HIGHLIGHTS

Ronaldo tied Gerd Mueller's record of 14 career World Cup goals with two scores against Japan on Thursday night. Ronaldo scored his 13th goal on a header in first-half injury time, and added another on a hard shot in the 81st minute.
Ronaldo entered the game tied with Pele with 12 goals. He also passed France's Just Fontaine, who had 13 goals in a single tournament in 1958. Mueller scored 14 goals for West Germany in 1970 and 1974.

Australia qualified for the second round for the first time, rallying to tie Croatia in a heated match. Italy advanced to the second round of the World Cup for seventh straight time, with a 2-0 win over the Czechs.

STARS

• Ronaldo, Brazil, scored twice to tie Gerd Mueller's all-time record of 14 career World Cup goals, and help his team rout Japan 4-1.
• Gianluigi Buffon, Italy, made several key saves to preserve the Azzuri's lead in a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic.

• Harry Kewell, Australia, scored in the 79th minute to pull the Socceroos into a 2-2 tie with Croatia, which was enough to put them into the second round for the first time.

IN and OUT

Australia, Ghana, Italy, Mexico, Sweden, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, the Netherlands, Ecuador, Germany and England have clinched spots in the second round.
Japan, Croatia, United States, Czech Republic, Angola, Trinidad and Tobago, Togo, Iran, Ivory Coast, Serbia-Montenegro, Poland, Costa Rica and Paraguay have been eliminated.

GOAL OF THE DAY

Clint Dempsey became the first – and only – American to actually score a goal in this tournament in the 43rd minute of a 2-1 loss to Ghana on Thursday.

LOOK AHEAD

France is the only seeded team that has not yet qualified for the second round. Les Bleus will try to rectify that when they play Togo on Friday. France must win by two goals to guarantee a spot in the second round, though a one-goal win could be enough, depending on the result in the Switzerland-South Korea game. A loss or tie would eliminate the French.
The Swiss, making their first appearance in the World Cup since 1994, can advance to the second round with a tie.

GROUP ETEAM W-L-T POINTS

ITALY 2-0-1 7

GHANA 2-1-0 6

CZECH REPUBLIC 1-2-0 3

UNITED STATES 0-1-1 1

UP NEXT – ROUND OF 16

Italy vs. Australia, 10 a.m., Monday

Ghana vs. Brazil, 10 a.m., Tuesday

EZ Scores, the Md. based company that provides live sports scores and statistics via voice activated technology, is proud to announce the addition of World Cup and Major League Soccer scores to its sports lineup.

EZ Scores addition of soccer comes just as the 2006 World Cup gets underway in Germany. EZ Scores is delivering up to the minute scores for all of the World Cup Games. Eric Mindte, VP of content development for EZ Scores said "the ability to deliver World Cup scores to the EZ Scores user is something we are excited about. We are always looking for ways to keep EZ Scores at the top of the list of the many sports information systems available today. The addition of World Cup scores to our lineup improves our system even more. Being able to offer soccer fans the chance to keep up on World Cup action with just a single phone call is something we are proud to do."

Since the start of the World Cup, the system has been accurate in offering up game times within a minute of the actual broadcast and scores immediately after they occur. By the end of 2006, scores for as many as 22 foreign soccer leagues will be added. Fans will be able to keep up with all their favorite teams, including hard to find scores for leagues like the English Premiership.

EZ Scores cards will be given out at various locations nationwide during the month of June while the World Cup is being played. Currently, EZ Scores is involved in a promotion with Men's Health Magazine at Bloomingdales across the country. From now until June 18th, when a customer at a participating store buys $75 dollars worth of men's underwear, they receive a gift basket which features a ready to use $50 dollar value EZ Scores card. This card is good for 400 unlimited calls.

EZ Scores will also have a presence at this month's College Baseball World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Just like last year, EZ Scores cards will be given to all customers who purchase officially licensed merchandise from a J.E.B. Enterprises location in Omaha. As always, customers can purchase cards online at www.ezscores.com or from one of the many EZ Scores distribution locations.

England's doctor has boosted Wayne Rooney's hopes of playing in the World Cup by claiming he is making a "perfect recovery" from a broken foot.

