51.   Branca had just returned from the United States, following the unexpected elimination of the Italian team in the Olympic soccer tournament.

52.   Brazil and Argentina will square off in the semifinals of the Youth World Cup soccer tournament after both teams won their quarterfinal matches Sunday.

53.   Both countries have never before played at such a major soccer tournament.

54.   Brazil and Mexico became the first two teams to qualify for the semifinals of the Gold Cup soccer tournament.

55.   Canada and Haiti emerged from the final day of a four-team round-robin playoff with berths in the CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer tournament.

56.   Campos had raced back to Mexico on Thursday from Hong Kong, where he had accompanied the national team to a soccer tournament.

57.   Choosing safety over soccer, Argentina will skip the Copa America soccer tournament.

58.   Colo Colo will be without injured star Ivo Basay and a handful of other starters for the first-leg quarterfinal game of the Supercopa soccer tournament on Thursday.

59.   Concerned about the safety of its players, Finland will not send a team to an international soccer tournament in Nigeria next month, officials said Tuesday.

60.   Costa Rica and Japan square off Wednesday ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament, but neither team planned to call up their top players for the friendly.