoe and Ali Krieger each made their shots count, while luckless defender Daiane, who earlier had scored an own goal, saw her effort saved by U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo.

That meant the U.S. advanced, 5-3 on penalty kicks, and is still on course to add a third World Cup to those won in 1991 and 1999. For Brazil, it is all over.

Wambach's last-minute goal, off a cross by  Rapinoe, was her 11th in Women's Wolrd Cup play, one short of the U.S. record set by Michelle Akers.

Two goals by Marta, the first to tie the match and the second to give Brazil the lead, appeared enough for the South Americans to win the contentious and foul-ridden match, but that was not to be.

The victory sends the American team through to a semifinal meeting with France in Moenchengladbach on Wednesday.

Women's World Cup: U.S., Brazil tied 1-1, going into overtime

The U.S., reduced to 10 players by the controversial expulsion of defender Rachel Buehler, and Brazil are tied at 1-1 and heading into 30 minutes of overtime in their Women's World Cup quarterfinal match in Dresden, Germany.

The American team took the lead early on, but Brazil tied the contentious and foul-marred match in the second half with a penalty kick by their star player, Marta.

The U.S. easily could have lost a player six minutes into the second half when midfielder Carli Lloyd, who had picked up a yellow card for a foul in the first half, handled the ball at midfield. Despite Brazilian appeals, however, the referee did not eject Lloyd.

It was a nerve-jangling half for both teams, with the U.S. realizing that giving up a tying goal would swing momentum the South Americans' way and Brazil knowing that a second goal for the Americans would effectively put an end to their World Cup.

Lloyd, who scored the gold-medal-winning overtime goal against Brazil in the 2008 Beijing Olympics final, almost scored in the 63rd minute when she directed a header slightly high and against the crossbar. Seconds later, the Brazilians tied it up.

An apparent foul by Buehler on Marta as both went for the ball led to Buehler's dismissal and a penalty kick. Cristiane took the shot and saw it saved by U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo, only for Solo to be yellow-carded and the kick ordered retaken. Replays indicated encroachment by a U.S. player into the penalty box, making it a correct call by the referee.

This time, Marta stepped up and scored to level matters at 1-1 with 22 minutes of regulation to play while the Dresden crowd voiced its displeasure with the officiating crew.

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Photos: U.S. vs. Brazil

U.S. leads Brazil 1-0 at halftime

-- Grahame L. Jones

Photo: U.S. defender Rachel Buehler collides with Brazilian forward Marta in the penalty box on a key play in the second half Sunday. Buehler was called for a foul and given a red card, leading to a Brazil penalty kick and goal. Credit: Petr David Josek / Associated Press