Results from Allsvenskan, the Swedish first-division football league (home teams listed first).
Saturdays Game
Brommapojkarna 1, Kalmar 2
Sundays Games
Elfsborg 3, Djurgarden 1
Helsingborg 2, Gefle 0
Trelleborg 2 IFK Goteborg 1
Mondays Games
AIK vs. Gais
Halmstad vs. Malmo FF
Hacken vs. Orebro
Orgryte vs. Hammarby
Inter Milan reached a deal to sign Barcelona striker Samuel Etoo, his agent told Italian media on Thursday.
Josep Maria Mesalles made the announcement after talks with officials from the Serie A champion, and confirmed the Cameroon striker will sign a five-year contract.
It is not official, but an accord with Inter is done, Mesalles told Sky Italia. The player is happy. The only problem is negotiating his exit from Barcelona. But within a week it will be resolved.
Etoo should be arriving here on Monday or Tuesday. He will sign after his medical and then he will be at the complete disposition of the coach.
Etoo will arrive from Barcelona with midfielder Alexander Hleb, who will join on loan for a year. Inters Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be heading in the opposite direction.
Barcelona said on its Web page that the deal was done pending the final details, with director general Joan Oliver traveling to Milan late Thursday after Inter officials communicated to the Spanish champions an agreement had been reached with Mesalles.
It is believed that Etoo is negotiating some type of compensation package for leaving with a year left on his contract and having helped Barcelona to eight important trophies in five seasons.
Ibrahimovic, meanwhile, left Inters tour of the United States early to conclude his move in Europe.
After individual training in the campus at Harvard University and lunch at the hotel, Zlatan Ibrahimovic said goodbye to Jose Mourinho and the team before starting his journey to Sweden, Inter announced on its Web site.
The striker, with the clubs permission, left … to conclude the negotiations that he is involved with.
Etoo notched 34 goals for Barcelona last season, including the opener in the Champions League final victory.
(Home teams listed first)
Europa League.
Second Qualifying Round
Second Leg
Bangor City (Wales) 0, Honka Espoo (Finland) 1 (Honka Espoo advances 3-0 on aggregate)
Dacia Chisinau (Moldova) 0, MSK Zilina (Slovakia) 1 (MSK Zilina advances 3-0 on aggregate)
Derry City (Ireland) 1, Skonto (Latvia) 0 (Derry City advances 2-1 on aggregate)
Dinaburg (Latvia) 0, Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv (Israel) 1 (Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv advances 5-0 on aggregate)
Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) 3, Liepajas Metalurgs (Latvia) 1 (Dinamo Tbilisi advances 4-3 on aggregate)
Flora (Estonia) 1, Brondby (Denmark) 4 (Brondby advances 4-2 on aggregate)
Fram Reykjavik (Iceland) 0, Sigma Olomouc (Czech Republic) 2 (Sigma Olomouc advances 3-1 on aggregate)
Galatasaray (Turkey) 2, Tobol Kostanay (Kazakhstan) 0 (Galatasaray advances 3-1 on aggregate)
Gandzasar Kapan (Armenia) 0, NAC Breda (Netherlands) 2 (NAC Breda advances 8-0 on aggregate)
Gent (Belgium) 1, Naftan Novopolotsk (Belarus) 0 (2-2 aggregate; Gent advances 1-0 on away goals)
HB Torshavn (Faeroe Islands) 1, Omonia (Cyprus) 4 (Omonia advances 8-1 on aggregate)