The Manchester United striker fractured a metatarsal bone in his right foot against Chelsea on April 24 and it was estimated he would take a minimum of six weeks to recover.

However, doctor Leif Sward revealed the 20-year-old had made great progress.

"Everything points to a perfect recovery. I have the highest hopes for Rooney and the World Cup," the England medic told The Sun.

"I hope I can give a perfect answer about Rooney after the next MRI examination on Thursday.

"I hope everything has healed good and I can say everything points in that direction. This healing process has been very, very good."

Rooney has been spending time in an oxygen tent to aid the healing process and he will have another scan later this week to assess his fitness.

He has not kicked a ball since being carried off at Stamford Bridge but Sward explained: "He is not allowed to do that or anything else that could make his foot worse before Thursday's examination.

"But he can put pressure on his foot now with the special protection he is wearing.

"It seems like Wayne Rooney has the gift of healing quickly - but it's not that strange. Young people have that gift, much more than older patients."

Iraq's soccer squad, which failed to qualify for the World Cup, will travel to Germany next month for a warm-up match against Tunisia. The June 7 contest will be staged next to a U.S. military base, an official said.

Iraq has agreed to stand in for Kuwait which canceled the match in the Bavaria-based city of Schweinfurt, Hans Schnabel, the city's special World Cup envoy, said. Tunisia, whose World Cup squad is based in Schweinfurt, will enter the four-week tournament on June 14 when playing Saudi Arabia in Munich.

Schweinfurt's soccer stadium, with a capacity of 15,000, adjoins to one of the city's two U.S. bases, each accommodating about 4,000 troops. The football ground is also bordering on a U.S. housing estate where staff and relatives of Schweinfurt's nearly 10,000 U.S. troops live.

``We're aware of the delicate circumstances under which the match is happening but no one has expressed any qualms about security or other issues,'' Schnabel said.

The Wiesbaden-based Federal Criminal Office, Bavarian police and Germany-based U.S. military authorities have all approved the match to go ahead, Schnabel said.

FIFA is trying - Players beware, your World Cup could be over almost as soon as it begins.

The 22 referees at the tournament in Germany have been instructed to come down hard on the foul play that has become the scourge of modern soccer. Elbowing, reckless fouls and other violent conduct will result in a red card, disciplinary action and missed matches.

Collecting yellow cards also is going to be easier for players: Acts of unsportsmanlike conduct such as shirt pulling, holding opponents and deliberately stopping opposing players will result in automatic yellow cards.

some say it's a quixotic challenge -- to rid soccer of the bad habits that are ruining many games.

Soccer's decision makers approved modifications to rules that come into effect July 1, but decided the changes will be brought forward to introduce them at the June 9 tournament kickoff.

"The World Cup is the perfect platform to send out this message to the whole world of football, as people all around the globe will follow the 64 matches in Germany," FIFA president Sepp Blatter said.

One change being introduced is probably the most problematic: The refs are under instruction to implement more forcefully the law that bans players from "diving," or simulating fouls.

Soccer administrators fear the sport is being made a mockery by the sight of crafty players deliberately tricking referees into thinking they have been fouled. Referees do not have the benefit of sophisticated television technology, which outs the players after the match is over.

Coaches frequently have complained about inconsistent refereeing at the World Cup. The protests reached a crescendo at the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan, where teams such as Italy and Spain felt several bad decisions ruined their chances.

The World Cup represents the pinnacle of a referee's career, as well as those of the players. Their hopes of progressing to work one of the elimination games, or even a final, depends on how firmly they implement the laws.

There is no doubt that national and regional refereeing standards differ. A challenge that will earn a player a stern admonition from a referee in the English Premier League might well cost him a red card in Scandinavia or North America, where the laws are enforced more literally.

Referees from Mediterranean countries tend to look more leniently on "technical" fouls such as shirt-pulling and diving.

At this year's tournament, the 22 referees will hail from 21 countries. The referees are the most senior in the world. Players may peak in their early 20s, but referees are often 10-20 years older.

This year they will need to be at their physical best. Although half a dozen referees are being kept in reserve in case of injuries, only 22 will be on duty. Thirty-six did the job at the last tournament.

In Germany, the youngest will be 32-year-old Mark Shield of Australia, while the oldest will be Russia's Valentin Ivanov, who has crept in under the age limit of 45.

