CLEVELAND, Tenn. – It had all the makings of a rivalry match, but the only thing lacking was a goal. After 71 scoreless minutes Thursday in the District 5-AAA soccer final, Cleveland finally provided one.

Here’s a testament to the growth of girls’ soccer in Lebanon County: Four local clubs have qualified for the District Three playoffs. Last night, District Three announced its brackets for this season’s tournaments and Palmyra, Elco, Northern Lebanon and Lebanon Catholic were among the contestants.

Asia’s soccer chiefs go to the polls on Friday against a backdrop of acrimony, distrust and bitter brawling which has plunged the football-mad region into uncharted waters.

Toks Sokoya and the Siegel boys soccer team will get another shot at Riverdale.

The YMCA of the Coosa Valley and the Coosa Soccer Association are joining forces and will operate as one under the name Coosa Valley YMCA Soccer. “While the name is different, the same staff and volunteers will be delivering the same services,” said LeRoy Falcon Jr., chief executive officer of the YMCA of the Coosa Valley.

Children in Lake Villa Township will no longer have to wait for baseball season to end to get on the soccer field.

Hugo Bustamante loved soccer. He played semi-professionally in college, and had gone on to coach his daughter on the Under-10 Cypress Cyclones team.

The Mexican soccer federation will allow fans to attend professional soccer games in Mexico this weekend. All 176 pro games across the country were played behind closed doors last weekend because of the swine flu outbreak.

The enmity between the two most powerful men in Asian soccer plunged into new depths Thursday when FIFA’s vice president said his rival was suffering mental problems and acting like a criminal.

Clint Mathis, Bobby Convey and Eddie Lewis all have played in the World Cup and lived the ups and downs of European soccer. For different reasons, they have returned home to settle down and are discovering new roles on their MLS teams.