HJK Helsinki (Finland) 1, Vetra (Lithuania) 3 (Vetra advances 3-2 on aggregate)
Haladas (Hungary) 0, Elfsborg (Sweden) 0 (Elfsborg advances 3-0 on aggregate)
Helsingborg (Sweden) 2, Zestafoni (Georgia) 2, ET (Helsingborg advances 4-3 on aggregate)
Iskra-Stali (Moldova) 0, Cherno More Varna (Bulgaria) 3 (Cherno More Varna advances 4-0 on aggregate)
Kaunas (Lithuania) 1, Sevojno (Serbia) 1 (1-1 aggregate; Sevojno advances 1-0 on aggregate)
Lahti (Finland) 2, Gorica (Slovenia) 0 (Lahti advances 2-1 on aggregate)
Larissa (Greece) 1, Reykjavik (Iceland) 1 (Reykjavik advances 3-1 on aggregate)
MTZ-RIPO Minsk (Belarus) 1, Metalurh Donetsk (Ukraine) 2 (Metalurh Donetsk advances 5-1 on aggregate)
Maccabi Netanya (Israel) 3, Sliema Wanderers (Malta) 0 (Maccabi Netanya advances 3-0 on aggregate)
Motherwell (Scotland) 8, Flamurtari (Albania) 1 (Motherwell advances 8-2 on aggregate)
Olimpi Rustavi (Georgia) 0, Legia Warsaw (Poland) 1 (Legia Warsaw advances 4-0 on aggregate)
Pacbos de Ferreira (Portugal) 1, Zimbru Chisinau (Moldova) 0 (Pacbos de Ferreira advances 1-0 on aggregate)
Petrovac (Montenegro) 3, Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus) 1, ET (Petrovac advances 4-3 on aggregate)
Polonia Warsaw (Poland) 4, Juvenes-Dogana (San Marino) 0 (Polonia Warsaw advances 5-0 on aggregate)
Qarabag (Azerbaijan) 1, Rosenborg (Norway) 0 (Qarabag advances 1-0 on aggregate)
Rabotnicki (Macedonia) 4, Crusaders (Northern Ireland) 2 (Rabotnicki advances 5-3 on aggregate)
Randers (Denmark) 1, Suduva (Lithuania) 1 (Randers advances 2-1 on aggregate)
Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) 4, Rudar Velenje (Slovenia) 0 (Red Star Belgrade advances 5-0 on aggregate)
Rijeka (Croatia) 3, Differdange (Luxembourg) 0 (Rijeka advances 3-1 on aggregate)
Santa Coloma (Andorra) 1, Basel (Switzerland) 4 (Basel advances 7-1 on aggregate)
Siroki Brijeg (Bosnia-Herzegovina) 1, Sturm Graz (Austria) 1 (Sturm Graz advances 3-2 on aggregate)
Slaven Koprivnica (Croatia) 8, Milano Kumanovo (Macedonia) 2 (Slaven Koprivnica advances 12-2 on aggregate)
Slavija Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) 3, Aalborg (Denmark) 1 (Slavija Sarajevo advances 3-1 on aggregate)
Spartak Trnava (Slovakia) 1, Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) 1 (Sarajevo advances 2-1 on aggregate)
Tromso (Norway) 4, Dinamo Minsk (Belarus) 1 (Tromso advances 4-1 on aggregate)
Ujpest (Hungary) 1, Steaua Bucharest (Romania) 2 (Steaua Bucharest advances 4-1 on aggregate)
Vaduz (Liechtenstein) 2, Falkirk (Scotland) 0, ET (Vaduz advances 2-1 on aggregate)
Valletta (Malta) 0, St. Patricks Athletic (Ireland) 1 (St. Patricks Athletic advances 2-1 on aggregate)
Vllaznia (Albania) 0, Rapid Vienna (Austria) 3 (Rapid Vienna advances 8-0 on aggregate)
Liverpool lost central defender Martin Skrtel to an apparent serious hamstring injury in Wednesdays 1-1 draw with Thailand in a preseason friendly.
The Slovak international came on as a halftime substitute but only lasted 10 minutes before grabbing the top of his right hamstring and walking gingerly off the field.
Fringe first-teamer Nabil El Zhar came off soon after with a medial ligament injury in his right knee after attempting a bicycle kick.
Midfielder Xabi Alonso, subject to intense transfer speculation about a move to Real Madrid, did not make an appearance.
Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, acting as captain in the absence of Steven Gerrard, who was facing court on affray charges in England, said the players want the transfer saga involving Alonso sorted out soon.
The feeling within the squad is hes a top player and you dont want to be losing your best players, Carragher said. Hopefully something is sorted out as quickly as possible. Youve got to do whats in the best interests of the club.
Star striker Fernando Torres made his first appearance of the preseason, coming on for the latter stages of the second half.
Liverpools starting team contained five regular first-team players: Jamie Carragher, Dirk Kuyt, Lucas Leiva, Ryan Babel and Daniel Agger.
The opening goal came in the sixth minute as Carragher played a long ball into the path of Babel, who outpaced the defense, controlled the ball and slotted past the goalkeeper.
Liverpool looked rusty, struggling to combine effectively in the attacking half. Babel volleyed another long pass wide and had another effort stopped by the goalkeeper.
Thailands equalizer came in the 72nd minute as substitute Sutee Suksomkit played a neat one-two and calmly placed his shot past onrushing substitute goalkeeper Peter Gulasci.
Liverpool changed 10 players at the break, with new signing Glen Johnson coming on and playing in an unfamiliar left-back position, while Javier Mascherano and Andriy Voronin were among those also given a run in the second period.
Eidur Gudjohnsen doesnt know if he will start the season as a Barcelona player.
The 30-year-old attacking midfielder has been linked with a return to the Premier League, where he spent eight years with Chelsea and Bolton.
I cant confirm whether Im staying or leaving. I think its a matter of time and only time will tell what will happen, Gudjohnsen said Wednesday. My future is a little bit uncertain. For the moment, Im a Barcelona player. But we all know in football that everything can change very quickly.
The Iceland international, who has a season remaining on his contract, has had a mixed spell since signing three years ago for the current Spanish and European champions.
Im only thinking about getting myself fit for the new season, whether that be with Barcelona or another club. We will see, he said.
Gudjohnsen will have the perfect chance to impress other clubs when he plays in the Wembley Cup. The competition begins Friday with Barcelona taking on Tottenham and then meeting Egyptian side Al Ahly on Sunday.
(Home teams listed first)
Champions League.
Second Qualifying Round
Second leg
Aktobe (Kazakhstan) 2, Hafnarfjordur (Iceland) 0 (Aktobe advances 6-0 on aggregate)
Bohemian (Ireland) 0, Salzburg (Austria) 1 (Salzburg advances 2-1 on aggregate)
F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) 1, Ventspils (Latvia) 3 (Ventspils advances 6-1 on aggregate)
Glentoran (Northern Ireland) 0, Maccabi Haifa (Israel) 4 (Maccabi Haifa advances 10-0 on aggregate)
Kalmar (Sweden) 3, Debreceni (Hungary) 1 (3-3 aggregate; Debreceni advances 1-0 on away goals)
Levadia Tallinn (Estonia) 1, Wisla Krakow (Poland) 0 (Levadia Tallinn advances 2-1 on aggregate)
Maribor (Slovenia) 3, WIT Georgia 1 (Maribor advances 3-1 on aggregate)
Mogren (Montenegro) 0, Copenhagen (Denmark) 6 (Copenhagen advances 12-0 on aggregate)
Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas wished his club would build from within, but he stopped short of criticizing its recent big spending on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka.
Casillas joined the club when he was 9, and worked his way up to become a regular first-team starter at 18 in 1999.
I like for a team to have players who, from a young age, have loved the colors of the club and know the values they have, Casillas said on Friday during a football clinic for hundreds of young players in Venezuela.
He said Madrids habit of buying star players made it difficult for homegrown talent to break through.
This always happens to us at Real Madrid, he said. Always more is demanded from the players brought up in our own youth system than is demanded from players brought in from outside.
Casillas also said he was hopeful that Real Madrid would win back the Spanish title from Barcelona in the coming season.