Age is considered a virtue at this level, where the pressure on officials from players, managers, a baying crowd and a hostile media can be intolerable. Match officials are given special training in the psychological aspects of being the most despised person around.

Shield will be officiating at his second World Cup. He was also the youngest at the 2002 tournament.

"Certainly there is a lot of pressure in some ways, but what I took from the 2002 World Cup was the realization that from a referee's perspective it is just a red team against a blue team," Shield said.

For many of the referees, making it through a yearlong process that whittled the number down from 46 a year ago is the biggest achievement.

"The selection process has been incredibly long because it started in February 2005 and finished last month with a series of physical, medical, psychological and language tests to ensure we can speak and write in English," 42-year-old French referee Eric Poulat said.

"In between, we have been assessed in our league matches and in internationals, so being chosen for the final list is a big moment for me."

ITALIAN SOCCER ENGULFED BY TURMOIL

Italian soccer was engulfed by turmoil Saturday when a World Cup referee's accreditation was withdrawn after he was implicated in a game-fixing scandal, and star goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was questioned by prosecutors for suspected illegal betting.

The scandals were denounced by the Vatican as an "offense to sports" and an "offense to the joy of childhood."

Buffon's team, Juventus, said the goalie "presented himself of his own volition to magistrates," but didn't say what he told prosecutors. Italy's World Cup team will be announced Monday, and his status is in doubt.

Italian media quoted Buffon's lawyer as saying his client had gambled only on soccer games that didn't involve Italian teams, and he had stopped when that practice was banned last year.

The Italian soccer federation said it sent letters to FIFA and European soccer authorities to rescind the accreditations of referee Massimo De Santis and linesmen Alessandro Griselli and Marco Ivaldi, plus those for Paolo Bergamo and Pierluigi Pairetto, who were to assign game officials at the monthlong World Cup in Germany, which begins June 9. De Santis won't be replaced at the tournament.

"Instead of 23 referees, there will be 22 referees," FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said.

Bergamo and Pairetto, who had also been vice chairman of UEFA's referees committee, assigned referees to Italian games last season.

Prosecutors in Naples, Rome, Parma and Turin are conducting investigations ranging from game-fixing to illegal betting.

Naples prosecutors said Friday they are investigating four Serie A clubs -- Juventus, Lazio, AC Milan and Fiorentina -- for alleged game-fixing which could implicate "top names."

Juventus seeks its second straight league title today, the season's final round. The team's entire board resigned Thursday, including managing director Antonio Giraudo and general director Luciano Moggi, who are being investigated for allegedly trying to influence referee appointments.

The Italian soccer federation, whose president Franco Carraro resigned this week, is conducting its own investigation.

U.S. STARTS WITH PLAYERS MISSING

Two players were in Germany, two just had landed at the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., airport and another planned to head back to England in a week.

But U.S. men's soccer coach Bruce Arena said he wasn't too worried about being short a few players at times during the 11-day World Cup training camp that began Thursday in Cary, N.C.

"It'll make a difference," he said, "but not considerable."

Arena said the early focus during camp will be pushing the players a little harder to improve the overall fitness level and then moving on to "building on our team concept."

"We know all these players, and they know what we're about and how we do things," he said. "It's just refining it and getting them back together and becoming a team again."

The team was missing a few pieces, including one of its stars, Landon Donovan. Donovan and Chris Albright landed in North Carolina on Thursday after playing in a match for Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday night. Steve Cherundolo and Kasey Keller will join the team today, after the end of the German Bundesliga season.

The team also briefly will lose defender Eddie Lewis when he returns to England for a crucial May 21 match that could land his club, Leeds United, a spot in the English Premier League.

"It's not really that long that the team is together before the tournament starts, so I think every day, in a lot of ways, counts," Lewis said. "We've always been a cohesive group; we've always had team chemistry, so being together as a group is going to help that."

After camp ends, the 23-man team will play three tuneup matches in the United States, and then head to Germany for the World Cup, which begins June 9.

The Americans play their opening match against the Czech Republic, which is ranked No. 2 in the world. The Americans are ranked fourth, the highest ranking they've held, which translates into high expectations.