Japan becomes 1st team to qualify for 2010 World Cup by winning 1-0 at Uzbekistan

October 9th, 2009 LONDON - England forward Wayne Rooney wants former Manchester United mate and Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo to crash out of the World Cup. The Sun quoted Rooney as saying: "It'd be nice to see Portugal not there because, in the last two tournaments, they've knocked us out." Ronaldo, who has now switched to Real Madrid, had a spat with Rooney at the 2006 World Cup that resulted in Rooney being sent off in the quarter-final against Portugal.

October 2nd, 2009 Schumacher welcomes Alonso's move to FerrariSUZUKA, Japan — Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has welcomed Ferrari's signing of Fernando Alonso for the 2010 season, saying he helped lure the Spanish driver. Schumacher said on his personal Web site: "Fernando with Ferrari, that's something I like a lot.

September 25th, 2009 Federer pulls out of Japan Open, Shanghai MastersTOKYO — Roger Federer withdrew from the Japan Open and Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 on Friday, citing the need to rest after a physically challenging year. The Japan Tennis Association said the top-ranked Federer was withdrawing from the Oct.

September 24th, 2009 No. 2-seed Shahar Peer advances at Tashkent OpenTASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Second-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel beat Kathrin Woerle of Germany 6-2, 6-4 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Tashkent Open. The 46th-ranked Peer is looking for her second straight title after winning the Guangzhou Open last weekend.

September 14th, 2009 Govortsova advances at Guangzhou OpenGUANGZHOU, China — Sixth-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus beat Han Xinyun of China 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 Monday to reach the second round of the Guangzhou Open. In two other first-round matches in the WTA tournament, Panova of Russia defeated Yurika Sema of Japan 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7) and Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan downed Rika Fujiwara of Japan 6-3, 6-2.

September 12th, 2009 MILAN - Indian boxer Vijender Singh's winning run in the World Championships came to an end with his 3-7 loss to Atoev Abbos of Uzbekistan in the semifinals. Vijender settled for the bronze, India's maiden World Championship medal.

September 12th, 2009 MILAN - Indian boxer Vijender Singh's winning run in the World Championships came to an end with his 3-7 loss to Atoev Abbos of Uzbekistan in the semifinals. Vijender settled for the bronze, India's maiden World Championship medal.

August 24th, 2009 Curacao gets wild 12-11 win over Japan at LLWSSOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Richendly Bicentini sprinted home with the winning run in the bottom of the sixth on Jayson Libert's bunt to lead Willemstad, Curacao, to a 12-11 victory over Chiba City, Japan, at the Little League World Series on Sunday night.

August 2nd, 2009 US defeats Japan 2-0 in Japan Cup softball finalSENDAI, Japan — Jennie Finch has thrown a one-hitter and driven in two runs to lead the United States to a 2-0 victory over Japan in the final of the Japan Cup softball tournament. Finch doubled in two runs in the bottom of the first inning on Sunday, and then struck out eight and walked just one batter in a 97-pitch effort.

July 31st, 2009 US downs Australia in Japan Cup softballSENDAI, Japan — Natasha Watley and Jenae Leles drove in three runs each to lead the United States to an 11-3 win over Australia on Friday in the Japan Cup softball tournament. The Americans took a 9-0 lead over the first three innings before the game was called after the fifth inning under the tournament's mercy rule.

July 28th, 2009 England gets Rugby World Cup in 2015, Japan 2019DUBLIN — England will host the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and Japan will get the 2019 tournament. Tuesday's announcement by the International Rugby Board was widely expected.

June 20th, 2009 North Korean soccer team gets rapturous welcomeSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's soccer team returned home to a rapturous official welcome on Saturday after having qualified for the World Cup for the first time since its memorable 1966 campaign. Players and coaches were greeted at Pyongyang's airport with a brass band, handed flowers by the waiting crowd, and received congratulations from officials of the isolated communist regime.

June 8th, 2009 LONDON - Ace striker Wayne Rooney is dreaming of the ultimate glory of winning the World Cup with England. Beating Andorra on Wednesday will leave Fabio Capello's side on the brink of making it to South Africa next summer.

June 7th, 2009 Dutch, Japan, Australia, South Korea qualifyThe Netherlands, Japan, Australia and South Korea became the first nations to qualify for next year's World Cup, joining host South Africa in the 32-nation field. England, meanwhile, put itself in good position to advance, winning 4-0 at Kazakhstan on goals by Wayne Rooney, Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey and Frank Lampard to improve to 6-0 in Europe Group Six.

June 6th, 2009 Japan, Australia, South Korea qualify for WCupJapan, Australia and South Korea became the first three nations to qualify for next year's World Cup, joining host South Africa in the 32-nation field. England, meanwhile, put itself in good position to qualify, winning 4-0 at Kazakhstan on goals by Wayne Rooney, Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey and Frank Lampard to improve to 6-0 in Europe Group Six.