After a difficult year with Barcelona, we hope to give Madrid fans a lot of happiness, he said. Barcelona deserved everything it won. The challenge for us is to forget and win.
Last season, Barcelona became the first Spanish club to win the treble - the league, domestic cup and the Champions League.
Many of Barcelonas top players such as Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta were brought up in the clubs youth program. Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola is also a product of the Barcelona system.
Madrid, in contrast, has traditionally spent large sums snapping up foreign stars like Ronaldo, Kaka, Roberto Carlos, David Beckham and Luis Figo.
In the offseason, it has spent ?214 million ($302 million) on five players.
If Steve Zakuani and the Seattle Sounders FC get embarrassed on Saturday when they face English Premier League power Chelsea FC in an exhibition, the London native already knows his first move post-match.
If we do bad Im going to turn my phone off for the next 24 hours after, Zakuani said.
The Sounders get the MLS first shot against some of the top powers from Europe when they host Chelsea on Saturday. The exhibition match begins a stretch of games in America for some of the top clubs from Italy, England and Spain as the European squads prepare for the beginning of their seasons later in the summer.
The match will be the debut of new Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti after his move in the offseason from AC Milan, becoming the third coach at Stamford Bridge in the past year.
In this work the pressure is normal. I am happy to be at Chelsea, Ancelotti said Friday, a day after the Blues arrived in Seattle. I like the work of the players, theyve started the season very well and they work with very good mental attitude. Tomorrow is the first game of the season, we want to start well, so it is an important game. We want to win and play well.
Ancelotti is in the beginning stages of getting to know his new team and understanding the pressures in London of getting back on top of the Premier League. Chelsea will also play Inter Milan, AC Milan and Club America as part of its preseason tour preparing for its Aug. 15 season opener against Hull.
Thrown in during this early season tour is the saga of captain John Terry, who continues to be pursued by Manchester City despite Chelseas rejections of a transfer. Before practicing at Qwest Field late Friday, Ancelotti essentially guaranteed that Terry will remain the Blues captain.
I am sure he will remain in Chelsea, Ancelotti said. I am sure, 100 percent. He has a contract for three years more and this is the situation now.
Terrys teammates say his saga is not a distraction.
He doesnt pay attention to that, striker Salomon Kalou said. Maybe if he was paying attention to that it might disturb a little bit of the team, but you can tell he is not disturbed by this situation.
Meanwhile, the match is a welcome break from the monotony of the MLS season for the Sounders, which happens to land during a hectic stretch.
After beating Western Conference-leading Houston last weekend, Seattle plays Chelsea, then hosts Houston next Tuesday in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup. Following their match with the Dynamo, its back to MLS play with games July 25 against Chicago, Aug. 2 at San Jose and then another major exhibition Aug. 5 when FC Barcelona comes to town.
If a couple of international matches had to be thrown into the schedule, these are the type Seattle coach Sigi Schmid welcomes.
The ones were playing are the kind of international matches that perks everybody up, Schmid said. If youre playing international match where youre going to play some X team from El Salvador thats probably not going to perk you up too much - no offense to the El Salvadorians - but you know playing a Chelsea, playing a Barcelona gets everybody pumped up.
For Seattles two stars with major European experience - midfielder Freddie Ljungberg and goalkeeper Kasey Keller - facing Chelsea is old hat. From Ljungbergs time with Arsenal and West Ham, and Kellers seasons with a number of European squads, the duo have seen the Blues more times than they can, or want, to remember.
Freddie and I have played against Chelsea many times - too many times - but for the (young) guys its a great opportunity for the guys to put themselves against some of the best, well-paid players in the world and its always nice to judge yourself, Keller said.
Zakuani grew up with the Blues as one of his foes. Raised in London, he entered Arsenals youth program and faced Chelsea four or five times a year for much of his childhood. He even holds a memory few can match at age 21: Zakuani has scored a goal at Stamford Bridge. Its going to be a fun day, especially for those of us that one day want to go to Europe, Zakuani said. Its a measure for us.
Barcelona reached an initial agreement with Inter Milan to sign striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Friday in a deal that could also send striker Samuel Etoo and midfielder Aleksandr Hleb to the Italian champions.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta said there is an agreement in principle with Inter Milan. On Thursday, Spanish news reports said a ?40 million ($56 million) deal for the Sweden striker had been completed.
The Catalan club, however, said it was still negotiating with Inter with the deal dependent on Ibrahimovic and Etoo, so other options - such as Valencia striker David Villa - had not been discarded.
Ibrahimovics signing depends on the player himself, on Samuel Etoo and all the parties involved, said Laporta, who added that he had been personally discussing the matter with Etoo. David Villa as an option is not finished. We havent discarded any possibilities.
Ibrahimovic appeared prepared to accept the move after writing time to learn Spanish on his Twitter page.
Inter president Massimo Moratti said that the impromptu meeting with Laporta and Barcelona sporting director Txiki Beguiristain on Thursday was originally intended to tie up left back Maxwells ?4.5 million ($6.4 million) transfer to Barcelona and complete Hlebs move, which is expected to be a season-long loan deal.
Beguiristain hoped to complete any transfer by July 27 as the club looks for its first marquee signing since it became the first Spanish club to win the treble last season.
The 27-year-old Ibrahimovic, who led Serie A with 25 goals last season, guided Inter to three straight Serie A league titles since a ?12 million ($17 million) move from Juventus in 2006. The former Ajax player has scored 21 goals in 58 appearances for Sweden.
Were trying to manage the best options possible. The Ibrahimovic option is still open, Beguiristain said. Inter could be a good club for Etoo.
Etoo had already rejected a lucrative offer from Manchester City. The Cameroon striker instead opted to stay and let his contract run out so he could leave without a transfer fee at the end of next season despite Barcelona offering a two-year extension to his current deal.
Barcelona agreed to extend the 28-year-old Etoos vacation time as it sought a replacement. Villa was linked with a potential move but Barcelona is unwilling to meet Valencias ?50 million ($71 million) asking price for the Spain striker.
Atletico Madrids Diego Forlan is also thought to be a Barcelona target.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola originally wanted to sell the volatile Etoo last year after saying the three-time African footballer of the year would not factor into the clubs plans.
But Etoo - who won three league championships, two European Cups and one Copa del Rey title in five seasons at Barcelona - won Guardiola over with 34 goals in 50 appearances last season, including the winner in the Champions League final against Manchester United. That victory allowed Barcelona to become only the fifth European team to win the treble.
Hleb played a minor role in Barcelonas success last season, often coming on as a substitute to make 34 appearances in his first season after a transfer from Arsenal.
A police officer was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday for the death of a soccer fan that caused riots across Italy in 2007.
Prosecutors had asked the jury to convict Luigi Spaccarotella of murder and the manslaughter verdict brought cries of shame, shame from family and friends of the victim.
Gabriele Sandri, a 26-year-old disc jockey from Rome and a Lazio fan, died in November 2007 after being hit in the neck by a bullet while sitting in a car at a highway rest stop.
Defense lawyers argued Spaccarotella had fired shots to disperse a scuffle between two groups of rival fans, while prosecutors maintained he had purposely aimed at the car when the clash was over.
As news of the death spread, soccer fans in Rome, Milan and other cities rioted, smashing windows, hurling stones at officers and attacking a police barracks near the capitals stadium.
Tuesdays verdict could set the stage for more violence. Sandris friends were ejected from the courtroom for voicing their anger and continued to protest outside the building.
Sandris mother fainted after the verdict and required an ambulance. His father Giorgio called the ruling shameful and said the family would appeal. Speaking to Italys Sky TV news channel, he also urged fans to stay cool and not protest violently.
